Dream Eater (m|m)

Chapter 29

Okay, well, it sort of opens.

I'm a broken Key, remember?

So, yeah, the Door opens, but obviously not the way it's supposed to. I can see through it, but it's like it's behind a thin veil, or like I'm watching an old TV with bad reception.

Also, I'm still alive. Barely.

Maybe it's because I failed to open the Door completely, or because Damien came through with me; or maybe I'm just such a fucked-up Key I can't even die properly. Whatever the reason, I'm still breathing, at least for the moment.

Damien seems as surprised as I do that we're not dead, and drops to his knees with me in his arms. He eases himself the rest of the way down and shifts me gently so I'm lying across his lap, one of his arms under my shoulders to hold me up.

"Alex, love..." He smooths his hand over my brow and leans close. "You did it, darling. You opened the Door. What now? Tell me what to do..."

I've probably gone into shock by this point, and I don't feel any pain. My body just feels numb and cold, but the sick taste of blood fills my mouth, and my breath rattles in my chest with a weak, wet rasp.

"Can you...summon her?" I ask. "Summon...Astoreth?"

"I will try," he says, and chokes back a sob.

Closing his eyes, he holds out one hand, and a small sphere of blue fire takes form on his palm. He speaks to it quietly in a language I don't understand, and I wonder if this is some kind of demonic Skype or something. If I wasn't dying, I'd file it away as something to ask Damien about later.

After a moment, Damien closes his hand into a fist over the sphere, and it vanishes. He turns his attention back to me and wipes the blood from the corners of my mouth.

"Will she come?" I ask.

"I don't know." His eyes hold a bleakness that tells me he doesn't really care either way.

"Damien..." My voice is weak, but I force myself not to whisper. "Promise me you won't do something stupid. I...need you to take care of Dante. And maybe--"

I have to stop to cough, and he tries to shush me.

"Alex, don't--"

"No listen," I say. "Maybe I'll find another body, and I'll come back to you again someday, just like last time. So you have to be strong, and wait for me."

He shakes his head, and I feel hot tears land on my face.

"It was a sacred blade, Alex--Azael's dagger. It binds the soul to the body. If you die, you won't come back."

Well, fuck. So much for that sliver of hope.

I try to give him a smile anyway, but it's a feeble effort. "Well, at least it was fun while it lasted," I say.

And those probably would have been my last words, if Astoreth hadn't decided to answer Damien's summons after all.

There's a flash of blinding white light, and at first I think it's the light that people are supposed to see when they die, but then it fades and in its place stands a goddess.

Astoreth is at least ten feet tall, clothed in robes of white fire, and wears a crown of stars. Her face holds a terrible beauty, and if I had any breath to spare, she'd have taken it.

She steps through the Doorway as easily as if through a curtain of mist, and stands over us, looking down. Damien holds up a hand to shield his eyes, but I can't look away.

She leans down and brushes her fingers light as feathers over my cheek. "My poor child," she says. "What has become of you?"

"Astoreth," I whisper. "Azael..." I can't say more, but it seems I don't need to. She nods and straightens.

Looking at Damien, she lays a hand on his shoulder. "Stay with him," she says, and then she walks out onto the field of battle.

At the sight of her, the fighting stops, and both sides stand in awe and fear. She raises her hands and speaks in a voice like thunder.

"Foolish children, you have been led astray. Azael is no more, and his cause is dead. Lay down your weapons and put aside this folly, in which there can be neither victory nor honor."

Almost as one, Azael's legions obey.

Astoreth continues. "You who have fought beneath Azael's banner are now banished from this Realm forever. Go now, and return to your own domains, or I shall show no mercy."

She waves her hand, and Azael's forces vanish in multitudes of white and blue fire.

"As for those who once fought for my ill-fated child, the kind-hearted Sakariel, you are forgiven. But be warned: the Throne is not a thing to be taken by challenging the one who holds it. It is something one becomes. It's nature is neither good nor evil, but mere balance--that most difficult of states to maintain. Let it be restored now, and peace may reign."

Those of the Vanguard and the Carnâki forces yet standing makes signs of surrender, and Astoreth turns away, satisfied.

She returns to my side and kneels once more, taking my hand in hers. "My child," she says. "It is good to see you again."

I'm confused, and try to speak, but she lays a finger to my lips.

"Azael did not understand either. If he had, things might have been different. There is only one Key, Alex--there was only ever one. My Isha, Sakariel, and now...you. Sacrificing Isha to open the first Door is my one great sin, and it has thrown the balance of things towards darkness for too long. I cannot undo the past, but perhaps now I can make some amends. If you wish it, Alex, I can restore you and make you whole--in both body and soul. But it will come with a price."

Damien clasps me to him, and looks up at her. "Please--save him, Astoreth. Whatever it takes."

She looks back at him, regarding him evenly. "I can heal him, but it will take more than his soul alone. The pieces are too fragmented, too damaged. But if you are willing, Dantalian, I will use yours as well, and you will both become whole. However, Alex must choose a single nature, a single fate, and all will be combined into that one--and you will share it."

"Yes," Damien agrees readily, "anything." He looks at me. "Alex, please--please let me do this. Please let her heal you. Whatever you choose, as long as I'm with you, I don't care."

I look up at him. There is love and fear, and hope in his face, and I nod.

Astoreth smiles. "Very well, Alex. It shall be done. Now...choose."

I think of everything I've seen in Damien's dreams, of everything he's told me, and of everything he's made me feel. And I think of myself, and of everything I've learned, and been, and done.

I think of our future, if we're granted one, and of what I would like it to be.

And then I look at Astoreth, and I choose.