Chapter 255 — Four Seconds
By midday, the garden was behind them.
Brook wasn't sure when they had left it.
There hadn't been a gate.
No final guardian.
No dramatic boundary where the white flowers stopped and the ordinary road began.
The flowers had simply thinned until there were none.
Then the white ground had become dirt.
Then grass.
Then a road.
The world had started making ordinary sounds again.
Birds.
Wind.
Insects.
Their footsteps.
Henry noticed the birds first.
He stopped walking.
"Listen."
Charon lifted his head.
"To what?"
"Birds."
Charon looked around.
"I hear them."
"Exactly."
"Why are we stopping for birds?"
Henry smiled.
"Because I haven't heard normal birds in days."
Charon considered this.
"Fair."
Brook kept walking.
He heard the birds too.
He didn't say anything.
The group had been moving since morning, stopping only when someone needed water or food.
Nobody wanted to talk about the garden.
Nobody wanted to talk about the copy.
That suited Brook.
He had spent enough time thinking.
He was tired of himself.
Ahead, Henry was walking beside Sera.
Charon had taken the shape of a small black bird perched on Henry's head.
Sera glanced at it.
"Why are you wearing him?"
"I am not wearing him."
Charon puffed out his ectoplasmic chest.
"I am providing tactical elevation."
"You're sitting on his head."
"Which is the highest tactical position available."
Henry reached up and grabbed him.
Charon squeaked.
"Unhand me!"
"You're annoying."
"You're jealous of my superior height."
"You're three inches tall."
"Three inches of excellence."
Sera laughed.
Brook heard it.
He looked over.
Henry caught him looking.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You smiled."
"No, I didn't."
"You did."
"I didn't."
Sera pointed at him.
"You did."
Brook shook his head.
"You people are imagining things."
Henry grinned.
"Sure."
They kept walking.
A few minutes later, Henry fell into step beside Brook.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Henry said, "You know what I've been thinking?"
"That usually worries me."
Henry ignored him.
"My light."
Brook looked at him.
"Your four-second light?"
"Exactly."
"You've had a name for it this whole time?"
"No."
"You just named it."
"It's descriptive."
"It's terrible."
"Thank you."
Brook looked ahead.
"So what about it?"
Henry rubbed his hands together.
"I think I can make it last longer."
Brook glanced at him.
"How much longer?"
"Five seconds."
Brook stared.
Henry stared back.
Charon leaned over Henry's shoulder.
"Ambitious."
Henry nodded.
"Thank you."
"I was being sarcastic."
"I accept your support."
Brook laughed.
A real laugh.
Not delayed.
Not forced.
Just a short burst that escaped before he could stop it.
Henry smiled.
"There."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
"That."
"What?"
"You laughed."
"I laugh."
"Not recently."
Brook shrugged.
"Maybe you're just funnier than you thought."
Henry looked genuinely pleased.
"I knew it."
Charon climbed onto his shoulder.
"You're not."
"Shut up."
"I exist to keep you humble."
Brook looked at Charon.
"Then you've been doing an excellent job."
Charon bowed.
"I accept praise."
Henry shook his head.
"Anyway. Five seconds."
Brook looked at him.
"You're going to practice?"
"Yeah."
"Right now?"
"Why not?"
"We're walking."
"Exactly."
"That doesn't explain anything."
Henry stopped.
"Come on."
Brook stopped too.
The others continued for another few steps before realizing they were being left behind.
Sera turned.
"What are you two doing?"
Henry raised a hand.
"Science."
Sera's face immediately became concerned.
"Don't."
"It's just light."
"That sentence has never made me feel better."
Crowley called from farther ahead.
"If he explodes, leave him."
Henry looked offended.
"I won't explode."
Charon raised a hand.
"I make no promises."
Gabriel smiled.
Tala watched from beside him.
"You think he'll do it?"
Gabriel nodded.
"He'll try."
"That wasn't my question."
Gabriel glanced at her.
"He'll fail."
Tala smiled.
"That's what I thought."
Brook stood in the middle of the road.
Henry took a breath.
"Okay."
He held out his hand.
Nothing happened.
Henry frowned.
"Wait."
Charon leaned closer.
"Are you sure you're doing magic?"
"Yes."
"Because currently you're doing hand."
"I'm concentrating."
"Perhaps concentrate harder."
Henry closed his eyes.
A tiny point of light appeared above his palm.
Brook raised an eyebrow.
"There."
Henry opened his eyes.
"I told you."
The light flickered.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Henry grinned.
"Four."
The light went out.
Henry's smile remained.
Then he looked at his hand.
"Five."
Nothing.
Brook folded his arms.
"You didn't make it five."
"I was close."
"You said five."
"I reached four."
"You reached four."
"I was aiming for five."
"You failed."
Henry pointed at him.
"Encouragement would be appreciated."
"I'm encouraging you to count accurately."
Charon nodded.
"His counting is excellent."
Henry looked at him.
"Whose side are you on?"
"My own."
Brook laughed again.
Henry shook his head.
"Fine."
He tried again.
A tiny light appeared.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
It vanished.
Henry groaned.
Brook nodded solemnly.
"Impressive."
"What?"
"You've maintained consistency."
Sera laughed from up the road.
Henry glared at her.
"You too?"
"You walked into that one."
Henry looked at Brook.
"You're enjoying this."
"Maybe."
Henry put his hands on his hips.
"Fine. I'll do it again."
Crowley called out, "That's the spirit."
Henry looked at him.
"Thank you."
"I wasn't encouraging you."
"Doesn't matter."
Henry tried again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Gone.
Again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Gone.
Again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Gone.
After the fifth attempt, Henry dropped his hands.
"Four seconds."
Brook nodded.
"Four seconds."
"Always four."
"Always."
Henry looked genuinely frustrated.
"I don't understand."
Brook walked over.
"You're forcing it."
Henry frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"You're thinking about the fifth second before you reach the fourth."
Henry stared at him.
"That makes no sense."
"It does."
"How?"
Brook held out his own hand.
"Don't try to hold it."
Henry watched.
"Then what do I do?"
"Make it."
Henry hesitated.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Henry looked suspicious.
"You're making this sound easy."
"It isn't."
"Have you done it?"
Brook paused.
"No."
Henry's eyes narrowed.
"You don't know how."
"No."
"Then why are you teaching me?"
Brook shrugged.
"Because watching you fail is entertaining."
Henry stared.
Then laughed.
"That's fair."
He tried again.
This time he didn't close his eyes.
He didn't tense his shoulders.
He simply raised his hand.
A small white light appeared.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Henry waited.
The light trembled.
Brook watched.
Five—
It disappeared.
Henry froze.
Brook grinned.
"You did it."
Henry looked at his empty palm.
"I did."
"You actually did."
"I did!"
Charon leaped into the air.
"WE HAVE ACHIEVED GREATNESS!"
Henry laughed.
Sera clapped once.
Gabriel smiled.
Even Crowley gave a quiet nod.
Tala's smile was softer.
Henry looked at Brook.
"Did you see that?"
"I saw."
"Five seconds."
"Five."
Henry raised both fists.
"Yes!"
Charon formed two tiny wings.
"I always believed."
"You told me to concentrate harder."
"That was emotional support."
Brook shook his head.
"You're both idiots."
Henry pointed at him.
"And you're smiling again."
Brook realized he was.
He didn't hide it.
"Maybe."
Henry bumped his shoulder.
"Good."
They started walking again.
This time Henry kept trying.
He didn't always get five seconds.
Sometimes he got three.
Sometimes two.
Once, somehow, he produced six.
Nobody knew why.
Charon claimed it was because of his supervision.
Henry claimed it was because he had stopped forcing the spell.
Brook claimed neither explanation mattered.
When Henry accidentally made the light appear directly in his own face, Charon laughed so hard he melted into Henry's shoulder.
Sera had to stop walking because she couldn't breathe from laughing.
Even Gabriel laughed.
Crowley turned away, pretending not to.
Tala covered her mouth.
Henry stood there blinking.
"What?"
Brook looked at him.
"Nothing."
"My face is burning."
"That's because you blinded yourself."
"I know that."
Charon formed a tiny hand over Henry's eyes.
"Would you like assistance?"
"No."
"Too late."
Henry tried to remove him.
Charon became a puddle.
Henry's hand went through.
"Oh, come on."
The puddle climbed his arm.
"Catch me if you can."
Henry sighed.
"I hate all of you."
"No, you don't," Brook said.
Henry looked at him.
Then smiled.
"No."
He didn't.
They walked until the road curved around a hill.
The others moved ahead.
Brook and Henry stayed behind.
The afternoon sun warmed the road.
For once, nothing followed them.
No Heaven.
No Hell.
No white tree.
No strange flowers.
No voice beneath the ground.
Just wind.
Henry looked at his hand.
A tiny light appeared.
Brook watched it.
"One."
Henry smiled.
"Two."
The light trembled.
"Three."
Brook raised an eyebrow.
"Four."
The light vanished.
Henry sighed.
"Back to four."
Brook nodded.
"Reliable."
Henry laughed.
"Shut up."
Brook laughed with him.
They walked on.
For a little while, Brook wasn't thinking about Sources.
He wasn't thinking about the future.
He wasn't thinking about the garden.
He wasn't thinking about the version of himself that had smiled without hesitation.
He was just walking beside Henry.
And Henry was trying to make a little light last one second longer.
Sometimes it worked.
Sometimes it didn't.
Neither of them cared very much.
End of Chapter 255