Chapter 264 - The Mirror Stag ( Part 3 )

A figure stepped out from the trees. The playful smirk that always seemed glued to her face. Rudy Kiss stood with her hands on her head, sporting the same smile she had whenever Jennie made some exceptionally foolish decision.

She looked exactly like she had before the ritual. Before Noctis. Before Zuko had awakened Astraeus and made Jennie’s life a nightmare. Before the golden symbol on Rudy’s skin had turned black.

"Wow," Rudy remarked, eying her sister up and down with clear amusement. "You look awful."

Jennie stared at her in shock.

"Come on," Rudy replied to her unasked question with a tilt of her head. "Did you think I was going to compliment your appearance? You look like you’ve been fighting a mountain and losing."

Her lower lip trembled. Her eyes shimmered with tears she refused to spill—not yet, not until she had figured out what was going on.

"Rudy..."

"Yep, it’s me. Your wonderful, talented, incredibly patient sister."

Rudy flashed the same, irritating smile she always gave, making Jennie want to hug and hit her at once.

"So, are you going to stare at me forever, or are you going to tell me why you look like somebody has kicked your puppy?"

Jennie took a step closer. Then another. She stopped right before reaching her sister, terrified that even the slightest movement would cause her to disappear.

Rudy’s smile grew softer. "Oh, come on. Open your arms."

Jennie crumbled.

She approached her sister, embracing her in a tight hug that caused her sister to stumble backwards, taken aback by the unexpected embrace.

"Whoa! Hey! Tell me that you aren’t trying to crush my ribs!"

Jennie hugged her more tightly, hiding her face in the crook of her neck, trembling so fiercely that she could hardly stand anymore. For a second, she didn’t manage to say anything. All the words she had swallowed since the Black Capital sprang to her lips, colliding in her mouth to produce only one single sound.

Rudy fell silent for a while. Then she put a hand at the back of her head.

"There, there," she said in a soft voice, stripped of her usual joking. "You’re fine."

"No," Jennie whispered.

"At least you’re breathing," Rudy continued. "That’s always a good sign."

"Rudy, I..."

"Shh. You don’t have to explain anything right now."

Jennie squeezed her eyes shut.

She could feel the warmth of her sister. She could hear her breathing. She could feel the familiar touch of her hand at her back. It felt so real. Too real.

For the first time since waking up in Ferd’s workshop, Jennie was able to believe that everything could still be fixed. Perhaps she had gotten it wrong somehow. Perhaps Zuko’s attack had failed to kill Rudy. Perhaps the ritual had been unsuccessful, or some mysterious power had intervened just in time.

Perhaps...

"You’re really here," she whispered.

"And obviously," Rudy replied, resting her chin on Jennie’s shoulder. "You thought I was gone, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, you did lose me," Rudy pointed out.

Jennie stiffened. Rudy sighed.

"C’mon. You can’t expect me to deceive you forever."

Slowly, she backed away. Rudy’s expression had suddenly become too serious—not sad, but quiet in a strange way that Jennie had never seen on her sister before. For a moment, Rudy appeared to be older than Jennie remembered. Not physically, but in that quiet certainty that indicated that somebody had accepted something that Jennie still denied.

But then Rudy smiled again, the usual mischief returning.

"Besides, if you’re going to cry this much, at least take me somewhere with good food. You know how bad the food is in the afterlife?"

Jennie blinked. "The afterlife?"

"Awful service. There are no proper menus there. Everybody talks about the meaning of existence, and don’t even start with their desserts!"

In spite of herself, Jennie gave a small, choked laugh. Rudy’s eyes sparkled.

"There she is!" she exclaimed, poking her sister’s cheek. "See, I wasn’t completely sure that you lost your mind."

"Don’t disappear," Jennie pleaded.

The words left her mouth without any permission, full of desperation and lacking all dignity.

Rudy’s smile became somewhat fainter. "Jennie..."

"Please." She stared at her with wet eyes. "I can’t do it again."

Lilia was gone. Snow was gone. Swords she had been using in two lives had been destroyed. Her right arm disobeyed her will now, and her body bore scars that had almost cost her her life.

And every time she closed her eyes, she saw Zuko standing under the World Tree and wielding Astraeus.

She wouldn’t be able to lose her sister again. Not here. Not when she was able to embrace her.

Rudy examined her for a while. Then she reached up and poked Jennie’s forehead.

"Ouch!"

"You idiot."

Jennie stared at her in disbelief. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you’re doing that face again."

"What face?"

"That face of somebody who decides that he should be responsible for the entire world and should suffer whenever something happens."

Rudy crossed her arms. "Seriosuly, Leo. It’s boring to watch that."

Jennie looked away. "I should have been stronger."

"Yep, here it is."

"I should have protected you."

"Uh-huh."

"I should have..."

"Jennie."

Rudy’s tone sharpened. Jennie fell silent.

"Do you remember what I told you before entering the Black Capital?"

Jennie hesitated. She remembered Rudy mocking Roxy. Rudy arguing with Snow. Rudy complaining about the plans her sister made, always involving injuries to herself. She remembered her sister’s expression before the fight—not scared, but resolute.

"I don’t remember everything."

"Why? Of course you don’t. Your memory is terrible."

Rudy rolled her eyes. "I told you that if you decided to do something stupid, you had to make sure there was somebody to complain after that."

Jennie’s eyes widened. "You told me that because..."

"Because you’re an idiot who needs supervision." Rudy smiled. "And because you’re my big sister."

The forest grew silent.

Jennie lowered her head. "I couldn’t protect you."

"You know what’s your problem?" Rudy asked.

Jennie shook her head.

"You think loving someone means you have to save them from everything."

"Wrong," Rudy said, taking a step towards her. "You can love someone and still not be able to save them. You can fight until your body falls apart, and the world may still take them away."

"What then?" Jennie demanded. Her eyes felt heavy, but still, she could not stop staring at the woman in front of her.

Rudy did not say anything right away. She glanced at the trees beyond, where the sun was shining brightly.

"Because we’ve been here," she said quietly. "Because we lived, because we laughed, because there were people who loved us."

"And because," she added after a moment of pause, looking back at Jennie, "for a little while we made each other’s lives better."

She smiled. "Isn’t that enough?"

Jennie wanted to say yes. She wanted to believe that these words were true, wanted to accept them without any doubts that would prove otherwise.

But the thought that haunted her did not go away.

If Rudy was here and really alive, maybe she could live here with her. Maybe, if Jennie decided not to leave this forest, she could stay with the people she lost. No more fighting, no more deaths, no more watching while someone she loves is being taken away.

She could stay with Rudy. She could find Lilia, and maybe Snow would wait for them.

The future suddenly offered Jennie something else than pain.

Until she noticed that something changed about her smile. It was barely noticeable, only a slight difference, but it was definitely there.

The light in her eyes turned still, and there was something behind this smile. Something cold, something calculating.

"There’s something I want you to do for me," Rudy said.

Jennie’s stomach contracted painfully. "What is it?"

Rudy reached out and touched her chest. There was a golden glow beneath Jennie’s clothes, creeping slowly along her skin. It surrounded her heart and then spread through her in fine golden lines.

"How?" Jennie whispered, staring at the light that started to cover her entire body.

"It’s a chance," Rudy said in a gentle voice. "It’s a chance to make sure that Zuko never hurts anyone else ever again."

Jennie stared at her and then understood the image that Rudy was seeing. Zuko standing under the World Tree, holding Astraeus, which was trembling with seven Divine Swords inside, transformed into a dark and terrible weapon.

Then another image appeared – Jennie watched Zuko fall and the Demon Continent sinking in silence. All demons that followed him scattered, ending the war against humanity.

She saw Lilia, Rudy and Snow. She saw herself among them, free from blood, free from grief and regrets.

The perfect world.

"All you have to do," Rudy whispered, "is give me your memories."

"Memories?" Jennie gasped.

"Of me." Rudy touched her forehead, and the golden light started to intensify. "All the memories you have about me. Everything we talked about, every time you argued with me, all of our jokes and every moment we’ve spent together."

She looked at Jennie with an apologetic expression on her face. "In exchange, you’ll get the power to defeat Zuko."

Jennie stepped backward. "I can’t."

"You haven’t heard everything," Rudy suggested.

"Then you don’t have to."

"Jennie..."

"No."

This time her reply sounded much firmer. Rudy’s smile stayed the same, but the forest around them darkened.

"Think about it," she urged. "You can save everyone. You can erase all this suffering. You can make sure that nobody else dies."

"No," Jennie refused.

"Then what will happen to your memories?"

"They’ll disappear."

"And what will happen to you?"

Silence fell between them.

Jennie looked at her. "What will happen to the person who laughed at my terrible choices and complained about food and called me an idiot every five minutes?"

She tried not to cry but could not stop her voice from trembling. "What will happen to the sister who stayed with me even when she knew that I’m going to do something stupid?"

The light flickered. Rudy lowered her eyes. "If you forget about me, you won’t have to suffer anymore."