004
— you had always been damned —

TORCHES, AND BARELY WORKING LANTERNS LIT THE DUSTY RADIO ROOM, TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY. Whatever paperwork that had been stored there had been found and spread over the table for the three boys to look through. Cole didn't exactly know what he was looking for, but a white light had consumed their RV where an entire town had burnt down, but this radio station was the one thing to remain untouched, something had to be here.

They had been mostly working with documents and old working schedules, nothing out of the ordinary in the slightest. Cole was skimming through piles of thin paper, the nerves growing into a building panic as he wasted more and more time. The only thing that seemed to feel real, steady, was the pulse of Terran's energy.

Tim let out a sigh and stepped away from William and the shelf, and walked to Cole's side. Cole turned his head and smiled at Tim as Tim dropped his head onto Cole's shoulder. "Any luck?" Tim asked, turning his head so his words weren't muffled.

Cole shook his head softly, "No, not really." Cole said and dropped his head making Tim lift his on instinct, trying to see Cole's face and figure out what was wrong. "I just feel like I'm wasting time."

Tim frowned and tapped his fingers on Cole's back as he thought. Tim glanced up at the small window, looking out at the sky. "Ah— William, we'll be right back," Tim called out before tugging Cole's hand and urging him to follow him. Cole followed Tim outside to the cliff, keeping his hand in his the entire time.

They stopped and Tim turned to Cole, taking a deep breath. "Okay so, you believed William because of a feeling, your connection to Terran is a feeling, right?" Tim paused and Cole nodded, soft and sceptically. "My mom used to have this feeling. She used to call them her Sun Dogs. Her Sun Dogs were never wrong."

Cole furrowed his eyebrows, "Yes?"

"We're here because of a feeling, you're Sun Dog," Tim said, his voice stern and confident. "You just need to reach out and find it. Find Terran. If you find Terran, you can find where she is and how to get them back."

Cole took a deep breath and stared out over the cliff, watching the wind blow through the trees. He tried to reach out, latch onto Terran's power but it was barely there like air, slipping through his fingers before had a moment to grasp it. "Tim this isn't—"

"You tried once," Tim snapped.

Cole huffed but turned to look over the cliffs again. He searched for the pulse of her power again, finding it amongst the wind again. It continued to slip through his grip, like a chill or a shudder, there but always out of reach. Cole closed his eyes, breathing slowly through his nose as tried to focus.

But then— in an instant— his chest was hollow, everything he had felt had disappeared. His eyes snapped open, and he turned to stare at Tim. "That was even shorter—"

"I lost her."

Tim's mouth snapped shut and he stared at Cole. Cole let out a shaky breath and dragged a hand down his face. "Her energy, it was faint, but it was always there," Cole tried to explain. "But now it's just—" Cole threw his arms up. "Gone."

❁

CROWS AND RAVENS SWARMED THE AIR, SWOOPING THROUGH THE CLOUDS, SEEMINGLY FOLLOWING THEM THROUGH THE FIELDS. Terran and Rachel walked hand in hand down an old pathway, Terran's heart still pounding in her chest. "We have to find Dick," Rachel said, again. They had been walking for so long, but Rachel continued to reiterate her point.

"Yeah, I know," Terran huffed, glancing over her shoulder again. She sighed through her nose, but she kept her head high as the buildings came further into view. Then the panic was back. "We can't let them see us," Terran said, tugging on Rachel's hand.

"What? Why?" Rachel asked, letting Terran lead her towards the back of a building. Terran pressed her shoulder to the brick wall trying to steady quick breaths. Terran peaked around the corner, making sure no one had seen them. Rachel tugged on her hand again and Terran stepped back.

Rachel shot Teran a look and she sighed. "The police called you a Heretic," Terran explained, "I bet this town is on a witch hunt."

Rachel stared at Terran for a moment before she looked away. Then her eyes darted upwards to the ravens landing on trees and buildings, and whatever they could to get as close to Rachel as possible. "We have to keep moving," Rachel murmured, knocking Terran's hand.

Terran looked at the bird and shook her head. "We can't let anyone see us," Teran instructed, nodding Rachel onwards again to sneak around the building.

Terran led the way through the town, but she had no clue where they were going or what they were doing. And while Rachel hadn't outright stated it yet, she had no clue what they were doing either. Eventually they had to stop, resting, while still mostly staying out of sight.

Terran slid down the brick wall sitting against the concrete as Rachel stayed standing, keeping an eye out. "Where would Dick go first?" Terran asked, looking up at Rachel. "If he was looking for you, where would he go?"

Rachel sighed and kicked her feet slightly, her eyes moving for the first time, but only to look at her shoes. "I don't know, last place we were, so the diner,'' Rachel shrugged, though she knew her words would get the same response as when she asked if they should go there; no.

"We can't go there," Terran huffed. "If they are hunting us, we're sitting ducks." Rachel huffed but nodded softly; it would be, in truth, entirely fucking stupid to walk into the diner.

"So. . ." Rachel trailed off and she turned to face Terran. "What do we do? I mean, if Dick and Kory found that man or Megan, they'd have gone out to that farm."

"Rachel, we just spent the last three hours running from that farm," Terran reminded, her voice straining thin as her patience and body grew thin and tired. "I don't know what to do Rachel. I'm scared."

Rachels arms dropped to her sides as she looked at Terran with a sad, lopsided smile. She crouched beside Terran, putting her hands on knees to draw Terran's attention towards her. She smiled softly as Terran and took a deep breath, "We're gonna be okay."

"You're oddly optimistic," Terran commented, her words playful but she had yet to crack a smile.

Rachel placed her hands on Terran's cheeks and pulled her into a quick kiss. "Because we're gonna be okay," Rachel whispered as she pulled away. She took Terran's hands and pulled her to her feet.

"You really think so?" Terran asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

Rachel grinned. "Not one bit." Terran laughed and grabbed Rachel's hand, pulling her along.

Tim and William had continued to search though documentations in near silence while Cole tried his hardest to reach out for Terran's power again. That was until the door slammed open and racing footsteps echoed through the halls. Cole came to a sudden stop in the radio room where Tim had turned to face him. "I know, I know," Cole began, a smile growing on his face, "How did you find a boyfriend who is both a demi-god and a genius?"

"You've got a plan then?" Tim asked, watching as Cole moved around to the radio panel and began running his hands over the buttons.

"I had a sun dog," Cole corrected, grinning at Tim. Cole quickly rubbed his hands together and clapped. "Okay so, whatever sucked up the town and our friends is obviously magic, and they're trapped in, from what I can gather, an alternate dimension." William almost dropped what he was holding as he stared at Cole, but Tim quickly caught it.

Tim nodded and walked over to Cole, pressing his hands to the radio console. "Tell me your super genius plan,' Tim said with a nod.

Cole nodded and started to flick on different buttons and switches, messing around with equipment that hadn't even been turned on in decades as if worked as well as his phone. "With the help of my energy I bet I can break through the barrier and get a message through—" Cole stopped to grab a vinyl and spin in his hands, "—with this."

Tim raised his eyebrows but still smiled, "Did you just say pump up the volume?"

"I said exactly that," Cole laughed, setting the dusty vinyl aside. "I would recommend stepping back and not touching anything."

Tim called William to his side. He was more confused than anyone Cole had seen his entire life, but he still had the courage to ask, "What's happening?"

"The greatest lightshow you've ever seen," Cole joked, glancing up at them both.

Cole looked over what buttons he had switched on once more before pressing his hands to the metal. He took a long breath and let purple lighting run through his arm and hands, and through the metal. The dark purple lighting started to shoot off from his skin, attaching to the metal control panel and surrounding equipment, but never further than that. It never got close to Tim, or William.

Slowly the generators started to charge, and the radio station started to come to life with lights and technical flashing. Tim and William looked around in awe, watching the radios spring to life. Cole tore his hands back, the purple lightning disappearing quickly, but it had charged the generators to full capacity, letting the radio run like usual.

Cole looked at Tim and gave him a thumbs up and a smile.

"Can I play a song?" William asked, looking between Cole and Tim.

"William, you can play an entire goddamn set," Cole said through a grin as he threw his arms up. William laughed and rushed to the records, looking for a specific song as Cole walked over to Tim. "I believe. . ." Cole stopped in front of Tim, "you called me genius."

Tim raised his eyebrows at him, "Your point."

Cole shrugged and slid his hand into the back pockets of his jeans. "I don't know, I guess I like when you say it."

Tim grinned and, in a flash, pulled Cole into a quick kiss. It was quick short, barely giving Cole a moment to kiss Tim back before Tim was pulling back with a smile. "You're a genius, Cole Martin."

Cole laughed softly and Tim nudged his shoulder, turning him to stand beside him and watch William mess with the, very admittedly, old dodgy equipment. William grabbed a vinyl and moved to the recorder connected to an old speaker system. He spun the vinyl, showing off the cover of Never Been to Spain. He put the record into place starting the song through the old speakers.

William shook his hands and walked to the microphone hooked onto the same speakers. He pressed the button and took a breath and spoke into the mike, "Uh, Dad, Megan, if you're out there. . ." William trailed off as he lost his words. "This one's for you."

Terran and Rachel had made it to the very end of town, right by the coffee shop they first stopped in. The town was entirely filled, everyone seemingly needing coffee and cakes that very moment. Terran sighed and dropped her head to the brick wall in frustration. "Terran—"

"Heretic!" Terran and Rachel jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. Someone had opened the back door, staring at the girls like their head had exploded— but if they were heretics to this woman maybe an exploding head would be less shocking.

People had turned towards the sudden shout and Terran grabbed Rachel's hand. "New plan," Terran muttered before throwing her hand out, a sound wall firing down an alley and barrelling through half a dozen people. As they fell to the floor in pain, but unconscious, Terran tugged Rachel on and pulled her down the alley and out into the street.

Terran continued to fire small shockwaves down the street to clear their path; but unfortunately, they didn't make it very far. May was not far behind, sending blasts of dark magic down the road that sent the girls to the ground. Terran crashed into the tar road with a thud, Rachel not far behind, scratched and bruised.

Terran was winded and whining in pain, her body trying to focus on healing her broken elbow. Before the growing crowd could rush forward, the sheriff and an officer had grabbed Rachel and pulled her away, cuffing her hands together no matter how hard she kicked and screamed. May walked to Terran, dressed in a red shirt and pressed black skirt with her bladed staff dragging against the road.

Terran could barely roll onto her side to try and use her good arm to push herself up, May had swept it out and dropped her onto her shattered elbow. Terran cried out in pain as she rolled onto her back, staring up at the witch. Rachel screamed out to Terran, but the sheriff refused to loosen his grip.

May raised her staff, aiming it toward her stomach but Terran was quick to make a shield around herself, but it didn't do much with her focus pulled onto the pain in her arm. The shield broke quickly, and the sudden force sent the blades through her stomach. Rachel screamed Terran's name as all the air left Terran's lungs as she choked. Blood soaked her clothes, but it wasn't a deep crimson, but a shimmering gold like the tears of the woman in the children's book.

May knelt down, sighing with disappointment. Her hand on the staff slid lower forcing the sharp blades deeper into her flesh. Terran yelled out, trying to push May away but she just shushed her. "You are pathetic," May hissed, leaning closer to Terran. "A disappointment." May tore the staff from Terran's stomach and she screamed out in pain, gold blood pooling around her body.

"Terran!" Rachel screeched, her voice cracking. "No! Please!"

May dragged the tip of her blade up Terran's shirt, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Sebastion watched from afar, his hands shaking but he didn't dare move. May tutted as Terran began to ramble sputtered nonsense, some pleas for May to stop, some about just how much pain she was in. May shushed her again, "A sad excuse for a god." May slammed the blades into Terran's chest.

Rachel cried out, the birds screaming with her as Terran's hands went limp at her sides. A single gold tear ran down Terran's cheek as May tore her staff back. Rachel continued to scream and cry, her cries echoing through the streets, with not a single person sending her glimpse of sympathy.

May looked down at Terran scoffing as her blood spilled onto the street. The out of nowhere pulses of red and golden lights bounded down the streets, knocking into everyone that had stood around and watched the horrific scene. May looked around, unease consuming her but Rachel, who had continued to scream finally got on her nerves.

"Someone, shut her up," May ordered, and the Sheriff dragged her away, her heart just as heavy as her body seemed to sink.

Cole was grinning with pride, and he had turned to Tim, intending to gloat but he froze. His hands didn't stutter, he didn't shake, he didn't flinch— he was just suddenly still.

"Cole?" Tim called softy.

Tim reached for Cole's hand, but he flinched away as he blinked quickly. He barely spared a glance at Tim before he stumbled down the hall and out of the radio station. He fell to his knees in the dead grass, dirt clinging to his jeans.

His chest felt hollow, and his skull began to pound in pain. He pressed his hands to the sides of his head, pressing against the bones. It felt as though his body was being torn apart, piece by piece, each part of body tearing free and disconnecting from life entirely.

It wasn't his though, it was Terran.

Cole's body shook with agony as he cried, still holding his head in his hands. The moment he had finally found Terran's energy again, she was dead.

Tim ran after Cole, dropping beside him, his hands squeezing Cole's shoulders tightly. Cole tried to look at Tim through the tears, but Tim didn't waste another second before hugging Cole as hard as he could. But Cole did manage to whisper, "Terran's dead."

Tim's shoulders slumped in defeat, his whole body growing heavy. He barely had another moment to process his words when a crack and a bang sounded from inside the radio station, the power growing to be too much for the old equipment. Cole noticed it as well, his head snapping back to watch the outside lights pulse.

Tim was on his feet in a second, rushing through the hall to grab William and pull him outside. They skidded to a stop beside Cole who had stood and looked up into the blue sky. The magic in Cole's electricity pulsed out of the radio station and across the sky like the northern lights. A particular spot further along the hill began to pulse and two people stepped through, Megan and her father.

William's breath hitched, "Dad. . .? Megan?" The man froze at William's words, but that didn't stop Willaim from walking closer. His eyes darted between the two before Megan raced forward into Williams arms. William sighed in relief and hugged her back, "I knew you were here."

Their father sighed and wrapped his arms around them both. "It's over," he said in relief. "It's finally over."

Cole's eyes darted away, moving back to the radio station just as Rachel stepped out. Relief and confusion washed over him, but he smiled, "Rachel!" Tim spun around and raced to Rachel, wrapping his arms tightly around her, laughing and smiling.

Tim stepped back, letting Rachel face Cole. She tried her best to smile, but her eyes were starting to fill with tears again, and it didn't help that her voice was shot from screaming, like a constant reminder. "Cole. . ." Rachel whispered, and he stepped closer. "It's Terran. She—"

Cole wrapped his arm tightly around Rachel, letting them both hide in each other as they both cried not to cry. Cole took a deep breath and ran his hands through her hair, "I know." Rachel let her arms drop as she stepped back, whipping her tears with her cuff quickly.

"Where's Dick and Kory?" Tim asked, trying to distract them for a moment.

Rachel quickly motioned over her shoulder, "On the other side." Tim took Cole's hand, and they followed Rachel back through the radio station and out onto the other side where Kory and Dick were waiting for them, Dick's shift covered in stains of blood.

Tim grinned and waved at them both, catching their attention, "Welcome back to reality!" he shouted,

Dick looked up at them and smiled, "How'd you find us?"

"Cole had a Sun Dog," Tim said with a smile.

"What's that?" Kory asked, looking between the boys.

"Just a hunch," Tim said with a shrug.

"Let's just get out of here," Cole spoke up, taking a long breath. Dick looked at him, giving him a sympathetic look he had given Hazel half a dozen times. Cole turned to Kory and grinned, "The horn is on the loose."

"Heard from the others?" Dick asked and Tim shook his head.

"Nothing from Gar, Hazel or Conner," Tim answered.

There was a brief moment of worry, but Dick was quick to speak up, "We should get back on the road, try and send a message," Dick nodded and everyone slowly got in the car.

Kory paused, stopping Cole before he slid into the back seat. "Dick said—" She cut herself off quickly and squeezed his hand in comfort. "Do you want to talk?"

Cole shook his head, "I want to find my other sister before the witch does."

Kory nodded, "We will."

— legacies —