“You want to avenge someone. If you do as Cain wishes, there will be no one to avenge. They’ll never have existed at all. Which is worse, that they are dead now while you still remember and mourn them, or that none of you ever existed and no one even cares that they are gone?”
Staring down at him, the Apostle realized that her depth perception was
completely gone.
After everything she’d been through today, she’d never really thought about what would happen if Cain succeeded. If nothing ever existed, she would never have killed the other Subjects, true. However, who would remember? Who would know what the
Council had done? Who would make them pay?
“Do you want to erase everything that has ever happened,” Gabriel wheezed, “or do you want to go down fighting for what you believe in, rather than for what your master wishes?”
“Explain!”
“Press the E key. We both die, but Cain loses. He loses you, and his chance to end existence. You defeat him. His plans are ruined and he can never use you again.
He’s made a slave of you. Will you die on his leash, or will you die protecting the lives of countless trillions of people from the greatest evil they’ll never know? You’re going to die here, the only question is how you’ll meet the end.”
Still holding the end of her tail, Gabriel winked.
She stared down at him for a long moment before glancing at the keyboard. Cain was gone from her mind for the time being. He could not stop her if she pressed that button. She would be acting of her own free will for the first time in her entire life. She would die, and there would be no one left to avenge the other Subjects, but Cain’s plans would be stopped, and his tool for spreading darkness and slavery would be lost to him.
If she pressed that button, she would be free at last.
Looking to her sword, the Apostle thought back on her life. She’d been created to serve Cain. It was the reason she lived. Her duty was to smash the console. But what if Gabriel was right? If she didn’t push that button, every living being, everyone who had lived, everyone living, and everyone that ever would live, would be killed. She had been forced to murder her own brothers and sisters. If she did Cain’s bidding she would murder uncountable other innocents.
She couldn’t do it. The realization seemed strange to her. She’d never cared much for whether humans lived or died. All she’d ever cared about was her revenge. If she allowed Cain to win when she could have stopped him, she would be as guilty as he was for the deaths of so many. She couldn’t stand by and let that happen.
The Apostle of Cain made her decision.
“People can change,” the Apostle asked, setting her sword aside to free her hand.
“That’s right,” Gabriel answered.
“I want to be free. I want to be the hero for once in my life.”
Turning to the console, the Apostle considered the E key for a split second before jabbing a finger down on it.
“If it makes a difference, I’m sorry I killed you. The Council may escape my
wrath, but at least Cain is no longer spreading darkness star by star.”
“Containment field breached,” Allie’s emotionless, computerized voice sounded
over a loudspeaker. “Integrity unsustainable. Catastrophic failure in Containment Area.”
“Thank you,” Gabriel said. “Unfortunately, I’m the only one that will ever know that the Apostle of Cain was our savior, but everyone will continue to live, and it’s all because of you.”
“Cora. My name is Cora, remember it. If I am to die, I will not die as the Apostle of Cain. I will die as Cora, the pretty name a very strange boy gave to me. I will die on my terms, as the person I wish to be.”
“I’ll remember.”
Tremors began to run through the cavern, the catwalk swayed and began to
screech as metal bent and twisted, drawn toward the silver sphere. Pieces of the ceiling began to break away, and fall toward it as well.
Retrieving her sword, Cora placed both hands firmly on the hilt. If she were
going to die, it would be on her feet fighting. She’d never given up, even when she had to kill her own family to survive.
“Come on then,” she screamed at the sphere. “Swallow me up if you can!”
With the last of her waning strength, Cora leapt onto the railing and threw herself at the sphere. She pulled her sword back and swung it at the surface with all of her might. Reality twisted around her as she plunged through the silvery surface into blackness that went on forever, and ever, and ever. Free of Cain’s leash, and the title of Apostle, she smiled for the first time in her life. Freedom was oh so sweet.
Chapter 43: Redemption
Fighting to remain conscious, Gabriel watched the Apostle—no, Cora—leap over
the railing toward the black hole, raising her sword as if it was an enemy that she could fight. He had to admit that she was definitely going out like a pro. If he could have stood, he might have followed her example in true Butch and Sundance fashion.
As Cora leapt toward her death she slowed. Hanging in the air, just before
touching the silvery sphere, time seemed to have stopped for her. Because of time dilation, an object falling into a black hole would appear to an observer to slow almost to a stop the closer it came. However, time would seem to flow normally for the object.
Closing his eyes so he wouldn’t have to watch her hanging frozen in time, Gabriel exhaled slowly. It was getting harder to breathe, and it was amazing he was still alive at all.
“Allie,” Gabriel breathed. “Are you still there?”
“Yes Gabriel. Always.”
“I’m dying, but I got the job done in the end, didn’t I?”
“You were fantastic.”
“Yeah, I really was fantastic, wasn’t I. So were you. I’m sorry you’ve got to die with me.”
“In reality I died long, long ago. Thank you, for everything.”
“My pleasure.”
“Goodbye, Gabriel,” Allie whispered as if trying not to disturb his final moments.
“Maybe I will see you on the other side.”
Drifting into the comforting, warm embrace of velvet darkness, Gabriel felt much more at peace than he had the last time that he’d died.
Suddenly there was something dragging him back into life.
“Gabriel,” someone above him said. “Wake up.”
He was on his back on a grassy slope. The sounds of birds chirping and
chipmunks chattering drifted to him over waves gently lapping at a shore.
Gabriel’s eyes popped open and he sat up, immediately wishing he hadn’t. Pain and dizziness shot through his body. Clutching at his chest and belly, he hunched over.
Though his wounds, including his paralysis, seemed to be gone, the pain remained.
“Careful,” the voice warned. “I’ve healed you, but sometimes the body
remembers the pain for a little while longer, especially if you’re not used to it. And you’ll be pretty weak for some time to come. You lost a lot of blood, and you need rest and nourishment to recuperate.”
“Ah damn it,” Gabriel cried, turning to see a tall figure with his long black hair tied back with a frayed red cord. “Not here again!”
The Northern Sage arched an eyebrow at him. “Would you prefer somewhere
with a bit more fire and brimstone?”
“No,” Gabriel shook his head emphatically. “How did I get here? Getting hit by a bus is one thing, but I just got sucked into a freaking black hole!”
“Black holes are like doorways. You cannot destroy matter, so the things that fall through them have to go somewhere, right? I don’t know a number high enough to give you the odds on making it through without being crushed or torn apart, but I sort of tweaked the chances for you. I am the Lord of Time and Space after all. I know a few tricks.”