EPILOGUE– SYRSEE
“Are you ready?”Ryet and I are standing in the mist between worlds, ready to do what needs to be done so we can carve out some semblance of normalcy for the next seven years. Not that that’s something I’m excited about. It sounds like a pretty shit deal, if you ask me. But it could be worse. It can always get worse, so I am thankful for every extra minute Ryet and I get together.
Is it paradise? No. From what I’ve read, it’s literally going to turn into Hell on Earth. But that hasn’t started yet and I have decided that I will cherish every moment.
A few things have changed since I picked up all my pieces. The first is the color of the mist, which is still purple, but all the gold has turned scarlet, the color of blood. Which makes sense, I guess. The second is Ryet.
“I’m ready,” he says. He’s been stuck in his true vampire form since everything happened down in Josep’s cave and he looks like Darkness. Which also makes sense, because he is.
He’s more than that, though. He’s… well, the actual incarnation of evil.
Except he’s not. He’s really not. I know this man and he’s good. He was tricked. Paul said it was fate, but fate doesn’t need to trick people. That’s what monsters do.
So we’ve decided that we are in charge of our fates and we can do something about this. That’s why we’re here in the mist.
After picking up all my pieces, I immediately split myself in two and gave that other Syrsee the demon baby. I’m so grossed out by that whole thing. But I’ve felt a hundred times better since leaving it with my other half inside the dreamwalk, and I’m sure Ryet will be back to his old self once we get rid of his Darkness too.
“OK.” I blow out a breath.
I hold up the Coyrah mirror. This, I’ve learned, is the secret to my power. It’s how I made myself whole and it’s the only way I can split myself in half. Or, in this case, split Ryet. How the Obscurati did it, I have no idea. Blood magic, I’m sure. Which probably involves summoning the Darkness, but they can’t do that anymore because Ryet and I control it.
Every bit of it, from what we know.
I have half inside the baby, which is now tucked away in a scarlet dreamwalk, and Ryet has half inside himself.
But not for long.
“Look into the mirror, Ryet. Stare at yourself.” He does this, not even blinking. “Now close your eyes and imagine the good part of you. The light, the part that holds your soul.”
Ryet, Lucia, and I had a long discussion about the wording of our spell. Which is what this is, which makes it evil in and of itself and I hate that, but why split hairs now? I’m a witch, that’s all there is to it.
We don’t think we have souls, but wefeellike we do. And we’re gonna hold on to that feeling. That’s how I split myself in half and I guess I can thank Paul for that idea because that’s the lie he told us so we would go into the Guild dreamwalk while those scions fed on us.
And it worked. At least I believe it did. And belief is a big part of magic, so Lucia has told me. I am the keeper of my soul. That other me, the one I sent into the endless scarlet mist with the baby, she’s just a husk with the evil inside her.
I am good, and pure, and filled with light.
I got that part from Ryet because he filled up with light when he ate the Darkness, which has to mean something, we’re just not sure what.
“Did you find it?”
Ryet nods. “Yeah.”
“OK. Now find the ugly, evil, dark part and push it away.”
I look into the mirror now, and I watch as the reflection of Ryet steps backwards. “Keep sending it,” I say. “Make it keep going.” And then I continue watching as that other Ryet steps back, and back, and back until it’s hidden in the blood-colored magic.
Ryet, the one on this side of the mirror, lets out a breath. “That’s it?”
I shrug. “I guess.”
“How do we know it won’t come back?”
I extend the mirror out towards Lucia, who is waiting off to my right. “Because it’s trapped in there now. On the other side of things. And Lucia is gonna take this mirror with her when she leaves, so…” I look at Lucia. “It’s your problem now.”
I say it kind of jokingly, but she’s looking at me with a very serious expression. “Thank you.”
“For giving you all the evil in existence? You’re most welcome.”
