Uriel’s exultant whoop rose up behind me. Damn, he was having fun. Who knew the celestial had a wicked streak.
The disc was less than a meter away now. Time to jump.
The malignant’s pained screams followed me into the Edge.
I landed on cream tiles in a corridor lined with white doors. The corridor tunneled into the distance until it was nothing but a dot. The doors were unmarked and all looked the same.
This was the Edge?
What was behind the doors?
I took a step and a beam of light shot down out of the ceiling, blocking my way. “Identification required.”
The voice was grating and mechanical, as if it hadn’t been used in a long while.
Um…shit. “Dominus Reaper Seraphina Dawn.”
“I’m sorry. You do not have access to the archives. Press the blue button to leave.”
The wall beside me pulsed, and then a blue button appeared. It flickered, going translucent and then solidifying again.
“Goodbye.” The beam of light vanished but the button remained.
I took a step forward and once again the beam of light shot down to cut me off.
“Identification required.”
Think, Fee. Think. The Righteous had created this place, so maybe they’d have access. Cassius was one of them, so…
“Identification required,” the voice said again.
“Cassius, Dominion, Righteous, Upper circle.”
There was silence.
Shit, maybe I should have put on a male voice?
“Access granted. Welcome to the archive, the home of the remnants who gave their light to save us all.”
The beam of light pulsed.
Was it going to scan me? Shit, if it scanned me it would know I wasn’t Cassius.
But instead of rushing toward me the beam shot away, down the corridor. The doors blazed in its wake and gold plaques appeared on each of them. The plaques had writing etched into them. Names and dates.
The ones at this end were from a century ago. This must be when the Beyond first started to use the purest souls for boosts. It looked like this system had been in place way before the humans started seeing ghosts and learned about the reapers. But it also told me that the Beyond had managed without burning pure souls for a long time, which meant that regular human souls were getting less effective as batteries.
I scanned the doors as I walked down the corridor. Yep, they were arranged in date order. Each room contained a core. The Beyond had created this place. A resting place for the pure souls they’d burned through. But how the hell was I going to harvest them all? Busting through each door was going to take forever.
There had to be a quicker way. “Um, hello?”
Nothing.
“Keeper? Guardian?”
Nothing.
Shit…what was the system called? Wait, it had called this place an archive. “Librarian?”
“How may I assist Cassius?”
“I need to find a specific…remnant.”
“Name of remnant.”
“Lara Dawn.”
The doors whizzed past in a blur, forcing my stomach back into my spine. I was gonna be sick.
We came to a halt and my eyes wobbled in their sockets. I squeezed them shut and exhaled to ground myself.
“Will that be all?” the librarian asked.
“One moment.” I opened my eyes to find Aunt Lara’s door to my right.
She was here. Behind that door. A remnant, whatever that meant.
“Will that be all?” the librarian repeated.
“No. Can I…Can I see her?”
“A remnant can be seen and heard but cannot see or hear you.”
I needed to know. I needed to see. I pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The room was a dark abyss of emptiness; the only light came from an orb floating in the center of the room. Thick silence pressed against my ears, and then whispers filled my head.
A voice I recognized.
Where is it? What is it? Can I go now? Will I be okay? Where am I? Where is this? What was I doing? There was something…something…A soft sob. I can’t remember. What was it? Why? Why?
Aunt Lara’s voice filled my head, the whispers growing louder until they were all I could hear. Her confusion and despair pierced me. Cassius had said the cores were safe, that they felt no pain, but he was wrong. This was emotional torment. Eternal confusion and loss.
No. This had to end.
Please show me…show me…where…something…someone…
This was the last part of her. The final essence of the only mother I’d known. She deserved peace. My chest ached with love for her. I’m sorry, Aunt Lara. I’ll make it stop.
My scythe appeared, glowing bright in the darkness. The orb pulsed.
What? Where?
I held the blade toward the orb. “It’s time to be free, Aunt Lara.”