To Justin's surprise, he awoke alone in bed. Disoriented, he looked around the room and found his wife sitting at the window and wrapped in a thick blanket. She was staring at the dawn sky silently. He walked over to her, and he realized that though the sun could not be seen, a hint of orange and yellow could still be sensed. He sat down beside her and then tugged her into his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder without a word before giving a soft sigh. "Amongst all the things going through my head," she murmured, "the biggest worry I have is for Siobhan."
"Naturally so." He combed his fingers through her short orange hair tenderly. "But you know that she won't make you wait for long. The Resurrection Cultivators will protect her until she fulfills her destiny once more, and then you'll have eternity to spend sniping with her."
Her lips curved. "We have never sniped at each other. Nagged, maybe, but not sniped. Someone has to push and prod her to do things she doesn't want to do, and that's what a twin soul is for, really. I've always thought that might be the most important duty for a twin to a High Ruler. Not just protecting them and loving them most, but having the nerve to get in their faces and make them do things. Shyness holds back Siobhan and Rocky and Reagan as strongly as overwhelming emotion holds back Shana and Edgar and LeAnn. Okay, maybe not LeAnn. And Reagan gets over her shyness pretty fast."
He smiled. "The benefit of blending the two biggest lineages, I think. I'd say it would make Tasia and Raine's jobs easier, but . . ."
She snorted. Hard. "Definitely not easier." She sighed and nestled her head on his shoulder. "Pity we didn't get an oblivious Protean this time around. They're so adorable to watch figure out who their soul mate is. I got to see it twice with my generation." She bit back a laugh. "This life manages to win for best revelation, I think. Watching Siobhan circle in on Edgar was hilarious. I don't think he at all realizes how subconsciously frustration was mounting after they turned twenty-one."
"It was really that bad?"
"Worse. I'd say the moment where it reached critical was the day before Siobhan stripped and pounced on him. She and I had been running around town doing things, and we ran into Rocky and Edgar doing the same. Of course Siobhan latched onto Edgar's arm and started talking in that enthusiastic, bubbly, way only a Delphinian can, and there was just this . . . look on his face as he listened. They had all but forgotten Rocky and I standing there, too! He and I looked at each other, and know what he said?"
Knowing he would enjoy it, Justin asked, "What?"
"A hundred pieces says they spontaneously combust by tomorrow night."
He laughed out right. "He would!"
"He turned out to be right, of course. I've always suspected his Sight had told him things maybe he had no desire to know." She laughed as she said it. "A week later, I gave him the bet, because it was only fair. He immediately took me out for lunch and ice cream with it." She smiled. "Reciprocity. I love him not much less than you or Siobhan. He's my little brother."
"Which is why he confronted me in two lives over how to handle you."
Her brows shot up. "He did not."
"Oh yes he did. Basically, in both lives, as soon as you and I got together, he showed up on my doorstep to tell me everything he knew you would not tell me so that I could be better prepared to deal with you in all your moods."
She wanted to be offended, but she could only laugh. "That man! Honestly." She caught Justin's face in her hands and kissed him quickly. "I think you've had me handled just fine. And I have never once regretted knowing you, or enduring anything that I have. I have always considered myself to be one of the truly blessed Cultivators for I was given both a twin and a lover. Aster chose me as her first Dual Cultivator, and Destiny chose me to be my queen's most dedicated protector. Then they gave me you. I regret nothing."
He framed her face with his hands and kissed her softly, lingering over her spicy flavor that was like fire and smoke. His beautiful fiera; his fire princess. He was the lucky one. He didn't know how he had ever earned the right to be the Caretaker of a Dual Cultivator. They eased back, and he murmured, "You sound like you're ready."
"I am." Her voice broke, then steadied. "I can feel it. Siobhan's pained and gouged soul. Now I must cause her more pain. She had better not be late like she always is, or I really will spend eternity sniping at her."
With their minds made up, they got dressed and left their borrowed room. Sherry could feel their son somewhere nearby and knew that he had sensed her decision. The presence came from outside, so Sherry and Justin headed to the gardens out back. There they found Theo and Kimber sitting next to a riotous bush of black proteas stubbornly clinging to life.
Sherry's heart clenched with pride as she saw Theo. Her beautiful son. He was as passionate and fiery as his Aster bloodline, but he had Justin's tireless devotion and wonderfully pragmatic nature. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Theo found a smile for her. "I had a feeling this might be the day. It just felt like it might be." He got to his feet gracefully, and his red hair burned brightly in the gloomy light from the distant sunrise. "I'm not going to cry," he decided. "Because I know that I'd do the same thing if I was in your boots."
"He'll just cry later," Kimber noted.
"Don't help," her husband scolded. When she stood and wrapped her arms around him, he sighed and held onto her arms with his. There were only two people in his life he had never been able to out-stubborn. One was his Lead Defender. The other was his wife. "Are you ready?" he asked Sherry.
"I am, actually. I know where I want to go to visit my memories. I think it should still be there since it was in Lux." She leaned over and murmured in his ear, and he lifted a brow. He did not know the location, but it sounded familiar anyway.
One transport later, they stood on a broken street in Lux outside what had once been a cute little house with scalloped edges and bright colors. Sherry felt a surge of warm nostalgia as she looked at the house. "It is still here. I'm glad. So many memories here! I should have been back to see it sooner. I wonder why I didn't. I used to look at it before the kingdoms were resurrected."
"The same reason Aunt Shana never went to her manor," Theo told her. "Too much fear of pain or longing for what you could no longer have." Kimber's hand settled lightly on his waist, and he leaned against her gratefully. He had lost one parent once; his father had been killed in a quake. This felt somehow more painful. Perhaps because this time Sherry and Justin literally gave themselves in his place. "What is this place?"
"The house where I grew up in this life." She trailed her fingers over a broken fence. "A lot of us Elder Cultivators, like your generation, did not have families with two parents; maybe another sign of the future rebooted lineages. Some of us had single parents, or no parents, or distant relations instead. Siobhan and Rocky had just their mother, and then Shana and Edgar lost their parents but gained Octavia Toulume as a mother as well. Kellie had a single mother but lost her young; Desiree's two mothers helped raised her after that. Juliet's parents died right before she was an adult, but Clara argued for her independence. Virginia had a single father. Yvonne and Alexandria, like Desiree, had two parents—a mother and father for Yvonne, and two fathers for Lexie. And me . . . I had my great-aunt."
"What happened to your parents?" Theo asked curiously.
"I was, ah, not planned?" She smiled wryly as she said it. "My parents were under the age of adulthood, and not ready to be parents. A rarity, but does happen. They decided that they would have me, but they wanted me to have a more secure home than they could offer so intended to give me to the Care House as a safe drop. My great-aunt Carolina—my mother's aunt—immediately said that she would take me instead. She was an older woman even then, secure in her life, and she had wanted to be a mother. My parents agreed, and shortly after birth, Aunt Carolina took me home." Her eyes softened. "I loved her so much. I would have done anything to make her proud. She was in her eighties by the time the Redemption Wars started and we all had to put on Masks again. I didn't tell her. I just didn't want her to worry at her age. So I said nothing about anything, and she never knew up until she died ten years later."
"She knew," Justin said softly, and drew Sherry's startled gaze. "She knew," he said again, simply. "I don't know when she figured it out, but I learned she knew right before the Realm War. We had taken her out to dinner, and we ran into Siobhan and Shana."
"I remember that," Sherry mused. "Shana had still been weak and recovering from being in hospital, and Siobhan had named herself babysitter. Gods, how I hated seeing Shana weak! I would have done anything to make her better."
"And Carolina saw that, my love. She watched you interacting with them and then asked me very seriously 'would Sherry give her life for those two?'"
She let out a little breath, somehow unsurprised. "What did you tell her?"
"The truth. I told her that your very existence was dedicated to defending Siobhan and Shana. I then told her that I had been given the honor of being chosen for you, that my existence was dedicated to caring for you and protecting Edgar." He smiled. "She knew exactly what I really said, just as I had known what she had really asked. She said to not tell you she knew, but someday, when I felt the time right, to tell you she had never been more proud than to be your mother and that bringing you home had been the happiest day of her life."
Theo immediately went to Sherry's side and wrapped his arms around her. Sherry turned her face into her son's hair and let the tears well. Her great-aunt had been her rock, had given her all the love she could ever need. She was glad to know, in the end, Carolina had known and accepted and been proud of the truth of Sherry's existence.
"I guess that's why you're a great mom," he told her softly. "Given you had a good example."
"Don't help!" She swiped at her eyes as she released him. She fell silent again and then decided, "I'm ready. I've been traversing my memories all morning, and having seen this place where many are focused . . . I'm ready. I have no loose strings left. Let's go to the Core of Aster."
Theo met her eyes unflinchingly. "Until Aunt Siobhan can come back to your side, until you can protect her again, I will act in your place." He covered his heart with a hand. "All of us Resurrection Cultivators will protect her and Aunt Shana, but I will be her greatest Defender."
"I'd trust no one else," Sherry said simply.
There was nothing more to say. Theo gathered his magic around all four of them and it carried them across space to the ruins of the Aster Castle. Sherry's lashes flinched as she saw again the devastation of her kingdom for the second time, but she said nothing. It would be the last time. She would make sure of it.
The entrance to the Core was located under the ballroom floor. Kimber and Justin pried it up and then Justin jumped down first. After a glance around, he called, "It's fine."
Sherry and Theo jumped down to join him, and Kimber climbed down the ladder. "Kindly recall some of us are still relatively normal," she grumbled. "I can't jump ten feet down a hole without breaking my ankles."
"I'll teach you how to do it safely," Theo promised her. "Anyone with magic or majik can do it safely up to, hmm, fifteen feet or so? There are caveats to it—we're not Apexes who can turn off gravity—but you could for certain do it too. And you are not by any definition normal, Kimber." He shot her a lofty look. "No Cultivator chooses an inferior mate."
"I told you he's your son," Sherry murmured to Justin dryly.
He tugged on Theo's hair lightly. "He is indeed."
The walk was a long one but no one complained. Theo held a ball of majik to allow them to see where they were going, though there was not much to be seen. A point of light eventually appeared in the distance, and he let his spell diminish as the door grew closer. When the two lights met, the spell winked out.
Standing in front of them was the biggest door anyone had ever seen. Its warm toned surface had been inlaid with agate, and it had been carved with all the symbols across the universe that represented the Fire Flower Element. In the very center, the aster blossom Flower Mark that could be seen equally on Sherry and Theo.
Theo lightly touched the door and felt the wood pulsing under his fingertips. Softly, in his mind, he heard his priestess murmur, Alder is a sturdy wood with an affinity for fire. It burns pure and sweet and it can represent one's personal appearance. It can be used to trap or banish spirits. It suits well the orange aster that is about banishing evil, and love, as well as the agate which can also banish bad energies—but awaken talent.
At the smile on Theo's lips, Sherry glanced at him. "Is there something about the alder that makes it special? It can be used for banishing spirits, right, like our orange aster?"
"It can, but there's more to it. It also represents personal appearance." He knew from the way his parents and Kimber all smiled that they understood as well. "And our aster is also about love. And our agate has the ability to awaken talent as much as remove bad energy. It's like . . . we never knew just how much our world influenced us. Most of us came to understand some of the flowers, and a lot of the stones, but now that we see everything together . . . it makes more sense than we knew."
A soft and feminine presence stirred in the air. It was so potent that even Kimber felt it though hers were the most limited gifts present. Sherry recognized the presence first for she had felt her more than once in her life sworn to defend her queen. "Destiny," she breathed.
The door shimmered with all the colors of life and then began to ripple with the orange and yellow of Aster. I feel before me the Mother and Son of Aster. Who is it who comes to make the final sacrifice?
"I do." Sherry's chin lifted. "I am the Mother of Aster. I have come to give back my life and Seed to the planet that brought me forth. I give myself in place of my son so that he may fulfill whatever need you have of him."
Then you must make the first sacrifice. The sacrifice of mind. Your memories will remain here as you travel, and they will slowly leave you as you progress. You will remember only the people you love but not any experiences you shared with them.
"Done."
Theo desperately grabbed for Kimber's hand and held on. He had lied. He was not at all ready for this. He knew, was sure, that if she had not been there, he would never have had the will to endure watching what he knew would happen.
Justin briefly touched Theo's hair and then rested his hand on Sherry's shoulder. "And me?" he asked calmly. "I am here to give my life and magic as well so that I may follow the Cultivator you gave to me to protect. My king has already left this plane. Nothing holds me here."
Your sacrifice comes in the end, Justin. To reach the Core, it must be Sherry's sacrifice to open the way. But your dedication and your vow are heard, respected, and expected.
Sherry stood quietly with her back straight, and a glow centered at her chest. As it pushed forward, it brought her radiantly glowing Life Orb. Like the rest of her generation, it reflected back more than average for they had lived a longer than average life. The Orb floated forward and merged to the door so that it dissolved. Proud and tall, Sherry began to walk forward. Her steps were slow but purposeful. Pain tugged at her heart and soul as memories slipped free from her mind like coals being extinguished.
It was the everyday memories to go first. The tiny details of her two lives. The laughter and smiles she had shared with her friends. The little things she had taken for granted without realizing just how precious they were. As she progressed, the memories gained in importance. Her memories of the Dark Defenders and their Commanders faded away. They were her friends and family too. She and Alexandria had always shared such a wry humor for being the two chosen as twin souls to their princesses. Desiree's quiet strength and Kellie's inner spunk. Clara's wisdom and dry sense of humor. The Commanders and their big brother tendencies, especially Sam, had always made Sherry's day better.
The Resurrection Cultivators left her before she even realized how important the memories would be to her. Almost ten years she had known those kids, and it had been years of awe for the way they thought and worked and were seamlessly merged as one. She had envied them in many ways, but she had been even more proud.
It was memories of her fellow Light Defenders and the Protea Commanders to leave her next. So many more memories there, given that the team had been often split out of necessity. Memories of the Royal Era and balancing kingdoms and duties and their princess and prince. Memories of the Rebirth Era and balancing education and work and battles. Using her friends as living dressmaker dummies, and always laughing at how they feigned reluctance but immediately grabbed for whatever she made them. Their Caretakers, even more than the other set, had been like brothers to her. She and Michael, connected by Siobhan and Edgar, had been especially close. She had enjoyed watching him and Virginia butt heads together.
It was Edgar, Shana, and Rocky who left her next. She and Shana had been as close as sisters themselves, had spent many hours laughing and planning costumes for photos and simply hanging out. If ever she had felt stressed, Edgar had been only a call away to come make decisions and help her sort her troubles. And Rocky . . . he had been her little brother in all the important ways. He had always jumped to her defense, always made her believe there was something good in the world. His hand had always been there to hold, and now they were all gone.
Theo's image flickered through her mind, and her heart wept. Her son. If she could have asked for anything, it would have been to have just a few more years with this amazing person. They had spent so much time together making charms and telling fortunes, and he had always just laughed each time she dragged him off to her sewing room to make him try on whatever new thing she had made. He had even asked to learn some sewing basics, just so he could share it with her.
Gut-wrenching pain welled inside as Siobhan left her. Her twin soul mate. Her queen. How she had always loved her! From the day in the Royal Era when High Queen Hannah Delphinium had handed her the tiny white-haired baby to hold, there had been no one, until Justin, that Sherry had loved more. They had been together through everything, had pushed and prodded at each other over thousands of years. Watching Siobhan suffer as Apex had been agonizing, but watching her bloom into the greatest High Queen of the Delphinium Kingdom had been rewarding. Within a few steps . . . she was gone.
She stumbled as Justin's image slipped through her mind like smoke. How she loved him! She forgot everything as if it wasn't so important to her that it made up who she was. Their meeting in the Royal Era, and how she had determined early to have him for her own, only to end up playing dirty and invoking a certain law to ensure she got her soul mate. Their reunion in the Rebirth Era where as soon as she had remembered, she had stalked into his shop and claimed him anew. She had never hesitated with him, had known her life was better for having him in it. And he was gone.
She staggered and would have fallen, but Justin swiftly caught her. The tunnel ended abruptly as the second door appeared, and she focused all her concentration on staying on her feet. The pain seemed to claw at her entire body.
Inside Theo, the Resurrection Cultivator could feel something throbbing hotly and powerfully. If he tried, he was sure he could see and feel Sherry's memories inside him. "What is that?" he asked softly.
It is your final evolution. When this journey ends, your mother will no longer exist on this plane, but her very memories, emotions, reason for being, and strength will become your power. You will be her living legacy.
Theo bit back the protest welling inside. "I accept her legacy." He struggled to draw a deep breath without bursting into tears. "Why would you let them live this long only to demand their lives? After millions of years of Rulers and Defenders alike never managing a normal lifespan, you allowed the Rebirth Era ones to live to over five thousand years old, knowing all along you'd demand their life like this."
It ties directly to why, after millions of years, Blossom Field suddenly produced two generations of Duals where it never had before. Being a Dual Cultivator ensured Sherry's generation would be vastly more powerful and enduring, capable of surviving the harder and more terrible wars sure to come as the end of all evil slowly approached. Generations ended too young, blood staining the universe . . . these events meant that the Rebirth Cultivators would more deeply cherish the years they did live, and that when this moment came, they would make the right choice.
"And that's why also Theo's generation is both Dual and witch," Justin said softly. "For the very same reason of being as strong as possible. And . . . they will get to be the first generation in history to truly enjoy immortality, without fear of it ending any moment. One last sacrifice, one last bit of spilled blood, to secure the future."
The Resurrection Cultivators will rule until their children grow, pass along their crowns, and return to living nearly normal lives. They will never fear death knocking on their door for they are most valuable alive. Ruler Cultivators of all worlds will also stop fearing their lives ending young. Yes, some will never enjoy immortality—for nothing is ever certain and bad things will still happen—but it will be the exception and not the rule. The actions made now, the war fought now, will change the fabric of existence as it has been made thus far.
"And that makes this even more bearable," Sherry admitted. She straightened her back. "I am ready."
Then it is time for the second sacrifice. The sacrifice of heart. As you progress, you will lose your love for all those around you.
Kimber covered Theo's mouth with her hand before he cried out. He clung onto her wrist desperately, not to protest, but to use her strength as his own.
It is not too late, Sherry, Destiny said softly. You could go back.
"I am a Dual Cultivator of Aster." Her yellow eyes remained calm and determined. "I've given my life before to protect our universe. I can do it again."
So be it.
A bright glow centered once more on her chest, and as it pushed forth, it brought a glowing force in the shape of an aster blossom. Her two Marks had begun to fade, and Theo's to sparkle, but the glowing flower still matched them both.
The flower merged with the door and both dissolved to reveal another tunnel. Just the act of stepping forward was hard for Sherry. When Theo ducked under her arm to support her, Sherry let him aid her in moving forward. Justin and Kimber followed the two Cultivators with tears trailing down their faces. While they had been blessed to be chosen as a Caretaker for a Cultivator, there was also the pain of sometimes being unable to do anything to help.
Sherry could feel her love for her friends and family disappearing with every step. She was only left with the knowledge that she had remembered and loved them, and it hurt more than anything she had ever known before.
The Dark Defenders and Commanders . . . gone. The Resurrection Cultivators . . . gone. The Light Defenders and Commanders . . . gone. Shana and Rocky and Edgar . . . gone. Her fiery son . . . gone. Siobhan was torn out of her by the roots, and it was as if half of her soul had been gutted entirely. Her precious twin soul, her flighty yet incredibly loving queen . . . gone as if she had never defined Sherry's entire existence.
An image of Justin filled her mind, and she rebelled violently. "No!" she shouted. "You can't have him! I won't lose him again!"
The third door instantly appeared before them. Destiny's presence curled comfortingly around Sherry. I would not, could not, take a Cultivator's soul mate from them. If I did, there would be nothing left.
"You took Aunt Siobhan," Theo said softly.
And fragments still remain in Sherry's soul. Once soul mates of either type have met, there is no fully separating them again.
Sherry slowly straightened on a long breath. "What do you have left to take from me?"
The reason for your existence: your Seed.
When Theo's body jerked, Sherry hugged him for a moment. She did not remember him. She did not feel her love for him. That still did not stop the deepest parts of her from wanting, needing, to comfort her son. "So be it."
The last glow began and brought forth her Seed. It merged with the door and it disappeared. Sherry tried to walk forward, but her legs would not support her any longer. Justin ducked under her other arm, and he and Theo gave her the strength she needed to slowly, painfully, move down the hall.
The emptiness grew and expanded inside as she lost all knowledge of her long life as a Defender and Ruler. Her pride at being chosen. Her thousands of battles fought to defend kingdom and universe. The endless work of rebuilding her kingdom after watching it fall. She had never complained once, and she would never falter, not at this most important moment.
After painfully long hours that might have only been minutes, something began to loom in the distance. It rushed toward them and became not a door but a doorway. It engulfed them all in light, and when the glare faded, they stood in a circular room that glowed orange and yellow. In the very center of the room was an immensely large agate covered in living and decaying orange asters slowly being eaten by the evil tar dripping from the ceiling. The Core of Aster.
It is time, Sherry. It is your time as well, Justin.
Sherry shrugged off those aiding her and walked proudly, if slowly, beside Justin over to the agate Core. The evil in the room tried to rebel as they approached, but a pulse of orange and yellow magic from Sherry destroyed it entirely. The Core glowed weakly in response, but was so tired that even Theo barely felt it.
Sherry removed her Mask and gently placed it on the Core before covering it with her hands. As she felt how sick her world was, her own pain no longer mattered. This important being, her own Mother, had endured for even longer than the Elder Cultivators, and she had not had the support of a Caretaker. All she'd had were her chosen children, and Sherry was more proud than ever to have served.
She let her lifeforce and magic well inside and poured it into the Core. Beside her, Justin rested his hands over hers and let his own lifeforce well in turn. As they gave back to the Core, both began to slowly fade. In that moment, the beautiful moment, Sherry remembered and felt it all once more. She could also feel Siobhan's distant pain; it was truly horrible for she now lost two of those connected to her soul. "Destiny."
Ask.
"Shield her. Shield my twin. Don't let her grief tear her apart."
It is done. You are everything that is Aster, Sherry. You are fiery and passionate, one who gives love and makes others look and feel their best. You kept bad spirits at bay while readily embracing those who would ask you to lead instead. You have done all that was ever asked of you, even when you did not know you were being asked.
Sherry turned and held her hand out to Theo. Though she was almost gone, she felt Theo's fingers lace tightly with hers. "I'm proud to have been your mother. Proud to pass on the legacy as the Dual Cultivator of Aster. I don't regret a single thing. I know you will protect my queen until she can return to my side."
"I won't let you down," Theo whispered.
Finally, slowly, at last, Sherry faded away entirely as everything that she was returned to the planet that had given her life. Justin, too, faded entirely. The Core began to quiver and shake and then produced a glow more radiant than anything anyone had ever seen, and every flower blossomed again. Theo could feel the pulsing warmth of Sherry's power inside his soul. It was her memories, emotions, existence, and life. He had become her living legacy.
His Mask appeared in his hands and started to sparkle not unlike his sparkling Marks as every fracture mended. He felt the magikry inside his body expanding and contracting and pushing his limits ever more. His Flower Marks began to glow hotly against his skin.
It is time, Theo, came Destiny's voice. You are powered by the oldest of magic, the rawest force of the Fire Flower Element. Take this destiny thrust upon you and bloom!
He did not hesitate as he pulled on his Mask, and a third aster blossom appeared on his Defender Mark as all blossoms across both Marks opened into full bloom. As his shining and glittering armor formed, Kimber could actually feel his magikry tingling against her own majik fiercely. It felt, a little, like Sherry had never left. She was there, living inside her son, becoming the power that fueled him.
He suddenly lost his strength and started to collapse. Kimber shot to his side and caught him in her arms safely. She lowered him gently without releasing her grip. She could carry him while conscious, but could not quite manage if he was all but out—especially not now that his majik had increased and made him weigh a bit more. She needed a little more strength training first! She removed his Mask for him and then safely tucked it into his hands as his head rested against her breast tiredly.
He could feel his mother's presence still. She still existed, though now on another plane. She would not be there to laugh with and talk to, but she was not entirely gone either. Knowing it, his grief gently lifted.
Destiny's power swirled around them tenderly. I will return you to the surface, she said softly. Sleep, Theodore. Your world is as proud of you as I am.
A small smile touched the Cultivator's lips though he did not open his eyes. He felt pretty damn proud to be chosen by his world and Destiny, too.
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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