Note: This is my final chapter! However, I will be writing another chapter or two with Future Emory and how she got to be where she was which will be inserted around chapter 49, and thus all the chapter numbers will change a bit. I’m going to start majorly editing after I post my Emory chapters so that everything will be in order and make sense. If you’ve read this far, thank you so much!!

Emory had an amused smirk on her face when she watched her dad tumble down the great mound of sand into the temple. He lay down at the bottom of the sand pile for a moment, just catching his breath, looking around the dark temple with those big blue eyes of his. He couldn’t see Emory, of course. She was hidden. That was by design. Hers or Aset’s, she wasn’t really sure, but it didn’t quite matter at the moment. What mattered is that she was seeing her dad, truly seeing him for the first time since he had died years ago in her first life. 

He was absolutely lovely to look upon. The little grimace on his face as he wiped away all the sand, shaking a bunch out of his hair when he sat up. She now vividly recalled the moments in her childhood when he would pick her up and swing her around in giddy excitement, inducing peels of laughter from her that were so all encompassing that she often ended up coughing from the effort. Seeing him, her dad, her Misha, right now, was just as beautiful as it was exquisitely painful. 

He muttered something about light in the dark temple, and Emory felt a gust of air rush past her as every torch in the room lit up at once. 

“Uhhh,” Misha frowned now, looking around in concern, “hello?”

How far he had come to make it to this temple, fittingly at this time. His determination was impressive, his hyperfocus unmatched. She was proud of her younger self for starting him on this journey. Proud of him for going so far out of his comfort zone that he had traversed the world to a country he had never been to before, where they spoke a language that he didn’t understand. Emory had watched through her younger self’s eyes as her dad had begun to obsess over this location, over Rene’s last message. 

She watched Misha now in quiet awe as he stood and looked around the temple, drawn almost immediately to the great stone carvings of Aset. Emory walked over next to him, so close she could touch him. She reached out and shifted the largest stone with Aset’s visage upon it, and watched her dad jump backwards in surprise.

“Hello?” He said again, looking around, his gaze piercing right through her for a moment. “Is someone…something here? Rene?”

He paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for someone to respond. When no one did, he walked over to the stone that had been moved, running his fingers along the edge of it. With great care, he finally pulled it forward and set it upon the ground carefully. He reached back behind the stone and felt around, his hand finding the scroll quickly. 

Emory smiled as her dad slowly pulled the scroll out, brushing it off gingerly, and rolling it slowly open. His eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration as he opened the papyrus scroll that had been preserved for over 500 years, and looked upon his husband’s handwriting. 

Across the world, she chanced a glance inside her younger self’s mind. 

Little Emory heard a knock at the door of her mommy’s house. 

“I’ll get it!” Said mommy, turning the burner off as she went to answer the door. Emory watched a man hand her a package, making her sign for it. Mommy took the package, looking confused. She hadn’t been expecting anything important. She closed the door and carried the package over to her couch, where she sat to open it. Emory watched her closely, looking at the package that she knew her daddy must have put together just days ago. How she wished he was here to deliver it himself. 

There was a chime on mommy’s phone, and she stopped opening the package to look down at the phone and read something.

“What the…” She mumbled. “Evacuations? From Mt. Hood?”

“What’s going on, mommy?” Emory asked, knowing full well what she must be reading about. 

Her mommy looked up at her, seeming almost surprised that Emory was standing there. 

“They say there may be an eruption soon on Mt. Hood. They’ve been evacuating everyone off the mountain and surrounding areas since yesterday. That’s…that’s so weird.”

Her eyes had glazed over as she was deep in thought. Emory could see a hint of recognition, of a memory trying to break through. Today was the day that she would recall everything. 

Today was the day that daddy and Khalid would die. 

*****

First, light. Then a buzzing in the skull. Pain. No, not pain. That was gone. Something dull, and consuming. Khalid forced his eyes open in the bright sunlight. It was blinding up here. The wind was whipping around blowing his hair about, slapping him across the face with great gusts. 

He was stuck. Lying down, trapped on the cold rocky ground. He couldn’t move. He shifted to find himself bound, legs tied together, arms secured behind his back. What the hell was happening?

All he could remember was kissing Asim, and then it was lights out. Where was Asim? Had they been attacked? Was he okay? Had he been killed?

He heard the crunch of steps on the rocky mountain, and looked up to see Asim walking over to him, a strange smile on his face. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Asim crouched down in from of Khalid. This wasn’t right. There was something off about him. 

“What, what happened?” Khalid asked calmly, making a mental note of all the minds he might need to access to come get him out of whatever situation this was. 

“Oh, so many things.” Said Asim. “Lifetimes of things. Events you can’t remember, but that most certainly took place.”

Asim shifted a very confused Khalid up until he was sitting, leaning back against a particularly large boulder. 

“Now, you’ve got a lot of drugs in your system. A little trick you taught me, actually. I’m not sure if they’ll dull your abilities. I guess we’ll see. And about thirty minutes from now, you and I are going to be swallowed by this mountain.”

Khalid felt a rage boil up in his gut. This did not make any sense. This was not his dear Asim. A demon, perhaps, who had taken over his love. Who had replaced him with a cruel darkness.

“Untie me!” Khalid seethed. 

Asim shook his head, “That’s not going to happen.”

“Asim! What madness has possessed you!? We need to get off of this mountain!”

“My name is no longer Asim. Nor has it been for centuries. My name is Rene. You knew me, in this life. You searched and searched until you found me, and my family. Then you destroyed us all one by one. You tortured me, and forced me to kill an innocent man to prove my love to you. Truly, your sickness knows no bounds.”

“None of this happened. It never happened!” Exclaimed Khalid. “Asim, you’re not making sense. Something dark has possessed you.”

“Something has possessed us both, I expect.” Said Asim. “I assure you though, that every word I’ve just spoken is true. I’d wish you to remember, if it wouldn’t endanger my family.”

“Asim, my love, it is time for you to put away these ridiculous thoughts. Untie me, and we shall leave this mountain together.”

“Tom Petty. You were so excited to take me to that concert. How precious was it, sitting under those cherry blossoms every spring together on that campus?”

Khalid swallowed. He hadn’t said a thing about Ling or any of Asim’s other lives to him. How could he possibly…

“That sweet intimate night when I was Lee. Ready to go into battle, and one look into your eyes, I was seduced. You found me murdered in that bed, and it took so much out of you. Holding me on that slave ship, giving me one last glimpse of day before I passed as Sim. I feel the love. I truly do. As Charun, all I wanted was to be with you. I would have left that temple behind and traveled the world with you if you had only asked me to. As Cody, and as Aidan, I cared for you so deeply. But you took something from me both times, so I hurt you back. A cycle of lashes that continued on through generations, until now. Until this life. Or, rather, a past version of this life.”

Khalid’s mouth was hanging open in shock. Their Goddess must have told him everything. But why?

“My darling Khal,” he scooted closer, sat down on the rocky ground right before Khalid’s feet, “you murdered my husband, and the mother of my child. You murdered me, again and again, attempting to perfect our relationship. To mold the next version of me into the man who was going to love you forever. But I fought back. My daughter fought back. And here we are. And soon, here we will no longer be.”

Khalid shook his head, repeatedly, slowly, “Asim, Rene, whoever you are, I don’t recall doing any of those things you claim I did in this life. It doesn’t make any sense to accuse me of these crimes that never took place, except perhaps in a dream.”

“No dream. It was very real. Just as real as any of my other lives. Just as real as this moment.”

The anger and confusion were fighting for dominance in Khalid’s gut. He chose his next words carefully.

“Fine. Perhaps what you say is true. But then, you must know that death will not keep me. In half an hour, you will be dead, and in some time, my body will be revived. I will live on. Perhaps, I will not even seek you out again. For what is the point. You will only break my heart once more.”

A strange look came over Asim’s face, something like wistfullness and fear. He shook his head. 

“Our Goddess has assured me that this is one death from which you won’t be returning. Boiling lava from the Earth herself is the one substance from which you, Khalid Anwar, can not come back from.”

The bubble of anger and confusion boiled up as a scream of panic, and Khalid shouted, “Do you know how many people I will sacrifice if you don’t get me off this goddamn mountain right now?! How many lives I hold in my hands?!”

“I know.” Asim nodded, his voice soft as he shifted so that he was straddling Khalid’s legs, his hands placed gently on Khalid’s face, “and I know that you won’t do anything to them, because I’m offering you this gift. The gift I promised you. I’m going to go with you, Khalid. I’m not going to leave you alone. I’m not going to abandon you. I’m going to follow you into the Duat, and you can be assured of that. You will no longer feel the pain of losing me, of having to search for me life after life…of wondering if you’ll find me and I’ll choose immortality before our time runs out. I’m here now, with you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Something welled up inside Khalid, and he felt tears running down from his eyes as a strange sense of peace rolled over him. 

“We’re in this together. I promise you.” Said Asim.

*****

Misha carefully read through the papyrus scroll, his eyes brimming with tears. Emory was looking over his shoulder at Rene’s words. 

Misha, my love, 

I’m sorry that I had to go, that I had to leave you behind. I did it to protect you, and Ari, and Emory. I did it to protect the world from a force you can only begin to imagine. Many lifetimes ago, I made a choice, a vow, and the only way to truly break that vow was with a sacrifice. 

I lost you once. I saw the blankness of death in your eyes, and it broke me. Selfishly, I could not handle losing you again, so I’ve made a choice that I hope you can come to understand. 

I lived so many lives, and in all of them, I never met someone like you. You are the love of my life. You are the man I will think about when I am dead and gone, and looking back on the blissful days of existence that I was lucky enough to live with my perfect little family. You made me whole, and kept me whole. No matter who I’ve been, or who I’ve been with, you are the one I will always miss the most. You are the father of my child, the light of my life, and the man I trust to do the right thing and carry on after I have gone. 

I hope you find peace, and happiness, and understanding. I hope you do all of the good in the world that I know you are capable of. Without you, I would not have had the strength to do what needed to be done, and I’m sorry that I had to leave you. 

I love you, always. 

You are my forever. 

Rene

Emory saw the tears fall down her dad’s cheeks as he read the scroll again and again. With the blessing of her Goddess, Emory reached out a hand and touched Misha’s face, just as across the world, her younger self was doing the same to Ari.

*****

Ari stared blankly at the pile of deeds and bank account numbers that lay on the couch before her. Her hand was trembling as she read the letter that had come with all of the paperwork.

Ari, I love you, 

I love your incredible strength, your compassion, your knowledge, and your want to help others. The courage it took to be an EMT all those years and to see what you must have seen was incredible. You are one of the bravest people I’ve ever met, and I’m sorry for what you are about to remember. We give those memories back now in the hopes that you will be able to do something positive with them. To learn from my mistakes on what can and cannot happen to make the world a better place. You’re an inspiration, a wonderful friend, and the best mother that our precious little girl could ever ask for. 

I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done, and I suspect are going to do to change the world. Make your mark. Help Emory and Misha to make theirs. Yours is the truest compass toward good that I have ever seen, and I know that you will make the most of this fortune to make the future that much better for Emory’s generation, and the next, and the next. I’m sorry for the painful memories, and the fact that I had to leave, but I know you will understand. 

Thank you, Ari, for everything. 

Love, Rene. 

Ari looked up at Emory, who was watching her intently. She didn’t know what to say. Her first thought was that he had gone insane, faked his death, and now sent her a bunch of papers that seemed to imply he had a vast fortune, but could only be faked. A cruel trick from an apparently sick mind. 

“Daddy’s not dead yet, but he will be in ten minutes.” Said Emory, startling Ari. “And it’s all real. The money and stuff. It was Khalid’s.”

“Who’s Khalid?” Asked Ari.

Emory reached out a hand and brushed it over Ari’s face, and a flood of memories came rushing in at once. Memories of Misha dying, of meeting Khal, of being mind-controlled, on the run, killed. Dying, again and again and again. 

Ari stood suddenly, dropping Rene’s letter to the floor with a gasp as everything came rushing back. She felt she might faint from just the shock of it. 

“It really- we didn’t- how can…” She fell to her knees, looking at Emory in awe. “It happened. It really all happened. And he left. He left to protect us?”

Emory nodded, biting her bottom lip in what looked like an attempt to hold back tears. 

“The mountain!” Ari exclaimed. “He’s on the mountain isn’t he?”

Emory nodded again, and this time burst into wracking sobs. Ari pulled her into a tight hug, trying in vain to squeeze all of the sorrow and pain out of her daughter. 

“Oh, love. It’s gonna be okay.” Said Ari, knowing that wasn’t exactly true. 

Hoping she could help make it so. 

*****

Misha stared in amazement at his grownup daughter as she smiled at him, before pulling him into a hug. An array of thoughts had rushed through Misha’s mind not moments before. Memories, of a life cut short. His life. Memories of his daughter growing up without him. Of Rene doing everything he could to protect him and set him up to help make the world a better place. 

“It’s so good to see you.” Said Emory, sobbing into his shoulder. 

Misha held her close, his mind reeling from the strange new reality. 

“Rene sacrificed himself for me.” Misha muttered, stepping back to look Emory in the eyes. She nodded. 

“He did it for all of us.” She said. 

Misha looked around the temple, now understanding that this was where Rene had made a choice many lifetimes ago that had led to everything. Led to this strange moment of reconnecting with his future daughter. To the knowledge of everything Rene had sacrificed to create a better future for his family and the world.

“You’re beautiful.” Said Misha. His mind had snapped to the reality of just looking upon his beloved daughter, all grownup. “My little Pickle.”

Emory grinned, “Thank you. Thank you for coming so far to learn the truth. To try and understand. We knew that you had to make the journey, or you might not have the fortitude to realize everything you needed to realize. You did it though. You made it all the way here.”

“I did.” Said Misha. “I’m so happy to get to see you.”

“And I you.” Said Emory, hugging him again. 

“What happens now?” Misha asked. 

“Well that…that’s up to you, Ari, and Little Emory. You get to decide how the future goes. We hope that you’ll make it a better one.”

“We?” Misha asked,  frowning in confusion. “You and Rene?”

“And Aset.” Emory gestured, and suddenly a divinely beautiful woman appeared next to her. Misha fell back a step in awe. 

“You’re uh…it’s a pleasure, your Goddessness…” He floundered. 

Aset smiled briefly, then glanced to Emory who looked at her, face falling a bit in sadness, and nodded. 

“I don’t have much time. I’m happy to see you again. Thank you, for coming all this way.” Said Emory. 

“Where are you going?” Misha asked. 

Emory didn’t answer. She merely smiled, before leaning forward and placing a kiss on Misha’s cheek. 

“I love you.” She said. 

“I love you, Pickle.” Misha said. Then he blinked, and she was gone. Misha spun round and round in the temple, but there was no one. He was all alone, but for the scroll in his hand. 

Rene’s loving words, preserved on 500-year-old papyrus. 

*****

As the nerves set in, Rene began to sing. Khalid was looking at him with something like love and fear, and he felt the same emotions washing through him. 

He softly started crooning Coldplay’s “Fix You”, feeling the words leave him and float to Khalid’s ears. 

Tears were streaming down Khalid’s face now, tears of fear, or loss, or hope. He couldn’t be sure. 

The single quake had come and gone. It was five minutes until lava and destruction spewed forth, and Rene continued to sing to calm himself. To remind himself that he was doing the right thing. 

“You have a beautiful voice.” Said Khalid. “You’ve always had a beautiful voice.”

Rene couldn’t help but smile as he continued, watching Khalid visibly relax. 

“I’ve wanted to die so many times. I’ve begged our Goddess to let me go.” Said Khalid. “I never understood the burden of immortality. But now, now at the end, I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Rene stopped singing, caressing Khalid’s face in his hand, “We’ve died so many times. What’s one more?”

“But this will be it, and then what?” Khalid asked. 

“And then…and then no more pain. No more fear. No more struggling. You’ll be free, Khalid. More free than you have ever been in your life.”

“And what if-” Khalid trailed off. 

“What?” Rene asked. 

“What if they’re all there waiting for me?” Khalid asked. 

There was a helicopter in the distance, doing a search of the mountain. Rene saw it from the corner of his eye. 

“What if who is waiting for you?” Rene asked. 

“All those I’ve hurt. All those I’ve wronged and killed. I murdered children. My own nieces and nephews. I murdered their innocent mothers. I’ve killed so many, and how many didn’t deserve it?” Khalid’s eyes were wide now, returning to panic. He glanced sideways at the helicopter, as though hoping it might see him and come to whisk him away. 

“And what if they are? What will they do to you that you haven’t already done to yourself? That you haven’t already suffered?”

“Let us leave.” Begged Khalid. “There’s still time.”

Rene knew that wasn’t true. They had a minute now. He could feel the Earth beginning to rumble beneath him. 

“Look in my eyes, Khalid. I am here with you. And I will be with you when we travel to the other side. This pain is only temporary. This fear is fleeting. We will have relief for eternity.”

“I’m…I’m scared.” Khalid said quietly, sucking in a shuddering breath as the panic set in. 

“So am I.” Said Rene. “I’ve thought about this day, this moment for a long time. Everything in me is screaming to run away, to save myself. But I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you. We’re in this together, until the end.”

Until the tether broke, and they could both be free.

The first eruption hit, further up the mountain. Rocks and gas exploded out violently, causing both men to jump. Khalid looked around wildly, searching perhaps for the helicopter, for somewhere to escape to. Rene grabbed his face, and forced Khalid to look into his eyes as the mountain exploded again and again. He could see the pyroclastic cloud out of his periphery. See the molten orange of Lava spewing out now several hundred yards away. 

“I’m here with you, Khalid. Just you and me, together, in the end.”

“I love you, Asim.”

“I lo-”

There was a moment of burning pain, an instant cloud searing away their lungs before the lava rolled over their bodies, consuming them, melting them away into nothingness.

Rene blinked, and he was on his knees in the temple, looking up at his Goddess. Khalid was next to him, looking at him with a strange darkness in his gaze. 

Rene turned his head, and he was Yuto, sitting under a cherry blossom tree, bleeding to death as the sun set. Then he was Sim, rocking gently in the ship, taking her last breaths. He was Charun, lying on the floor of the temple, looking on his love, wishing he had more time. He was Cody, hanging from the noose, Ling, shot crushed by the tanks, Lee, stabbed in his bed. Laurence, a victim of the riot, Adam, stabbed by a friend, Lestari, washed away in that tsunami, Iara, Conel, Aidan, Sasha, Louis, and Nita, all victims of their circumstances. He was Asim, murdered by Khalid’s father. 

And then he was Rene, destroyed by the lava of Mt. Hood.

He looked up at their Goddess, who was smiling serenely.

“You two have traveled so far, gone through so much pain to be here.” Said Aset.

“What did you do to me?” Khalid demanded, standing now. No longer content to be on his knees and worship his Goddess. “I feel separated from him now. What have you done?”

“I destroyed the tether by which I had connected you both, the one meant to keep you grounded in kindness. In goodness.” Said Aset.

“I spent centuries in agony because you forced me to return to him!” Khalid cried. 

Aset looked momentarily annoyed by his comment, but spread out her arms. As she did, a world of sand opened up around them, and they found themselves upon a ship. There was a large scale, and a being waiting there beside it with a large dog head, Anubis, waiting to weigh their hearts and judge them against the feather of Maat. 

“Tether or not, your actions were your own.” Said Aset. “And upon them, you will be judged.”

She reached her hand into Khalid’s chest, and pulled out his heart while both men stood watching her in stunned silence. 

Aset handed the heart to Anubis, who set it upon the scale with the feather by which his sins would be weighed. The heart immediately sank, and Khalid cried out in realization. 

Aset took the heart back in her hand, turning to Khalid with a sad smile. 

“Poor little boy, growing into a terrible man. I think it is time to end your suffering now. From this moment on, you will feel neither fear, nor pain, nor happiness. You will be a void of thought and emotions. The greatest gift I could give you after the life you lived. 

Khalid looked to Rene with wide eyes, shaking his head, “I don’t want to go. Don’t let me go!”

Rene said nothing, made no move to stop Aset. He watched in strange detachment as their Goddess crushed Khalid’s heart in her hands, and the light went out of his eyes. He was as a zombie now, distant and dim, lost for eternity. 

He was no longer Khalid. He was nothing. 

Rene turned to Aset, helpless as she reached a hand into his chest and pulled out his heart. It looked strange, seeming to shift and morph, becoming larger, smaller, younger, older. He realized it was all of his hearts. All of his lives. Aset handed the hearts to Anubis, who set them on the scale. 

The scale did not move. 

*****

Emory watched Rene take the ship across the sand to his new home. Her Goddess stood beside her now, a single uncharacteristic tear running down her cheek. 

“Are you to weigh my heart next?” Emory asked. 

“No, dear girl. For you no longer exist. You are but a shadow in the world, waiting for the Sun to make you disappear. You will fade soon, as your time is done.”

Emory had suspected as much. A corporeal being she was not. She existed now mostly in thoughts and memories. Aset at least had the decency to give her a glimpse into the future her family would create. The lengths that Ari and Misha would go to in order to make the world a better place for her younger self, a better place in Rene’s memory. It was magnificent. Absolutely beautiful.

“I wanted to thank you, before you go.” Said Aset.

“Thank me for what?” Emory asked. But like most other things with Aset, she already knew the answer. 

“Thank you for fighting back when I was in the wrong. For showing me that even a Goddess is fallible, and that I must step aside and let humanity figure it out for themselves.”

“Or die trying.” Emory smiled. 

“Or die trying.” Aset nodded. 

“Well, thank you for listening.” Said Emory. “And for making the right decision. Even if it was the hard one.”

“Life is full of hard decisions.” Said Aset. “As is death. How blessed we are to be around for any amount of time to make them.”

Emory could feel it now. Feel herself starting to fade. Blown away bit by bit, becoming as weightless as the billowing white curtains of the bungalow she had first conjured to visit her father in his dreams. 

“Take care of him.” She begged. “And Misha, Ari, and…me.”

“I will.” Said Aset, “You have my word.”

Emory closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and was no more.