1 Corinthians 15:55

Just when darkness swam before her eyes and she felt the soft touch of Him, she was pulled forth from the water. Scruffed like a child, she fell gurgling into Obi’s lap. Water dribbled from her lips but most of it was still deep inside her lungs. Calamity writhed in his grasp, desperate to return to the water. But eventually he bent over her and his grasp was so familiar, so comforting - it was like being immersed in the water all over again. Warmth. A sense of belonging. Everything she had been missing for so long. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but water poured out in a lifeless gush. Her eyelids fluttered helplessly, trying to meet his gaze. If only she could see him, he would understand everything in her gaze.

Finally his words reached her ears: a prayer. The final balm to her broken soul. Her lips moved weakly in time with his, repeating the words even if she couldn’t say them. One final tribute to Abraxas before she walked into His embrace. Calamity’s body began to lighten as her muscles began to relax one by one. Soon. It was soon now. She wanted to tell Obi that she loved him, that it wasn’t his fault, but her mouth had begun to fill with that same glowing drool that had afflicted most of the continent. It pooled hot in her mouth before dripping out in a steady, heavy flow.

Another voice seemed to join them, as if whispering over her shoulder. Was that her father? After all this time, joining them for one last prayer?