Three Square Meals Ch. 060

"This must be what the Nymphs looked like naturally, just after the Mael'nerak made them," Rachel suggested, as she gazed down at Jade. "Her DNA did suggest a varied mix of sources, but feline was the base template."

"I still can't believe she's gone. This doesn't feel real," Dana whimpered.

Irillith had started crying, and tears ran down her face, as she sobbed, "She was so lovely, but she'd been through so much. She told me she'd started to remember her past; all those years spent as a slave, and the torture she went through."

"She never said anything!" Alyssa protested, her stoic resilience crumbling rapidly now. "Why wouldn't she tell me?!"

Irillith shook her head, and sniffed, "She didn't want you to worry. She was so selfless, I've never met anyone like her."

"She saved my life," Dana whispered, reaching out to stroke Jade's hair as tears started rolling down her cheeks. "I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for her."

"Me too," Irillith wept.

"And me," Alyssa whispered, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

They looked to John, expecting him to join in with their tragic eulogy, remembering how Jade had raced to save him from the Drakkar Warlord.

"No, I won't let her go," he said abruptly, his eyes narrowing.

Rachel looked forlorn as she said, "I scanned her, there's no brain activity. I'm sorry John, but there's nothing I can do for her."

"She's a construct made by the Mael'nerak. if he can create life, then I can too," he insisted stubbornly.

"I don't think it works that way," Rachel said, her voice full of regret. "The Nymphs were probably created in a lab of some kind. The Mael'nerak would have undoubtedly needed to use radically advanced medical equipment when he was building these species."

John looked more determined than ever, and said, "If she's still shifting, then she can't be dead."

Alyssa looked heartbroken as she said, "I think we have to let her go, John."

"No," he replied obstinately. He glanced her way, and said, "Give me everything you've got."

She looked shocked, but nodded obediently, slipping her slender fingers between his and holding his hand.

Reaching out with his mind to the Maliri Matriarch, he said, *Edraele, I'll need every last ounce of power you can spare.*

*Of course John,* she replied, sensing his unflinching determination.

John placed his hand on Jade's forehead, then closed his eyes, reaching out for the Astral Plane. He felt that massive resistance dragging him back into his body, and with a herculean effort he finally tore himself free, lurching into the spirit world. He could see the astral tether snaking from his chest, just as Alyssa and Edraele had described, and he turned around to follow that line which led back into his body.

He got a shock when he looked back at himself, seeing a shadowy echo superimposed over his body, and he instinctively knew that he was looking at the astral echo from Progenitor John. His malignant alter ego was still part of him, despite banishing his higher consciousness into that bottomless pit of despair. Shuddering at the thought that he still wasn't rid of the evil Progenitor version of himself, he knew in his heart that he'd have to face his own personal demon eventually.

He turned back to face Jade, staring down at the girl who was lying before him. He caught a bright flash of white from his right side, and when he glanced that way, he was so shocked he nearly lost control of his spirit form. As it was he felt himself being yanked back to his physical form, and it was only through an intense focusing of his willpower that he managed to hold himself in place.

"Hello, John," Radiant Alyssa said to him, with a glorious, benevolent smile on her face. "I've been looking forward to speaking to you for such a long time."

He stared at the blindingly bright girl who was casting white light in all directions. She looked exactly like Alyssa, but he knew immediately that this being was something else entirely.

"It's you!" he gasped. "You've been intervening time and again, for months now!"

She smiled at him kindly and said, "Yes, and we'll talk later, I promise. For now, we have something else to do." Her eyes drifted down to the fallen Nymph, and she stepped close to John, placing her hand on top of his. She stared into his eyes, and murmured softly, "You were right, you can save her. Let me show you how to bring her back."

He was entranced by her beautiful eyes, and he watched completely mesmerised as she leaned into him, and placed a tender kiss on his lips. Kissing her was just like those thrilling electricity kisses he'd started sharing with Alyssa, and his eyes flared as she embraced him. He could feel her guiding him, and he turned his focus to Jade, who was lying before them.

She was dead, it was true, but Jade wasn't an ordinary mortal. There was still a spark residing within her, and he knew that he merely had to breathe life into it to make it burst into flame once again.

"That's right," Radiant Alyssa encouraged him. "Now channel your will into her, and ignite that spark! She can be reborn again!"

He did as she urged, going by pure gut instinct rather than any kind of rational thought or action. He could feel waves of power throbbing into him from Edraele, and the same from Alyssa, but on an altogether vaster scale. His body pulsed dangerously as he struggled to contain all that raw psychic energy at once, and he opened up a channel to Jade, then poured all that energy into her. He could feel himself growing weaker as he added his own reserves to the torrent of Eldritch power streaming into the Nymph, and he stumbled backwards, breaking contact with her as he hurtled back into his physical form. The last thing he saw was Radiant Alyssa smiling at him wistfully.

John drew in a big lungful of air as he was dumped back into his body, and he tottered unsteadily on his feet as he tried to hold his balance. He blinked a couple of times to get his bearings, as Alyssa and Dana helped keep him from falling over.

"You did it..." Rachel gaped in wonder, but the focus of her attention wasn't on him.

He saw similar looks of awe on the faces of the other girls, and they were all staring at Jade, who was now sitting upright on the table. She had an astonished expression on her face, and she turned to gaze at him with a reverent look of adoration in her eyes.

"Jade, I can't believe it..." he mumbled, shaking his head in amazement.

He gaped at her for a moment, and then gathered her in his arms, hugging her fiercely and never wanting to let her go. The girls hugged her too, crying openly now, but with relief rather than with aching sadness.

Alyssa finally looked at the Nymph, an exhausted smile on her happy face, and she laughed weakly as she said, "Happy birthday, Jade."