Sell you a Bridge chapter 170

February 13th 2011 The OZ 8:00 PM EDT

Cain  executed Zero, because of course he did. But he did it quickly, a  single shot to the head and he waited until all the others had left. His  aura was...conflicted. He'd been so focused on this goal for so long,  so focused on his hate when he was in that box, that now he didn't know  what to do with himself. The problem with being the determinator, is  what to do when that determination wanes. Cain's eyes showed the pain  and confusion of a man who had nothing left but revenge, and then got  it. Be careful what you wish for made manifest.

I  put a hand on his shoulder and he jumped, turning to look at me warily.  I smiled wryly at him. "The thing about dedicating your entire soul to a  single purpose is that once you fulfill it, you're kind of left  twisting. That said, I think you did the right thing there. You're a  good man Cain, I can see that, even if you might not understand how.  Other people don't get to take that away. The only person that decides  what kind of man you are is you, it's something you can only give up,  but never lose. I lost sight of that myself for the last little while."

His  shoulder slumped. "I feel like I tore every muscle in me to shreds and  then shot myself up to numb the pain so I could keep fighting. Now the  numbness is gone and it just...it hurts. What do I do kid? What does the  man who's lost everything have to live for? I can't just die, not after  everything I've survived. My family wouldn't want it even if I had that  kind of quit in me, and I don't. You seem to have all the answers, so  tell me oh great and powerful magic kid, where the hell do I got from  here?"

I just  snorted a bit at the name. "For such a smart guy you're a little  stupid. You're already doing it. There's a girl out there who's lost her  family, and you're helping her get them back. To give another parent  the chance that you never had, to hold their child again...do you think  you could come up with a better way to honor their memories?" He blinked  at that, looking a little poleaxed. He'd been so focused on coming to  the end of his road that he forgot he was in the carpool lane, and there  was an exit coming up.

I  understood where he was coming from. I'd agreed to help DG find her mom  because she could get us home, and it was easy and amusing to play the  white knight with my power. But the longer I walked this path the more I  realized maybe I needed this. Needed to stop....reacting to everything.  I'd just been going with the flow for so damn long now, first  subsisting on distraction and escapism and then just grabbing every  random power that fit my build. I didn't have a goal other than "get  through this crazy shit".

But  I was done with that. I'd go home when I was finished, one way or  another, but I was in this. I was going to help DG find her mom. Because  if it was me, I would want someone to help me find mine. I saw that  same kind of determination in Cain, saw the same zeal and fire. He  smiled at me, baring his teeth. "You know kid, you should become a  motivational speaker or something. You're pretty good at these rousing  speeches. But you're right, cheesy or not. I'm in. For the long haul,  let's go find DG's mom."

Getting  out of the city was much easier than getting in. We just stole weasel  face's car and drove off with it. I had a brief moment of actual  fondness for the leering creep when we were leaving. As we got in he  began wailing about how he needed his car and how he had a family, but  he took a brief break from bemoaning his cruel fate to help Cain start  the thing before going right back to his drama. Seeing him flip from  wailing about the unfairness to casually giving instructions and then  back cracked me up.

Finally  though we were on the road. I decided to take this time to talk to  Dreamer some more. What she'd said had meant a lot to me, and we didn't  really put much emphasis on our relationship as individuals, mainly  interacting through Zee. I squeezed in next to her, giving her a small  smile. "Penny for your thoughts?" I bumped her with my shoulder, giving  her a smile. She seemed surprised to see me, but not in a bad way. She  returned my smile with a hesitant one of her own. Her little speech to  me had been the most personal interaction we'd had, as amusing as that  was to say about someone I'd had sex with.

There  was some small measure of awkwardness there, but there was genuine  interest too. Her voice was hesitant as she spoke up. "I was just  thinking about the past. The things that happened to us shape who we  are, even the things we don't remember. But the shapes we take aren't  always whole and unscarred. Sometimes forgetting what we've lost can be  the greatest kindness life can offer." Her pretty face twisted into a  frown. "I hope this isn't one of those times. DG is a sweet girl, she  deserves better than the darkness I've seen."

I  agreed with that. DG's aura was the purest thing I'd ever seen from  another person. She was just this positive force for goodness and light  that I honestly had assumed was just fairy tales. Ironic maybe given  where we were, but true nonetheless. At that thought my eyes widened.  Was I having a deeply personal transformative journey in Oz? I was just  getting used to being an edgelord, now I had to be a stereotype too? I  lapsed into silence, spending the next several hours sulking at my  descent into a parody of myself. Dreamer seemed comfortable with the  silence just enjoying my presence until the car came to a stop.

We  all climber out of the surprisingly spacious interior and  beheld...nothing. Ice. Literally everywhere. I saw several of the people  around me shudder at the chill, but I personally just felt a refreshing  breeze. Wally was glaring at me as he did his best to vibrate his body  fast enough to keep warm. "How the hell are you fine? That armor has no  sleeves and you're just standing there unbothered."

I'd  changed back into my Armor of Gloom, which left my arms exposed, but  this weather didn't bother me at all. I shrugged. "I'm half ghost and  the other half is connected to the void. Cold isn't exactly the bane of  my existence." I was amused by his reaction, but a bit worried about the  others. Especially DG out only real vanilla human. I turned to check on  her and found her staring off into the ice murmuring to herself. That  was odd enough for me to step up and wave a hand in her face. "Hey, you  ok there?"

The  only answer I got was the girl bolting towards a large chunk of ice in  the near distance. I sighed. "No, it's fine. No need to answer me, feel  free to just take off into the snow." I set off after her, muttering in  annoyance at being dismissed. The others followed behind us, but Wally  and I both stuck close, with me shadow porting and him speeding to keep  pace with the oddly driven girl. We stopped in front of a giant chunk of  ice and DG held out a hand to me, clearly asking for something, but too  distracted to speak up.

That  said we were standing in front of a sheet of ice so my best guess was  some sort of tool to break it. I passed her a sledgehammer and sure  enough she went to work on the frozen wall, muttering to herself about  something being "Frozen in time in a sea of ice." She also mentioned her  father and more specifically how this place was "home" Once she broke  the wall down however she was stared in awe at what was on the other  side. A set of large white doors, crusted with ice. She tried to open  then things with the handle but nothing happened until she held up her  branded hand.

The  weird glowing mark on her palm began to smoulder and the doors swung  silently inward as she scrambled over the small amount of ice left in  the way and into the frankly absurdly large palace on the other side.  The place was absolutely massive, with expansive marble flooring and a  weirdly large number of columns. Like seriously. More columns than most  places. It seemed unnecessary. We were definitely in the right place  though. It was easy to tell because on the wall in front of us hung a  huge portrait of a woman with lavender eyes, with a very familiar man  behind her.

The  others had followed us in, and we all turned to look at Glitch, who was  staring up at the painting in awe and joy. "I knew I wasn't an idiot or  a con artist. I was the Queen's advisor." His voice was hushed with  wonder. He turned to DG. "That makes you a princess. " He gave her a  weak smile. DG stared up at the painting for a bit and then took off  again heading for the unreasonably large spiral staircase at the back of  the palace. I followed behind her to make sure she didn't get in  trouble. Wally was a step ahead of me this time as he scouted the whole  upstairs before meeting us at the top of the steps.

We  followed DG into a huge bedroom where every surface was covered in  sheets. It was dim and depressing in the room, and I wasn't the only one  who noticed. Raw, the psychic lion man who rarely spoke, started to get  agitated. He shook his head roughly. "No! No! Bad things happened  here!" The furry man raced over to DG, grabbing her arm. "We need to go!  Bad things happened here!"

DG's  big blue eyes were wide as she grabbed him by the shoulders. "What?  What bad things Raw?" The large man pulled away, hunching on himself and  shaking his head frantically as if trying to dislodge an image. DG  grabbed him to hold him still. "Raw please! I need to know what happened  here. I need to find out what this place is and why I had to leave.  Please tell me." Her voice was thick with unshed tears and the hairy  psychic looked pained.

Cain  reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a kind smile.  "Tell her. It's ok." It was obvious that Raw was afraid to hurt DG with  the truth, but we'd come too far for her to be willing to turn back now.  Cain obviously knew she wasn't going to give up, and I met his eyes  with a nod. We both agreed to stick this out to the end, and we were  here for her no matter what she found.

Raw  closed his eyes and sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat as he slowly  approached a piece of furniture. He pulled off the sheet to reveal a  mirror and placed one hand on the frame, closing his eyes. As he focused  the image in the mirror started to blur, colors shifting and changing  before our eyes like a telescope being brought into focus, until finally  the image crystallized into a perfect reflection of a woman laying in a  bed cuddling a small girl who looked to be her daughter. The women with  lavender eyes was singing a soft lullaby to the child. DG swallowed  hard and reached out to touch the glass longingly. "That's...that's me."