Beyond the Gateway (Cranksepticeye)

Thirty-six

Ethan's boots touched lightly down on the solid ground. They crunched in the frosty grass, and so he knew he wasn't dreaming. But the nightmare, it seemed, was over. He released Jack from the crush of his embrace and gazed at his lovely face. He dimmed the radiance that flowed from him, and the darkling wings flickered and faded from view. Putting a finger under his chin, he angled Jack's face toward his own, and bestowed another lingering kiss on Jack's lips. Tim's outfit was tattered and stained, and Jack's legs and arms were covered in mud and scratches. But his cheeks were flushed from the wind and his blue eyes sparkled. Ethan had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
Over Jack's shoulders he saw the wooden carousel horses back in their proper places, painted eyes empty of fury, saddles vacant.
The sound of languid applause reached their ears, and they turned sharply to see Auberon standing on the path.
"Well done, Son," he said. "I was not certain that you would find the strength necessary to defeat the Hunt."
Ethan put out a protective arm, but Jack stepped in front of him and walked proudly over to meet his father halfway. He held out a hand for the war horn that the Faerie king still held.
"Of course." Auberon's lips twitched, and he handed it to Jack.
Grasping the long bronze horn in both hands, Jack snapped it in two over his knee and threw the broken pieces to the ground. Then, wordlessly, he turned his back on his father, and returned to where Ethan waited.
In the distance, they could still hear sirens.
Ethan opened his arms. Jack walked into his embrace and looked at him. Jack's gaze was still a little wild, and Ethan couldn't help but shiver at what he saw there now.
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked quietly.
"No," he said without hesitation. "Afraid for you, maybe."
Mabh's power was a fearsome thing to have to master, but Jack didn't need to hear that then. Tears rimmed his eyes, shining and unshed, and Ethan held him in his arms and kissed him. "My Firecracker . . . my heart."
"If you are quite finished here, my Jade, I require your presence in the realm."
He didn't need to turn to see that Auberon still stood behind them.
Jack made a strangled sound of denial.
"You can require whatever you like," Ethan said coldly. "But I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Mabh has been driven back to the Faerie lands, but she won't stay hidden there for long," Auberon said impatiently. "She will return to threaten not only my realm, but this one as well, unless she is contained again. You will help me accomplish that."
"No." Ethan gripped Jack tightly. "I do not work for those who have betrayed my trust."
"Is that what you think I have done?" Auberon's voice was polite. Inquisitive.
"I know it." It hurt Ethan deeply to say such a thing. "You were as a father to me . . . "
"And you were as a dutiful son. So you will be again," Auberon said, and his eyes went to absolutely black. There was a sharp pain in Ethan's chest, right beneath his iron medallion, and he clutched at it, unable to breath.
"Stop it!" Jack screamed. "No! You can't take him with you!"
"Of course I can," Auberon said flatly.
"We had a deal!"
"Which in no way included Ethan remaining in this realm if you were successful in restoring him unto himself." The king lifted a shoulder in eloquent disdain. "He is a member of my Court. He must obey."
Ethan fell to his knees.
"Besides. I need him to undo his mistake." The lord of the Unseelie stepped toward Ethan, holding his gaze. "Is that not right, Ethan? It was, after all, your error that set Mabh free. So it is your obligation to help me mend that situation."
"No." Jack said furiously.
"And it was your request of me, Son, that I see to it Mabh stays away from this place. You didn't specify how."
A neat trap, Ethan thought. Faerie tricks.
"No!" Jack screamed at his father, but Ethan knew in his heart that Auberon was right. Mabh was free again because of him. And there was something else that Auberon hadn't said: Jack remained in danger because of it. It was up to Ethan to put things right.
The fiery pain in his chest ceased abruptly as he made his decision.
"Jack." He climbed to his feet and grabbed him by the shoulders to make Jack look at him. "Jack . . . " He shook him a little, and the tears dashed down Jack's cheeks. "I won't be gone forever. But he's right. I need to do this thing."
"But-"
"Shh . . . " He pulled Jack in tight to his chest and whispered into his ear. "Just like Pyramus and Thisbe in your play - I will the find the hole in the wall. I will find a way back through."
"You know that story ends horribly, right?" he said, choking on a sob.
"Ah, my heart. What did Shakespeare know?" Ethan hugged Jack tighter. "He probably would have rewritten that bit if he'd thought about it. I will come back to you. I promise."
As Auberon stepped toward them, Ethan felt Jack stiffen with cold rage. He pushed away from Ethan and turned to his father, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"Do I even need to tell you how unhappy I will be if anything bad happens to him?"
"No, Son," Auberon said softly. "You do not." The king gestured with one hand like a blade, and opened a crackling gateway opened into the Otherworld. "Come, Ethan. It is time to go."
Jack met Ethan in one last embrace, and they kissed each other as if, in that moment, they were the only two people in all the worlds. Then he turned and stepped through the rift. Auberon lingered for another moment, looking back at Jack, and Ethan heard him say, "Good luck."