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I looked up at Ryu, and felt hot, wet tears coursing down my cheeks

‘You would say that, wouldn’t you? You’ve always hated Anyan, and now you hate hi all "save the world" You just want Anyan gone…’

It was a lo, and unfair, and I regretted it even as I said it But I regretted it even ave me It was cold, but also full of pity Like he kinda wanted to smack me, but knew just what a wretch I was at that irl who said such hateful things or the one who deserved pity

So I took it back, or at least tried to, since we can never really take back what’s already been said

‘I’et it I know you’re stressed But you need to know I’ot, and we have no reason to think the universe is steering us wrong’

Tears blurred ain, and I looked back down at entler

‘We have to stop the White, and this is hoe do it The first part of the poem worked – we made the stone And look at Gus He walked into that fire, and there he was, good as nehen it was all over

‘Plus, Anyan is running out of ti Anyan and I may have been rivals in the past, yes But I also respect hih to knoouldn’t want any of this None of us would’

The tears kept falling, but I knew Ryu was right Anyan was losing his battle, and he’d rather be dead than a shadow in the mind of the White for all eternity

‘But why do I have to do it?’ I said, ly sob

‘Because life sucks,’ Ryu said,down to take both ht there with you, if it helps’

I looked at Ryu through the tears and nodded ‘It does Not much But it does’

‘Good And I do think this ork I didn’t want to believe that was really the universe, speaking through Grizzie or theseemed ridiculous I was convinced you’d do some weird chant for three days, and at the end of that time we’d have a tired Jane and a pile of burned bones Instead we got that stone And whatever it is, it’s powerful We can all sense it’

We looked at the object in question, which was sitting on top of the refrigerator It had see it couldn’t really be hidden since it beaht ht about it the way Ryu had – as proof the monk’s poem worked But that’s exactly what it was, and what Gus had done walking into that conflagration had see someone up

I picked up et Iris and Caleb They filed in and sat down

Then, with the creature’s help, we caround, and surrounded by water, so that I could carve hi a break when the others returned fronized, they went to a supermarket an hour aith a few coolers in the truck to pack up the frozen and perishable goods Alaet out of the house My shenanigans hadI had to keep in mind

This has to end, I admitted to myself finally One way or another

The next few hours were torture as aited for the word to co and her teaet we’d chosen – an abandoned factory that the government claiotiating to get the Chinese to agree to our use of their air space and their territory, and he’d been relieved when they’d acquiesced without too on into their air space, but he clailobal threat the creature represented

And speaking of global threats, there had also been reports of the Red in that area, and we’d had a few sightings of our own – a glie and white on the horizon, which disappeared as quickly as it appeared

So we kneouldn’t have long to wait once we threw off shields and iven word that our troops in China were on the ground, Amy took my dad, Grizzie, and Tracy over to her house They wouldn’t return until we’d given theone, we made our way to my cove That’s where we’d decided to do battle with the White It had years of protections on it to keep out wandering hu Because ere going out to the ocean

We waited for Daniel’s signal – a text in what could end up being the loss of my world, that I hardly noticed it when Ryu’s phone sounded