Reborn from Ashes: Chapter 24

Gone Home:

With the lights in the sky faded, now being replaced by faint stars as the sun disappeared over the mountains, Ginger collapsed onto her knees by the Blade of Ahrah, her tears dripping onto the cold metal. Fidget swiftly joined her, eyes brimming with tears as she placed a tentative paw on the Blade of Ahrah as Ginger picked up the fallen satgat, clutching it to her chest.

“No…Dust…no…” she whispered, hiccoughing through her tears. “Why…? Why?”

“Did…did he know?” Jarin murmured, breaking the disbelieving silence.

“Why would he do this if he did?” Kim wondered. “Moreover, why didn’t he tell us?!”

“It’s a hero’s way,” a snarl spat. The group spun on their heels to face the King, kneeling haggard over his sabre as he overlooked the battlefield filled with celebrating Moonbloods and their allies as they took down the last of the Royal Troops. “Pitiful…self-sacrificing fools.”

“Don’t you dare speak about Dust like that!” Ash shouted, barely finding her voice as tears streaked past her nose. “You have no right…!”

“If I do not speak the truth that you imbeciles refuse to believe, who else shall?” King Julius growled hatefully. His face was that of someone who knew his best chance of victory was long gone, yet who refused to stand down. “Your precious hero is dead. This is not yet over.”

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” Taka hissed, raising the Starsheen Knives the best she could with her remaining strength. “You’ve lost, dammit!”

“Not until my last breath has been drawn!” the King barked. “As long as I live, I shall cleanse this kingdom of impurities like you…and all Moonblood kin!”

“Impurities?”

The voice was hushed, but nonetheless biting in tone. The party turned towards where they thought they had heard its source — it was coming from where Ginger and Fidget were kneeling by the Blade of Ahrah.

“Uh… Ginger?” Kim frowned. Ginger raised her head, a strange blue smoke emanating around her.

“You speak of impurities, yet in truth you misunderstand the meaning of the word,” the voice came again. The voice was both Ginger’s and not Ginger’s at the same time — it was mingling with a different voice, one that only Fidget knew.

“No way…” the nimbat gasped quietly as the Blade of Ahrah flickered back to life in Ginger’s hand. The woman stood up, and as she did her appearance changed.

By the time she’d turned around, Ginger was hardly recognisable: her fur had turned a pale blue-white, and her eyes were blazing bright blue. Her famous red hair now streaked through a mane of silver, and her dress had been replaced by robes of cyan and grey.

“Your attempts at purging this land have wrought nothing but destruction and despair,” Ginger-but-not-quite-Ginger spoke. “You claim to rid this world of impurities…the only one I see stands before me now.”

“How…how dare you!” the King spluttered, taken aback by the display of pure power from the woman before him…

…no. The woman who’d taken on the spirit of Sen-Mithrarin.

“You ordered the murder of countless innocents…the destruction of countless families!” Sen-Ginger growled, their voice raising in anger as they did so. “Your actions have wreaked havoc upon this kingdom, and you would have destroyed everything if it meant your victory!”

Sen-Ginger raised the Blade of Ahrah, blazing in the twilight as it accompanied the blue fire that surrounded them. Ash, Kim, Jarin and Taka felt emboldened by the power coming off them, as Fidget soon began flying by their side, paws glowing. Julius, however, was cowering ever more in fear at the sight before him. For a moment, Ginger’s fur and eyes returned to their usual colour, but her expression of pure fury did not vanish.

“Above all…you messed with my family for the last time,” she snarled.

“What is…? What are you?!” the King demanded as he raised his sabre, readying himself for what all knew would be the final confrontation.

“This ends here, Julius,” Ginger growled, raising the Blade of Ahrah with a strength she knew wasn’t her own, but instead came from the lingering spirit of her friend…of her son… “AND THIS ONE’S FOR DUST!”

Something about the fire-like light coming from the Sen-Mithrarin-possessed Ginger seemed to restore strength to the entire group. Invigorated and determined more than ever to end the war, they charged, starting the duel with the King of Falana anew.

Once again, metal rang against metal and fire singed fabric and fur. Ginger moved with every ounce of strength, speed and grace that Dust had ever done in either of his lives, cartwheeling and darting through the fight before adding power to Fidget’s projectiles with Dust Storm. There were times, however, where the finesse seemed to slip and Ginger had to rely on her own strength to wield the Blade of Ahrah almost like a club if she had any hope of landing a hit.

“Ginger! Are you okay?” Taka yelled over the clang of blades as she blocked a strike from the King as Ginger faltered momentarily. She seemed to stare into the reflection on the Blade of Ahrah, barely flickering now. Her eyes had gone back to their deep blue, but shining pale blue eyes were staring back at her through the metal — she was certain of it.

“Come on, Dust…just a little longer, please…” she begged. She felt something brush against her hand, almost too lightly for her to have taken notice. Glancing down, she saw the briefest glimpse of a transparent white hand emerging from a grey sleeve. Looking behind her, Ginger swears to this day that she saw an apparition of the young man she’d met in Aurora all those years ago.

I’m here, she heard. Let’s end this.

Strength renewed and summoning what was left of Sen-Mithrarin’s spirit, Ginger charged towards the King once again. With a coordinated strike from Ash, they knocked the King’s weapon from his hands and sent him tumbling to the ground. With a cry in a language that no one recognised, Sen-Ginger raised the Blade of Ahrah skyward, at which a beam of light shot towards the heavens. As it did, the sky began burning with a blue-white light that danced across the horizon. The others shielded their eyes but the King froze in terror — those were the Lights of Elysium.

“No…please! Have mercy!” he begged.

“You told me that mercy was my weakness,” Sen-Ginger spoke, their eyes blazing. “Know that it is a weakness that you no longer deserve. The only ones who can have mercy upon you now are the Overseers,” they growled. “For your sake, I pray that they do.”

Tendrils of light snaked their way around Julius’s wrists and ankled before binding him completely. He struggled against the bonds, crying out in anguish in a final plea for the mercy no one present believed he deserved. But if he wasn’t going to accept judgement from his own people, then the Overseers were the only ones that could decide his fate. Just as Dust had done moments before, Julius began breaking apart into a cloud of stars, only he seemed to be burning apart from the inside, scorched by the divine light of the same Life Thread he’d sought to exploit.

As the fallen king vanished and the Lights of Elysium faded, so too did the glowing blue smoke surrounding Ginger and the runes on the Blade of Ahrah. As the light finally faded away, Ginger collapsed with exhaustion, dropping the Blade of Ahrah to the ground with a loud clang.

“Ginger!” Kim yelped, catching the woman just before she hit the ground. “Ginger? C’mon…wake up!” he urged, gently shaking her. Groggily, Ginger stirred and her eyelids fluttered open.

“Oh, thank the Overseers…” Ash sighed with relief. Fidget climbed onto Ginger’s lap as Kim laid her down into a sitting position and placed a comforting paw on her hand.

“That…that was quite something, Ginger,” she said quietly. “Was that…what I thought it was?”

“I could feel him,” Ginger said softly. “He was fighting through me…He was with me.”

“Our little hero,” Taka realised. “I thought as much.”

“It’s not fair,” Jarin pouted. He’d picked up Dust’s satgat and was looking at it sorrowfully, still too proud to openly cry. “We did everything right! We sealed the Life Thread…we stopped the k…I mean, Julius… Why did Dust also have to go?!”

Fidget took a deep breath before reciting the lesson that she’d learned the hard way so many times, so many years ago.

“Sometimes…that’s just not enough,” she coughed as a sob rose in her throat. “Sometimes, even your best isn’t enough to avoid Fate. When the Life Thread calls for you…you must answer.”

“Why didn’t he tell us?” Ash wondered aloud, repeating Kim’s question from earlier. “We would have found another way! He didn’t have to…!”

“There was no other way,” Ginger wept quietly. “He…he knew that.” She remembered what Dust had said the night they’d camped in the Blackmoor Mountains while searching for the shrine. He’d known that he wasn’t going to make it…that once more, he wasn’t going to avoid the same fate that had befallen him fifteen years ago. “That’s why he didn’t tell us. Because we wouldn’t have done what we needed to do.”

“Stupid…self-sacrificiously righteous…idiot…” Ash hiccoughed. Ginger gave a small signal to say that she was fine to get up and walk. With Kim and Taka’s help, she got to her feet, picking up the cold and lifeless Blade of Ahrah as she did so.

“Come,” she said. “We should find a place to rest. We can meet up with Sanjin in the morning…”

Agreeing wholeheartedly, it was with a heavy heart that the party headed back to the camp. The absence of a blue-white fox was all the Moonbloods needed to know in regards to what had happened, and the celebrations that night were sombre. As Ginger fell asleep, she hummed the lullaby that she’d sung so many years ago to herself, clutching the satgat close as if she could say one final goodbye to the friend she’d raised as a son.

After so long, I’ve now gone home…
Now that I have reached my journey’s end.
Don’t know how long I will be gone…
But I hope that I’ll see you…
Again…

My friend.

---

The next morning, the group took the teleporter from the camp to the mountains surrounding the Shrine of the Life Thread. They’d taken both the Blade of Ahrah and Dust’s satgat with them, planning to lay them in the shrine as a memorial to the hero that Falana had once again lost.

“You think he’d like it?” Ash said, twirling the slightly battered hat in her hands.

“I can’t think of any better place to remember a guy like him,” Taka smiled. “I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

“Do you think your dad knows, yet, Ash?” Kim frowned. Ash sighed.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “If he does…I don’t know if he’s going to forgive himself for this.”

“We have to make sure that he knows it wasn’t his fault,” Ginger decided. “After all, Sanjin saved us all back there…if he hadn’t returned the Eye, we wouldn’t have been able to hold out against the Souldiers for much longer.”

“Ginger’s right,” Jarin agreed. “He’s as much of a hero as Dust ever was in my books.”

“Say, Jarin,” Fidget piped up. “What are you going to do now? I mean, with the king gone, surely the government’s going to be thrown into chaos.”

“I’m sure they already know what happened,” Jarin shrugged. “They’re probably preparing for Ellie’s coronation as we speak.”

“Oh, man, we’re going to need to send one heck of an apology to her…” Fidget winced.

“Hey, I’m sure she was at least half expecting it,” Jarin sighed. “I think all the nobles were at some point. He was too far gone. I was the first to leave, I don’t think many others would have been far behind.”

“Even so, we should travel to Falun in person and seek an audience with Her Highness,” Ginger suggested. “We need the chance to explain ourselves…” Ginger broke off suddenly when she felt something tugged in her hand. “And Jarin, stop trying to take Ahrah — you’ll slice your hand off.”

“I’m not touching it! I swear!” Jarin protested.

“Taka?”

“I am five feet ahead of you! Even if I wanted to I couldn’t touch the darn thing!”

“Ah!” Ginger yelped as her hand was suddenly yanked forwards. The others cried out in surprise and ducked as something flew forwards and soared over their heads…

That something was the Blade of Ahrah.

“Wha…?!” Ginger spluttered but Fidget was already two steps ahead.

“HEEEEY!” she shouted, shooting after the wayward sword. “NOT AGAIN!”

“Did…?” Ash blinked in amazement.

“Was that…?” Kim squeaked.

“Did the Blade of Ahrah just fly off towards that mountain?” Taka asked, her voice going up at least an octave. Ginger brought a hand to her face in disbelief.

“How…?” she whispered before scrambling upright and sprinting after the sword with as much speed as she could muster in the snow. The others quickly followed suite, all shouting and scrambling over each other in the rush to figure out what on earth was going on.

Ash and Jarin were the first to reach a ridge which both Fidget and the Blade of Ahrah had vanished over. Taka and Kim had overtaken Ginger but were holding back to make sure she didn’t fall behind, but that nearly went out of the window when Ash shrieked loud enough to rival a banshee and went tumbling down the slope.

“No freaking way!” Jarin cheered. Taka, Kim and Ginger had barely reached the top of the ridge when they heard a loud “OOF!” followed by a thump of someone being tackled into a snowdrift.

“What am I going to have to do to not get tackled by someone every other day?” a muffled, laughing voice sounded.

“No way!” Taka exclaimed in amazement and she raced over the slope. “OH, BY ELYSIUM! YOU DID NOT!”

“WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK, MAN?!” Kim cried as he joined them. Ginger stood frozen in amazement at the top of the slope for a moment, tears springing in her eyes once again at the sight she beheld.

There, laughing as Ash pulled him out of the snow and Fidget playfully punched him in the chest, accompanied by an equally joyous Sanjin as shouts of amazement and disbelief echoed through the valleys, was Dust. Floating by his side, glowing as if its light had never gone out, was the Blade of Ahrah.

“Dust!” Ginger shouted as she ran down the slope, tripping over her feet and rolling the rest of the way as she did so. Dust broke free of the group and ran over without hesitation, throwing himself into Ginger’s arms as he reached her. Ginger let the tears of joy flood down her face and she hugged the boy close…he didn’t look any different to the boy she’d raised for the past thirteen years.

“Mom!” Dust sobbed into her shoulder. “Mom, I’m so sorry!”

“You gave us a right scare, there, Shrimp,” Taka laughed and for once, Dust made no sound of protest at the nickname. “You’re going to end up giving your poor mother a heart attack one of these days.”

“I’m sorry, guys…” Dust winced. “I…I should have told you…”

“What even happened?” Ash asked, looking at Sanjin for answers.

“Well, I could see the Life Thread being fixed after I put the Eye back in the Shrine,” Sanjin explained. “I was about to head back to the teleporter when there came a light from inside the shrine itself. I went back in to investigate and…well, you can imagine my surprise when I saw young Dust lying on the altar.”

“But…but how?” Ash pressed, turning to face Dust. “We…we saw you disappear! You became a part of the Life Thread! How are you here?!”

“One question at a time, Ash,” Kim chuckled. Dust smiled and placed a hand over his heart, as if trying to find something inside himself.

“Because I didn’t become a part of it,” he replied. “Jin and Cassius did.”

“Huh?” Jarin blinked. “But…aren’t those your twin souls or whatever? How are you still here if they both became a part of the Life Thread?” Fidget’s eyes lit up as she realised exactly why her best friend had come back.

“Because Dust has a soul of his own this time!” she remembered. “The first time he existed, he was two souls bound together, but when he was reborn he had a soul that was all his own!”

“I’m fairly sure this was mentioned at some point,” Taka smirked.

“He said he had two souls!” Jarin protested.

“I said two of them died so that I could exist in the first place,” Dust deadpanned. Jarin pouted and muttered something under his breath.

“But why’d you disappear?” Kim asked. “Why didn’t only Jin and Cassius leave?”

“It’s a bit hard to not get dragged along when two thirds of what makes up you are answering an non-ignorable call,” Dust shrugged.

“But because your own soul still belonged to the mortal realm, you were able to return,” the Blade of Ahrah spoke gently. “It would seem that you have time left in this world after all, Master.”

“Finally!” Fidget exclaimed. “Life’s throwing you a break for once.” Dust laughed before turning to face Ginger again.

“Sorry for scaring you again,” he grimaced slightly. Ginger smiled warmly and pulled him back into a hug.

“Don’t be, Scamp,” she hiccoughed. “I’m…I’m just so glad you’re okay…”

A group hug was initiated, with Dust, Ginger and Fidget all in the centre.

“You came back…” Ginger whispered. Dust smiled into her shoulder before replying:

“I came home.”