The first room was dark, but a light came from under the door to the back room. Hesitantly, I knocked.
"Yes?!" The sharp question was in Epiphany's voice. I opened the door. Epiphany had stood from the table, on which piles of books stood, many still open. Her eyes were startled and wide, with dark circles under them. And she smiled. "ZIA!!!!" She ran over and hugged me. I was glad I had come. "Zia, I missed you."
"Missed you too."
"Why did you come?" She stepped back and looked at me.
"It's hard to explain..."
"I have time."
So we sat. "Epiphany, I... I am the One."
"Zia..."
"You're right. You've been right all along. I'm the One. Or, at least, I have to try to see if I can be. There will never be proof I am the One, so it... I have to accept it on faith. And I am ready to."
"Zia, I'm so happy!" Another hug. I felt more and more sure of myself. "I was hoping you would finally come to see." Epiphany stepped back again. "There is proof, though. Maybe not always the kind that you can touch, but the proof is there."
"But I can't always understand it. I don't see it."
"You believe it now, and that is what matters."
"So, I am the One. Where do I start?"
Epiphany sighed. "That is the difficulty. The Wielder went to the current source of the Dark to fight it there, but the One is so different... I've been looking in these books to try to find out."
"All of these books mention the Dark?"
"Well, not all. Some are just magic. I've learned a lot in the past few days, about all kinds of things. Like the light here."
"But it's just a candle, isn't it?" The candle was glowing remarkably brightly. Epiphany reached for it and picked the light up with two fingers. It came off the candle and continued to burn, even as Epiphany held it. My eyes widened. Epiphany laughed. "See? Cold light. And you can take it anywhere, put it away when you want..." A word from Epiphany and the light went out, and we sat in darkness. "...and make it come back." Another word, and light again. "But that's nothing. You are the One! You can do so much."
"Yes, yes, you've said. But WHAT do I do?"
"The books... They are all just theories. No one REALLY knows anything about the One, because the One is so unique. The One will come when the One is needed, and the One will not be born with knowledge of who he, or she, is. And the One has some kind of power that no one has ever had. But that is all that is known for certain. We know you have no special magical powers, so it has to be something else. So we have to find out. We have to confront the Dark."
"Like the Wielder did?"
"I think so. We have to get as close to the source of the Dark as we can."
"I'll have to leave home?? But I can't!"
"Zia, you have to! You can save everyone! You will be helping your family better than you ever could by staying with them."
"I don't... I can't..."
"I'm sorry, Zia. You are the One, and that means you may have to do some things you don't want to. And I'll be with you."
"You will???"
"The whole way!"
"Thank you!!! Thank you, Epiphany!"
"As if I could leave you! Zia, I told you, a long time ago, that I'd help you save the world."
"I'll do anything I have to. I'll leave my family before sunrise tomorrow."
"That's best. The Weilder rode, but I think we'll have to walk. We won't be able to take the main roads, either..."
"Do you know where we're supposed to go?"
"Yes. In the Wielder's letter, she told me exactly where she was going. It's the place from which all of the disasters have been coming. The storm that destroyed our houses-"
"The grasshoppers-"
"Everything. Here's the map, see? We are going there." She pointed to a mark on the map. I nodded. "It's far. But we'll get there. Meet me at the door of this house at dawn tomorrow. Bring a blanket and some food."
"I will."
"You'd better go and get ready now. It's very late."
"Yes, I'd better go. Bye, Epiphany!"
"See you tomorrow!!!" One more hug, and I hurried through the door.
Roun was waiting at the bottom of the walk. We spoke on the way home.
"What did talk about?" Roun asked.
"About the One, and what we're going to do."
"What ARE you going to do?"
"We're going away to fight the Dark. We're leaving at dawn tomorrow."
"Zia, but...!"
"I know what I'm doing." I hoped that he would not try to stop me.
"Zia, you'll be killed!!!"
"But I can help everyone by going! I can fight the Dark!"
"You can't do ANYTHING if you're dead! And, what if you can't fight the Dark!?"
"I can! I have to!"
"Just because you think you have to does NOT mean that you can! Hasn't Epiphany told you about all of those people that have thought they were the One, who went of to try to fight the Dark? They have been killed, and worse! They brought harm onto others, and themselves. And I can't let you do something like that. Zia, this is not some story. There is no narrator that promises that everything will come out right in the end!!"
"Roun, I have to do this!! I'm going, no matter what happens!"
"You are really determined!"
"Yes. I am."
"Do me one thing then, Zia. Please."
"What?"
"Come with me instead of Epiphany."
"What?! But, I can't! I need Epiphany!"
"What can she do for you on the way? You need someone who can protect you. She will do anything but that. And this way, if you decide that you don't want to continue, Epiphany will not be there to make you keep going."
"I would never decide to go back."
"Wouldn't you?"
"Roun, I am going! No matter what!!!"
"Don't be more stupid than you have to! You know where you are going, don't you?"
"Yes, Epiphany showed me."
"I know the back roads. I could get you into the countryside better than Epiphany ever could- I have lived here all my life. And how will Epiphany protect you once you get into the wilderness?"
"She knows magic."
"How much does she know! Could she stop a wild dog in its tracks? Think. Epiphany has as little useless magic as she knows. I have this." Roun pulled a long, sharp knife from his boot and flung it. It flew fast and straight and embedded itself in a post over ten paces away. Roun went to pull it out. "I will keep you safe. Epiphany will get in the way."
Maybe Roun was right. I had never faced the wilds, and Epiphany's map carried us far beyond this city and the outlying towns. But how could I go without Epiphany?
"If you are going, we will get what we need and leave immediately. And, I promise, we will go back whenever you feel unsure. Please." Roun's eyes were not smiling now. But having him along would make everything seem less heavy and depressing. I did not want to leave Epiphany, and part of me did not want me to go at all, but with Roun with me...
"I'll go with you, Roun."
"Thank you, Zia. You're making the right choice. You'll see. Let's go now. We have to go as far as we can before sunrise tomorrow."
I had tried to sneak unnoticed among the revelers at my house, but before I had gathered my pack of food and blankets, my brother grabbed my hand and pulled me into a rousing dance, and I could not refuse. My brother laughed as we bumped into my sister in her beautiful wedding gown. She smiled at us and we continued to twirl and stomp. I laughed. And then the dance ended. I grabbed my pack and cloak and left the room. At the threshold, I could not resist one last backward glance at my family, and everyone dancing so happily. No one noticed me when I left.
Roun was waiting, a pack of his own slung across his shoulder. We walked through the darkness. I stepped in time with the music as long as I could hear it. I knew nothing about what would happen next. I might never see my family again. Or Epiphany. I left behind everything but the pack on my back, the hope that I was the One, and Roun. So I walked. It was very dark, and very cold.