Chapter 49: Aftermath

Reaching over, Violet gathered as much of the beast into her arms as she could, and hugged her friend tight. She felt…free.

“You saved us.” She said, and for a moment could not comprehend the enormity of that, even outside of their greater triumph. Where mere moments before she had been gathering the nerve to strike the influence down, even if it meant taking herself with it, now she was sitting upon a hillside, watching the descent of a beautiful sunset.

The beast ducked its head slightly, embarrassed by the praise. It looked strangely small now, puddled into the marsh grass, and Violet realized that her friend was poked through with a great many holes and rips, fabric streaked with blood and oil, soot and char.

“…And you lost all of your things too.” She said, and felt a bizarrely intense surge of sorrow at that. Her pink quartz necklace had survived intact, but that was the only thing of the beast’s left…unless she counted the machine, which it had somehow kept hold of throughout the entirety of their desperate flight. She could still hear it crackling, though very faintly now. At some point her friend had figured out how to turn down the volume.

The beast made a small motion that might have been a shrug.

t h e y -- c a n -- b e -- r e p l a c e d ..

f r i e n d s -- l i k e -- y o u -- c a n n o t ---- It said, then gently extricated itself from her grip and stood straight, highlighted by the gathering sunset, which suddenly seemed much brighter than before. The smoke was probably doing that, Violet supposed, but could not dedicate much thought in that direction. The ringing in her ears seemed a fine descriptor for her thoughts as well.

“I feel…lighter.” Said the cat at last.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Violet asked.

The cat flexed its wounded front paw, then fiddled with its claws.

“This is just a cut,” it said. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

The three of them sat in silence for a long moment, watching a gentle breeze blow the smoke from the explosion back over the city. There wasn’t much left of the refinery or its surrounding infrastructure. The bridge was splintered beyond all repair as well, but somehow that didn’t frighten Violet. Really, all that was left of the whole evil place was a soot rimmed crater now completely filled with tarry water.

“I feel bad for the false animals.” Violet said, breaking the silence.

She half expected the cat to sigh or roll its eyes, but instead her companion simply adjusted itself into a more comfortable position, moving gingerly.

“They didn’t deserve any of that,” it agreed. “But they’re better off now. We…you did a good thing.”

Violet smiled faintly.

“We,” she corrected, and gently hugged the cat, her companion melting into the embrace with a tiny purr. “I couldn’t have done any of this without either of you.”

The cat gave the beast a small look, but there was no malice or watchfulness in its eyes.

“Should we set camp?” It asked after a moment, eyeing the setting sun.

Violet looked up the length of the hill, to where the Glow was becoming very bright indeed. She thought about it, but….

“I don’t think there’s much further to go,” she said. “Would you mind if we…?”

The cat shook its head.

“Not at all.” It said, then zipped on top of her rucksack as Violet stood up.

She felt sore and tired, battered both physically and emotionally by what had just happened, but there still existed a great vibrant spark of energy and willpower within her. Something momentous had been done, and now she wanted to cap that off by accomplishing the object of her journey at long last.

Turning, the beast staying dutifully by her side, Violet started up the hill, eyes locked on the comforting illumination of an ever brightening Glow.

Her path up the hill took her near to one of the wider streams that split the slope, and Violet listened to the burbling rush of the water as she hiked. It was still hard work, walking up the pathless hill, and she soon found herself winded.

The sun was beginning to fall below the horizon, but where the light faded, great swathes of Glow became gradually more apparent, filling the void that earthly illumination left behind. Violet knew, on a certain level, that she was without her lantern or any other source of easy light, but somehow that did not bother her, even though she knew that eventually she would need to venture into lightless places once again.

Compared to what she had passed through before, the darkness now, empty of ill intent beyond that which she could easily see, would be nothing more than a friend shown by a different hue. She could not be afraid of such a thing.

It was a grand openness to the world that she felt now. The Glow was near, her friends were nearer, and even if that were not the case, even if she were bound by great gulfs of darkness in all directions, with no ground below her, Violet felt capable and strong. Though her head hurt, though her pants and blouse were stained and torn, her shoes soaked and her face streaked with blood, she still stood unbowed. And nothing could ever change that.

Though….

She stopped to rest and sat upon a flat stone next to a small pool where the stream gathered into a round pool banded on all sides by streaks of dark gravel. In the bottom, where the water was still but for the tremor of tiny currents, small chitinous things tranquilly went about their daily chores.

For a moment Violet was surprised to see life continuing on, as though such great, world shattering events had not occurred…and then she felt a little bit silly, for her thoughts had turned to all of the life she’d seen throughout the city, flowers and trees poking up through asphalt and out of broken pipes. Life had always endured, or found a way to get around the restraints imposed upon it. And perhaps even the influence might have been stymied if she hadn’t come along.

The world was a very big place after all.

The cat materialized in her lap and Violet looked down, to where her companion was still favoring its wounded front paw.

“Maybe we should wash it off.” She said.

“I’ve licked it clean already,” said the cat. “Now all that’s left is for time to knit me back together.”

That sounded very pleasant, somehow, but Violet still couldn’t keep her eyes from her friend’s injury. Were the beast a flesh and blood person then it would have been peppered with cuts from head to toe, but fortunately fabric did not bleed and the beast appeared to be just fine…if perhaps in need of some mending.

Thin trickles of crimson issued unhurriedly forth from the cat’s hurt paw, but soon enough it would stop, the wound would close and then eventually heal. Then, at last, there would be nothing but a pale scar, the legacy of a time it had nearly met its end.

After a moment the cat laughed to itself.

“You’re awfully concerned with my stateliness, for a person with blood all over her face.” It said.

Violet touched the skin under her nose, feeling a little embarrassed, and supposed that it would be a good idea to clean herself up a bit.

Just then she saw something. Within the contours of the water, independent of the sunset or even the Glow, an illumination was gathered. It had no specific color, nor did it seem attached to the trickles of silt that were being carried downstream. She could not describe the nature of what she saw, but felt a strange calm to its presence. It felt stateless and tranquil. And it was issuing from further up the hill.

“Cat?” She asked, but the cat was already looking, and in its eyes Violet didn’t see any mounting worry.

“The water’s glowing.” It noted, and the beast looked closer as well, a quiet contemplation falling over it as it stood against the gathering sunset, fabric poked through with beams of bluish golden light.

“Do you remember what we saw back at the riverside? The glowing stuff on the herons?” The cat asked.

Violet nodded. Of course she did.

“It’s not like that,” the cat continued. “I think it’s….”

“Glow.” Violet said.

There was a funny look in the cat’s eyes now, as though it had no answers and was suddenly alright with that. Violet smiled and gathered a scoop of the glowing water in her palm. Then, very delicately, she washed her face off with it, and saw colorless streamers of liquid light intermingling with the pinkish curls of blood that fell from between her fingers. The cat had shifted out of the way, so it would not have to be splashed, and watched this with that same nameless expression upon its face.

“Violet.” It said.

“Yes?” Violet asked.

“I might not have been very encouraging at first, towards the purpose of your journey. But I think I know now, why you wanted to come here.”

Violet smiled, her face cold and dripping wet, the pain in her head dulled a little bit by this abstract expression of majesty that she’d been allowed to anoint herself with.

“I think I do too.” She said, then gathered the cat gently into her arms and stood upright.

The rest of the hill seemed small ahead of her, and whatever weakness there was in her limbs, she knew it could be surmounted. Before her, the rest of the path lay open and framed by a rising blue light.