The Thrill of Darkness

Part 104: Separate Ways

Jericho's POV:

I actually found myself fighting tears as Virgil leapt gracefully out the window and out of sight. It was even more heartbreaking to see Mark hugging Chica as she whined and stared at the window.

'Godspeed, you fabulous purple Emo,' she said.

There was a pause before Anti broke the silence in true form:

"And then there were..." he muttered under his breath for a moment as he counted heads, "Eight! Soon to be six."
He slapped his knees and noisily stood up from his chair before turning to carefully heft a sleeping Atticus into his arms. He stilled for a moment when Atticus groaned weakly, but continued to the door.

"And where will you go, Anti?" Asked Dark. "You have more than yourself to care for now."

"Oh trust me, I know." The Demon turned one last time to lock his striking blue eyes with mine.
"I'm sorry, Jericho. For everything I put you through. I was focusing on what I believed I was supposed to be, rather than who I'm meant to be. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that."

I smiled. "Take care of Atticus, Anti. And yourself."

He gave me a small smile in return and smoked out, taking Atticus with him. Oddly enough, the remaining black raven- Ari, I think- flew off after them.

"He never did tell us where he planned to go," Mikhail pointed out mildly.

"Honestly? I don't think it really matters," Felix cut in. "As long as he has that kid to fight for, he'll be okay." He pushed off the wall and threw himself into a fantastically  melodramatic fake yawn that ended with his arm around Marzia's shoulders. "Same goes for us, and Mark and Amy and Chica, and Dark and Jericho. As long as we have each other..." he kissed Marzia's cheek, "you won't have to worry about us."

"Felix, that was..." Marzia began.

"Inspiring? Romantic?" Felix cut in.

"...Garbage."

Felix wilted into a pout as the rest of us tried to hold in our laughter. But then, Marzia put her hand on his cheek and turned his face toward her.

"But it was true." She kissed his nose as he blushed.

(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())

After that, we all went our separate ways. Felix and Marzia headed back to Felix's home in Brighton, while Mark, Amy and Chica headed back to L.A., each of them eager to either start their new lives or get back to their old ones. I was especially happy to hear that Marzia and Amy even found their own niches and started YouTube channels of their own. Marzia got to enjoy all the finer things in life that she never had access to as an Elite, and Amy discovered her creative side with crafts and interior design.

Dark and I went back to New York so I could finish school and get my masters in music Education. Just because my life had been flipped upside down and turned inside out didn't mean my aspirations had changed; teaching music was still my passion, and in between the epic fights for the fate of humanity, I was determined to pursue it. I ended up graduating within the next semester and was offered a job at my own school! Talk about lucky.

As for the rest of our group, we just had to have faith that they would all be okay. Signe and Virgil were both off the radar completely, though we did hear a couple rumors that Virgil was searching for something. Mikhail checked in on all of us periodically whenever he had a break from his duties as the director of "The Exonerated"- but that's a story for another time.

Surprisingly enough, though they didn't visit, Anti and Atticus kept in touch as well. From what Atticus told us, Anti was pushing him to his limits with some intense training even as he went through middle school. I didn't envy the kid; knowing Anti, it had to be pretty brutal.

And Sean... God knows where he and Fell disappeared to. We kept an ear out for the longest time for any information  on their whereabouts, but never had any luck. As far as we could tell, they just... vanished. We could only hope that Signe was having more luck finding her ex than we were.

It had been a long, bloody journey, and none of it had been easy. The things we had to sacrifice, the choices each of us had to make... all of it changed our lives forever. Every one of us had stared death in the face more times than we'd care to remember. We were forced to confront and overcome our own darkness and persevere. And even though one of us didn't quite make it... I was thankful for the ones who were still standing, and the allies we'd gained.

We made it through, stronger than ever. And I knew, as long as we stuck together, we would become even stronger.

So Fell and Jack, when you return...

We'll be ready.