Part 45 (2/2)
And saw herself in the light.
Mara nodded her head. The reflection did not.
Behind her reflection, another Mara bent forward, trying to see around her counterpart to where Mara stood.
”What are you doing here?” Mara asked to the reflection immediately to her right.
”You brought us here. You tell us,” her counterpart said.
The walls of light, the expanded facets, collapsed, imploding into a starburst that winked out, replaced by the floating green garnet still spinning above their heads.
From within the bubble, Diana stared back, wide-eyed.
Mara looked down at her chest, trying to find what had spooked Diana. Movement to her right drew her attention.
Another Mara stood next to her.
Behind her was another. Two more Maras. They were not quite solid, but they were there.
The one closest gave a short wave and smiled. Without saying anything, she pointed over Mara's shoulder. She turned.
Two more versions of herself stood to the left.
Five of them stood side by side, facing Diana through the Chronicle's blue barrier.
Diana raised her arms to the obelisks. Lightning shot down, striking Mara's counterparts, pa.s.sing through them.
”How do I help my mother?” Mara asked.
The counterpart immediately to her right, said, ”Facets.”
”I don't have time for cryptic. A little more detail, please?”
”Two facets of Mom's consciousness exist in this body. Use the crystal to refract her consciousness. Split them apart and send the other Mom back.”
”How?”
”Just will it.”
From behind her another Mara said, ”She doesn't know what she is doing. Look at her. She's almost spent. She's one step away from sputtering into oblivion.”
Mara held up her hands and looked down at herself. She was flickering so rapidly she appeared more transparent than her counterparts. ”I'm not leaving without my mother,” she said.
”She is not prepared for the consequences, and we should not be interfering.”
The other counterpart said, ”Her realm, her mother, her consequences. If she wants, we will help.” She turned to Mara. ”There are no guarantees this will work, Mara, but there will be consequences. The element of Consequence is always affected when you alter the other elements.”
The bridge quaked, heaved a foot into the air, throwing the Maras to the ground. Something was crossing over through the pa.s.sage beneath the arch. Something big.
”What do I do?” Mara stood up.
Her counterpart nodded to the floating, spinning garnet. The reflections raised their right hands to it. Mara followed suit, unsure of what to expect.
A cone of green light burst out of the gem and engulfed Diana. It s.h.i.+mmered and emitted a shaft of spinning light over her. She reached up and pressed against its edges with her palms, unable to reach beyond. She was bound within.
The light split into two bands, separating from the center. As they diverged, Diana's serpent tattoo slid across her forehead, then jumped into the air. A transparent image of Diana appeared behind it.
Mara glanced to the left. No tattoo remained on her mother's face. The transparent Diana screamed, raised her arms, resisted. The ghostly image slipped back into her mother's body.
”The joining cannot be undone. This is my body now,” Diana screamed, gritting her teeth, flailing her arms at them. Sweat coursed down her face.
Mara looked at her counterparts who raised their left hands to the spinning crystal. Another light, this one more brilliant, flooded down on Diana. Again, the light refracted, tearing Diana's consciousness apart, dragging out the tattooed one screaming and flailing, kicking at the air.
Diana begged her counterpart, ”Raise the Chronicle. Call me back.” She flung herself toward Mara's mother but could not pa.s.s beyond the band of light that held her.
”Can we send her back to her realm?” Mara asked, glancing sideways to her counterparts.
”Not without the Chronicle and it's in there,” her counterpart said, nodding toward the blue bubble in front of them.
”Then what do we do?”
”Her consciousness must be bound to her body and Mom, your mom, must touch her. That will send her back.”
Mara nodded to the pile of ash and bones on the ground inside the bubble. ”She destroyed her body from the other realm.”
One of the Maras to the left said, ”That does not matter. Rejoin them. The consequences are hers.”
Her counterpart to the right nodded.
Mara grimaced. ”Okay.”
She lowered her arms from the floating, spinning crystal and extended them toward the remains. Ashes floated into the air, swirling above the bones, forming a loose spiral as they gained speed and power. As the soot accelerated, bones rose from the ground, were sucked into the whirlwind forming in front of the broken altar. After the remains had been swept up, Mara pointed to the ethereal Diana. The tornado of soot and bones spun at her, engulfing her, tearing her spiritual form into misty tatters, blending it with the cremated remains. A bolt of light flashed out of the vortex. A skeleton screamed from the maelstrom.
”Mom, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need you to reach out and touch her,” Mara said.
Her mother cringed from the swirling, screaming nightmare. She drew her arms up, hugged the Chronicle to her chest. She faced Mara and blinked slowly trying to clear her vision, trying to make sense of the daughters before her. She staggered forward a step, reaching out for help.
”No, Mom. Don't come to me,” Mara said.
Her mother stopped, wavered on her feet as she gazed from one Mara to the next.
On the walkway, Sam slowly lifted his blood-soaked head. He raised himself up on one arm. ”Mom!” he yelled.
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