Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 21:01:04 +0100
From: Tim <shiningstar@oceanfree.net>
Subject: Powers That Be 13

Well, I'm glad that you found the last chapter, shall we say - interesting!
:-) I was flabbergasted (That's a good word) by the pile of e-mail which
I received. I think I've replied to it all, but I want to let you know that I
always like getting it, so keep sending it to me! Anyway, check out the
Website as well while you're at it - http://stories.i8.com, and e-mail me
- shiningstar@oceanfree.net.

	Thanks to all t he right people, Tim - who knows why, Sher -
who knows why, Matt - he knows why, and Shawn, he knows why. And
especially to Jim, you touched me with that last e-mail. Thank you.

	This story is not real or not based in reality. It's a fictional
story. I don't know the sexualities of the celebrities named within, and I
don't think they know that I'm writing this. If you're too young then you
shouldn't be reading this.

------------------------------------

I lay there. Not knowing what to think. Had he heard me say
that I loved him? Did he know, before he... the thought brought fresh
tears to my eyes and I burrowed my face in my pillow again.

	After Justin had... had... died. There, I said it. After Justin had
died Lance was the first to move, but it had taken him twenty minutes.
He had managed to control his grief long enough to create a stable portal
back to the house. Then he'd pushed everyone through and dragged
Justin's body with him.

	And now it was the day after and the pain hadn't lessened. Is
this what it felt like, to lose someone? I couldn't understand it, why?
Why take him from me? The one person who I'd ever truly loved, only
to realise it too late.

	Someone knocked on the door. "Tom? Tom, open the door
please, we need to talk." I recognised the voice as that of Baram, head of
the White Mage's council.

	I took my head out of my pillow, dried my eyes and said in a
hoarse voice. "Come in."

	She opened the door slowly and looked as sad as I felt. She sat
down on the bed beside me. "Tom. I'm so sorry." I looked down at the
ground so that she couldn't see me crying again but she used a finger to
bring my head back up. "Don't be ashamed of your tears Tom. It's a
sign of strength if you cry in front of someone."

	I looked back up at her. "If I'd been stronger then maybe I
could have saved him."

	"Is that what you really think? No on could have done anything
for Justin once Drayn came into that room, you should know that."

	"But I managed it. I killed him, but it was too late... Justin was
already dead. If I'd done it sooner..."

	"You can't think that. You remember what JC told you about
emotions? You couldn't have thrown so much raw power at Drayn
normally, and I doubt that you'll ever be able to do it again."

	Suddenly it clicked. Why she'd told JC to tell me about that,
everything. I looked at her in disbelief. "You knew, didn't you. You
knew that Justin; my Justin was going to die. And you did nothing, you
just sat back and let it happen."

	"Tom..."

	"Damn right I shouldn't blame myself!" I yelled. "I should
blame you! You knew, you knew. And you did nothing! You could have
saved his life." I was becoming hysterical, so she did the only thing she
could have done. She slapped me across the face.

	"Yes Tom, I could have saved his life, but at what cost? I'm an
oracle; I can see the future, but if I go meddling with that future then
who knows what could happen. Drayn could by now have killed you all,
he could have gone on a rampage and killed thousands of innocent
people. It's not for me to decide who lives and who dies, normally." The
tone in her voice when she said that last word made me alert.

	"What do you mean - normally?"

	"Tom, you are going to do something in the next couple of days
that could have unfathomable and far reaching consequences, something
which I plead with you not to try."

	"What?" I asked.

	She looked almost amused. "If I told you that... then you'd just
go straight out and try it. No, I don't think I'm going to tell you
anything." She took both of my hands into her own. "Just accept what
has happened, please, for your sake, for Justin's sake and for the world's
sake." With those words she left the room and left me to my misery.
About an hour later JC knocked on the door and said that everyone was
meeting in the sitting room - that we had to talk.

	I went down the stairs and into the sitting room, everyone else
was already sitting there, none of them with dry eyes. Once I came in JC
got up to talk. "I don't want to sound harsh, but we have to talk about
Justin's death, Baram and I have been talking about cover stories, and
we've hit upon the one that we think is most likely to work. As far as the
rest of the world is concerned, Justin died in a car crash."

	I couldn't believe this, we were going to take one of the most
incredible people in the world, someone who gave his life to save
another, and we were going to say that that person died in a car crash?
Evidently JC heard my thoughts.

	"I know, I know, but we can't have the real story getting out
and we can't even water it down, because we don't want too much
attention given to this by the cops. The council is going to arrange
everything but we've got to file the report, management already knows
and are preparing the press releases, we just have to say when, is
everyone ok on this?" JC got no verbal responses to his questions but
there was a round of nodding at him. "There are also going to be two
funerals, the public one, and the real one, at the council, where we can
properly acknowledge who Justin was to all of us." JC concluded the
meeting there and left everyone to their grief.

	The next day we flew back to the states for the first of Justin's
funerals under a barrage of media attention. Somehow we got through it
and the cover story held. I met Justin's family for the first time and was
amazed by how much they knew of our relationship. I also remember
putting a call through to my own family that day, but what was said I
don't know.

	Then it was time for Justin's other funeral, the one in the
mountainside. Once we'd teleported there I was amazed to see that the
entrance was already open and people were teleporting in all around us
to go in. We walked down the main hallway in our ceremonial robes and
the sheer number of people that were present stunned me. There were
people of all different heights and sizes, humans and species that I'd
never seen before and the range of colours was nothing short of
spectacular. They only seemed to have one thing in common - their
destination. They were all heading for the Elder Hall, of which the doors
were wide open. I couldn't help but notice that the wizened old man was
still there, but he was wearing a robe of shimmering orange and facing
towards the centre of the hall, where there was a raised area, which was
devoid of anything, other then Justin, dressed in his ceremonial robes
and lying on top of an ornate slab of marble. My heart lurched in me, but
I kept a steady face and moved with the others towards seats near the
dais. We sat down and didn't speak. About ten minutes later the doors to
the hall lurched closed, seemingly of their own volition and Baram got
up to speak. She used no microphone, yet her voice reached the far
corners and echoed in the dark above.

	"We are here today to honour a great mage, a mage who's life
was committed to the improving of others, either through his music or
his magic he's touched countless millions on this world." She then
softened her voice. "Even his final act was one of great selflessness, and
that shall be rewarded. I shall not speak too many words, for his actions
have spoken louder then anything I could say to you now, and your
presence in such great numbers here today is testament to that fact, what
his death has helped to achieve can-not be ignored either, the final death
of Drayn. And so, I implore the elders to take this worthy mage into
their midst, so that he may continue to do what he strived to always do
when he was with us, do good." I was wondering what she meant by this
but then a low chant started in the hall.

	"Suis don spear leat, mar bheag t£ beo ann." This one sentence
was being repeated over and over again until suddenly, a feeling of
warmth and joy came over me and a deep, benevolent voice spoke.

	"It shall be so." And a soft white light washed over Justin's
body and he drifted upwards into the air. Justin's body disappeared and
the light faded, as did the warm feeling. A couple of minutes later people
started drifting out of the hall and down side passageways and out the
front entrance.

	"What just happened?" I asked, turning to Lance and speaking
my first words in a long time.

	"You remember the elders that we said are all around us, since
the first day of magic?"

	"Yeah."

	"Well they just took Justin among their number, he's now one
of the elders."

	"You mean he's alive?" I croaked, overcome with emotion.

	"In a sense, yes he is. But not in any form that you'd ever
recognise. But he'll always be there to watch over you Tom. You can be
sure of that."

----------------------------------------------

	It turned out that it didn't help at all knowing that. I still
couldn't touch Justin; I couldn't lie beside him in bed and tell him that I
loved him. There was even more pain, knowing that he was somewhere
out there, but I couldn't get anywhere near to him.

	"Tom! There's something on TV that you should see! Come
on." Shouted Joey from downstairs.

	I heaved myself off my bed and went downstairs. Joey was
watching TV.

	"Yeah?" I asked, wondering why he'd called me.

	"This song's dedicated to you Tom, dunno who from, it just
said anonymous." He said. "Wonder who it was."

	I looked at the screen, which had my name at the bottom; I saw
that it was Cher with a song that I hadn't heard in ages. One lyric
throbbed through my head - "If only I could turn back time..."

---------------------------------

	Well, I think that this makes for a nice bridging chapter. Make
sure to let me know what you think. Either by e-mail -
shiningstar@oceanfree.net or by going to the Website -
http://stories.i8.com