“There was an orange flash did you say?” Mel says.
I nod my head. After everything I’ve just said, I’m a little surprised that’s what she’s focused on. Not how close we were to the weapon, or the fact that we were seconds from death. But the color scheme. It’s such a Ya-Ya comment.
“Sailor, that was no vision,” Mel says, her eyes opening wide. “That really happened. The orange Soul Gem has powers over time and how it moves. The gems aren’t meant to work until a person has all of them, but you’re the Paradox, you’re powerful. Somehow, you activated the stone, turned back time, and saved us all.”
The whole team bursts into conversation at once. I ignore their chatter, their questions, trying to make sense of what Mel said. It’s impossible to turn back time. She has to be mistaken. But then the gem definitely did something. I felt it fusing to my hand. I saw the flash of orange light. Something definitely happened. And is it really any less believable that we came back through time than it is to think that gods and goddesses are not only real but are some of the best friends I’ve ever had? Probably not, but there could be another explanation.
“Guys?” I say. “Are we sure that’s what happened? I mean surely it could have been a vision. I’ve had visions before from the first gem. I mean, nothing coherent like that, but still.”
“It happened, Sailor. Deal with it,” Aziza says.
I raise an eyebrow in her direction. How can she be so sure? Is she the Horseman and they know about this stuff? She seems to read my look and she rolls her eyes.
“You said yourself there was an orange glow. That’s not the color of the gem that gave you the dreams,” she says.
I can’t fault her logic on that score, but I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact I turned back time. It sounds so… so movie like. As though I’ve accidentally stumbled into some sort of remake of Back to the Future or something.
“This is bad,” I say. “If I did turn back time, it’s going to have disastrous results. The butterfly effect is going to come into play. We were meant to die in that cavern and now we haven’t.”
Sunday shakes his head.
“Don’t forget those gems are the embodiment of the gods, Sailor. If they helped you, then it’s because actually, we weren’t meant to die in that cavern. They’re restoring the natural order of things. And it’s not like we went back hours or anything. The time we’ve stood here discussing this is more than enough time that we’d be dead by now. And nothing bad has happened.”
Reluctantly, I have to agree that he’s right about that. We were only in the cavern for a few minutes, and we must by now have passed that point in time. And the more I think about it, the more I’m starting to come around to the idea that I did indeed turn back time.
“So what do we do now?” Ya-Ya asks. “If we go down there, we die. If we don’t go down there, we won’t be able to kill the Horseman.”
“I have to go down alone,” I say with a certainty that I suddenly feel in every part of me.
“What? No way,” Rye says.
The rest of the team is also arguing with me, but Rye’s voice carries over everyone else’s. I wait for the babble to die down before I try to explain. If I don’t, then they’ll only hear snippets of what I’m saying and that will just lead to more protests.
“Yes. It’s the only way,” I say when the team has fallen mostly quiet again. “Mel said that the ceiling came down because we were too heavy. If there’s just me, then I think it will be okay. Like Sunday said, the gods must have had a reason for helping me, and they wouldn’t have done it if there wasn’t a way to get the weapon. We can’t repay them for that by making the exact same mistake again.”
“Umm, guys? We’ve got company,” Jinx says.
I look behind me and see a pack of Slip Demons approaching us. To be honest, it’s not the worst thing that could have happened. It means that we have to make a decision and fast. They’re still a ways off, but we won’t have hours to debate solutions, and even Rye will have to accept I need to do this alone.
“Rye, we don’t have time to argue about this. Whatever saved us, I don’t want to repay it by making the exact same mistake and getting us all killed again. I’m going down there alone and the rest of you can stop these demons,” I say. “There wasn’t anything down there that could hurt me except the extra weight caving in the place.”
“I don’t like the way you keep saying that as though we’re all fat.” Jinx laughs.
I give him a look and he sticks his tongue out at me. I roll my eyes at him and turn back to Rye.
“Look I get it, but you’re not going down there alone. I’ll come with you.”
“No,” I say instantly. “You’re needed up here to help fight the demons.”
That’s true, but it’s not why I said no to him. I keep seeing his face in my mind, his body buried up to the neck in the sand. I keep seeing the way we stretched out to each other and couldn’t reach each other. I keep seeing him mouth
