The fall was dark, but not without its comfort. I was alone, drifting through the nothingness. There was nothing there but thoughts; my body had seemed to vanish. Was this death? I mused. This endless drifting? No, there were still too many questions left unanswered. I still like to believe that death would at least answer everything. Guess I'll never know, huh?

It was odd. I still felt like I was falling, but I could feel my arms and legs coming back into cold life. Everything was cold. An unnatural white light seemed to live in the darkness, not destroying it, but lighting it nonetheless. I still can’t describe it. But slowly I stood in the nothingness. I was floating in the midst of it, hovering there. I stepped forward, and again. Another step. There were no changes around me. I might not have been moving at all.

Suddenly, things did change. A red light appeared all around, writhing and dancing as if alive. It twisted and turned, swirling and diving in the dark. This light did vanish the darkness, but it was even colder. I looked ahead and I could see something. Four forms, black silhouettes against a crimson light. Then, I was there. Derrick was standing beside me, head hung low, eyes staring blankly towards nothing. Edward was there too, sitting down, crying. The other two I had seen were facing us, one’s expression delighted, the others deeply sorrowful.

There was a man seated on a throne of black. Flames danced in his eyes as he smiled. I blinked to see him. It seemed he had been cut out of the darkness. Only the red light of his eyes distinguished him from it. Standing slightly behind him was a woman. Heavy black chains held her hands, feet, and neck. Long sweeping locks of blonde hair fell across her face, obscuring any view of her. Her head was bowed and she shook slightly, as if weeping. Long wings of black folded around her, blocking her completely.

I bent down, grasping Derrick’s face in my hands, forcing his eyes into mine.

“Der, come one. What’s happening? Wake up!”

The man laughed, a deep rumble coming from his shadowy form. “It’s useless little Cassie. Tira does her job well. His mind is locked far beyond these realms.

Tira. Was that the woman standing behind him? But she was supposed to be good. I blinked, unwilling to add anymore puzzles to the ones already plaguing me.

“Don’t do this to me!” I shouted. It was all too much. It was all too unreal. All of this had to be some twisted nightmare. All these two years. Maybe all my life. None of it could be real.

I whirled around, to the point of almost diving into the figure on the throne and wrapping my hands around his throat. It would feel so right to do that, even if I died in the process.

“It was actually a fine plan. You were just getting too close to discovering. You could have lived ten more years easily had you just left your nose out of it. But, as they say, curiosity killed the cat,” said the dark figure. What was he talking about? He did all this? The whole disease? The rain and storms back in Other Side? He was to blame?

“Who are you?”

“Me?” He smiled, rising to his feet. So he liked to put on a show. Great. “I am Niree, ruler of everything! The old gods thought they could discount me after Eon. They were so blind.” He laughed again, walking over to the woman behind him. “And this is Tira. Their...slave. But she refuses to see it that way. She thinks I am the slave master.” He sighed, turning back to us, his prisoners here.

Ed stopped crying, his sobs fading away. He stood and walked over towards me. I'm ashamed, but I had forgotten about him. Poor little kid...or kids. There were the two of them...He had never done anything but been born. Just because he was half from the mirror world. But at least he was trying to be brave about it.

“Now my only question is what to do with you two. I think he,” he waved a hand towards Derrick,” is sufficiently out of the way. But you two...I won’t be betrayed again. I learned with Eon. No, you’ll have to be put out of the way. I could lock your minds in the darkness like his. That would be easy enough.”

Edward reached his hand up to mine. “It’s going to be alright, Ed. Hold on.”

“I don’t like to be called Ed. I’m Edward. I’m half the mirror and twice the person.”

I nearly yanked my hand away. So that is what it all meant! Finally I had an answer, one he knew all along. And the Void must have been here. In between all the other worlds.

Worlds. So there were more. Interesting, but not of great consequence at the moment. “Edward, do you know what to do?”

He shook his head and I sighed. So now I had the key, but couldn’t find the lock. Wonderful.

“Any last requests before I finish you?” quipped Niree.

“One,” I began. “Why?”

“Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. The answer is revenge. Eon betrayed me when I could have had everything. I got it, but much later. And that really peeved me. He had his world, living in relative happiness, so I decided to destroy it. And him.”

So we all got caught in some megalomaniac’s twisted plot for vengeance. That really didn’t make me feel any better. “And, as I said, you three began getting too close to the answer, so I had to speed it up.”

Well, that had been a bit of a stall, but it didn’t help. I couldn’t think of anything. Derrick could have. We needed him.

“He can’t help you. So stop trying.”

This time i took a step towards him. Was it not enough that he had taken everything from me? Could he not leave my thoughts alone? I took another step forward. This was too much. I was ready for it all to be over. I couldn’t believe anything anymore. I think I understood that I was losing my mid at that moment, whether because of Niree sending it away or not, I can’t be sure, only that things were falling apart.

So, I jumped at Niree, wrapping my hands around his throat as I had wished. He was surprised. I could read the shock in his eyes, but it didn’t bother him. Instead, he reached his hands up to mine, prying them off his throat and holding me in front of him. And then I was afraid. The haze that had fallen over my thoughts drifted away and I felt pure terror. His lips parted in a smile and I could see the rows of razor sharp teeth. And then he laughed. “Feisty, eh? That doesn’t bother me.” He tossed me away to where I fell against the flaming walls. Were they truly walls? Everything was going hazy, fading again into the dark. My body was falling away again. I was going back to the darkness. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to beat him. Even if it was too late for anyone else. I fought against the force trying to banish me. NO!

I saw Tira lift her head sharply, pulling her wings back until they were fully opened. And there was someone beside me. I looked up into the violet eyes of Eon, and saw determination there. He stepped forward.

“Tira, is this what you have become?”

‘No, I would never- I didn’t have a choice.”

“Silence!” yelled Niree. Maybe he realized he was losing control.

“You always have a choice. But now is not the time.” He knelt down beside derrick, passing his hand across his sightless eyes. A spark of life flitted across them, then they closed. He moved over to Edward.

“Get Back Eon. Leave the boy alone! I am not beyond killing you!”

Eon smiled, kneeling in front of Ed. “So you have started calling yourselves Edward. Odd. But I think you all know it is time to let little Ed go.”

“NO!” shrieked Niree. What was going on?

“So you know?” asked Eon. “They locked their essence inside him. As soon as they saw you would win. They made plans.”

Ed sighed, spreading his arms wide, as if entranced. As he breathed out, a form in fire broke free. It was a bird and it swooped down, its beak piercing Niree’s black heart. there was no blood, but he simply disappeared.

The bird began losing its form, breaking into separate people. The stood around, forming a ring about us all. The chains fell from Tira’s hands and feet, her wigs changing back into pearly white. Eon dropped his gaze, looking as if he would much rather the floor open and swallow him. Then again, it was open.

Tira ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t have and I-”

He stopped her. “I didn’t mean any of it. But It did make Niree mad, once he saw we weren’t going to listen.” She was crying. But all I knew was that my entire body hurt. That had to have been a wall I hit. Anyways, who were these people?

“Cassie, Derrick, and Ed. Please step forward.” I was amazed when I saw Derrick sit up and walk forward. It was all I could do to stop myself from running and hugging him.

“Thank you, for all you’ve endured. I wish to reward you, but allow me to right a few past wrongs first.”

I wasn’t going to say no, I wanted it right now. This guy was huge and, though he looked old, had an aura of intense power around him.

“Eon,” his voice boomed. Slowly, hesitantly, the Fallen Angel stepped forward. “You have been restored to our service.” His wings mended, changing from the sooty grey to the same white as Tira’s. I was happy, but really just wanted to go home.

“As for you three, You may stay here. Make it what you want. Your world has been destroyed.”

Now that was sad. Tears were rushing to my eyes and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop them. Have I mentioned I hate crying?

“But what about Ed? Surely his world is still there.” Derrick, always thinking reasonably.

“I suppose he could go back, if he wanted. Do you?”

Ed nodded. “I want to see my mommy.” Poor kid, I thought again. he was going to cry to.

“So we have to stay here?” I asked. It sounded a bit depressing.

“Yes, but you can create whatever you want here.”

“But what about the other Worlds?” The first tear was sliding down my face then. I was so tired, I didn’t even fight against them.

“Well, I suppose you could go there. But here is your home. Forever.”

Forever. That seemed so long. Of course, I suppose it is. But then again, there were so many other worlds to explore. Maybe It would be fun. I blinked, and everyone was gone but me and Derrick.

Now i couldn’t stop myself from a hug. “I thought you were gone,” I was crying again, but now it was almost happiness. There would be plenty of time to grieve for my lost friends. I didn’t have any close ones, anyways.

“ I wasn’t.” And so we stood in the darkness. There was so much to do, what with creating a world and crying and exploring. Maybe everyone wasn’t dead. Maybe we could save some survivors. I was kind of hoping Blaze made it. He wasn’t always a creep. He could actually be nice. Well, that would come later. Now I just needed a chance to sleep. This was all too much. But at least it wasn’t un-real.

Thank you all for reading. For those of you who care, Blaze does make it out. Der and Cas create a wonderful world and fill it with the survivors from Other Side as well as some who really wanted to escape heir own world. Ed, well, he lived, grew up, and visited every now and then. Finally he moved there and met a nice merchant’s daughter, married and has a happy life. And I, well, I will continue to write. I think I’m going for horror next. Thank you all for bearing with me to the end of this, though it sometimes took weeks to get up a chapter. I’m going to wait for softball to end before I start anything new, so hopefully we’ll lose. Well, later, and thanks for all your reviews. They mean more than you think!

Gata de la Noche.