Prophecy: Tome of Magic

20. Reconciled

Only a week had passed since Andreegys' defeat, and yet it felt like no amount of time could ever separate them from the nightmare that it had all been. Though, that wasn't completely true. The rest of the world had seemed to forget, having already returned to their lives as they had been before. It wasn't their fault, or that they were careless-they just didn't remember. After everything had finished, and the world was free from the old god's command, Vorne and Byrenion had called a temporary truce and used their great powers in combination to blanket the earth and make them all forget.

But the others, Toby and all his friends, they remembered.

Still they tried to pick up the pieces, and Toby waited alone downstairs in the magic shop. He and Myrna had plans to go visit a dear friend, but something was taking the witch longer than usual. It was okay, he was in no rush, and he idled around the store, a million memories popping up from the past four years that he'd spent in this very space with his friends. His family. How many battles they'd planned out around the table, how many mysteries they'd solved, and how many lives they'd saved.

"I'm ready." Myrna called, disrupting his moment, so he turned to look at her. Then he did a double take before laughing under his breath.

"What the hell happened to your hair?" He pointed to her head, and laughed again at what she'd done. She was bald, all the way to the scalp.

"It wasn't my hair, it was his. It was the last of him that was still a part of me, and I needed to get rid of it. So I did, and I feel so much lighter somehow, you know? I feel free, and I know that it's not everything, especially with what I've been through, but it's a dang good place to start, considering." She shrugged, her hoop earrings bouncing along.

"Yeah, I know how that feels." He wasn't mocking her this time as he nodded in agreement. "When I finally accepted things for the way they were, you know, when I accepted that Austin was really gone, I started to feel that way too. It's not easy, I know that, but I'm working to get back to my old self. I'm lucky, I guess, I got off easier than a lot of us."

"Blair knew what she was doing." Myrna was serious, inferring his meaning. "She made a sacrifice, and now we'll do what we can to keep her comfortable. She'll be kept at the demon hospital, which has continued on even without Nina. Fortunately she had the good sense to hire other doctors who were like her. Things aren't the same as they were before, and I know they never will be again, but we've just got to find a way to deal, right? It's a good thing the rest of the world can't remember what really happened-they're not ready for the truth. We'll figure it out."

"Is it really that easy? How are we supposed to come back from something like this? Everything we've lost, all the things we've done," Toby sighed, looking at his feet, "I don't know. Just because they don't remember doesn't mean it didn't happen. In that last fight, we had to go up against people, regular, ordinary people who had no control over what they were doing. We had to kill some of them. That's innocent blood that we have to carry around now, and I've had enough blood for one lifetime."

"It was kill or be killed. We had no choice, and the minute you start trying to save everybody is the minute you start losing people. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." She seemed calloused when she said it, and she didn't linger long. "Just try not to focus on that, instead try to look forward, to how we can rebuild. You said that you were trying to get back to your old self, so hold onto that."

"That's easier said than done." He cleared his mind of the negative thoughts. "You seem to have found a pretty damn good place to start, maybe you can let me in on your secret."