Wind howled across the Westward Plains.
Delilah kept her head up, Divination Magic active, looking for any sign of Marcus.
All this time, she’d seen nothing. She and Alice walked along with Maribelle, Sarabelle, and Isabelle. Their destination: the place where Terevalde could supposedly be found. It was a cryptic clue: “I go to where the sky meets the sea — the very edge of this world.”
But Maribelle knew what it meant, and she led the way.
With every step, Delilah’s worry about Marcus grew. Was he really okay? Had he been attacked like the rest of them had? By whom? Had he gotten out okay, or had he been defeated?
But they didn’t have any clues to these mysteries. With the Westward Plains being as big and empty as it was, the best they could do was strive onwards towards their next destination, and if they didn’t find him there…
Then what? Should they wait, or go back to look for him? If so, how?
A small point of warmth pressed against Delilah’s cheek. “Hey,” said Alice. “Stop worrying so much.”
Delilah shook her head, pulling away from Alice’s finger. “I’m just worried about Marcus,” she said.
“And I just said to stop worrying,” Alice said, sighing. “Come on, gramps can take care of himself. The only time he ever had trouble with anything was against Sen, and Sen came after me this time. He doesn’t care about Marcus.”
Delilah kept her Divination-Magic-infused gaze fixed forward. “I hope so,” she said softly.
Alice groaned, then punched Delilah in the arm — hard. “Ow!” Delilah yelped, rubbing at the sore spot on her arm. “What’s that for?”
“For your wits,” Alice said.
“Huh?” Delilah asked, blinking in confusion.
“You’re not keeping them about you!” Alice said, grinning.
“Keeping what about me?” Delilah was not in the mood for Alice’s joking around.
“Your. Wits.” Alice rolled her eyes. “Honestly, if anyone should be worrying right now, it’s me. But you came along and did that thing you do, giving me hope and stuff about Rabanastre, so I’ve kept my wits about me. You’re worrying about stuff you can’t control, but isn’t that kind of stupid?”
“Mari says you shouldn’t use ‘stupid’ with your friends!” Isabelle called back from up ahead.
“Yeah, well Mari’s not my big sister,” Alice replied, sticking out her tongue. She turned her attention back on Delilah, fixing her with an expectant gaze.
“W-what?” Delilah asked. She was completely thrown off by Alice’s behavior.
“I asked you a question, you know,” Alice said.
“I…” Delilah started, then lowered her gaze. “Yeah,” she muttered. “But just because something’s stupid doesn’t mean I can help it. It’s hard not to worry about your friends.”
“You got that right,” Alice said, a strange wistfulness in her voice. When Delilah looked at her, Alice was gazing ahead, a faraway look in her white eyes.
“We’re getting close,” Maribelle said, cresting a hill and scanning the horizon. “Delilah, any sign of Marcus?”
Delilah took a look again, and for a moment, didn’t believe what she saw. After all this time… “Yes!” she cried, breathless. “Straight ahead! Not far away!” She ran, and Alice ran with her. They overtook the Princesses of Solitude, who walked carefully to look after and keep pace with Sarabelle. Another hill, and then around a cluster of fallen pillars… the pair crested the last hill, and looked down to see, seated on a rock on the edge of a sheer cliff…
“Marcus!” Delilah said, staring in amazement. He sat on the rock with his bell-topped staff draped across his legs, his long silvery ponytail waving in the wind. He turned at her voice and broke into a smile, and Delilah raced down the hill towards him, Alice right behind her.
“You’re okay!” Delilah said, stopping in front of him and looking him over.
“Indeed I am,” Marcus said with a laugh, “and I’m glad to see you are well. Where are the others?”
“Catching up to us,” Alice said, hands on her hips, eyeing Marcus suspiciously. “What are you doing just sitting here, gramps? We’ve been wondering where you were, and Delilah here was going crazy worrying about you.”
Marcus laughed warmly. “Oh, I do apologize for that. But I don’t know my way around the Westward Plains very well. When I found myself here, and saw the sights beyond, I thought it seemed like the place described by Terevalde, so I thought I’d wait here, rather than wander looking for you and get lost.”
“Well, that’s fine, then,” Alice said, pursing her lips. “So you’ve just been sitting here? We had to deal with the Sons of Night, you know.”
“Oh, I haven’t been idle,” Marcus said, his eyes flashing. “Jormungand found me. We fought, briefly, but that was all. I scared him away rather easily.”
“And you just let him leave?” Alice asked, eyes flickering to black and back to white. She took a step forward, glaring. “You should have killed him while you had the chance!”
Delilah started to interrupt — Jormungand was once Marcus’ friend, it wouldn’t be that easy — but Marcus spoke up first.
“Oh, I don’t disagree,” he said, surprising both Delilah and Alice. “But Jormungand is a slippery foe. I think the only way he meets his end is if he is forced into a battle from which he cannot escape. Either that, or a single strike that ends him in one. I may be far more powerful than him, but the gap in strength is not quite great enough for me to pull that off.”
Alice pursed her lips, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Well, that makes sense, I guess,” she muttered, shrugging. “At least you’re safe.”
Maribelle and Isabelle arrived, carefully guiding Sarabelle down the last descent to where Marcus, Delilah, and Alice waited. “There we go,” Sarabelle said, smiling. Despite her relaxed demeanor, it was clear that she was out of breath. Bella poked her head out from behind Sarabelle’s neck for a moment, eyeing Marcus and then ducking back into her hiding spot.
“So this is the place?” Isabelle asked, trotting forward and gazing out with wide eyes at the view.
“Not quite,” Maribelle said. “But it’s a straight shot from here.” She pointed. “Just follow the road.”
Delilah looked for the first time at what lay beyond Marcus, and she gaped. The sheer cliffs weren’t as high as she’d thought, dropping to a sudden stop at a roiling, wild ocean. Slicing through that ocean, straight ahead, was a narrow road of silver. It gleamed forward, vanishing towards the horizon, which was… unbelievable.
The ocean suddenly broke apart when it reached the horizon, shattering like glass. The sky as well was blasted into oblivion, shards of sea and sky crashing into each other, shattering into more fragments, and blasting into other fragments, a repeating, endless loop. Rifts opened up between these shatterings of sky and sea, rifts of a startling, magnetic blackness. It wasn’t the living Darkness — Delilah knew that immediately. This was something different, something… empty.
“We’re… going there?” she asked, her voice taut.
“Yes,” Maribelle said. “Where sky meets sea — the very edge of this world. The Final Frontier is aptly named. This road leads to the Event Horizon.”
“Event horizon?” Delilah asked, wheeling about, staring at Maribelle in shock. “That’s a black hole?”
“A black… oh,” Maribelle started, shaking her head. “No, I apologize. It is not an event horizon as Human science uses such a term. It is the Event Horizon — the most distant Location from the center of the Enchanted Dominion, and the very edge, the end, of this world as we know it.”
“Perhaps we should be mindful of apocalyptic terms around them,” Sarabelle said, smiling kindly at the stunned faces of Delilah… and Alice. Even Alice was shocked, listening intently.
“They are apt terms, from the right perspective,” Maribelle said, somewhat defensively. She sighed, relaxing, and then smiled. “It is a physical end, not a death or apocalypse. Though it does give off that impression. In truth, I shouldn’t say too much with certainty — there is still so much we do not know about the Event Horizon. It is a strange place of impossibilities. Reality warps and bends around it. It is not dissimilar from the Unfathomable Emptiness, in that has a visceral, emotional impact on most who see it, and even more so on those who enter. We must stay close together and be very careful. If that is where Terevalde has gone, we cannot be sure he is the same as when he came here. If he’s been alone all this time… he may be well-changed since he last spoke to Irielle.”
“Have you…” Delilah started, hesitant to ask. She took a breath, then started again. “Have you been in there?”
Maribelle gazed out at the shattering of sea and sky, a strange look in her eyes. “Once,” she said softly. “I did not think I would ever come back.”
“Okay, so can we just pause for a second?” Alice asked, holding out her hands. “Is it dangerous, or just weird? Because I’m getting different vibes from the words you’re using and the tone of your voice.”
“The Event Horizon is not physically dangerous,” Maribelle said. “At least, to a point. Entering it will not cause you harm. Stray too far within, and you may lose yourself, with no hope of return. If Terevalde is still there, he will not be far within.”
“But physical dangers are not the only kinds of dangers,” Sarabelle said in a hushed tone.
“That is where the Event Horizon can be most dangerous,” Maribelle said. “It… it will be helpful, all of us going in together.”
“It’s okay if you’re scared,” Isabelle said, taking Maribelle’s hand in hers and gazing up at her with a kind, earnest expression. “You don’t have to pretend.”
Maribelle smiled, giving Isabelle’s hand a squeeze. “Fear is not, perhaps, the right word,” she said. “I… it is unsettling. Anyway. There is little we can do to prepare ourselves. Just be ready to face something you cannot make sense of, to struggle to discern what is real and what is not. And let us all stay close to each other. If anyone does not wish to enter, waiting just outside would be safe.”
“I’m going,” Sarabelle said firmly. She took Maribelle’s other hand.
Alice grinned, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Then let’s get going!” she said.
Maribelle led the way across the narrow silver road. It was just wide enough that Sarabelle and Isabelle could walk on either side of her, as long as they stayed quite close. Marcus walked behind them, and Delilah and Alice brought up the rear.
To either side, the roiling ocean roared, foamed and crashed against an invisible barrier that protected those traveling the silver road. The winds howled, and with every step Delilah heard new noises grow louder. There was the regular, constant rumbling of the Final Frontier, but within that was a sharper, more aggressive series of sounds — the shattering of sea and sky ahead of them. Like glass shattering, like nails on a chalkboard, like the whining of a drill, all blasting and thrumming together in chaotic, cacophonic manner. It grew louder and louder as they approached, and Delilah nearly thought she was going to have to cover her ears.
But then…
All went silent.
Delilah stared. The path across the road had seemed so far, and yet they were already here. The end of the silver road widened before a dark, jagged rift in reality. All around it, fragments of sky and sea bounced around, blasted against each other, shattered and exploded, but none came close enough to touch the arrivals. And all of that movement was deathly silent.
Delilah stared into the rift. Something seemed to pull at her, to beckon her, and yet also repulse her. She was frightened, yet amazed. Disgusted, yet excited. Unsettled, yet thrilled. She wanted to leap into the rift with wild abandon, and yet she also wanted to run away as fast as she could.
Alice grabbed her hand, squeezing tight. Delilah looked aside and saw that everyone was holding hands. They were going to enter together.
Of course. That’s what we’re supposed to do.
Pull yourself together, Delilah. This place is going to try and mess with you. Just stick with the others. Stay calm. Don’t be fooled, don’t be swayed.
At a word from Maribelle, the group entered, passing through the dark rift into the Event Horizon.
Delilah was immediately struck by a sense of dread. Her stomach did a flip. For a second, all she could do was stare, unable to comprehend.
What…
…is this…?
Her hand felt empty, and she grasped desperately. Somewhere in the distance, Alice cried out in pain. “Don’t squeeze so hard!” she said. Both girls looked at each other…
“Huh?”
They asked in unison, staring. Alice seemed worlds away, upside down, spinning in a slow, steady rotation. No one else was with her.
“Why are you —” Delilah and Alice both spoke at the same time, then cut off as they talked over each other.
“Stay calm,” came the steady, firm voice of Maribelle.
Suddenly, they were all together again. Delilah, Alice, Marcus, Maribelle, Sarabelle, Isabelle, all accounted for, standing side-by-side, hand-in-hand.
All around was darkness, and yet… not darkness. There were shapes. There was texture to this space. It was… empty, and yet…
So many times, when Delilah and her siblings had reunited in the midst of their separate journeys, they had told each other stories about their adventures. Often, they’d struggled to describe certain places or events. Delilah had, too. But this…
This was the first time she was honestly unable to understand what she was seeing. There was light in here, there must be, or she wouldn’t be able to see those who had come in with her. And yet all around was this impossible void of darkness, of emptiness, and yet within the emptiness, it wasn’t empty…
She felt like she was going in circles, in her mind, in her thoughts. Her head was spinning, and she felt dizzy.
“Hey, Terevalde!” Alice shouted, glaring into the void with narrowed black eyes. “Come on out, will you? If you’re here, show yourself and let’s get this over with!”
No response came. After several seconds of silence, Alice’s own angry cry echoed back towards them from far off, and then from near, beneath them. A cascade of echoes came from all directions, speaking over each other, a jumble of Alice’s voice growing louder, louder, louder. Delilah went to cover her ears, letting go of Alice’s hand…
All went still and silent.
Delilah lowered her hands.
There was no floor beneath her feet. She was falling, or she felt like it. And yet…
She wasn’t going anywhere.
Something flitted by in the corner of her eye. She turned, only then realizing that she was suddenly, terrifyingly, alone, but that realization only lasted a moment, because —
“Caleb?”
Delilah stared, not believing her eyes. She saw Caleb. He stood in a field of red flowers, wielding… a sword?
“Caleb!” Delilah cried out, reaching for him. But then he was gone, melting away into darkness. Delilah spun around, losing her balance and flipping until she was upside-down, staring at…
Grimoire.
The entire city, so distant it seemed in miniature. It, too, was upside-down, and all the waters of Grimson Bay were emptying, cascading down like a waterfall. The people of the city, too, were falling, tumbling end-over-end, losing themselves in the waterfall, vanishing into…
It was all gone.
Everything.
Delilah was alone.
Voices called out, bounced off of invisible walls. Alice, Maribelle, Shana, Lady Kodoka, Delilah’s parents, Marcus. Whispers formed a chorus underneath, and all the voices and words blended together so Delilah couldn’t make any sense of it.
“Confusing, isn’t it?”
Delilah turned at the voice. She was still upside-down, but the person she saw was also upside-down.
A girl. It was a little girl. She was sitting cross-legged, holding a teacup and saucer. She sipped at her tea, and even though she was upside-down, the tea didn’t spill.
“It… is,” Delilah said. “Who…”
“I’m No One,” the girl said. She put her teacup on the saucer and, giggling softly, pushed it gently with a fingertip. The cup and saucer floated through space to Delilah, who caught them. “Go on,” the girl said, cocking her head to the side. She had the brightest blue eyes, and a wild mess of golden curls. “Drink it.”
Before Delilah even thought to question it, she did as instructed. She took a sip. The tea flooded her mouth with amazing flavor — vanilla and honey, hints of apples and cinnamon, a marvelous collection of her favorite things.
And it flooded her mind with emotions. With thoughts. With visions, impressions, memories that weren’t memories, or… were they? She saw the girl, the No One, over and over and over and over and over—
Delilah sat up. She’d been lying down… since… when?
She was in a bed, floating in a dark, empty lake. At the foot of the bed sat No One, playing with a pair of plush dolls that looked like Felix and Rabanastre.
“Cats and rabbits are good friends, you know,” said No One. “Especially when they’re both so similar. The cat slices and dices, the rabbit kicks and punches —” She made little sound effects to go along with her acting out those actions with the dolls. “But they both dance while they do it. So graceful. So skillful.” She looked up at Delilah, grinning. “Are you a cat, or a rabbit?”
“Am I…” Delilah started, shaking her head, trying to clear her mind. Where was she? What was… she felt like she was forgetting something important, something very important. Wasn’t she supposed to be…
“Hey.” Delilah looked up at the single word, saw No One sitting so close, her blue eyes were dazzling, her little button nose was almost touching Delilah’s. “Are you sure you’re paying attention?”
Delilah sat down. She’d been running, running, running…? Wait…
I was just in… bed…? I wasn’t… no…
She was grateful for the seat.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?”
It was No One again. She was sitting on the table. Delilah was, too. There were no chairs, and there was no floor beneath them. The only safe place to sit in the entire universe was this single, solitary table. A table for two.
“Do I… wait, do you?” Delilah asked, turning on No One. “What are you doing?”
No One looked like she was going to cry. She bowed her head, sniffling. “I… I was just… trying to…”
All was empty. Delilah couldn’t even see herself.
In the emptiness, a voice.
“I don’t want to be alone.”
Delilah turned about, grasping for the rigging. A ship! That’s right — she was on a ship. She’d lost her crew, she’d lost her friends, and the storm, the storm was so fierce. Rain pelted her, rain as hot as fire, her skin burned. But she couldn’t go below decks. The ship! The ship was going to fall to pieces if she didn’t do anything!
Fire. Fire all around, swirling, spinning, freezing. It was a cold fire, so cold, and Delilah was wrapped up in it like a blanket. She rested her head on a burning pillow, closing her eyes, relishing in the deep, suffocating freeze.
“Hey.”
Delilah stared. No One was there again, her face so close, her eyes so big.
“This is the worst place to get lost,” No One said. “So you should really stop.”
They were on the wall, sitting cross-legged. The wallpaper peeled away all around them, but where they sat, the wallpaper held. When the wallpaper peeled away, it showed all sorts of holes in the wall, deep, wide, cavernous holes, that —
“Are you paying attention?” No One asked.
“I am,” Delilah said.
She was alone.
And then… she wasn’t.
She saw them, then — No One and Terevalde. How did she know it was Terevalde? The man was a stranger, and yet… he wasn’t. It was like she knew him, like she’d always known him. His black, silvery curls. His weary, dark eyes. From the pocket of his waistcoat hung a short chain made of sapphires, and at the end, dangling, unused, a gold-framed monocle.
He sat in the void, No One in his lap, crying. He caressed her hair, whispered to her words that Delilah couldn’t hear.
And then Terevalde looked at her.
“This is a dangerous place for the Keybearer,” he said. His voice was lovely, warm and sweet, and Delilah couldn’t help but smile, even though he spoke with such a grave expression. “And yet it is necessary.”
“How did you know that I’m —” Delilah started, then shook her head, laughing. “But of course you know.”
“Of course he does,” No One said, giggling. Her tears were gone, and she gazed at Delilah with a smile. “You’re paying attention now, right?”
“I am,” Delilah said, nodding.
“That’s all I need to know,” Terevalde said. He reached into the pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a pearly white padlock with a silver chain wrapped around it. He pushed it with a fingertip, and it sailed through the void to Delilah. “Be mindful of what you find within. I’m the one you’re looking for.”
“I’m the one you’re looking for,” No One said, grinning.
Delilah caught the padlock, staring at it. She pulled out the Key of the World, turning it over in her hands.
Terevalde bowed his head, his expression grave.
No One giggled, watching with delight.
Delilah inserted the Key into the lock, and turned.
Click!