Light in Dark Places

Chapter Fifty-Five

"What do you mean this has happened before?" Schwartz asks, and Benedict wants to hide and never come out again.

"It's a God-Class talent. Someone turned back time. We've done this before."

"There's no such thing as a God-Class talent," Schwartz says, exasperated. And that seems to be the most ready point of logic that anyone knows how to focus on— there's no such thing as a God-Class talent— and so they focus on it, instead of the other part of what he said. This has all happened before.

"There is," Benedict says.

"And who are you claiming has this God-Class ability? Joan?" Everyone looks at Joan.

"I just found out I amplify," Joan protests. "I don't even... that's practically not even a talent..."

"It's not Joan," Benedict says. Because it's like he remembers now. Ever since he and Hiraeth reunited. And now Hiraeth has helped save the city, Benedict has helped save the city. There's no point in denying it anymore. Even if Hiraeth is saying quietly in his mind, Beloved, it never works. If you tell them too much it only ends up being worse.

"You're really saying you think someone has the Ash talent to turn back time?" Schwartz says, and she says it like she knows Benedict is crazy but is humoring him anyway.

"Yes," Benedict says.

And he looks at Agatha.

*

They are looking at her again. It's always the same moment, over and over again, they always react the same way. And she knows why Benedict has to tell them; it's much too much for him to bear alone. But he has an imperfect memory, only remembering through echoes, and sometimes he forgets why it's important they don't explain everything.

"You saved me," Joan says suddenly. "You—Creosote killed me. And then you turned back time, and we were standing there again and I thought—did that happen?"

"You weren't dead," Agatha feels the need to correct.

"You really turn back time?" Schwartz says. "You did it just now?"

Agatha nods, not looking at Benedict, not looking at the gods, not looking at anyone.

"That's so cool," Schwartz says.

"Wait," Jude says. "You said—this has happened before. You can't just mean that one time with Joan."

Dread fills her. "No, it wasn't just that one time with Joan."

"I only remember the once," Joan startles.

"Because I only turned back two minutes. It's like— a restart button. You remember because there was much less to forget."

"You can turn back more than just two minutes?" Jude says skeptically. "How much time are you saying you turned back?"

Jude is quicker than the others. He never fully believes at first, but he's always the first to think through all the implications. Always the first to ask the important questions.

"How many times have your turned back time?" he asks.

But Agatha doesn't have to respond.

"Seven," Benedict says. Because that's how many echoes he hears and sees. And before that it was six, and before that it was five, and so on. Poor Benedict who is slowly being driven mad by the echoes. He's just a Barely, and his ability hasn't grown at all, but the echoes have become ever so much stronger.