Blood Finale (God Wars #5) (31 page)

There was something else I wanted to thank her for, too.

Gavril had come back with the others. He and Tybus looked like twins, and I found it amusing that they often switched off as the ruler of the Campiaan Alliance. Mostly it was so the other could spend time with Reah, but I wasn't about to argue that point.

Somehow, they'd received permission from Breanne to occupy the same place and time. She'd given my son back to me, and this was the Gavril I'd known when he was young, before Kifirin stole him from me. And from Gavin.

He laughed often, teased his siblings and sent gifts to us. Usually it was gishi fruit from Avendor, when it wasn't in season on Kifirin. He had few memories of his previous years, when his spirit was sapped away. For that, I was grateful.

The one who hadn't returned, however, was Norian. I think Breanne knew that he needed to be reborn and learn new lessons. Perhaps he would come back to me in the future.

Perhaps not. I chose to let her decide.

"Fine. Let's have a feast. At SouthStar," I nodded to Drake, who grinned.

"Thanks." He turned to go.

"Wait. That was already in the works, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. We just had to figure out how to convince you to go."

"I ought to throw things at you."

"We can have a food fight—tomorrow."

"And waste good food? No way."

* * *

Wisdom's Journal

At times, I want to laugh at my title. At other times, I feel compelled to agree with it. Wisdom means learning from your mistakes. I've made plenty. I learn from all of them.

You see—I am the fraud. The pretender in all this.

Why?

I was the first version of the General. I could remove power from any legitimate god or godling, by sucking it away from them. I'd been created by multitudes of people, searching for something to believe in. I was weak in the beginning, but I gained strength as time passed and populations grew on many worlds. All of them believed in me—and taught their offspring to believe in me. I grew so powerful none could stand against me.

That's when I began my bid to take everything.

Not realizing that I was destroying it in the process.

I grew fat on the power I drained from those I killed. Until I found the last two. Strength and Love. I chose Love as my next target, believing her the weaker of the two. Exultantly, I took her and began stripping the power from her.

Little did I know, then.

I know better now.

The last thing I stripped away was Love.

Pure Love.

I'd never felt anything like that, and I thought I knew everything. I'd never known Love.

It changed me.

Forever.

I wanted more of it, and realized that if I killed what I held, I'd never have it again.

Love changed me. I felt for the first time. Felt so many things.

Sorrow.

Regret.

Pain.

I felt lonely, too. I had billions who believed in me, but they were afraid. Afraid that if they failed to obey my every whim, I'd destroy them. I realized that I had none as companions. I realized that I was destroying everything.

I changed.

Fed energy back to Love. Held her. Nurtured her. Restored her.

Then, I allied with Strength. Together, we rebuilt what I'd destroyed. To do that, however, I had to accomplish one thing.

I had to make Love and Strength forget what I was in the beginning.

I've always had a talent for that. They thought we'd always been together, and that we'd defeated what I was.

I hate that part of myself. That I was a bloated, power-hungry construct, just as the General was. Breanne finally remembered.

That's why she isn't with us now. She knows what I was.

I kept telling her that I loved her and always would. She has seen fit to let me live now, instead of shoving me into another multiverse bubble with the General.

I couldn't blame her if she did.

I want to beg her to come back to us. I'm afraid to tell the others that it's my fault she left us alone. Afraid that they'll leave me, too.

I've discovered that I can't live without them, either.  

Now, I don't know what to do, and that is both humorous and sad at the same time. Wisdom doesn't know what to do.

Laughable.

"Charles?" Lissa appeared next to me.

"Hey." I slipped an arm around her—she'd found me sitting on the cliff beside a massive waterfall on SouthStar's southern edge.

"Looks like we're having a feast tomorrow, to celebrate the anniversary of the battle."

"A celebration without the guest of honor?" I pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah."

"Why did Breanne join with you instead of letting you join with the rest of us?" I asked.

"I really don't know," Lissa shook her head. "I know through Bree that you instructed Griffin and Thurlow to set spawn loose on worlds not worth saving. I understand that it was to weaken the General. I know you had them remove children from those worlds before they were taken over. That's what the faithful were doing—taking care of children. I think she wanted me to know those things."

I considered that for a moment. Lissa had no idea—Breanne held that back from her. Kept my secret. I breathed a sigh. "Your sister is perhaps the most generous soul I've ever met," I said.

"When she gave Gavin and Gavril back to me, I knew it too."

"Because of her, we have love in the universes. I don't know what we would do without it."

"I know. Are you coming to the feast tomorrow?"

"I'll be there."

"Good." Lissa kissed my cheek this time. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving me from the Council. For keeping me from dying when I tried to give myself to the sun. For being a friend."

"You are welcome," I smiled at her.

"I like this version of you. Not just the way you look, but the way you are. Powerful and gentle at the same time. It looks good on you, Charles."

"Thank you for that."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Lissa's Journal

"Do you think we need to give this feast a name?"

"Like what?" I turned to Karzac, who offered me a smile.

"I have no idea," he said. "But feasts generally have names."

"Sounds like something a Council might submit to a committee, who would then choose subcommittees to set up meetings and throw out ideas that everybody hates and it takes months to whittle it down to ten choices."

"Just listening to your description wearies me. And makes me hungry."

"Then let's table the naming of it and just go eat. I'm starved."

* * *

Trajan's Journal

"When?" I studied Ashe's upper arms. The crowns were missing. He still held eight medallions, but those were his to give away.

"A week ago." Ashe took a seat at the kitchen island, a cup of coffee in his hand. "A single crown, forged from the two, appeared at the foot of my bed this morning. It's time to bring the Elemaiyan race back. This time, it won't be interfered with by rogue gods."

"Who's gonna watch over them?" I asked.

"Lissa and I will have joint custody, relatively speaking."

"Good idea. Who will wear the crown?"

"You'll see." Ashe grinned and shook his head, as if he held the punch line to the best joke ever. I didn't press him for it.

* * *

Ashe's Journal

White tablecloths lined long tables as the feast was laid out. Everyone was coming. Except one. I felt her absence. Regretted so many things. Kay smiled at me as she carried a tray of rolls to set on the table. And just like that, everybody folded in.

"Thank you for joining us," I announced as everybody gazed at me expectantly. "Before we celebrate our Feast of Love, I'd like to make an announcement."

Several in the crowd gasped as I
Pulled
the new crown into my hand. "This has been remade," I said, turning toward Kifirin. He offered a slight nod—he recognized it, as he'd made it in the beginning.

There was no taint on it, now.

"This," I said, "belongs to Luanne. She is the peacemaker among the Elemaiya. I can't think of anyone else who deserves this more than she."

Luanne stood, blinking at me in surprise. I approached and placed the crown on her head.

It's heavy
, she sent.

It's a reminder
, I returned.
The rule of any race is always a burden to the mindful.

I'll remember that
, she replied.

"Let's eat," I said aloud. The celebration began immediately.

* * *

Hank's Journal

I don't know why I hoped she'd show up for the feast. Perhaps we all hoped the same, we just couldn't voice that hope aloud. Other than feeling empty, even after stuffing myself with exceptional food, the feast was a success.

Are you ever coming back to me?
I sent.

There was no reply.

* * *

Lissa's Journal

I was supposed to be in bed. I'd misted away from Karzac after he fell asleep and now I sat atop the high dome of my palace, staring out at the city that bore my name. A few of the houses that had lights the last time I was here were now dark. For whatever reason, they hadn't been brought back. I didn't question Breanne's decisions. If anyone knew better than I about these matters, she was the one.

"This timeline was the easy thing. The hard thing was putting old Earth back together. I had to maintain the integrity of that timeline so everything would turn out the same."

I gaped—I know I did. So many things wanted to come out of my mouth. "What the fuck?" was the first thing. Unfortunately.

"Nice to see you, too," my sister said.

* * *

Charles's Journal

I was the first one she visited, before she went to see Lissa. Yes, she's a little angry with me. I'll settle for that. She let me know that if I ever fucked with her mind again (her words, not mine), she'd kick my ass.

She can do it, too.

"How?" I asked. She knew what I was asking.

"I ripped a page from your book," she snapped, her cobalt-blue eyes flashing a warning at me. "I bent time and sucked up power from about half a million rogue gods, before they flew through the tunnel I'd created, linking one timeline with another. And then, because the former me was really weak and about to wander too far into the tunnel, I shoved myself back."

"Only you had so much power by that time, you ended up slapping yourself into a wall in your sister's palace," I nodded.

"Yeah. I was really pissed at whoever did that. Turns out I was pissed at myself."

"How mad are you? Really? Do you hate me now?"

"I don't hate you."

"Good."

"I love you."

I could have said something stupid, then, like
even better
, but there are times when it's wiser just to say
thank you
. "Thank you," I said, dipping my head. "I love you more than anything. You are the first thing I ever loved, and you'll be the one I love forever."

"And that's why I'm not kicking your ass right now," she informed me.

"Thank you," I repeated. "When?" I didn't finish the question.

"Someday. But you got moved to the back of the line."

"I can live with that."

"Good. I'm going to visit Lissa, now." She disappeared without another word. I sighed then, before smiling broadly. She loved me. That's all I'd ever need.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

"Old Earth, huh?" Lissa asked after she got her senses—and her profanity—under control.

"Real bitch," I agreed. "But everything should be fine now. It pisses me off that I had to leave that fool Calhoun running loose for a while, but that's all right. I caught up with him a few years later."

"So you took out the Sirenali too?" she asked.

"Most of them. I'm still hunting V'ili and a handful of others. I may need help with that."

"Any idea who?"

"Right now, I have V'ili's sisters on his tail. If they can't take him down, well, I have my eye on someone else," I replied cryptically.

"So, what's next on your agenda?" Lissa asked.

"I need a drink," I said.

"There's plenty of stuff in my liquor cabinet."

"Nah. I want to go out."

"There's a really good bar in the Chessman," Lissa suggested.

"Sounds good. Let's go." I let her fold us there.