Chapter 29 - The Last Stand

Cae stood beside her. Amelia leaned against the table with her arms crossed. Trista sat quietly near the Ghost Detector. Raphael stood beside the window. Hugo looked over the map.

"So he intends to attack the King."

Cae nodded.

"He said the final operation would begin tonight. He will be unleashing all the collected Lost Beings he has kept in containment for long and their emotions have been amplified for far too long, so we can assume the destruction they will cause will be on a never-before-seen level."

"Did he tell you where?"

"The Royal Palace."

Silence. Flo stared at the map.

"How many Lost Beings?"

"I don't know."

"Does he have a way of controlling them?"

Cae nodded.

"He has been using the same method as the previous operations. NightGlow."

Flo's eyes moved across the map.

"Then we know what to do."

Everyone looked at her.

She pointed toward the palace.

"If he releases them there, the Defence Squad will probably think they're dealing with ordinary ability attacks."

"They won't know where the cores are," Trista said.

Flo nodded.

"I will."

Cae looked at her.

"You're certain?"

"I can see them."

She placed her hand against her chest.

"That's what my DayShine ObserVation does."

Hugo smiled faintly.

"And your DayShine can stabilise them."

Flo nodded.

"We don't have to destroy them."

Raphael looked at her.

"We can save them."

"Yes."

Flo looked around the room.

"And we save the King too."

Amelia straightened.

"Then let's go."

[Evening]

The Royal Palace was unusually busy. The King had been informed that something was going to happen. Not everything.

Cae had explained what he knew. Hugo had provided the records. Trista had provided the evidence. And Flo had explained what they had learned about the Lost Beings.

The Royal Guard had prepared for an attack. But nobody knew exactly what Wilkin intended. Until midnight.

[Midnight]

The first explosion shook the palace. Windows rattled. People screamed. A second explosion followed. Then another. Flo ran through the corridor.

"That's them!"

She looked through the window. Dark shapes moved across the palace grounds. Lost Beings. Dozens of them. Their forms twisted violently as NightGlow pulsed through their bodies.

The Defence Squad rushed outside.

"Don't attack them!" Flo shouted.

Nobody heard her. A bolt of magic struck one of the creatures.

It screamed. Flo's heart dropped.

"STOP!"

She ran forward and raised her left hand above and pressed her right hand beside her right eye.

[-DayShine-ObserVation-]!"

The wave spread through her vision. The world changed. The palace disappeared beneath layers of magical traces. She could see them. Every Lost Being. Every faint core. Every strand of unstable energy.

"There!"

She pointed. "Amelia! Left side!"

Amelia moved immediately. Her TwiLight barrier blocked an incoming attack.

"Where?"

"Inside its chest! A little to the right!" Amelia struck.

Flo's DayShine followed. The dark energy dissolved. The Lost Being collapsed. Then slowly rose again. Its form had changed. It was no longer monstrous. It was small. Confused. Flo smiled.

"It's okay."

The creature made a tiny sound.

"Kyu..."

Flo nearly cried.

"OH MY GOD."

Amelia stared at her.

"Flo. It is not the time for this."

"I know but it's so cute!"

"FOCUS."

"I'm focused!"

She wiped her eyes.

"Mostly."

Another Lost Being attacked. Flo immediately pointed.

"Trista! Behind you!" Flo screamed looking down from the window.

Trista caught that through her DuskComm and conveyed the exact position to the DayShiner of the squad near her.

She moved through the chaos. Flo directed her.

"Three metres forward. Down!"

The DayShiner struck the core as DayShine purified it.

Another creature fell. Then another.

The Defence Squad began to realise what was happening.

Raphael was constantly using his DawnHeal to heal the injured Squad members.

Caecilius was manipulating the lost beings away from the palace.
Mr.Hugo had another job assigned to track the movements of Wilkin, so he didn't escape.

Flo was directing them.

"Left!"

"Behind the fountain!"

"Above you!"

"Wait! Don't attack that one!"

"Core's exposed!"

One by one, the Lost Beings stopped attacking. The battlefield slowly became quieter. Cae stood in the centre of it all. His NightGlow spread around him.

Wilkin's control tried to force the remaining Lost Beings into another frenzy.

Cae resisted it. His NightGlow met the dark energy. He didn't amplify it. He pulled it away. For the first time, he understood what his uncle had never taught him. NightGlow did not have to be used to destroy. His ability could control darkness without becoming part of it.

Cae looked toward Flo. She nodded. He understood. He moved.

At the top of the palace, Wilkin watched the battlefield below. His expression slowly changed. The creatures were disappearing. Not dying. Changing.

"They're purifying them." He stared.

"It's as if they can see them?" Then he saw Flo.

His eyes narrowed.

"Her."

Mr.Hugo and Cae appeared behind him.

Mr.Hugo raised his hand. "It's over."

Wilkin laughed. "You think this changes anything?"

He attacked. NightGlow crashed into NightGlow. The room shook.

Cae blocked the first attack. Then the second.

Wilkin was stronger. Years of experience had taught him how to use NightGlow brutally. Cae was forced backward.

"You really chose them?" Wilkin shouted.

Cae didn't answer.

"You would throw away everything I gave you?"

Cae's hands shook.

"You taught me how to use my ability."

Another attack. Cae blocked it.

"You taught me to follow orders."

Another.

"You taught me to trust you."

He stopped.

"And you were wrong."

Wilkin froze. Cae raised his hand. NightGlow surrounded him.

"But I don't need you to tell me what it means anymore."

He attacked. Wilkin was thrown backward. The doors burst open.

Flo entered.

"Cae!"

He looked at her. She looked at Wilkin. Then at the city below.

"It's done."

Wilkin stared through the window. The palace grounds were filled with confused but harmless Lost Beings.

The Royal Guard had surrounded them. The Defence Squad had secured the area. And the King was alive.

Wilkin's face hardened.

"No."

He turned toward Flo.

"You!!"

Flo stepped forward.

"You used people because you thought nobody would care about them."

Wilkin laughed.

"They were already useless."

Flo's expression changed.

"No."

She shook her head.

"You just never bothered to look."

Wilkin raised his hand. Cae moved between them.

But before Wilkin could attack, the doors opened again.

Royal Guards entered. The King stood behind them.

Wilkin stared.

"You little-"

"You have committed crimes against the citizens of this kingdom," the King said.

Wilkin's expression twisted.

"What made you think you had a right to rule?"

The King looked at him and continued.

"The right to rule is not determined by who possesses an ability."

"It is determined by what we choose to do with the power we have."

The guards stepped forward. Wilkin resisted. Cae looked away. He couldn't watch. Not because he pitied him. Because he remembered who he had thought his uncle was. The man who had raised him. The man who had taught him. The man he had trusted. Now he was simply another prisoner.

The remaining Lost Beings were gathered safely. Some were tiny. Some were strange. Some were still confused. Flo moved between them, checking each one.

Raphael stood nearby. Trista joined him. Wilkin was being escorted through the courtyard.

He suddenly stopped. He looked at them.

"You're thanking her?"

Raphael turned.

Wilkin laughed bitterly.

"I gave you purpose."

Raphael stared at him.

"You called me useless."

"I gave you a purpose."

"You took my life."

Wilkin's expression hardened.

"Your life had already been wasted."

Trista stepped forward.

"So you thought ours were too."

Wilkin looked at her.

"You didn't matter."

Trista was silent. Then she smiled.

"You know..."

Raphael looked at her.

"We used to believe that."

Wilkin frowned. Raphael continued.

"We thought we were useless."

"We thought nobody would want us around."

"We thought being alone was just how our lives were going to be."

Trista looked toward the Observatory team. Then back at Wilkin.

"But we were wrong."

Raphael smiled.

"We met Flo."

Trista nodded.

"And Amelia."

"And Cae."

"Mr.Hugo."

"Puff," Flo called from nearby.

Everyone looked at her. Flo blinked.

"What?"

Amelia sighed. "Of course."

Raphael laughed. Trista smiled.

Raphael looked back at Wilkin.

"You didn't give us purpose."

He paused.

"You just made us believe we had none."

Wilkin stared at them. For once, he had nothing to say. The guards continued walking. He disappeared through the palace gates. Flo watched him go. Then she looked at the small Lost Being beside her. It made a tiny sound.

"Kyu."

Flo crouched down. She smiled.

"Yeah."

She gently held out her hand.

"You're safe now."

The creature touched her finger. Flo's eyes immediately filled with tears.

Amelia groaned.

"Not again."

Flo sniffed.

"I can't help it."

Cae looked at her. And smiled.

Flo noticed.

"You're smiling."

"I am not."

"You are!"

"You're imagining things."

She grinned.

"Maybe."

And for the first time that night, the Observatory group laughed. Together.