“Oh, but you did.” Daniel motioned for them to come forward. “Don’t be afraid. Come closer so we can talk.”

“How did I do anything?” Lux asked. He took Lily’s hand again, and they walked closer to Daniel. Wick waited near the outside, bowed down on the floor by Aeterna.

“You loved her,” Daniel said simply, as if that explained it all.

“I don’t understand,” Lux shook his head.

“She’s not yet the castimonia, but she is of irin blood,” Daniel said. “She is my great-granddaughter and had she taken her vows, she would’ve been the third castimonia to walk the Earth.”

“I would’ve been?” Lily asked. “I won’t be the castimonia now?”

“There’s no need for one,” he shook his head. “Lux ended it all.”

“I ended it?” Lux asked, still unable to grasp how he’d played such a major role in the final battle between good and evil.

“Yes,” Daniel nodded. “Valefor wanted Lily to serve him, to give her allegiance to him. If she did that, he would’ve won, by turning a virtu to his side. Even if she wasn’t yet fully realized as one, because of her irin blood and her pure heart, it would still be the same. He still would’ve corrupted one of our own, thus making him – and his side – more powerful.

“But instead of the virtu vowing to serve him, you – a peccati, the minion of evil – had vowed to serve her.” Daniel motioned from Lux to Lily. “When you pledged your heart and soul to her, you gave up evil for the side of good.”

“When you told me you loved me.” Lily’s eyes widened when she looked at Lux. “You saved the world.”

“I…” Lux shook his head, still not believing it. “But if you knew all this, if you knew that Valefor would go after her, why didn’t you intervene? Why didn’t you just stop him?”

“Because that’s not how it works,” Daniel said. “We can’t interact directly with each other. I cannot fight Valefor or set foot on his grounds, and the same holds true with him. You had to solve this one your own.”

“But if Lily was so valuable, why didn’t you have irins guarding her?” Lux asked. “She never should’ve been allowed to leave with me.”

“We didn’t know how important she would become in all of this,” Daniel said. “She’s not the first virtu child born on Earth, but she was the first to lose her parent before she understood what she was. When the time was right, I planned to meet her to explain what she was, but I was too late.”

“Why hadn’t Valefor already won?” Lily asked. “When my mother died, wasn’t there one less virtu on Earth than peccati? Hadn’t evil already outweighed good?”

“No, because you were still there,” Daniel said. “You still had the irin blood and the castimonia heart.”

“What if I had died?” Lily asked. “When I was a baby? Or if my mother had died before she had me? What then?”

“Then the luxuria would’ve lost all his powers,” Daniel gestured to Lux. “If a virtu dies, then the corresponding peccati loses his powers. Otherwise Valefor would’ve slaughtered all the virtus a millennia ago and declared himself winner. The evil could only exist if its good counterpart did as well.

“The same goes for the peccati,” Daniel went on. “When they died or gave up their powers, Valefor had until the sun set on the next day to find a replacement. If he didn’t, then the virtu would lose her abilities. When you killed Ira, for example, Patentia was at risk of losing her abilities.”

“And she’s not now?” Lux asked.

“You’ve all lost your abilities now.” Daniel spread his arms wide. “The war is over. We’ve won.”

“What does that mean for us?” Lily asked. “What will become of the Earth?”

“Well, I suppose there is only one thing left to do,” Daniel said with a grin. “Live happily ever after.”

25

Daniel returned them to Insontia, which seemed brighter than it had ever been before. Aeterna had taken them back, and they’d flown over the Necrosilvam – although the Necrosilvam would no longer be a fitting name. The trees were alive, filled with bright green leaves and flower buds. Instead of squawking charuns, there were the brightly colored songbirds that Lily’s mother had loved so much.

As soon as she said her thanks to Aeterna, Lily started running for the front door of the palace. Her father had to be worried sick about her, and she couldn’t wait to see him and tell him what she’d been through.

“Wait.” Lux grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“What?” Lily asked, staring up at him.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. She kissed him back, more deeply than she had before. Her lips were cool and hungry, and she trembled against him. Her hand went to the back of his neck, and he felt her finger twirl around his hair.