The Ethereal Saga - Volume One - The Child of Light

Chapter Seventeen - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

He followed her through the Gothic hallway and through the pristine Kitchen. There was a door, with another flight of steps spiralling down to a badly lit cellar. In its centre stood a pool of water made with shiny black ceramic tiles that were at odds with the state of the rest of the cellar that had old and cracked concrete walls and floor.
"When you say dad," Alex said turning to look at her, "You mean Kurt, don't you? He was here with you."
Lucy nodded.
She spoke with a broken voice, "He knew about possessions better than anyone. He knew how to survive them. He'd read about this place and carried this with him always."
She reached under her top and showed Alex a chain around her neck that had a key hanging from it.
"When people get possessed, they don't survive. Their soul is gone forever. But this place changes that. It's a world between worlds. Dad said he thinks Medial made it, so he could watch Earth through the mirror. The key is symbolic mostly. Medial wanted nothing but to stop the pain the war was causing. This key is symbolic of that, it stops the pain of death. It saves your soul."
The concept of the soul was a pretty alien idea to Alex, who had never considered anything spiritual to have much merit, but it made sense, given that he was here and absent from his own body.
She continued, "Dad said he brought me here when I was possessed as a baby. He took care of me. The person with the key can choose one companion to spend eternity with."
"Where is he now?" Alex wondered.
She gestured to the pool and they walked over to it. The water was crystal, reflecting their images back at them. Alex saw himself. In a matter of days, he felt as though he'd aged years.
Lucy put her hand in to the water and moved it back and forth, "This pool is magical. Will something to happen and it'll give it to you. For a price."
Alex had an idea, "Suppose I will it to give me a way back in to my body."
Surprisingly, she nodded.
"It can do that," she said, "I got out a few times as you know. But, it's not that easy."
Alex felt undeterred, he had to do whatever it took to get out and save his mother, "What do I have to do?"
"It will give you what you want. But you have to pass a test. Otherwise it exacts a heavy toll," she explained.
"What kind of heavy toll?" questioned Alex.
"A sacrifice," she explained, "Fail and it will still give you what you want but you'll lose something far worse."
Alex realised what she meant, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," said Lucy, "It was my fault."
Alex became conscious of the fact that his presence was no accident, "That's how you saved me, you were able to use the key because you no longer had a companion."
She reached in to the pool and pulled out a jagged piece of glass, "This completes the mirror. When it's complete, the mirror becomes a sort of portal and allows you back to your body. But, there's a catch."
"It's temporary, isn't it? That's why you're back here." he discerned.
"Yeah, well-no," she said confusingly, "It can be permanent. If you're willing to make it so."
"How?" Alex asked, pressing for answers still.
Her eyes were red and puffy from her tears, the conversation about Kurt clearly hurting her. Nonetheless, Alex thought. He had to know.
"Kurt said the pool's test were too risky. He did it once to get the piece of the mirror and said it was too risky to try again. He made me promise to never touch it." Lucy explained.
"Why can't we escape permanently?" he asked, pushing her for answers.
Lucy spoke sadly, "The person who possessed you has to die. I was possessed by the twat in Dad's body."
Alex understood, "That's why he sent you alone. He wanted you to kill him."
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, her eyes watering betraying her attempts to hide the emotions speaking about him brought her, "No. He didn't have a choice. Dad was possessed way before I was born. He took the pool's tests and begged it for a way out. He failed. It gave him the piece to finish the mirror, but it made him save me."
"Saving you was a sacrifice?" asked Alex, unable to discern where the negative was.
"Don't you see?" she asked rhetorically, "As soon as he saved me. He couldn't ever leave and kill the person who possessed him. Then there'd be no one to save me."
"His punishment took advantage of his good nature," Alex said.
She agreed, "That's right. He'd never have doomed me to a life here alone. So, he raised me. A few months ago, he told me the truth. That I had to go to the world behind the mirror and kill him. I refused at first, obviously. But he was right. The more I saw behind the mirror, the more I realised someone had to stop her. None of you were safe."
"So you went to try and kill him," said Alex.
"I really thought I could. That I had it within me," uttered Lucy guiltily.
"You couldn't kill the man with your father's face," Alex supposed.
She looked down, avoiding his gaze, "I considered killing myself once I took control. But then there would still be Kurt's possessor to worry about. I even tried to warn you but, it didn't work! I never had enough time. So, I came up with another plan..."
"The pool," realised Alex, "That's what happened to him, isn't it? You tried to use the pool to help you."
"I wanted a way to have the strength to save you all. I failed the test. It gave me what I needed but it took its price."
Alex inferred what she was saying, "You couldn't kill him because you couldn't let go of the hope of saving him too."
He looked at the pool and couldn't help but feel in awe of its power, "So it gave you the motivation to save us by giving you the motivation to kill him. You couldn't save his soul if it was gone."
Lucy looked at him panged with pain and guilt, "My actions killed him."
Alex didn't know what to say. He consoled her by putting his arm around her. She cried softly in to his chest. As she did so he stared in to the pool.
"This test, what is it?" he asked.
She wiped her eyes on his top and looked at him, her sadness still obvious, "It's a test of a character."
"So why did he fail?" Alex asked, "Why did you fail?"
She moved away from his arms and shrugged, "I don't know."
"A test of character..." Alex repeated. Alex put his hand in the water. It was refreshingly cool. He moved his hand through the water and watched the ripples as he was deep in thought. He was not sure of his own character, and he was certain that the character of the man who saved and raised Lucy was superior to his own. So, what then would have made them fail? Could it be that his last hope was doomed to failure?
No, he thought, he wouldn't be denied. He had to save her.
"Medial wanted to end the conflict," Alex thought out-loud.
"That's right," Lucy agreed, "Dad said he made buffers like these to separate good and evil."
"But it's not that simple," Alex continued, "Good and Evil isn't binary, I've seen it myself. Like, take you for example, you have to kill for your freedom but that's not bad, you have no choice. I had to kill to save somebody. Sure, some things might be plain good, and some things might be plain evil but the closer you get to the centre, the greyer it becomes."
Lucy shrugged again, "I'm not sure Medial was big on philosophy."
"No," agreed Alex. As she said that, she made it make sense for him, "The centre..."
"But he's in between!" Alex exclaimed, "These places! They're in the middle. You said it yourself, they're a buffer."
"Yeah, so?" she asked.
"So, why would his rules be any different? Don't you see? It's not about what you've done. It's about what you want to do. Your character is determined by your actions."
"Dad's actions were good, he saved my life, raised me," she said protesting his inference.
Alex agreed, "He did. But when he wanted to be free of this place, he was going to kill. He wanted to kill the person who possessed him. The pool was never going to let him out for that reason."
She had to admit that made sense, "Then why didn't it help me save you all?"
Alex thought about this for a moment, "Because you broke your promise. You used the pool even though you told Kurt you wouldn't."
Lucy was taken aback, everything he said made sense.
"If you're right," said Lucy not entirely convinced yet, "then the pool will help you. It will help you save your mum. Then we can get out of here and do something about it."
She was right, he decided. His intentions were honest. He already had a route out of this place, so his intentions weren't guided by self-service or selfishness. He just wanted to save his mother. What can be more honest and purer of character than that?
He stared in to the pool's surface and watched his reflection looking back at him. After a few brief moments the water swirled, and the reflection changed to that of his fathers. A few seconds later, it disappeared.
"What did you see?" Lucy asked.
"My dad," he replied.
It took a few moments, but it came to him.
"My dad!" he said excitedly, "He has Light powers. He broke the dark orb. Light undoes dark! He can save Mum! I just need to get through to him."
"Alright," Lucy said, "But he's in a hell of a funk. How do you plan on snapping him out of it?"
"We'll find a way. We have to," Alex said thinking of his mother's peril.

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They hurried up the stairs to the mirror. Alex knew they had no time to waste.
"Where are they?" asked Alex.
"I don't know," Lucy admitted, "We'll have to re-wind."
She placed her hand on the mirror. The scene began to form once again. He saw Laura and Aaron carrying his mother's limp body. Alex knew she was still alive, but she barely looked it. Her complexion was pale white.
"She doesn't have long," said Lucy.
"Then find them quicker!" Alex demanded.
He watched as she turned her hand on the mirror and the scene sped up. He worried for their safety as they were surrounded by a pack of ghouls. They retreated backwards until they were flanked. They laid Linda down on the mud and began defending themselves. Alex was moved by the way they stood around her, prioritising her safety. After a while, and a lot of blue ghoul goo, Zach, Michael and Tom arrived to help them. He didn't know what they were saying at the speed he was watching the events unfold but they seemed despondent. After a while, night came over them and Alex wondered how long that he'd been stuck here. The group before him became visibly worried, looking upwards in fear. Alex followed their eyes and saw the sky. It was starless. The orb had done its job, it had acted as a beacon and an anchor. Lestrat, the shadow, was here.
"The Henge!" exclaimed Alex, "We need to go to the Henge!"
Lucy placed the piece in to the mirror. She took his hand and demonstrated the absence of solidity by putting her hand through the gap. They stepped in to the mirror together.