Old Rugged Cross
He never thought he would have to endure that sound again, but here he was.
I knew you'd have to listen to me one day.
He remembered the desolation he had felt at realizing his own mortality. He was alive again; worse yet, as powerless as the rest of them. He had endured nightmares that he would once more become ordinary before. Well, now he was his father's son again, rebuilding the old family business.
"I guess he's a part of me after all." He muttered to himself.
After all, the music business was fickle, and he Evanescene was swallowing up his business, and he couldn't just go and kill all of them for revenge anymore.
He ran his hand over the smooth, plain cross that he had crafted, then rubbed the blister that existed by his own design.
He tugged at the collar and looked up into the cloudy sky. Looked like rain.
He hoped Olivia was happy with that boy. It was for the best that they separate. Now that the spell was broken, he was sure that she did not miss him.
"Child?" A voice called from the freshly rebuilt rectory. "Are you ready?"
Through the haze, he could see Michael...smiling...walking back toward him. He jolted as his body completed himself. No longer the darkness, no longer the light. Just a man again. The world was, once more, a spectrum of observation.
"Child? I'm ready to hear your ordinance."
The smile came unbidden when he pressed it to his breast; the cross is old and heavy, but it seemed to suit him best of all.
"Coming, Father."