Chapter 82-3 Expensive Success

In the morning, Miara had one of her headaches, and Peter was in some sort of pain, too. I was still in the fog, I'm sure it was the zogin rock that caused it because I rejected it because it made me hurt Ravenna. I wasn't paying any more attention to things than usual. There was breakfast, and Grandon said he couldn't possibly loan us the Leatherhawk. But he offered a test ride to some of us, because he was just so gosh-darned proud of the contraption. He shouldn't have let us near it, of course, but it's better that he did. In the long run.

So Miara, Sun, Jose, and Ravenna went. And I followed Ravenna, as I always did. Just in case she needed me, or maybe just because there wasn't anything else to do. I found a seat and Grandon talked at us during the whole trip.

A while later, we landed, and Miara and the rest stole the sky ship and we flew off into the air to the hole. Ravenna was sure that was the solution and she convinced everyone else. In my fog, I was hopeless: the hole was from Ravenna's fever-dream, sent by the crystal itself. Just like mine and everyone else's. No, I was sure the crystal was luring us there on purpose and it would all end badly. But I was also sure there wasn't any other way to fix things. We were doomed, and that was it. And I didn't really care that much.

It was a long trip, and of course we were attacked all along the way. By demons defending the chaos; by dwarves in weird flying contraptions; even by that Cold-Fire Knight, Mathilda.

They fought everyone off, but I could feel the draw of the rock as they used it. Of course it was happy -- the more they used it, the more they sealed their fate. Ravenna was right to fear the power and the draw of the rock. She tried so hard to argue me out of using it all the time. And then I used it and almost killed her and rejected it. And then I did the worst thing I could have: I insisted she be the one to carry the rock of air. I've wondered since then if it was really the rock talking through me. She really tried to use it very little. But when it was necessary, she did, and it just became necessary more and more often.

At any rate, they defeated everyone and flew on to the hole in the sky. It was a huge, dark cloud, spiralling towards a black hole at its center. We flew high up in the air, and it was cold and hard to breathe and windy. It was almost enough to blow away the fog, but not quite.

Everyone readied themselves, and then things got weird. Miara attacked Jose for no apparent reason, Ashe rushed in to save him and ended fighting Miara to keep her from killing everyone.

And I was back in my own rock-sent fever-dream. I was back in the dark room with the gypsy, the one who said I'd destroy everything. I tried to apologize. It was Tzeentch, not me in control! She laughed harder and harder and split open. A torrent of gore poured from her, but somehow she became Zockri, then the chaos warriors, then Mario Malusalbus. They just radiated unconditional love. They said, "You have done it, you've brought Tzeentch's 4000-year plan to fruition. You cannot succeed, fight no longer, you have fulfilled his vision." Mario Malusalbus leaned forward to kiss me, and there are eyes, eyes where there shouldn't be eyes. I backed away in fright, slipped and sat down on the deck and the vision blew away in tatters. I burst into hysterical tears and missed what happened next.

All at once, I was calm. The fog was gone. I didn't feel the rock anymore. At all. It looked like Ashe had tackled Miara, and she wasn't fighting him anymore. The rest looked around in wonder, and Kyuskay landed back on the deck. The hole was gone. Everything was going to be all right.

But Miara yelled something and pushed Ashe off her. He backed away, and then just burst into flames, becoming nothing but a greasy smear and a few ashes in the wind in just a few heartbeats. At the same time, Bark became a fountain of water that washed away his empty skin.

Worst of all, Kyuskay and Ravenna just went *poof*, into clouds of dust that blew away in the high wind. I resumed my crying and again missed a lot of what happened after.

Somehow, they fought the ship back to land. It disintegrated, but those of us who weren't already dead were fine. Back in the village of East Egg, we discovered that Goldrim had turned into a statue and was already crumbling away: the last sacrifice to the Crystal.

We picked up Peter, Peytra, and the four chaos warriors and left under sunshine, before the dwarves' tears turned into rage.

I don't remember much of the next few months -- not because of the rock-induced fog, because that was really gone -- but just grief and sheer fatigue and the death march through the mountains in a harsh winter. It's a miracle we all lived through it and reached the Druidess finally.

We recovered slowly under her kindness.

 

And that's the end. The end of the rock, the end of Ravenna. I know she meant to found a Biancan Hospice, but that's not something I can do for her. What I can do is give her journal to her order. There's a great deal of information about herbs and medicinces and caring for wounds and diseases and nastier things. It's not all battles and weird chaos magic. Besides, maybe some young, naive monk will take one look at it and decide to stay put instead of wandering around getting into trouble.

Peytra has found another oracle to follow in the Druidess and is staying here to help. She means well. The chaos warriors are swiftly becoming just warriors, and I think they'll probably head off pretty soon and find themselves a mercenary company to hire into. Jose, well, he's a little touched. He's convinced that fish keep falling out of his robes all around him, even though we keep tryingo to tell him it's all in head. Anyway, he's going to Eyrie to see if the holy monks there can help him out. Miara, Sun, and Peter are going to Nippon.

I found peace here in the Druidess' valley, and I'm staying here. You know where to find me.

The End