The Hanging Man • JW

The Eye

Whilst the dawn set, Jack and Athena sat on the park bench in silence. They were in shock, and we're a bit sad.

It was over.

Now they will know whether all these quests will lead them to a life time of jail, or something magical. Athena knew which one she wanted. 

Once dark had came, the two decided to start to make their way over to the metal gates where they would reunite with the other three.

"It's locked..." Athena heard Henley mutter, looking at the chain on the gate.

"Didn't I tell you that nothing's ever locked?" Jack walked over, a smirk plastered on his lips. The younger girl chuckled behind him, joyed to see the others. 

"Well done Wilder!" Henley beamed as he unlocked the gate.

"You're big children now," Merritt chuckled, a smile on his face. 

As soon as the gate was opened, Athena pulled the others into a group hug. Even Danny allowed this to happen.

"I don't care if what we've done leads us to a life time in jail, I'm just so glad I shared this journey with you idiots," Athena grinned, pulling away from the hug.  "And we are a family now, okay? That means none of you are ever getting rid of me."

"Fine by me," Jack chuckled.

The Five Horsemen began to make their way over to the famous Lionel Shrike tree, where a card lay beneath the glass, embedded into the tree.

"Hopefully all of this doesn't lead to us getting mugged in the park at 2am," Athena muttered, earning a few giggles from Jack and Merritt.

All of them piled next to each other to get a better look of the tree, it was magnificent. 

"What now?" Merritt asked, standing back slightly. 

Athena pulled something out of her pocket, drawing in the attention of the others. Her tarot card. The thing that started all of this. The Hanging Man.

The others followed, and put their cards above hers. Strangely, they began attaching to hers.

The last one on was Death, and Athena finally understood why. Jack was death, he faked his own death, he controlled whether he lived or died that day. But Athena was simply a prop to this show, someone who didn't need to be there. Deaths props are the people that die everyday. The hanging man...

All five cards created a see through card with the familiar picture of the eye. The same mystery and curiosity they had felt when they saw each one of their cards arose.

Slowly, Athena waved the card over the card encased in glass, and the card began to shine at them.

"Oh, nice," Merritt spoke through the silence, intruiged.

Suddenly, the sound of a carousel began to fill the park, making the five heads turn around immediately. 

They followed the sounds, eager but wary. The carousel appeared, and in front of it there was a person Athena would never have expected to see..

"What in the world?" Athena muttered, shocked.

"Whoa..."

"That's impossible!"

"No way."

"That was actually pretty good," Danny nodded, standing in line with the Horsemen. 

The man that was hunting them down since day one. The one they all thought was their biggest enemy. Little did they know he was their best friend. Dylan Rhodes. 

Humbly, he took a small bow.  "Thank you."

Awkwardly, Danny piped up. "When I said, 'always be the smartest guy in the room...'"

"We were in agreement," Rhodes smiled.

"Okay, right."

Dylan turned to Henley, a grin on his lips as Henley watched in shock. "Henley," he nodded.

She couldn't speak, it was rather strange.

"I've never seen her speechless before," Danny grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Rhodes beamed as he shook her hand.  He turned to face Jack, who had a mixture of shock and sorrow on his face.

"I am so sorry for kicking your ass," he gulped, looking relieved when Dylan laughed.

Merritt stepped in. "For the record, I have always been and 100% believer," he said, raising his hands. "And the amount of energy I have expended to keep these infidels on point-" Athena nudged him.

"Merritt, you're in."

"God Bless."

Finally, he turned to Athena who was sporting the biggest grin ever.

"Okay, you're officially the best person I know-"

"Hey-"

"Sorry Danny, but wow," she spoke quick, happiness flooding her.

Rhodes chuckled, shaking her hand. "Thank you," he nodded, and stepped back. 

"Come," Dylan motioned for the horsemen to follow him onto the carousel. "The real magic is taking 5 strong solo acts and making them all work together... And that's exactly what you did."

Dylan turned around to face them, his back nearly touching the moving carousel.  "So welcome, welcome to The Eye..."

He grabbed onto a pole, disappearing from sight as the carousel took him away.

Right away, Athena grabbed Jack's hand, pulling him forward. The others thought for a moment, wondering if they truly wanted to join, but there was no thinking about it for Athena.

She finally found a home. Not a place where she has a comfortable bed, but people she loves and trusts.

Quickly, she grabbed onto a pole and jumped on, Jack following her.

A couple of minutes ago she thought she might not ever see Jack again. Now she knew there were more things to do, more things to put right.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him into a kiss. The carousel turned beneath them, music bellowing out. It was amazing.

Although their task was finished, the journey was far from being over....