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Lauren heard the deep, exasperated sigh. Saying that you have been warned
repeatedly, and that I wash my hands of all that befalls you from this point
forward, I hereby summon the gate that will take you to your sister Molly, and
that will, when you have spoken to her, take you either to Brian and your son,
or transport you home. It will also transport you home now should you tell it
to. A pause, and then a muttered, Not that you will.
An arch clicked into existence in front of her. One instant it wasn t there,
the next it was solid stone, a pale bluish white with gold veining that
transmuted the bleak light of the gray realm into something wondrous.
Beyond, Lauren saw a meadow, waist-high in flowers, and sunlight streaming
down through white, fluffy clouds. She saw people moving up and down paths,
and charming little houses, and the edge of a beautiful lake. Looking through
at that scene, she realized in all her time on Earth she had never seen a day
as beautiful, colors as bright, or a place as welcoming. A voice whispered in
her heart, This is my true home, to which I have returned.
She stepped through the gate, and looked around for Molly.
A woman older than Molly at her death, though still younger than Lauren, with
a pre-Raphaelite tumble of black curls down to her knees, said, I would have
come.
Lauren stared at her. This was not the Molly she had expected, but in the eyes
and the voice, something of Molly remained nonetheless. I know you would
have. I m on the clock. Jake is here. He isn t supposed to be, but the
Administrator told me I won t be able to take him home. I have to get him, but
I had to talk to you first.
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Molly s beatific smile seemed wrong for the situation. If he s here, he
belongs here. Everything is better here, Lauren. You couldn t really hope to
take him back to& all of that. How grim.
I m here. And I certainly don t belong.
A tiny frown knit Molly s brow. And yet you talked your way in. You must have
been persuasive.
Just very persistent, Lauren said.
Molly looked into the distance and smiled at something Lauren couldn t see.
Then she said, So you have come such a great way and through such obstacles
to get Jake. And yet you re here with me. Why?
I want you to come back with me. I need you. Seolar needs you. And& Molly
needs you.
Molly s smile grew puzzled. You need me& I could see that. We had much we
hoped to do. And Seolar that s sad, but his life is not yet done. He ll join
me here soon enough. But& Molly needs me? I m here, Lauren. There is no Molly
McColl in that universe anymore.
Lauren sighed. It s complicated, but there is. You re she s damn. I don t
know how much you remember.
Everything from the moment I took my first breath until the moment I took my
last. For that life and a handful of others.
That helps, Lauren said. She wanted so much to ask questions, but it was not
the time. You recall the Vodi necklace.
Yes.
After you died saving Jake s life, some magic in the necklace brought you
back, except without your soul. You remember your life, you have the same
appearance, the same emotions, the same hopes and goals but your body is there
and your soul is here. I want to put them back together.
Now Molly looked disgusted. That isn t me, Lauren. That thing might look like
me, it might act like me, but it s not me, nor is it any part of me. It s
nothing more than echoes I left behind poured into a monstrosity. She looked
deep into Lauren s eyes and said, That use of magic to create dead things
that mimic the form and personality of live people who died is horrid.
It wouldn t be horrid if you came back, Lauren said. Then your soul would
be in your body and everything would be all right.
Climb into a cold, heavy, lightless crypt of flesh to live some uncounted
number of years when I have earned my way free of that life? I did what I came
to do. I lived that life to learn self-sacrifice, and at the end I did but now
I m done. I have nothing else I have to do there.
Lauren stared at her. The plan, Molly. Mom and Dad s& and your father s& plan.
We re going to keep the worldchain from dying. We re going to bring the dead
worlds back to life.
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