Algernon Black

(Chapter 156) The Reality of Goodbye

Lucy woke up alone with the sheets still distorted from where Algernon had laid with her. She ran a hand over the fabric hoping to feel some residual warmth, but only felt the cold settled into the threads of silk.

She remained quietly reminiscing about last night when something shiny caught her eye. Her thumb passed over the gold pendant around her neck with its metal bird and branch. She smiled but she was abruptly drawn away from the kindness of the gift by a knock at her door.

"One second!" Lucy rushed out of bed to pull on a long sleeve nightgown that she should have been wearing last night.

She let herself hope for who it could be but knew it wouldn't be Algernon. Everything between them had been in the safety of the dark and now in the morning light, there was no place for them. But still, she wished for him as she opened the door.

"One second is too long to wait when I haven't seen you in months," Jared said, standing before his sister in all his glory.

Lucy was surprised at first, before overwhelming joy lunged her into her brother's open arms.

His hair was grown-out and he had acquired a handful more freckles and a stubble to his cheeks that pricked hers. He smelled of home. "I've missed you." She sobbed with every fiber of her being.

"Me too." Jared released a deep breath of relief. "Thank god Solace was looking after you so well."

Lucy settled into her brother's hold but questioned for the first time in her life if he truly understood everything and who really was the one looking after her.

"It's so nice to see such a happy family reunion," Mrs. Black spoke somberly from behind. She had been the one to greet Jared at the door and lead him to Lucy's room.

Lucy smiled at Mrs. Black before peering past her. But she could sense Algernon's absence and knew there wouldn't be a goodbye from him. It saddened her as strangely as it relieved her.

It didn't take Lucy longer than ten minutes to pack up all her things, while Jared and Mrs. Black conversed. She spotted the glittering dress flung across the floor and picked it up. A symbol of her now favorite memories. She packed it away. Jared might make her get rid of it in a few months or tell her it's too big to carry but she would find some way to keep it. She swore it to herself as she carried her bag out of the Black Manor to an awaiting carriage.

"Lucy, it's been nothing but a joy having you stay with us." Mrs. Black glanced over Lucy's shining yellow hair and bright gray eyes to see exactly what her son was so fond of. "A lot less light will be in our lives from now on, but thank you so much for what happiness you brought to my family when you did."

Lucy felt for the first time in perhaps her life, the tenderness of a mother in Mrs. Black's kindness, and dropped her suitcase to pull her into a hug.

"You and Algernon deserve all the happiness this world has to offer."

Mrs. Black was caught off guard by the sudden physical contact as it was a near-extinct occurrence in her household, but after the shock subdued, she hugged Lucy back like she was losing a daughter. "I know this is probably all a little overwhelming for you, but if you ever need to, or even if you want to visit." Mrs. Black paused as she grasped for the right words. "Lucy," she called out lovingly. "Feel free to think of here as home."

"Thank you." Lucy nodded and through an agonizingly tight ache wiped away tears threatening to fall.

When Mrs. Black finally let her go; she had water glimmering her own eyes as well.

"Lucy, it's time to go," Jared interrupted, after boarding her luggage. He thanked Mrs. Black again for safely hosting her. She told him never to thank her for something she was more than happy to do, saying if her husband was still alive, he'd be delighted to help and see one of his favorite pupils so well grown. Jared found no response to the compliment as all it did was make him reflect on Professor Blackwood, the most remarkable man he had ever known. He wondered how his son would have turned out if he stayed alive. If he could have been something other than what Jared and the world knew him to be.

Jared helped Lucy into the carriage and signaled to the driver Solace had so kindly prepared. Luckily the roads were clear and any snow from last night was already melted by the morning sun as the two siblings started on their next adventure.

Lucy opened the small window to say her last goodbyes to Mrs. Black as a tear glided down her cheek, finally coming to terms she was leaving not only the only woman to ever show her an ounce of motherly love, but also Algernon, the only one she had ever so earnestly loved.

"Goodbye, Lucy," Mrs. Black said with genuine sadness. She inhaled a deep breath, gathering herself before turning to Hanagan. "Have you seen my son?" she asked, already mostly back to her typical no-nonsense attitude. "I couldn't find him anywhere. And I didn't think this would be a sendoff he was cowardly enough to avoid."

"He left this morning ma'am."

Cecilia spun around to face the butler with suck sudden force her braid wiped her neck. "Where?" she asked as a mother's sixth sense filled her with dread.

"I only know with whom."

The further the siblings traversed into the bright day the further a gloom casted over Lucy. She was more than happy to be reunited with her brother, but felt like she was leaving a different branch of family behind.

"That boy didn't even bother to show up to say goodbye." Jared remarked.

"No," Lucy replied, though she could understand all too well why he hadn't. Goodbye was only easy in theory, not in this heartbreaking reality.

"It's a shame Solace didn't end up showing." Jared twisted a ring around his finger. "Well he must be busy with his professor duties. And he already spends so much time helping us anyways."

Lucy only returned a meager wordless mumble as a reply while gazing out the window.

"Well," Jared went on awkwardly. "The best thing is to rid our hands of all of it and move forward."

Lucy didn't even bother with so much as a grunt in responses.

Jared could feel the gravity of Lucy's unhappiness like it was a force upon his chest.

He supposed it was rather unfair to pull her away from Attwood when she so craved a life filled with people, but he thought he might finally be able to do something to please them both.

"Lucy," Jared called out tenderly as she for the first time looked at her brother since entering the carriage. "I think I've finally found a place for us." Jared smiled as he himself grew excited, realizing for the first time in a very long time he looked forward to their future. He spun the ring Devane had given him around his finger, eager to return it, but even more eager to return to him with his sister. He just had to break the news to her before he used the transportation stone implanted in it to take them away. "A place that could be home. Just like we've always wanted."

Lucy stared at her brother and felt that was impossible, too many people, who had become her family, were missing for there to be a home for her anywhere but here.

Lucy swallowed the stifling knot in her throat, not knowing how to tell him that she wanted to stay, even if it meant being away from him. But it was all Lucy wanted, to get back to her friends, to Algernon. For the first time ever, Lucy was about to tell her brother that she was going to decide her future for herself, even if that went against the person who had kept her alive, fed, and loved for as long as she could remember. She built up the courage to do it, opening her mouth when a flash of light in the far distance caught her attention. Lighting? Lucy thought, but it's so bright outside.

The next flash fired directly at them.

The carriage shattered on impact, battered to pieces by an exceptionally strong beam of light magic. Lucy was thrown to the gravel, barely conscious as her brother lay feet away from her, blood streaking down his face. She cried his name but didn't know if any sound came as a harsh ringing engulfed everything. She tried to crawl to him, but it was a battle to even keep her eyes open at the moment. And it became a fight she quickly lost, as a tall dark figure approached from the foreground.

Algernon's name tumbled from Lucy's lips as she strained to make sense of the familiar frame.

"Not quite." Brickwood grinned, picking up Lucy's limp body as her eyes closed and she lost the battle to keep back the darkness.