Caleb slept for a long, long time.
He only knew because he did wake up, a few times, but only briefly, in a haze, before falling back asleep.
He saw Mister Midnight. Ingrid. Mineria.
And always, every time, there was Addie. Sitting by the bed. Slumped over onto the bed, asleep. Reading. Listening to music with Ingrid. It was different every time, but she was always there.
He never saw Chelsea, but…
He dreamt of her.
Of her fighting alongside him, fierce determination making her emerald eyes gleam.
Of her walking with him through the snowy streets of Grimoire.
Of her smiling. Of her laughing.
She made his heart soar.
Eventually, Caleb awoke, and he realized he wouldn’t fall asleep again for a while. It was obvious, because…
He was hungry.
He checked to see that his glasses were still on before he opened his eyes, something he hadn’t been doing in his hazy awakenings, but thankfully, he’d been laid in bed with his glasses on.
Rolling over, Caleb paused, then smiled. Kneeling on the floor, with her head and arms on the bed, fast asleep, was Addie. The longer half of her hair, the pink side, was scrunched and sticking up in places, and she murmured quietly now and then in her sleep. Tock’s pocket watch wasn’t tucked in her shirt but instead in her hands, and occasionally she stroked its surface.
Caleb scooted closer, stroking her hair. “Thanks, kiddo,” he said softly. “For watching over me.”
He’d been quiet and gentle, but Addie still stirred. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked several times, staring at Caleb. A moment later she broke into a wide grin and leapt up, tackling Caleb in a tight hug.
“You’re awake!” she cried. “Finally!”
Caleb laughed, stroking her hair and hugging her back. “How long was I out?”
“Two —” Addie started, sitting back and holding up two fingers, then pausing and checking Tock’s pocket watch. She clicked it closed and held up a third finger. “Three days!”
“Oof,” Caleb said with a groan. “No wonder I’m so hungry.” He looked down at himself, seeing that he was dressed in a simple black shirt and pants, with no socks or shoes. His wounds had closed, though he had a few faint scars here and there. Taking a moment to survey his surroundings, he realized why things felt so familiar, and he smiled. “Back at Midnight Bridge, huh?”
“Of course,” Addie said, bouncing on the bed. “We brought you back right away when you guys came back.” Her eyes widened, and she grabbed Caleb’s hand, pulling. “Come on, come on! Chelsea’s been up for hours! You can’t keep her waiting like this!”
“She recovered faster than me, huh?” Caleb asked, letting Addie pull him out of the room and down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs he stopped, staring. There was Chelsea at the table, eating breakfast, and she stared back at him. For a long time, they both just stared in silence, so much passing between them without words.
And then, Chelsea smirked. “Good morning, gumdrop,” she said.
Caleb blinked. Chelsea chuckled. And then Caleb burst into laughter, and Chelsea followed suit.
“Did you just call him gumdrop?” Addie asked at some point, but Caleb and Chelsea barely acknowledged her, so caught up were they in laughing.
Caleb finally walked over to Chelsea, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her on the cheek. “Good morning,” he said softly. Standing behind her, he rested his cheek against hers, and sighed. “You’re warm.”
“So are you,” Chelsea said, reaching up a hand to run her fingers through his hair.
Caleb’s stomach grumbled, and they both laughed.
“Take a seat, will you?” Ingrid asked, coming out of a side room and placing her hands on her hips, surveying him with an exasperated smile. “Have something to eat.”
“Thank you,” Caleb said, sitting next to Chelsea, Addie sitting across from them, resting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands, watching the couple with a contented smile. Breakfast was, as Caleb knew so well, Midnight Mushroom pancakes. They might be blue, but blue was kind of Caleb’s color, he realized. And more than that, they were delicious.
“Where’s Mister Midnight?” Caleb asked after several helpings. “And Mineria? And C— ” He paused, seeing Chelsea’s raised eyebrow. “Where’s your owl?”
“They’re all outside,” Addie said. “Mister Midnight and Mineria are bein’ all lovey-dovey on the bench. And Chelsea’s owl is playing with Nocta.”
“Don’t let Mister Midnight hear you call him ‘lovey-dovey’,” Ingrid said. “And besides, a more appropriate word would be ‘romantic’.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” Addie asked.
“Not quite,” Chelsea said, rolling her eyes.
“Then what’s the difference?”
Chelsea chuckled, twining her fingers with Caleb’s. “I’ll tell you when you’re older, kiddo.”
“No fair!” Addie grumbled about it, but she still came over and hugged Chelsea, her pout turning into a smile. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
“So are we,” Caleb said, sitting back and sighing. He wasn’t home, but being here…
It felt like home. And home was just what he needed after the Shadowheart.
Caleb and Chelsea both ate several more helpings of pancakes, and Addie eventually found her way into Caleb’s lap. When they moved into the living room, sitting on couches by the fireplace, Caleb carried Addie and she continued to sit in his lap, almost melting into him.
“I think she might be happier to see you than I am,” Chelsea said softly, resting her head on Caleb’s shoulder.
“Well, you weren’t separated from me this time,” Caleb said.
Chelsea murmured a wordless agreement. For a while they sat there, Addie sinking into sleep, Ingrid and Caleb and Chelsea chatting back and forth in scattered, relaxed conversation. It was quite some time before Midnight and Mineria came in, heralded by the door opening and excited hooting and flapping of wings. Chelsea’s owl came straight to her, landing on her lap and gazing up at her, patting her all over with his wings and doing a little dance.
“Okay, okay, I get it, you had fun,” Chelsea said, rolling her eyes as she stroked the Summon’s head. “Chill a bit, you. I’m trying to relax here.” Her owl cooed happily, hopping up with a little flutter, turning and landing on her shoulders. Chelsea leaned back into his stomach, sighing. “Ah, now that’s better. Thanks.”
“Good to see you up,” Midnight said, standing over Caleb. After a moment, he held out his hand. Caleb stared at it for a bit, confused, but then reached up and clasped it. Teacher and student stared at each other, gripping each other’s hand firmly for several seconds.
There’s a glint in his eyes. And he’s smiling.
He’s got something to tell me.
“I’m proud of you,” Midnight said, giving Caleb’s hand a squeeze and then letting go. Caleb was left staring, unsure of what to say, and Midnight sighed, plopping down on the couch across from him, next to Ingrid. Mineria came to sit on the other side of Ingrid, smiling. “Anyway, how are you feeling? Everything okay after the Shadowheart?”
“I told them all the details already,” Chelsea said. “Well, you know… most of the details.”
“I’m good,” Caleb said with a nod. “A bit… tired, still. Not sleepy, just…”
“Yeah,” Midnight said, nodding. “It’ll pass. And it’s a good feeling. It’ll help you relax, help you heal better, as long as you don’t go charging into danger too soon.” He pursed his lips, then leaned back, sighing. “Ah, I guess it can wait.”
“They’ll be fine, Lance,” Mineria said.
“What can wait?” Caleb asked. “If you’ve got something to say, let’s hear it.”
“You sure?” Midnight asked.
“Definitely,” Chelsea said. “Lay it on us.”
“Okay, okay.” Midnight leaned forward, his gaze intense. “I’ve discovered some things. Came to some realizations. That’s mostly only relevant to you, though, Caleb, so I’ll skip that for now. Let’s jump ahead, to… more serious things.” His smile faded. “Lady Kodoka, the Prime Paladin — that’s the leader of the Paladins, the most important and probably most powerful — has called a Council of the Light. It’s a meeting of Paladins and Sub-Paladins, to address the danger Sal poses and to figure out how to stop the Endless Night.”
“But you’re a Paladin,” Caleb said. “When do you have to leave?”
Midnight smirked. “Yesterday,” he said. “At the very latest. The Council’s probably just getting started as we speak, and if it hasn’t — with everyone there, it takes time to organize them — it will soon.”
“So why aren’t you there?” Caleb asked.
“I don’t play well with others,” Midnight said with a chuckle. “I work better… well, not alone, but… in a smaller group, anyway. And… to be honest, I’m not very fond of Lady Kodoka.”
“You’re not very fond of people,” Ingrid said teasingly, earning a brief scowl from Midnight.
“The important point is the first one,” Midnight said. “I’m better off working on things in my own way. So that’s what I’ve been doing, even while you two were off playing in Shadowland.”
“He’s being sarcastic because he was actually really worried about you,” Ingrid said, earning another scowl.
“So what have you figured out?” Caleb asked. “We… I mean, we’re going to work with you, of course. But what’s the plan?”
“You’re not working with me right away,” Midnight said. “You kids are gonna take a break for a little bit. Rest, recover, get your strength up to absolute one hundred percent. Because that’s what I’ll need. And in that time, I can still investigate, and it’s not like I’m alone.”
Ingrid grinned. “You’re looking at the Midnight Detective Agency,” she said. This time Midnight didn’t scowl, but smirked. “He put on his detective cap again. It’s exciting watching his mind work.”
“But while you three take a break, we’ll be helping Lance,” Mineria said. “So don’t worry. None of us will be completely idle. None of us can afford to be.”
“That’s right,” Midnight said. “Even while you’re taking a break, you should be thinking about what we discuss here. Because the danger is greater than anyone imagined. We’d always heard about the Lord of Night, the Sons of Night… they’re part of the Prophecy of the Endless Night. But none of the Sons even appeared until… it would be quite a few centuries ago, though I’m not completely sure on the Human timeline for it all. My teacher, the previous Mister Midnight, never fought a Son of Night, never even met one or heard of someone who had. My first encounter with one was long after my teacher left, when I’d been Mister Midnight for quite some time. My duel with Kaohlad was, as I found from talking to others and arranging the timeline, one of the very first encounters with a Son of Night. And here’s the thing: the very first known appearance of a Son of Night happened some time after the fool’s gods were imprisoned. And more relevant to some new information we all gained together… none of them appeared until after Alexander Salazar Greyson came to Midnight Bridge, asking me for information on the Radiant King’s whereabouts.”
Caleb stared.
Alexander Salazar Greyson.
Sal’s reveal at the Seat of the Seven seemed so long ago after his struggle through the Shadowheart, but it had actually been incredibly recent. And…
I haven’t had even a second to process it. Until now.
“He’s the other Greyson you met,” Caleb said, remembering his first conversation with Mister Midnight so long ago. “He was searching for the fool’s gods for… revenge?”
“That’s right,” Midnight said. “He wanted to take them all out, all by himself.”
“Revenge?” Chelsea asked. She sat up straight. “Wait… when he met us in Gold Heart Arcade, he talked about revenge. He asked me about it, remember?”
Caleb nodded. “But how did he know?” he asked. “How does he know so much about us?”
“Not just you,” Midnight said. “He… wasn’t like that when he met me. He was a tormented soul, a man broken by grief and consumed with rage. Caleb, you saw Sunset Square, the wreckage after the war. Sal’s mother… she lived in Sunset Square. And was there during the carnage. She… didn’t make it.”
Caleb stared, silent. Next to him, Chelsea was tense, her hand gripping his tighter.
Midnight sighed. “Now… he’s completely different. And he knows so much, too much, about everything. And considering the timeline I spoke about… well. The implications are terrifying.”
“He’s a Son of Night?” Caleb asked.
“But he doesn’t look like the others,” Chelsea said. “Or at least, I’ve seen Valgwyn. And Maribelle talked about Dullan, and Caleb, you saw Kaohlad. They all have a pretty constant theme going between them.”
“He isn’t a Son of Night,” Midnight said, his expression grim.
Caleb blinked several times, then sat back. “There’s no way…”
“I can’t be completely sure,” Midnight said. “But the power he wielded at the Seat of the Seven… you two didn’t see it. It was after he pulled you into the Shadowheart — which is itself a feat, one I’m not convinced a Son of Night would be able to manage. Into Shadowland, sure, but the darkest heart of it all?” He shook his head. “And after he pulled you two in, he was able to completely immobilize me, Anastasia’s group, and everyone else. Most of us are incredibly powerful, but we couldn’t even raise a hand against him. I’ve fought Kaohlad to a draw, and nearly managed to defeat Valgwyn. Chelsea, you’ve fought Valgwyn and nearly killed him. Maribelle can frighten Dullan, likely for good reason. I don’t know much about Sen, but he’s the strongest of the Sons of Night… and there are four.”
“So they’re all accounted for,” Caleb said. He remembered the book in Kaohlad’s dark chapel, the one that had scratched away the names of his brothers and father. “Except… the Lord of Night.”
Silence stretched on between everyone. The fire crackled. Addie breathed softly in Caleb’s lap, asleep.
“We know firsthand about three of the Sons,” Midnight said in a low, quiet voice. “And we know that there are some in this room who can fight them one-on-one. There are others who can frighten them. But Sal… none of us could fight him. And he certainly wasn’t afraid of anyone, or anything. His power is a command of the Darkness itself. If he isn’t the Lord of Night…” He shook his head. “If he isn’t, then the Lord of Night is simply invincible. Untouchable. So powerful we should all give up and let the Night take us. Sal, as he is, is already astonishingly powerful, such that I don’t yet know how we can beat him.”
“But you do think we can,” Ingrid said.
“There has to be a way,” Midnight said. “He’s mortal, like us. Halfchant, with a Human father and Enchanted mother. And he didn’t have this power, this confidence, or this authority when I first met him. Something happened in his journey to find the fool’s gods.”
“But then… I mean, how old is the Prophecy of the Endless Night?” Ingrid asked. “Isn’t it older than he is?”
“It is,” Midnight said. “But Prophecies by their nature speak of things long before they actually occur. We always thought, because the Darkness has always existed, and because the Endless Night is an invasion of the Darkness to swallow all life in the universe, that there must have also always been a Lord of Night. But the Darkness has often taken its own actions, done its own thing. There isn’t always someone controlling it, and there doesn’t have to be. And… well, we know that Darkness exists in every mortal’s heart. The Paladins were naïve, thinking there must be someone in charge of the Darkness at all times. Even now, with Sal around commanding it, there’s plenty of Darkness that just is. It acts on its own, it doesn’t need a central master.” He looked aside at the fireplace, his expression grim. “Evil never does.”
“So if he’s the cause of the Endless Night,” Caleb said, “then defeating him will stop it, right?”
“It stands to reason,” Mineria said.
“But it wouldn’t eradicate the Darkness,” Caleb said.
Midnight shook his head. “Darkness… it’ll always exist. At least until the day, the other Prophecy, the oldest Prophecy there is, speaks of — the day when Light will return fully, and make everything new. No more death, no more pain… no more Darkness.”
“That’s what Sal talked about at the Arcade,” Chelsea said. “He wanted to upend the natural order. The one that says Light will win in the end.”
“So he went and started the Endless Night all by himself,” Midnight said, frowning. “He’s a psychopath on a power trip. If I’d known who he’d become…”
“There’s no helping for what’s already happened,” Mineria said. “What matters is finding a way to stop him now. The Endless Night is coming.”
“Why don’t we just find him?” Chelsea asked. “Round up all the Paladins, all the Hunters, everyone we know who can fight, and hit him with everything we’ve got? He stopped you and Anastasia’s team, but can he really stop hundreds or thousands of us? If he was that powerful, why would he need his Sons, or the shadow Hollows we fought in the Library of Solitude?”
“We need to know our enemy,” Midnight said. “That’s the most important key here. Knowledge is power. If he could stop those of us who were there at the Seat of the Seven — which we know he could — that gives us no indication of the full range of his power. Assuming limits on his power that we don’t actually know exist could get hundreds, thousands, or even millions killed. Until we understand the extent of his strength, and discover proper countermeasures, we can’t even consider an offensive of any kind.”
Chelsea let out a sigh. “Yeah,” she said softly. “Do you have a plan?”
“We know some very valuable things,” Midnight said. “First of all, he was once mortal. Perhaps he changed his state, like the fool’s gods, but even they could be killed. It stands to reason he can still be killed, as long as we find out how. Second of all — he didn’t always have this power. How he gained his power, and what those powers entail, will tell us a lot. And it may be that there’s a way to reverse the process, forcing him to relinquish his command of the darkness and return to his original state. Third — we know he knows a lot, too much for any of us to be comfortable. And he’s taken a very special interest in the Greysons. Not Greysons of the past, but your generation specifically. Why is that? Why didn’t he call your parents to his reveal party? Why hasn’t he made himself known to previous generations? Knowing why things are happening now probably contains a great deal of meaning. Fourth, and I think this is most important — he doesn’t act alone. There are the Sons of Night. There are the shadow Hollows. There was Collapse, and the cult that formed around it, one that he fostered and encouraged. And there’s Jormungand, the mysterious man in the shadows who seems to be an advisor of sorts. It’s very unlikely Sal has all of these resources and allies if he doesn’t need them. If his goal is to upend the natural order of things, it’s a display of power, and doing that alone — if he actually could, which I doubt — would be far more impressive. That means, with almost absolute certainty, that he needs those who serve him.”
“He’s not all-powerful,” Ingrid said.
“But then, who is?” Midnight asked with a smirk.
“Still, that’s a heck of a lot we don’t know,” Caleb said.
“And I’m going to be working on getting answers while you three go rest up,” Midnight said. “In a few more days’ time, we’ll regroup, and figure out what the next steps are.”
“You seriously think we can just take a vacation or whatever when things are this dire?” Chelsea asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s pretty awkward timing.”
“We can go with you,” Caleb said. “We can help you. We have before.”
“I don’t have the patience to babysit,” Midnight said, waving a hand dismissively. “Where we’re going… hate to say it, but you three would get in the way. Even if it was just you,” Midnight added as Caleb opened his mouth to speak. “I know we’ve been through a lot. And I know you’ve got a good head and a good heart. But you’re not coming with me this time.”
“But we don’t need to go home,” Caleb said. “We can just rest up here, we can —”
“It’s not about your condition,” Midnight said, narrowing his eyes. “You need the rest, sure. But come on, kid. You need to see your parents. Let them know you’re okay. Last they heard, you’d vanished completely, remember? Nobody back home knows you’re safe yet.”
Caleb stared, stunned into silence.
I…
“We did promise we’d bring you back home,” Chelsea said, reaching over to stroke Addie’s hair. “And it’s true. It’s been a long time, but… yeah. When I left, your parents still didn’t know anything about you. They put on a brave face, but… I’m pretty sure it was taking everything they had not to believe you were dead.”
Mom… Dad…
“You won’t be totally idle while you’re gone, anyway,” Midnight said. “Just — hopefully — not fighting. Staying out of trouble, if you can help it.” He rolled his eyes. “Caleb has a knack for it, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you do, too.”
“We’ll… do our best,” Caleb said, managing a laugh.
“You’ve got a sort of mission of your own,” Midnight said. He stood up. “Come on, Caleb. I need to talk to you, one-on-one.”
“Okay…” Caleb said, staring.
Midnight sighed. “It’s Time Magic stuff. Things that… oh, just come on. Listen to your teacher once in a while.”
Caleb laughed, and while Midnight made his way out, he looked over at Chelsea, nodding to Addie. Chelsea chuckled, holding out her arms. “I’ll gladly take her,” she said.
Caleb rose, carefully cradling Addie, placing her gently in Chelsea’s lap. He and Chelsea kissed, and then Caleb headed out to join Midnight.
“This is what was on your mind at the start,” Caleb said.
Midnight turned, that gleam back in his eyes, that smile back on his face. “How’d you guess?”
“You figured something out. Not just about Sal — about Time Magic. Right?”
Midnight nodded. “Your trial and transformation, and all you saw there. The strange changes to your Time Magic, things you still don’t fully understand… I’m making that part of your mission — keep exploring your powers. I need your reports, because I can’t see what you see on my own. But it’s the Chronos Vault that was the real kicker, the major revelation at the end of it all. Time… it’s something so much more amazing than even the ‘masters’ realized.”
“You’ve had other students take on the trial, right?” Caleb asked.
Midnight hesitated, then let out a heavy sigh. “I may have bent the truth a bit on that one. I’ve undertaken the trial — and, like I said, was rejected. But… I haven’t had a student before you accepted, either. I only had one who was actually called to the trial, and… he was rejected, just like me. Other students, since they weren’t called, I never mentioned the trial, and they never undertook it.”
“So you really don’t know what it changes,” Caleb said. “I…”
“You were the first, yeah,” Midnight said. He smiled. “Makes you feel pretty special, right?”
“Ah… yeah,” Caleb said, smiling sheepishly.
“Don’t be embarrassed, kid,” Midnight said. “It’s a good thing. Embrace it. Anyway… look, I’ll level with you. After the trial, and so many things since then… I kind of felt useless. You were suddenly doing things far beyond me, taking the spotlight, being amazing, and I was just following along. And it was exciting, watching you soar like that. But it’s hard to feel like you’ve been demoted to being your student’s sidekick.”
“You’re not —”
“I don’t need your encouragement,” Midnight said, chuckling. “While you were in the Shadowheart, I was thinking, ‘putting on my detective cap,’ like Ingrid said. And there’s a lot that experience and understanding can provide. You can’t figure your new powers out on your own, that’s one thing, but more than that… I can take my own understanding of Time Magic, my own abilities, to a new level. The Steps of Time… the way that Time Magic messes with the rules of reality… these are things that apply to me as much as to you, just in different ways. You ‘touched Time’ back at the Chronos Vault. That’s the key. Touching Time… Time as a physical entity, something we can touch… Caleb, you’ve opened up a whole new world.”
“So what does it mean for us?”
“It means I have a few new tricks up my sleeve. And more than that, it means we both have important individual missions. We’re splitting up because it’s good for you, and I can see you have something very specific on your mind. That’s good — go do that.” Midnight grinned. “You’ve kept her waiting long enough. But while you’re healing up, you need to explore what you saw in your trial, those places that flashed before your eyes. You’ve been to the Chronos Vault, to the Seat of the Seven, places you saw there. You’re going to have to go to the rest.”
“So I do need to find them…” Caleb said. “But I have no idea where to start.”
“I’ll help you. Don’t worry about that. And while you’re at it… use your Time Magic. Figure out its new limitations, its new properties, everything. I expect a detailed report when we meet back up. And while I’m out gathering information, I’ll also be testing out new theories, new ideas. When we meet up again, we’ll both become more than we’ve ever been. You and me, kid… we’re going to be the greatest Time Mages that ever lived. And we’re going to pave a whole new path for every Time Mage that comes after us.”
Caleb stared, wide-eyed and silent.
Midnight laughed. “Finally, you shut up without me asking. It’s nice to find something that’ll surprise you so much you have to process it for a minute.”
“How long?” Caleb asked.
“How long till what?”
“How long do we have? I mean, for us being apart, doing our own thing. How long should we take before grouping back up and prepping for taking the fight to Sal?”
Midnight turned, his coat billowing out behind him like a cape. “That’s something that concerns everyone.”
Back in the house, Midnight stood before everyone while the rest sat. Addie had woken up, and Chelsea, Ingrid, and Mineria had filled her in on things while Midnight and Caleb had talked.
“Listen up,” Midnight said. “We have our missions. Caleb, Chelsea, Addie, you three rest up and recover — back in Grimoire is probably the best place to be. Go home and do your thing. Caleb, you’ve got your own mission, but take a few days before getting started. Ingrid, Mineria, you’re with me. We’re going to gather information. In ten days — everyone check your watches, we’re operating on Earth time here — we’ll regroup. Share our findings, pool our knowledge, and then bring in whoever else we need and move forward with the right plans. It’s a lot of time, but we may just find it’s hardly enough. And in case either group finishes before the other…” He handed out items to Caleb, Chelsea, and Addie: a black crystal pendant on a silver chain for each of them. “This lets us home in on the other’s location and communicate with them, and then — unless the place is somewhere truly out of reach, these things have limits — teleport directly to them.”
“Something like this exists?” Caleb asked, turning the crystal over and over in his fingers.
“They can only be grown,” Midnight said, “and only a small amount at a time, and it takes a very long time, and once they’re used, they disintegrate. Magic this powerful isn’t just rare, it’s extremely limited.”
“So, ten days,” Chelsea said, staring at her pendant.
“We’ll need to make the most of it,” Midnight said, “before the Endless Night devours everything and everyone we love. So don’t take this lightly! Every day should bring us closer to defeating Sal. He’s our target — he’s our goal. Good luck everyone. Let’s make our time count.” He nodded to Caleb. “Come on over to the table and tell me in detail all the places you saw in your trial. We’ll try and figure them out before the next train arrives, so you’ll know what you’re looking for.”
Caleb went with Midnight, recalling the visions he’d had during his trial. Those places had gone by so fast, but their images were emblazoned on his heart. He’d never forget. And now…
Now it was time to discover the truth behind all of them. And more importantly…
It was time to figure out how to defeat their greatest foe and prevent the Endless Night.