The song for this chapter is Christina Perri's "Distance". It has a place to start listening. It is too perfect for Wag and Martha as I envision them at the end of this tale. And yes, this is the last chapter. :) There will be epilogues, of course. Again, some dialogue, especially the message from Ianite, are from the finale stream.

*Waglington's POV*

"Sparklez! You wouldn't believe the things I've seen! Or maybe you would. What do I know?"

Jordan was reading a message from Ianite while I tried to process everything that had just happened. I couldn't remember much of the fight with Botan; Martha told me he'd hit my head pretty hard. When my memories became clear again, the first thing I recalled was seeing Donella in the midst of her spell. She was in bad shape. Her skin was pale and sweaty, and her coat was drenched in blood. (Really my clothes didn't look any better, and the drying fabric was beginning to chaff badly, I might add.) She was so absorbed by the spell that she didn't even flinch when one of Tom's arrows went astray and grazed her cheek. Remind me to steal Tom's bow later, I said absentmindedly to Memento. Memento yawned in acknowledgement but left me to my thoughts.

One minute, everything was fine; then Donella was just...gone. The magic overwhelmed her. The burst of energy was so bright that no one had been able to see for a minute. When we had been able to look, there was no trace of Donella and only a small darkening of the platform's brick where Akatena had stood. Memento had been the first to respond, loping over to the place and sniffing. He confirmed my guess by lowering his tail to touch the ground and drooping his ears. Then he made a sorrowful, throaty meow that accurately reflected my mood.

Botan hadn't allowed us any time to grieve, attacking with his now freed up magic as he rose back into the air. Before Donella's death all of us but Jordan had wound up on one side of the platform—or in the air above it—with him on the other. Botan clearly had the upper hand as he went on the offensive. The thought of eminent victory must have blinded him to Jordan drawing his bow. To be honest, I didn't pay him much mind either, until an arrow struck Botan solidly in the back—an arrow that glowed a bright purple. Ianite hadn't been as far gone as we'd thought. Botan floated motionless for a moment before falling, his face frozen in a rictus of pain and surprise. The others had rushed to the side of the platform to watch him fall. Martha stayed next me where I sat, and we awaited their report. Everyone agreed afterward that Botan's "body" had dissolved into wisps of shadow before he ever reached lava.

(Start song here)

All of this flashed through my mind in an instant. I was brought back to the present by Martha sitting next to me on the edge of the dais. She and Dianite insisted on tending those with worse injuries before we tried to move anywhere. Healing magic always did have better results the sooner it was used. Dianite's concern for Mot and his shoulder had been painfully obvious. I grinned wryly at the thought of them talking softly and making up from their argument earlier. One couple had been torn apart to put that one back together. I wished them the best and hoped they would fully appreciate what they had.

I knew Martha wished she had more time with Steve. The fight had served to distract her, but she would remember her loss soon enough. I just hoped I could help her through her grief while holding my own feelings for her in check. Maybe I should find someone less complicated to fall in love with, I told myself halfheartedly.

Martha bumped my shoulder slightly, and I moved my right arm to make room for her to scoot closer. She sidled up to me, and I lower my arm to rest around her shoulders. She sighed, and I looked sideways at her. She didn't seem as tired as she had earlier, and now that I thought about it, I didn't feel as tired as I probably should. That was odd. "How are you feeling?" I found myself asking.

"Better. Donella..." Here she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "She released a lot of magic when she went. We've been able to use that to recover a bit quicker than your friends." I nodded. That made sense. Wizards—and I supposed gods too—soaked up free floating magic like a plant does sunlight. Now that I turned my senses to it, there was the faint taste of magic in the air. "How are you holding up?" Martha asked.

"Not very well," I admitted without looking at her, suspecting she already knew. The shock was starting to wear off, and it was really sinking in that Donella Hart was gone. "We weren't exactly friends until recently, but I have...had known Donella for over a century." Weren't we the pair? Martha had lost a lover, and I had lost a friend. Martha wrapped her left arm around me and gave me a side hug. I hugged her back, and we settled into a comforting, if not contented, silence.

Jordan was still reading the letter, but had stumbled over a few place and people names that were distinctly foreign. Ianite was describing some of her lives in alternate worlds. I found it amusing that Botan's attempt to kill Ianite backfired and actually aided her in reaching some higher level of existence. That was poetic justice if I'd ever heard it.

Jordan reached a passage that was easier to read and sped up, "...in a world we both know well, I'm a bunch of little girls who look just like me, and maybe other things too..." (*cough* BroRobes *cough*) Jordan stumbled in his reading and cleared his throat.

I would have turned to look at him, but Martha shuddered beside me just then. I looked down at her and saw tears welling in her eyes. "Martha, what's wrong?" I asked softly, shifting to face her.

"Ianite. The Ianitas."

Tom had already told me about what had happened with the little girls, and Martha had let me in on her and Jordan's secret that one was still alive. It took me only a moment to realize what Martha had. The Ianitas had been Ianite's reincarnation of sorts. And Jordan had unwittingly led them to their slaughter. I brought Martha into a proper hug as she cried and looked over to see Jordan rubbing tears from his eyes too. Why did everything bad seem to happen to Ianite's family and followers?

Jordan happened to look up at us, and I offered him a reassuring grin. Taking a deep breath, he picked up again, "Anyway, my umbrella consciousness has reformed for just a moment; my caretaker, in his mercy, has allowed me to show you these things."

Jordan kept reading, but something about that line resonated with me. It took me awhile of puzzling to place why this talk of a "caretaker" mattered. Memento ended up supplying the memory I was looking for. "I don't know who would have the power to keep you together, but it seems someone very much wanted you alive." Donella had said that to me after Memento and I were patched up. Maybe Ianite's "caretaker" and whoever had kept me from falling apart were one and the same. Thinking about it, I wondered if this being had also been the one who had allowed me to talk to Martha when I shouldn't have even been able to access the meeting place at all. If so, why had the being taken an interest in me?

Martha broke me out of those unsettling thoughts when she pulled out of my hug. She wiped the last tears from her eyes, and we went back to listening to Jordan read. "My umbrella consciousness won't hold much longer. Let me say a few choice words before the final goodbye between this version of you and this version of me. Thank you for continuing to love me and make choices for my wellbeing. I hope another you loves another me in another world soon, Forever Your Lady." I smiled as he finished reading, wondering if Jordan had ever figured out that this Ianite had a little crush on him. Who was I kidding? Jordan's middle name was oblivious.

I tried to swallow a chuckle, but Martha noticed. She had a huge grin of her own, thinking the same thing. I loved seeing her with a smile on her face. It had been a rare sight lately. I had been trying to avoid focusing on her, but I let myself really look at her now. Her hair was messed up, and her eyes were red. Grit and blood from a healing cut above her right eye smudged her face, and her right hand and her pants and cloak from the knee down were bloodstained from where she'd knelt to heal me. I didn't find her any less attractive for it all. Why would I? These confirmed what I already knew—that she was far more than a pretty face. She is so gorgeous it should be a crime, I thought to myself, wishing I could say it aloud. The silver moonlight complemented her lavender hair perfectly. Wait. Silver? I looked up. To my consternation, it was no longer a blood moon.

Martha noticed me looking up and followed my gaze. She frowned. "Well, I guess we know what Mianite's shadow was. Mother always said he enjoyed being a hero. I guess you can't be one without someone to defend against."

"Too bad we didn't figure it out before the end of the world," Mot said, walking over to join us with Dianite. Dianite had fixed up Mot's shoulder, and if I wasn't mistaken, the creeper spots on his skin were a lighter shade of green now. "Come on; we should get going. Gaines says he has a way for us to leave this world before it implodes. Can you walk?" He asked offering me a hand up to prove his arm was as good as new.

I was feeling better, but I wasn't certain I could. Memento prodded me with his head, and I took the offered hand. I swayed on my feet but stayed upright. Mot looked me over and wrinkled his nose at the state of my robes. Glancing to Martha, his expression didn't improve any. "Martha, you should probably tidy both of you up before that stains. You know how hard it is to get dried blood out, even with magic."

Martha laughed and stood, looking down at herself and shaking her head. "I'm a goddess now, and I still have to do laundry. Figures." She spoke a quick spell and snapped her fingers. The blood vanished and the tears in my armor and clothes mended. "Looks like the others are leaving; we should go."

My friends had started flying towards one side of the cave, following Gaines. He must have had an angel ring. Mot and Dianite walked to the far side of the platform and pushed off, flying after them. My left knee buckled when I tried to follow. Martha caught me and pulled me back to my feet. We followed a bit more slowly. I insisted on walking myself, but Martha stayed where she could catch me if I started to fall again. As long as I moved slowly and paid attention to where I set my feet, I was fine. We reached the edge without incident and took to the air. I found it much easier to balance while flying, and not near as tiring. Memento flew ahead of us to wait beside an active portal frame; the others must have already gone through.

We landed and looked at the swirling colors of the portal. Martha helped me up onto the edge of the frame, and we stepped through. We came out inside Gaines's reactor compound. It seemed deserted. Our friends hadn't waited for us. How rude!

I looked around and spotted a few drops of blood on the ground. "Martha," I whispered, suddenly on edge. I pointed out the blood to her. Memento investigated and reassured us that it didn't belong to any of our friends, but it was fresh. We both drew our swords and stalked forward, following Memento and the trail of blood up the stairs toward the entrance. I had to lean on the railing, but we made it. At the top of the stairs lay a crumpled form in terrasteel armor. I was really beginning to hate that bright shade of green.

We paused beside the main doors that led out to the courtyard. Martha quickly reached over to lay a hand on my shoulder, giving me an energy boost to help me with the fight. If there was a fight. All I could hear was the hum of machinery that permeated the compound. Martha held up three fingers to count us in. As she lowered the last finger, we shoved the double doors open and charged outside with Memento at our heels. We stopped after only moving a few feet.

There had been a slaughter, but it had been entirely one-sided. That's what you got when you went up against a god, four champions, and their friends. Martha and I sheathed our swords as we walked up to our companions where they stood beneath the giant horse statue at the complex's center. "You didn't save any for us?" I called.

The others jumped in surprise and spun around, weapons still drawn. "Wag? Martha?" Jordan asked, the first to lower his scythe. "Where were you? We thought you were right behind us!"

"Well, excuse me for still being a bit shaky on my feet after nearly being killed with a kikoku an hour ago!" I retorted, crossing my arms.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Jordan apologized. He had the decency to look abashed. "So how are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you," I replied cheerfully, uncrossing my arms. "What in athar's name happened here? I thought Gaines was on our side?" I asked, waving my hand at the carnage.

Martha was curious too, but Dianite interrupted, "Martha, could you give us a hand here with Syndy? He won't sit still for us to take the arrow out of his arm."

"Because it bloody hurts! D*mn it, Sparklez!" Tom yelled from where he stood. He had one of Jordan's arrows lodged firmly in his bicep.

"For the thousandth time, I'm sorry!" Jordan yelled back.

Martha just shook her head and walked over to join the Dianitees. She said something to Tom, and he nodded, looking nervous. She gave him a reassuring grin and placed one hand on his temple. His eyes went out of focus, and he relaxed where he stood. "Alright, Uncle, I've got him. Be quick about it."

Dianite nodded and grabbed the arrow, yanking it free. A faint grimace crossed Tom's face, but it faded away as Dianite pressed a hand to the bleeding wound to heal it.

While they finished up, Jordan got around to answering my question. "Gaines is on our side. He happened." Jordan pointed to one figure propped against a bush.

I recognized the armor right away and backed up a step. "Guard Tom?!"

"Yep," Tucker said, joining us. "But not even resonant armor stands a chance against a kikoku."

"So he's...?"

"Yeah," Jordan said sadly. "It didn't have to be this way."

"Don't sweat it, Jordan. The man made his own choices," Tucker said, patting Jordan on the shoulder.

"You couldn't change his mind, friend. He was too consumed by hate," another voice said from behind Tucker.

The Mianitee shuffled aside to reveal Andor. "Andor! How? What are you doing here?" I asked, glad to see him again.

He shrugged. "I followed Guard Tom. He went to Dagrun looking for you first. Mianite relocated the refugees, by the way. They should be somewhere safe now."

"Oh, that's good to know." Frankly, I'd forgotten about them, as had the others, judging by their guilty expressions.

So, Little Bird, what are we doing now? Memento asked Andor.

"Well, Gaines is programming his portal to get us out of here," Andor said, pointing to where Gaines was up to his waist in the underside of a control panel.

We heard a sizzle, and Gaines jerked back, cursing when he hit his head on something inside. Finally, he backed out of the contraption and closed the panel. "Alright, that should do it. Now I just have to use the key Mianite gave me." He seemed to notice us watching him for the first time and held up what looked like a tiny cube of iron. "Mianite always told me the choice would be mine when we found a way for me to go home, but he kept it secret all this time." He sounded genuinely hurt. He shook his head and turned away from us, not wanting a reply.

He inserted the block into a slot on the control panel and threw a lever. At first it didn't seem like anything was happening. Then I felt the ground rumble. Underneath the horse statue, a metal bay door was retracting to reveal a horizontal portal just beneath the floor. The portal was lit a bright blue, but it was flickering slightly. "Well, the world is falling apart; there would be some instability." Then he shrugged and lowered his goggles. Turning to face us, he said, "You all can stay or leave, but I'm heading home." With that he took a step backwards and fell through the portal.

We all stood there speechless for a moment. Then Dianite cleared his throat. "Syndy, do you want us to come with you?"

Tom, who was back to his old self now, looked at Dianite like he was crazy. "For f*ck's sake! Of course you can come with!"

I wondered why Dianite had asked when he clearly intended to come earlier. Martha cleared that up for me. "Gods are bound to their world. We can't leave unless invited—willingly—by a follower."

"The captain goes down with the ship, huh?" I replied. In the background, I could see my friends gathering around the edge of the portal with Dianite, Mot, and Andor.

"Something like that," She said with a grin. Then she became more hesitant. "Do you want me to come with you?" Why was there a hint of fear in her eyes? Didn't she know by now I'd do anything for her?

"Martha, whether you stay or go, I'll stand by your side, but since this world is beyond repair, I would ask that we leave." This didn't quite seem to dispel her worries. What else could I do? Looking around us, I noticed a flower bed with a few confused plants pushing their shoots through the soil. I recognized one of them and crouched to better see it. Martha watched me, confused. I cupped the tender shoot in my hand and used one of my oldest spells, grinning as the tulip shot up and bloomed. It was orange like the one Martha had given me almost a year ago. It couldn't have been more perfect if I'd tried. I smiled as I plucked the flower and stood back up. "Take this as a token of my promise." I put special emphasis on "promise." "Come what may, I will follow you until you wish otherwise."

Martha delicately took the flower from me and turned it, examining it. She smiled and tucked it into an inside pocket of her cloak. She studied my face intently, and I worried I had let something slip. She leaned in quickly and kissed my cheek, lingering a bit longer than was her wont. Then she pushed me towards the portal. "You'll be keeping that promise for a long time yet."

What the heck did that kiss mean? Memento asked me.

I don't know, I thought back, flustered, but I plan to find out.

I joined the others around the rim of the portal and looked down at the swirling blue surface. Suddenly, the realization hit me that I was about to go back into the void. Sonja started counting down, "Three..." I almost hadn't made it out alive last time. I froze and forgot to breathe for a moment. "Two..." Then Martha clasped my hand in hers. I tore my eyes away from the now terrifying portal to meet Martha's soft gaze. "One." She tightened her grip on my hand slightly and smiled reassurance. Then we jumped, not knowing where we would land or if we would land, but I didn't worry about either. I lost myself in the much more compelling mystery of blue-violet eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~End Credits~~~~~~~~~~

(to the song "Long Live" by For King and Country)

https://youtu.be/D7LT3vJQEmQ

~Cover artist~

viva-la-fanatic-domains on tumblr

~Editor of much patience~

Ceruleansky22 Much love! <3

~Lovely people of creativity who provided me with OCs~

Ianites_Dragon -Avrae

Z3r0Gr4v1ty -Echo and Jax

TheShiningOfTheStars -Charlie

jediknight909 -Kay

CuriosityWasFramed -Annika

crystaldl2 -Winter

ScruDonka -Donella Hart

IlannaBranwell -Ilanna

To all those readers who have been with me from the beginning, to those that joined along the way, to those we lost along the way... *moment of silence* Thank you! Your comments and votes always brightened my day over and over again, and I can't count how many times your ideas and song suggestions affected the plot. :) I never expected this book to get the support it has. This originally was planned out as only 10 chapters and was set to end after Wag was returned to normal. Welp, that went out the window rather quickly. XD

I raise a toast to all of you. (sparkling grape juice—I don't do alcohol :P)

Of course, I cannot forget the original content creators who made a fan fiction possible in the first place. Jordan, Sonja, Tucker, Tom, Waglington, and FyreUK will always hold a special place in my heart for making such a wonderful series, as will the people of the bts team like X33N, Chimalus, Mr.MadSpy, Lady Krystine, etc. <3 May all their endeavors in the future turn out better than they expect, even if S3 never comes to be. (Yes, I saw Tom's 8-27 vlog.)

Aside from this book, my only contributions to the fandom have been suggesting Jordan name his Dragonite Dargonite on Twitter and starting the call for him to get Wag's taglocks during his stream. XD I guess it is kinda appropriate I wrote my fan fiction as starting from that point... lol Hadn't even thought about that. XD

Anyways, I hope y'all have a great day. I'll see you in the epilogues!