Stronger Together chapter 248

"So he knows how to get us home?" Kara's eyes were wide and hungry as  she listened to my story about my talk with Lucifer. She was cuddled up  with Inari on the couch. On the other side of it Cinder was sitting  with a still inconsolable Sam, but despite being distracted by her  friend's grief I could tell she was listening. Raven was in her chair,  sitting with Barb curled up next to her, with Yang at the table watching  us all. The reactions to my news were...mixed, to say the least. Which  was fair, because this was kind of a huge deal.

I  nodded. "That's what he said. But from what I can tell it's a one way  trip. So we're either going together or we're never going to see each  other again." My heart twisted at that last bit, but I had to at least  offer. Yang missed her family so damn much, Barb loved her dad with all  her heart. Raven was the only one I knew for sure wouldn't leave me, but  would I even stay? I added one other thing. "I mean, like I said though  we could go together. So if we all agree on one world we should be able  to head there as a group. I'm gonna nix my hometown though. It's boring  as shit."

Kara  frowned a bit at that. "Is it just us? Can we bring people with us?"  She looked at Inari searchingly, but the white court vampire was playing  it cool. As an afterthought she added "Oh, an yeah my world isn't a big  priority. I didn't have that many connections, and it makes more sense  to go with Barb and Rae's universe instead. Pretty sure we can visit my  world from there anyway." Which was true. The DC multiverse was  notorious for dimensional travel, we would definitely be able to find a  way to hop worlds there.

As  for her other question I just shrugged. "I mean, I wish I knew,  but...probably? Assuming they wanted to come. Honestly I'm thinking of  offering to take a bunch of people with us. This shitty grimdark hell  world isn't the best place to raise a kid. I bet Harry would jump at the  chance to take Maggie somewhere a little brighter. Granted your  universe is a fucking mess too, but at least its a slightly more  positive mess than here. " I glanced at Yang apologetically. "Probably  less so your world. Remnant is kind of a shitty place, what with the  Grimm and all." Plus I wasn't sure even my broken ass could kill Salem.  Immortality was basically her one job.

Yang  looked...torn. "I know. I just...I don't want to go back but I want to  see them. To get them off that shithole and bring them with us. I don't  want to leave you guys, not ever. I just don't know what to do." Which  was fair, but also not necessarily as big a problem as it sounded.  Lucifer was a fucking monster here in terms of power, but DC had a Devil  too. And arguably a WAY scarier one, for all that he was a pretty  affable guy from what I'd read. If this universes Lucifer could get us  back to our respective worlds there was no reason the DC Lucifer  couldn't arrange for transport for a few people.

I  shot her a reassuring grin. "Hey, just because it's a one way trip for  now doesn't mean it always will be. We can look for ways to find them in  Barb and Raven's world. I know for a fact there are being there  stronger than Lucifer is here. We can definitely figure something out.  Are you willing to put your faith in us finding a way back?" I saw Yang  relax. Rather than just a delay this had been a binary choice in her  mind. If she went with us she could never see her family again, and I  knew her well enough that I'd never force her to do that. But since  there was an option to deal with it later putting her trust in people  who she'd literally saved the world with was way easier than just  accepting the loss.

Her  answering smile was fierce and shone with a lust for battle. She would  do whatever it took to get this done, and not having to lose us or her  family was the best of both worlds. "Alright. That's my vote for Raven's  universe. If you think we can do both I'm in." She looked over to  Cinder. "I'm guessing you aren't exactly devastated not to be going back  either? Though I'm surprised you're willing to leave Kara, I doubt  Michael and Charity would be willing to go regardless of how much they  might be suited for that world. Michael would never abandon his  calling."

Cinder  just gave a small nod and looked to the kyrptonian with equal interest.  Kara snuggled into Inari with a sigh. "I know. But if we can find a way  to visit your family on remnant we can find a way to come back here and  visit mine. They'll be happy for me I'm sure. As long as we can bring  Inari I'll be fine." I was assuming Lucifer would be using some kind of  portal to get us there like he did to send me home. I doubted it would  be an issue so I just nodded to her. She looked relieved at the news.  Sadly though, we didn't have time to talk, we had somewhere to be.

The  reason we were sitting around wasn't a meeting. It was because we were  about to leave for an occasion we all would have preferred hadn't been  happening. We were going to a funeral. Well, strictly speaking it was  more like twenty funerals, but we were holding a group service to honor  the fallen so the families of the dead could pay respects. Summer fae,  unlike their Winter counterparts, very much grieved loss, and their  immortality made the loss of a loved one even more poignant for them in  some ways.

The  funeral service was at Soldier Field. Marcone owned the construction  company that won the bid to repair the damage (with a bit of help from  Lara and friends, those two were a scary team) and had arranged for them  to clear out for the day. We rode with Harry, Charity, Michael, and the  kids, and everyone else met us there. When we arrived I noted how  crowded it was in the parking lot, so many of the fighters and families  from that last battle had come. Some of them might be monsters, but that  didn't make them heartless. Harry noticed a boy and his mother walking  up to us, the kid absolutely huge for his apparent age, and wrapped  Irwin Pounder in a tight hug.

River's  son was happy to see my mentor and hugged back, his face a mask of  conflicting emotions as he hugged the man who had sadly been more of a  father to him than the one he had lost. Dr. Pounder greeted him  pleasantly if sadly, and we escorted them into the ceremony. When we got  inside I noted how messed up the field still was, the earth still torn  and destroyed, and I was honestly glad to see it. We'd decided to mix  the ashes of the fallen into the earth as a goodbye, since burying them  here wasn't really an option for obvious reasons.

Oddly  though, this seemed...right, given what we had talked about earlier.  That the last thing we would do here would be to say goodbye to the  friends we'd lost. I hadn't been too close with most of them, but River  and Henry had been some of the people in this world I'd respected the  most. I looked around, and a smile graced my face as I realized that all  of the people from Sanctuary had come. They'd all found their own ways  to get here, to express their love and gratitude for the man who had  done so much for them. I saw Calliope in the back too, though she seemed  to be avoiding everyone. I thought back to what Henry had said about  the spirit. I suspected she was more human than he might have known. At  least where it counted.

We  all filed into the stands, still in perfect condition because of the  shields, and looked down into the pit below. It was deep, even after  some work had been done to fill it in. The fist was gone of course, we'd  decided that anything involving the outside was too dangerous to leave  lying around. Marcone had it airlifted to Demonreach, where we would be  using it as a monument to the fallen. Tera had taken it upon herself to  carve a memorial tablet below it so they would be remembered by name and  not just by need. Finally though, as everyone arrived, the eulogies  began. Each of the fallen was allowed a single eulogy, though more than  one person could be involved, but with so many dead we couldn't do more  than that.

First  up was someone I hadn't seen in quite a while. Elliot, the redhead with  the beanie who had introduced us to Henry, still wearing that patchy  old coat. He stood at the edge of the stands, back to the pit, and when  he spoke, his voice carried. "Henry Collingsworth was a great man. I  don't mean that like some people do when they say that, he wasn't  Napolean or Julius Ceaser, he didn't conquer vast swathes of land or  bring down kingdoms. Henry was so much more than that." His voice was  strained, as if holding back tears, and I had to clench down on my own  as he spoke.

He  swallowed hard, closing his eyes in pain. "Henry was powerful, as most  of you know. He could have been one of those men I mentioned, could have  stood at the peak of the world. But he didn't. Because Henry knew a  simple truth, when you're that high up, normal people tend to seem like  ants, and Henry dedicated his life to making sure we insects weren't  stepped on. He built us homes, he grew us food, he kept us safe. These  things are not huge or momentous to others, but they were everything to  us. But what's more is that despite all that power, he never looked down  on any of us for it."

He  started to cry, and I joined him, my silent tears far from the only  ones in the crowd. "When Henry looked at us, he didn't see charity or  atonement. He didn't see a labour or a task to undertake. He saw  friends. He was people he considered his own, and he held out his hand  to us in times of need not because of come high minded moral compulsion,  but because he was always happy to help a friend." Elliot was handed an  urn by one of Marcone's men, and for a minute he clung to it, taking  some time to get his tears under control.

He  stared up at us all with bloodshot eyes. "If you remember anything  about Henry, don't remember his heroic last stand. Remember Henry for  the things he loved, and the good he did every day. Remember him for  sneaking extra fresh bread to a hungry child, or bringing a bottle of  whiskey to a grieving couple on the anniversary of a childs death.  Remember his kindness, and his smile, and his joy." His shoulders were  shaking as he turned his back to dump the ashes.

His  voice was faint as he faced away from us. "Henry will be survived be  his hundreds of brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews, and by his  grandchildren and friends. Goodbye my friend. Your family will always  remember you." As he dumped the ashes into the wind to be carried out  into the giant crater in the field I couldn't help but look to the next  person in line, Dr. Pounder, who was standing with her son and with Sam.  I looked at Rivers loved ones, and then on down the line to all the  people who still needed to speak. It was almost impossible to believe  that this was still victory somehow. Sometimes, it was hard to recognize  a win, even when you got one.