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"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player." Thank you, Macbeth, for that lovely quote. Guess what, space fans! A special guest appearence by Anubus, the God o' Death. -Val
Commander Goddard stared sadly at Radu's motionless form. He then walked away from the bed in the med lab to speak to the rest of the crew. "Radu has been sick for a very long time. Ever since that time when he took that bear onto the Christa and contracted the disease he has been getting worse. Rosie only cured the immediate symptoms, but he has been dying ever since. He has kept his illness a secret even from me. The stress from the past few days was too much for him. The Christa's living systems have hooked onto Radu's body. We can only hope for the best."
The others filed past Radu and murmured almost silent sounds of sadness. Valerie was the last to pass him. She put her hand on his cheek, but couldn't sense his soul anywhere. He was either too deep in his coma for it to be noticed, or- no, she wouldn't think of that possibility. Not yet.
*******
Later that day Valerie was noticed to be missing from her classes. Her classmates split up to search for her, and Suzee found her sitting in the med lab next to Radu. Suzee called out her name, and when Valerie looked up Suzee could see the tear stains on her face.
"Suzee, I could save him," Valerie began. "I could bring him out of this coma and heal his body. But it's his spirit that's the problem. The shock of his recovery would change his spirit. He wouldn't be the same Radu we once knew. Is it worth that risk?"
"Valerie, don't talk about this. Please. It's not good to pretend that we could save him," Suzee protested.
"I could bring his soul back to his body; bring him back to consciousness. But he would die within a few days. Would that be worth it? Having him back for a little while?"
"Please, Valerie, don't," Suzee protested again.
"There's another way, but it's too hard. Too big a sacrifice. Impossible," Valerie muttered to herself. Then she held her head up and looked Suzee straight in the eye. "What will be done will be done. Let's go back to class." Her mind was made up.
*******
That night Valerie called Rosie over to her. She asked if she would like to hear a story that night, and Rosie agreed.
.
Once upon a time, a long long time ago lived a girl. This girl was a sorceress and very powerful, but she fell in love with a man. He loved her as well, and they were to be married. On the night before their wedding day the groom fell deathly ill and was going to die. The girl cast a spell for her to die as well. The girl then passed through the spirit plain and fought Anubus, the jackal god of death, for her love's spirit. The girl won, and she was reunited with her love, with whom she lived a full and happy life with.
.
Valerie ended the story strangely sadly. "Just remember this in the future," she said and hugged Rosie tenderly. "Good bye. I hope to see you again soon," she whispered.
"But wait. Where are you going?" asked Rosie.
"To save Radu," she said simply, and exited the room.
*******
Valerie walked slowly into the medical room. Bova, Suzee, and Harlan were sitting by him, watching over him. She walked past them to Radu's bed side. She laid her hand on his forehead and brushed a stray strand of hair away from his face. "Wake up," she whispered. She gave Bova, Suzee and Harlan a quick hug each before exiting the room. She was gone before Radu could open his eyes fully. He never saw her leave.
*******
Valerie landed in her and Radu's secret spot. It was the perfect place for the charm to work. She vaguely wondered whether this would remain their secret spot after this. Or if either of them would be left. But there wasn't any time left for these thoughts. Radu needed her, so she would go.
*******
Radu opened his eyes and looked up at his friends' faces. "Hey," he said weakly. "What's up?"
"Radu! You're awake! You're alive!" screeched Suzee.
"For a little while, at least," he mumbled back.
"What do you mean for a little while?" asked Harlan.
"I mean that I won't be here much longer. I can tell," explained Radu.
"Don't talk like that," pleaded Bova. "You're going to get better, and you'll join us on the Christa, and then we can all try to get back home together."
"No, Bova," said Radu sadly. "The one time you're not being a downer you're wrong." He moved his head slightly and said, "What's that?"
*******
Legend raised her arms and sang, in Latin, the words she needed to say. Her voice raised in unearthly patterns during the song, calling forth the powers she needed. Iridescent sparks floated around her head as she sang:
"Unus vita existêrer unas vita.
"Ego vocareo meus nam suus.
"Possum facêre Mors ostium existêre apeire ad ego.
"Panis hominum fit panis angelicus."
*******
The spectral notes reached the ears in the Med Labs. "It's Valerie. Singing. In Latin, I think," said Harlan.
"Oh, what does it matter?" asked Suzee. "Nothing matters anymore, except you getting well, Radu."
*******
Sunset
Legend slid down the jump tube into the lounge, took out her compu-pad, and began to speak. "I guess this is good bye," she began sadly. "The spells are chanted, the stars aligned, and I don't have much time. I'm sad to leave you, but I can't allow Radu to die. I-" her voice broke off for a moment. Legend choked the tears back, but one tear escaped and ran its silvery way down her cheek.
*******
"Don't make this harder on me than it already is, Suzee," said Radu. "There's nothing anyone can do for me anymore. It's been happening for a long time."
*******
Twilight
She continued. "I want you to simply remember that I love every one of you and that I would never purposely do anything to hurt you."
*******
"Stop talking like that!" yelled Harlan. "Don't give up. There's still a chance that something might happen."
*******
Dusk
"I'm not allowed to tell you much more than this: remember the phoenix. From the ashes he'll rise, and raising his fiery wings he will be reborn in a greater blaze than that which consumed him!" her voice softened. "And, Radu, I-"
*******
"It's getting so dark," Radu said suddenly.
"Please, don't leave me! Not yet!" someone said pitifully. At this time their emotions were so intense no one could tell who was saying what.
"I would never," he whispered, and slipped away.
*******
Darkness
Her voice, which had been shuddering throughout, now broke out into gasps. "It's too soon; can't say enough now; can't hold it off any longer." Her green eyes focused away from the compu-pad onto something more important inside her mind.
"Resergam," she whispered quietly, then collapsed onto the ground. Valerie; Legend; Taliesin was dead.
*******
"Valerie?" called out Rosie. "Where are you?" She walked up to Thelma and asked her if she had seen Valerie anywhere.
"There is a form approximating Valerie in the lounge, but my sensors are not certain whether this is indeed Valerie," Thelma replied.
"What do you mean, 'not certain?'" asked Rosie, now incredibly nervous about what might have happened to Valerie. "Radu's dying, and you don't know for certain where I can get Valerie so she can see him!"
"My sensors are not certain because she is either asleep or not operating," said Thelma calmly.
"Not... operating?" repeated Rosie slowly, and rushed towards the nearest jump tube and went to the lounge. She kneeled down next to the fallen Enigma and, with tears in her eyes, listened to the tape she had made, ending with a shot of Rosie's feet when she came down the jump tube and stopped the tape.
*******
Radu's spirit walked in a trance down the spirit plain. To his left were the constellations the Sheaf, the Door. To his right were the constellations The One Who Turns, the Tree. Stars existing on the edge of the universe, where time, life, and death are combined. Stars never to be seen by living eyes.
Ahead of him was a tall thing with cold, red eyes, a long, stately nose, and a staff holding a large crystal ball in it. This was Anubus, the jackal god of death. His gray fur lay still on his form as he awaited Radu's arrival.
"Welcome, Radu," he said almost tauntingly. "I've been waiting for you. You're almost became an immortal- good thing I caught you before that could happen, hmm?" Radu just stared blankly back at him. "You'll make an excellent addition to my collection. People so strong are so hard to come by."
Anubus held out his staff and opened a portal to the place of the dead. "Enter, and you will forever be amongst the dead," he said coldly. Radu, still in his trance, walked forward to the portal.
A girl behind Radu shouted out his name, breaking the spell Anubus had on him. She then called out, "Anubus! You know it isn't his time yet. Let him go; I'm the one you want, not him."
Radu turned around in surprise and said in a panic, "Where am I?"
"You're dead, of course," replied Anubus quietly. "Unless someone here is up to a little challenge? What about it, Taliesin? Risk your life for his?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way. Radu! Run, quickly! Back to the living. If they destroy your vacated body before you can return, there's no hope," she called out.
"But what about you?" he asked.
"I've faced this leech before; I can do it again. Don't worry about me. Now go!" she yelled. Radu turned back and ran, past the Door and the Tree, past the Sheaf and the One Who Turns. He could hear her calling after him, "Don't let them destroy my body! That part depends on you!" Radu disappeared and returned to the living plain.
"Leech?" Anubus asked in mock offense, and the battle began.
*******
The fog enveloped Radu as he fell backwards, backwards, backwards down to the living plain. "Legend..." he murmured. "Legend..." he said again, louder.
"What's that, Bova?" asked Harlan through the tears.
"I didn't say anything," replied Bova.
"Neither did I," said Suzee.
"If none of us said anything, then that must mean..." Harlan's voice trailed off as he looked down at Radu. Radu's head moved slightly as he murmured the word, "Legend..." once more.
"Radu! You're alive!" yelled Harlan as he shook Radu's shoulders.
"She gave me a message, but I- I can't remember anything anymore," Radu mumbled to himself.
"Radu! You're alive!" shouted Bova.
"What happened?" asked Radu.
"Radu! You're alive!" exclaimed Suzee.
"I know, already. Can someone please tell me what happened?" said Radu.
"Don't you remember?"
"All I remember is all of you, crying for someone. It was very dark, and then something important happened. The next thing I remember is waking up. Something happened. Why can't I remember?"
"You... how can I put this appropriately?" said Bova. "You... died. But you're OK now, right?"
"Died? As in, not living anymore?" The others nodded their consent. "Man, you'd think I would remember that. One more thing: how come I can't see?"
"Try opening your eyes," suggested Bova.
Radu did. "Yup, much better." He smiled at his friends. "It's good to be back."
*******
Legend dodged a fireball thrown by Anubus. "Is that the best you can do?" she taunted, and then shrieked as another fireball almost hit her.
"Is that better?" he sneered back at her.
"Much," she said coldly, and threw a fireball back at him. The battle continued.
*******
Rosie slowly walked into the medical center. "Guys, I-" she broke off as she saw Radu, sitting up in bed and laughing along with the others. "Radu! You're alive!" she cried out.
"Yeah, I've been getting a lot of that recently," he said rather smugly.
Her momentary happiness dropped again as she said, "Guys, can I see you outside for a moment?" They agreed and left Radu alone for a moment.
"I found... wait, can Radu still hear us?" asked Rosie.
"No, the walls are soundproof. What do you need to tell us?" said Harlan.
"It's Valerie," said Rosie. "I- she's-" she started crying again.
Suzee held her in her arms and comforted her. "There, there, Rosie. It's all right. What did Valerie do?"
"Oh, Suzee! She's dead," Rosie cried.
"Dead?" whispered Suzee.
"Yes," Rosie replied. "I found this message on her compu-pad. She's not dead, but she is, but I don't know!" she said exasperated. She pressed a few buttons on Valerie's compu-pad, and nothing happened.
"I swear, it was here! I had proof that she's not going to be gone forever." She started to whisper to herself. "I know I had it. I... thought I did." She started to cry silently again. Commander Goddard came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. He, too, was crying.
"It's all right, Rosie. But you have to stop pretending she'll come back. She's gone, and it's a terrible loss. But stop saying that she'll come back."
Rosie turned to face Miss Davenport, who was standing at Commander Goddard's side. "Miss Davenport, what does the word 'resergam' mean?" she asked innocently.
"It's Latin. It means- 'I will rise again.'"
Rosie broke away from the group and went to be alone and cry her tears out. "She is alive- she is!" she whispered to herself.
*******
Legend stood triumphantly over Anubus. "You're beaten. Admit it, and let Radu and I keep our lives."
"Fine, fine," said Anubus with a wave of his hand. "Radu's life is his to squander as he like. But aren't you forgetting something?" asked Anubus craftily.
"What's that?" asked Legend suspiciously.
"What about... Darien?" he said with a gleam in his red eyes.
"What about Darien?" said Legend, letting more of the hurt show than she would have wished. "I loved him, and saved him, but you won anyway."
"You won him from me in that battle so long ago. But even you couldn't keep him from dying of old age. What if I offered you..." he trailed off.
"Offered me what?" Legend asked eagerly and sadly at the same time.
"Offered you a full life with him again. I can give him life if I choose."
"What's the catch?"
"When he dies again of old age..." said Anubus, "you die with him."
"Darien..." she whispered to herself. But then faintly, over the spirit plain, she could hear Rosie crying for her. "No deal," she said firmly. "I want to keep my life."
"Then leave!' he yelled at her, switching from cunning to anger. "You'll eventually be mine. Mark my words, immortal," he said, spitting out the word, "you will be mine."
"Whatever." Legend turned her back on Anubus and left the spirit plain.
*******
The next morning was the time of the funeral. The crew of the Christa had put off telling Radu of Valerie's death. He still was weak, and they didn't want him to have a relapse. They all knew that he and Valerie were close. How close now, they had no idea.
Rosie had been the one elected to tell Radu the news. Next to him, she had been the closest one to Valerie. She had finally come to grips with the fact that Valerie was dead.
"Radu, I have something to tell you," she rehearsed to herself. "No, no. Radu, listen, I bet you've been wondering where Valerie has been? No, Radu: Valerie's..." her voice trailed off and she entered med lab.
There before her was Valerie sitting by Radu's bed, talking fondly with him.
"I can't remember what happened, but I'm sure that you're a big part of it. What happened while I was gone?" Radu asked.
"The strain of the transition has erased some of your memories, but don't worry. In a few days everything will be right," Valerie returned.
Rosie's eyes grew wide as she realized what this meant: she was right! Valerie is alive! She threw open her arms and rushed at Valerie for a hug. "I missed you. They all thought you were gone, but I knew you weren't!"
Valerie protested Rosie's advance, "No! Wait! Don't touch me!" but it was too late. Rosie ran up to her, reached her arms around her, and went completely through her.
"Hey- where'd she go?" yelled Radu.
"Great. Thanks a lot," Valerie said sarcastically.
"Valerie," said Rosie, "you're a... a..."
"Ghost?" offered Valerie. "And now, thanks to your wonderful little trick, no one but you can see me."
"But, but," stuttered Rosie, "are you, you know..."
"Dead? No. I beat Anubus, just like in the story. I just don't have a body," she explained. "After checking up on Radu I was going to show myself to the rest of the crew to make them believe that I am alive. Then they would probably do what I told them to so I could rejoin my body instead. Unfortunately, you've spoiled my plans."
"So... what can I do?" asked Rosie.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" interrupted Radu.
"Tell him this is all just a dream. Tell him to go back to sleep. This still will be too much for him," instructed Valerie.
"Radu, this is all a dream. Go back to sleep," Rosie said hesitantly.
"Now, Rosie, listen to me. You will have to go to where the others are keeping my body an tell them to place it where you first found it, um, vacated. That's the only place I can re-enter my body."
Rosie nodded her consent, and they traveled down the jump tubes to where the funeral was taking place.
*******
The crew looked sadly on Valerie's form. "She looks so peaceful," remarked Harlan.
"It seems like she'll just wake up in a few minutes," said Bova.
"I still can't believe it," said Suzee. "One minute she was alive and talking with us, and the next-" Her voice broke off and she started to cry again.
Rosie came sliding down the jump tube, followed by the invisible Valerie. "Stop!" she cried out. "She's not dead. She's not!"
"Rosie, we've talked about this before," said Commander Goddard gently. "We all know that she's-" he pointed at Valerie's body rather than saying the word 'dead.'
"No she's not!" yelled out Rosie. "She's here! She's standing right behind me."
"Rosie," he said again gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged the hand away and turned to face Valerie's spirit.
"Show them that you're alive! Move something!" she told her.
"I can't," said Valerie weakly. I don't have anything to move something with. I'm just a spirit."
"Rosie, this is for your own good," Commander Goddard said, and guided her away from the group. "It's normal for people to imagine that they see a person that died, but it's only a hallucination. You just have to remember that. I think that once you've seen her funeral these images will go away." Rosie nodded, and ignored Valerie's pleas to stop the funeral.
Commander Goddard lifted Valerie's form up and placed her in the passageway to the outside of the Christa. "Good bye," he whispered. "We'll never forget you. Your memory will live on." He pressed the controls to give her up to space.
"No," Valerie whispered softly. "No," she said, louder this time. "NO!" she yelled, and drew her hand up into the air, calling on all the power within her to help. Energy coursed through her spirit and was channeled into the controls. Lights flashed and Valerie's body was left on the Christa.
Rosie sat up and pointed. "See! She is alive! She made the controls fail!"
"It was a short circuit," explained Commander Goddard.
Rosie turned to Valerie. "I've done everything I can. They won't believe me," she said, despair in her voice.
"Then they probably never will. There's only one thing left to try,"
"What's that?" asked Rosie.
"Who's she talking to?" asked Harlan to Miss Davenport.
"I think that she believes that she's talking to Valerie," replied Miss Davenport.
Valerie said, "I will go into your body for a moment. It's terribly dangerous, and I don't know if I'll be able to leave your body once I enter it, but it's the only thing I can do. Will you help me?"
"Yes," replied Rosie.
"Then hold out your hands, and never, not even for an instant, lose track of who you are. Repeat after me: Intraras."
"Intraras," Rosie repeated.
"Et."
"Et."
"Fieris."
"Fieris."
"Vivus."
"Vivus," ended Rosie, and Valerie's spirit jumped into her body.
"What did she say?" asked Suzee.
"Roughly translated, it was Latin for 'Enter and become alive,'" said Miss Davenport.
"Very astute, Miss Davenport," said Rosie/Valerie. (Here on referred to as Valerie.) "Too bad your ability to believe isn't as great as your ability to learn."
"Rosie!" cried Miss Davenport, shocked that Rosie would say such a thing.
"No, not Rosie," said Valerie. "Valerie. Do you believe me now?"
"Rosie, stop it," said Suzee. "This isn't funny."
"Don't you get it?" asked Valerie. "I'm not Rosie. I'm only using her body as a conduit so I can talk to you."
Harlan leaned over to Bova and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think it's for real," Bova said, amazed. "I don't think Rosie knows what the word 'conduit' means."
"Thank you, Bova," said Valerie. "Now, if you guys don't mind, could you please move my body to the place where Rosie found it? I'd like to return to it. You don't know how creepy it is to look at your own body through someone else's eyes." She motioned towards it with her hand.
"OK, sure," said Harlan uncertainly.
"I'm going to leave Rosie's body now. Remember to place it in the exact spot where you found it. Good bye," and with that, Valerie left Rosie's body.
Rosie and Valerie both collapsed onto the ground, panting.
"That was harder than I remember," gasped Valerie. Rosie could only nod her consent. Commander Goddard lifted Valerie's body off the ground, and brought it to the lounge. He placed it at the foot of the jump tube.
"Is Valerie still here?" asked Suzee. Rosie pointed to where Valerie's spirit was standing. "Then give her room."
With graceful ease, Valerie's spirit gratefully sank into her body. She opened her eyes, stretched her arms, and stood up sleepily. "It's alive, it's alive!" she said in mock horror tones. "It's good to be back," she said happily to the stunned crew.
"So... does this mean things can finally get back to normal?" asked Bova, half sarcastic, half serious.
Valerie laughed along with the rest of the crew, but behind the cheerful facade was an utterly serious thought. "It's not over yet. This whole ordeal caused too large a ripple in the cosmic force. Oberon knows I've escaped."