ARKEN

Epilogue

Devers was relieved to see Jordan again. It had been a couple of days and he was starting to fear something bad had happened. The young man's face was a mix of flesh color and shades of pink and purple. His left eye was black and swollen, and his nose didn't look in the best shape.

"I'm okay, all of this will heal," he reassured the old man. They sat in the living room with tea, though Jordan did not have any. "How did it go?"

"The girl is safe. It was rough for a while, and I wasn't sure. I checked on her before coming here, and the doctors say she'll be fine, just a large scar and a bit of short-term memory loss from hitting her head."

"That may be a good thing."

"I was thinking the same."

"It's good then, that you succeeded." Devers took another sip of tea. Jordan leaned forward, "There's more."

"I know, I was waiting for you to tell me."

"The Militia was destroyed. A lot of people didn't make it out. After that, we retaliated on the HDF. The Chicago branch is finished, a ruin."

"This is good, their terrible deeds are no more."

"What did it cost, though? So many died at the motel, and I know there were plenty at the HDF building who didn't deserve what happened to them."

"That is so, but such is the nature of change."

"I...found Tobias. He was being held in the basement of that building, hooked up to some vile machine. Somehow, they used him to detect and find other arken. I rescued him from it, and he wanted to destroy the machine. It's like he felt it was his responsibility."

The idea of such a machine filled Devers with discomfort. The thought of so many arken being in danger because of it was not something he wanted to think about. "And did he destroy it?"

Jordan nodded, "Yes, but it killed him in the process."

Devers closed his eyes briefly. Tobias was like a son to him, and to lose the young man hurt him deeply. However, rather than give in to the grief, he found a smile forming across his lips, a smile of sadness, but of pride and of joy as well.

"He knew what he was doing, and in the end, he knew what might happen. Who knows how many of us will remain free because of his actions? Tobias struggled for years to understand his purpose in life, but I think he found it in that room, destroying that machine."

Jordan did not feel uplifted by Devers' thoughts. He could tell this, "What's on your mind?" Jordan looked at him with the same expression he saw in Tobias years ago, and he knew what Jordan would say. "I don't know what to do. I have absolutely no idea what comes next."

"Instead of asking yourself what you should do, or what you need to do, ask yourself what you want to do."

Jordan was quiet as he considered, responding, "I want to stay with Kiera and Derrick. They're my friends, my only friends. I want to honor a man I looked up to and make sure his vision doesn't fade. I want to make sure this city that I've called home for the last six years is able to heal from this."

"Then you do whatever it takes to accomplish that. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Jordan grinned, "You know, it's funny. My whole life, I don't think anyone's ever asked me what I wanted to do. It's only been six weeks, but it feels like a lifetime has gone by. I'm different. Whoever I am now, I'm not the same man I was, I never could be again."