Caleb didn’t pay much mind to his surroundings.
“Chelsea!” he cried out, even though his throat was sore. He’d been shouting her name for…
Hours? Days?
All here was darkness and void, so that even time seemed impossible to measure.
“I know we came in here together,” he muttered, swallowing what little moisture there was in his mouth. “So what happened? Where are you…?”
His hand went to his pocket, where a small box rested.
You can’t just disappear on me. I still have to ask you a very important question, and give you a very important gift.
“Oh,” he said suddenly, staring out at the darkness. “This is what it’s like, isn’t it? What it’s been like for you. Me, just vanishing, leaving you behind without warning.”
He sighed.
Okay. Right. Perspective.
“I’m not disappearing on you again,” he said. “I mean, at least not without warning. And that wouldn’t be disappearing in that case, it would be more… temporarily departing. Yeah, anyway, so…”
He shut his mouth, turning in a wide, slow circle.
Darkness.
Like when Chelsea walked through the darkness in the Library of Solitude.
She and Gwen went in together, but they were instantly separated. So Chelsea’s out there somewhere…
“In trouble!” he finished, charging forward into the murky shadows. The ground beneath his feet was soft, a bit springy, but there were occasional hard, flat surfaces — like stepping stones in a dirt field. He could see occasional shapes, occasional shadows ahead of him, darker than the others, and there was some light, the tiniest bit of light, though he couldn’t figure out a source for it. Did it come from above? Behind? To the side? From the ground? He didn’t see a source, but there had to be light, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to see anything.
He suddenly stumbled, tripping and battling for balance, as he came upon stone stairs. Stubbing his toes a few times as he climbed, wind-milling his arms like crazy, he finally got his bearings and walked up the stairs normally, wincing slightly at the pain.
In the darkness, he missed where the stairs stopped going up and stepped too high, giving him an awkward landing on the stone stage he reached. His eyes seemed to be adjusting to the darkness, at least a little bit, because he could make out more of what was around him. He stood on a square stone stage, about thirty feet to a side, and at the far end…
A dock.
Like Chelsea in the darkness.
So this is probably the moment when my “other” appears.
Caleb walked forward all the same, not bothering to wait for the other to appear. Whatever the darkness within him would look like, whatever the darkness within him would try to do to him, it didn’t matter.
Chelsea’s out there alone.
At the end of the docks, he found a small boat waiting for him, bobbing lightly in the gently flowing river. He paused at the very end of the docks, looking around once more.
But he was alone.
He stepped into the boat, and it started on, propelled by the current. To either side, the banks of the river sloped steeply, thickly lush with reeds that swayed in a nonexistent breeze.
The slow pace of the boat drove Caleb mad. He stood, tapping his foot, looking around at all times for another exit, a landmark, something that would show him where Chelsea was, where he should go.
I could just make Mobility Discs and go bouncing around, but…
This place is too vast, too dark. I’d get lost in a heartbeat and never find my way back.
When Chelsea went into the darkness, the path took her where she needed to go. I can just…
It’s so dark.
Caleb’s eyes widened. That voice… in his mind…
It wasn’t mine. It was… different.
“Oh, I get it,” Caleb said, nodding. He spoke aloud, better to distinguish his own thoughts from that other voice. “Just like with Chelsea. There wasn’t just the other. There was a voice.” He pulled out his pocket watch, bobbing it lightly from its chain. “ ‘It’s so dark,’ huh? Yeah, sure is. What of it?”
Dark. And cold.
I hate the darkness. Anything could be out there.
A soft shiver ran down Caleb’s spine, and his levity vanished.
That voice isn’t just some other, alien voice.
Oh.
Oh…
…I get it, now. Really, this time.
So that’s how it is, huh?
That’s how I am, huh?
What can I do against such darkness? What can I do…
“Against such fear?” Caleb asked, finishing the other voice’s question aloud.
Fear…
But you can’t pull me into the darkness. I’m onto your tricks. I get what you’re all about, because I know people who have been through this before.
“The darkness holds no power over me. But sure, keep trying.” He peered into the darkness, watching for his stop. “It seems like you’ll have plenty of time.”
The voice went silent for a long time, and Caleb didn’t even feel its presence within him. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. After hearing Chelsea’s story, he’d had certain expectations, and now they were being flipped around in strange ways.
But I guess that makes sense. I’m different than her. My other… my darkness… it won’t be the same as hers. I haven’t been through what she’s been through, I haven’t suffered like her, I’ve never fostered rage and hatred and vengeance like she did.
I don’t have the kinds of demons she did.
But I can’t let my guard down. Because I get it, already. At least one of my demons, one piece of my darkness is…
Fear.
He should have seen that coming. After all the lessons from Mister Midnight, all the challenges he’d faced, and yet fear kept coming back in surprising, unique ways to challenge and test him.
Fear’s what nearly got me killed in Sunset Square. Fear’s what nearly tore me away from Chelsea and everyone else forever.
And I never even really thought about fear for so long. Not until…
Memories flashed through his mind. Training on Midnight Bridge. Sharp, unbearable pain in his eyes, dropping to his knees, and pulling back his hands to realize…
His eyes were bleeding.
That was the first. The first time I can remember being really, honestly terrified. Even when I fell on Hollow Island, it wasn’t so frightening but more… frustrating? Confusing? Maybe that was fear, too, after all, but it didn’t feel like it. Or I just didn’t recognize it.
And then there were the Rein Knights, guarding the path to Mineria’s rescue. The way they looked at him, the way even Mister Midnight couldn’t see what Caleb saw, feel what Caleb felt, leaving Caleb completely isolated against this impossible pressure…
Not many moments since then. But enough. Scattered, here and there, they kept following him, kept testing him.
Chelsea’s other followed her to Grimoire, and even onto the Nightmare Road. Her darkness didn’t give up on her.
Mine’s been more subtle. Is it because it’s weaker? Too weak to take physical form?
No. Don’t ever assume it’s weak. Don’t you dare let down your guard.
Things have worked out well so far. So much danger and so many surprises have worked out for the better in the end. But that doesn’t mean the way I’ve gone about living has been okay.
I have to do better. Because I won’t always be lucky. Have I…
…been overconfident? Cocky, even? That’s the word Chelsea always used… “cocky,” but she said it like it was a good thing. When I didn’t have that cockiness, she worried about me.
That person… he feels so distant.
If the me now was face-to-face with the Caleb back then, would I even recognize him? Always smiling, laughing, cracking jokes…
I was hiding fear. Fear I didn’t even know existed. I pretended to be confident, but I never really was, was I? I mean, I guess I was, at times. It wasn’t always a mask, and it wasn’t ever only a mask. “The only Time Mage alive.” Yeah, I got a big ego because of that, thought I was a big deal. And I overused magic I didn’t understand, causing so much grief for so many who love me.
I’ve changed. A lot.
Caleb smiled, and that smile turned into a silly, childish grin, because he couldn’t contain his joy at these realizations.
I still have a lot to learn. A long way to go. But I’ve come so far, and I’m so much better now.
So come on, darkness. Give me your best shot. I’m not cocky, I’m not overconfident.
I just know that I’m not alone. That Chelsea’s out there. That the Light never stops shining, no matter how dark it gets.
And I know I’m not who I used to be. So, yeah.
“The darkness holds no power over me.”
And if I find out it does, I’ll break free of that, too. Because Mister Midnight taught me how. Because Chelsea’s inspired me to. Because so many people I love are worth pushing myself for, worth becoming better for. I have the best siblings, the best parents, the best friends I could ever ask for.
I’ve come this far because of them. I’ve come this far for them.
No darkness will stop me.
The boat suddenly lurched, but Caleb didn’t lose his balance. It drifted to the left, and then bumped solidly against a dock that Caleb hadn’t even realized was there.
Though the river’s current kept on going, the boat sat still in the water.
Caleb peered into the darkness beyond the dock. A narrow stone path flanked by tall, thick foliage wound its way forward into the unknown.
Chelsea!
Caleb wasn’t about to stand around anymore. He leapt from the boat and started forward, but he only made it a few steps before…
“What’s the rush?”
Caleb stopped in his tracks, staring at the woman in front of him. Her raven-colored hair, her brilliant green eyes…
That smile that played so coyly on her lips…
It was Chelsea. But not really.
“Get out of the way,” Caleb said, staring at Chelsea’s other.
“But you’re looking for me, right?” the other asked, pouting slightly. She wore only a long black dress, though it fit her perfectly. Her hair was also long, longer than Caleb had ever seen it, a stark difference from the messy short cut Chelsea had been going with ever since she’d cut her own hair in the Library of Solitude.
She was beautiful, and her beauty made Caleb pause.
But —
“You’re not Chelsea,” Caleb said firmly. “Get out of the way.”
“How can you say that?” the other asked. “Caleb. You know my voice. You know my face. And I know you know that saying I’m not Chelsea isn’t technically true.”
Caleb winced slightly. Because she was right, and that truth only made it harder for him to just rush past like he knew he should.
“She let you go,” Caleb said. “On the Nightmare Road, she let you go, and you fell into darkness.”
The other spread her hands and smiled. “And here you are,” she said, “my shining knight, come to rescue me.”
Caleb scoffed. “I’m not here for you. And if you’re here, it just means I’ll be fighting you. You can stand aside, or I can go through you.”
The other raised an eyebrow. “But you wouldn’t strike me,” she said, so confidently.
Caleb smirked. “No, I wouldn’t.”
Far in the distance, he heard a voice — her voice — scream his name: “Caleb!”
He didn’t speak a word, but simply tucked his hand in his pocket, gripped his watch tightly, and entered Time-state. All became awash with blue, and the other before him was just as solid as any other person was in Time-state.
But Caleb didn’t stop there. He Phase Stepped. And, just as he’d promised, he ran straight through the other. Three more steps past her, and he exited Time-state, racing with Enhancement-Magic-fueled steps down the dark, winding path.
Towards the voice of the one he loved.
——
“Caleb!” Chelsea screamed, for the thousandth time at least. She stared at the sky, watching, but there was no sign of him.
But it worked last time. And I’m yelling louder than I’ve ever yelled, and not just with my voice. Every part of me is in this, so where is he?!?
“Caleb!” she cried again, fighting tears. Why couldn’t this work? What was it going to take to —
“I’m here!” came that voice she knew and loved so much, accompanied by hurried footsteps that came to a sudden stop. Chelsea turned, taking her eyes away from the sky, and stared in shock.
Caleb. It was really him, standing right there, with those glowing blue eyes and that silly blue streak in his hair.
Suddenly, Chelsea’s cheeks grew hot. “I, uh…” she started, not knowing what to say. “I wasn’t, um…”
“Wasn’t what?” Caleb asked, taking a few steps closer.
“Wait, wait!” she suddenly said, holding up a hand. “You’re really you, right? You’re not an illusion, or something else, right?”
Caleb smirked. “It’s me,” he said. “You could punch me in the stomach like at the Library of Solitude if that’ll help you believe it.”
“No,” Chelsea said, shaking her head earnestly. “I won’t do that to you again.” She took a few steps forward, hesitant. Caleb smiled, and Chelsea couldn’t stand it anymore, couldn’t distrust him anymore. She raced forward, and Caleb raced to her. Once she was in his arms, with her arms wrapped around him, she knew.
It’s him. It’s him, it’s him, it’s really, definitely him!
“But what are you doing here?” she asked, staring up into Caleb’s eyes. “I thought I was pulled into the darkness alone.”
Caleb blinked, twice. “Wait… but you were calling my name,” he said.
Chelsea’s cheeks grew incredibly hot again. “I, um, I mean, I…!” she started, but she didn’t have words. She buried her face in Caleb’s chest. “I might have… um…”
“Oh,” Caleb said slowly, and Chelsea couldn’t stand the embarrassment.
He found out!
Caleb laughed, then, the most reassuring sound in the world. “Okay, I get it,” he said. “You named your —”
Chelsea suddenly put a finger to his lips. “Please don’t say it,” she said softly, staring straight into his eyes. “I can’t handle the embarrassment.”
Caleb’s smiling and desperate attempts to hold back laughter were almost enough for her to take him up on his offer to punch him in the stomach, but no. She’d promised herself…
…well.
“Anyway,” Chelsea said, pursing her lips. Caleb held her the slightest bit tighter, and her embarrassment melted away. “Despite the circumstances, I’m glad you’re here.” She leaned up, kissing him, and he kissed her back, and her heart sang.
“I don’t know why we were both pulled in together,” Caleb said. “Sal probably thought he could hand us over to the darkness, make us give in to our demons. But he made a huge mistake.”
“What’s that?” Chelsea asked.
Caleb grinned. “The thing is, putting us both in here together was never gonna work. Because you and me… we’re the best team in the universe.”
Chelsea grinned right back at him. “This whole world of darkness is so screwed.”
They kissed again, and when they broke off they turned towards the only path out of here, holding hands tightly. A musical cry sounded from high above, and Chelsea looked up, heart leaping within her, as her owl Summon returned to her, shimmering so beautifully white against the darkness. He came to a soft landing on her free arm, cooing affectionately as he rubbed his forehead against hers.
Oh sure, it took you longer to get here than before. What’s that? It’s harder to fly around in this darkness?
Excuses, excuses. You were enjoying this, weren’t you?
“And he came running when you called, too,” Caleb said, chuckling. “Now you’ve got both of your —”
“Please,” Chelsea said, squeezing Caleb’s hand. “Just… let me keep pretending his name is a secret.”
Caleb laughed, but nodded. “Right. Ready to get out of here?”
Chelsea grinned. “You bet I am.”