The Power of Five Oblivion

Holly told of their escape from the village, their journey down the canal and their time with the Nexus in London. Scarlett described her bet in the casino in Dubai. Even Richard joined in with a perfect impersonation of Sheikh Rasheed. The strange thing was that, in the telling, some of the horrible details fell away and they concentrated instead on the memories that made them smile or laugh out loud. It was a perfect meal. It really didn’t matter that they were alone because they were, at last, together.
    Finally, Matt raised a hand.
    “It’s almost time for me to leave,” he said. “The ship will be here soon. But before it arrives, I think we need to stop for a minute and try to understand what we’ve accomplished here today. We need to know that it was all worth it.
    “The Old Ones have finally gone, not just here but in every country all over the world. We have made another gate here in the ice, the gate of Oblivion, and this time I think it will hold. They won’t come back. They had the planet in their hands for ten years and they brought it to the edge of ruin, but we have to remember that even though they had everything on their side, even though half the world chose to support them, they still lost. Think how outnumbered we were. They had governments, police, businesses … whole armies helping them. They had monsters and limitless power. There were just five of us and a handful of companions, but we still came through in the end. That should tell you something about the universe that the Old Ones never understood. Evil will never win entirely. It can’t. It’s not in its nature.”
    He paused. Richard felt the strength of the boy sitting next to him. He had a sense almost of being healed.
    “Richard, Lohan, Holly – all three of you have been a part of this story,” he went on. “And we couldn’t have made it without you.”
    “I didn’t do very much,” Holly protested.
    “You emptied your pistol into Chaos,” Matt reminded her. “There aren’t many people who can say they have shot the Devil. But you also looked after Jamie when he most needed you, just as Lohan looked after Scarlett and Richard looked after me. It makes me sad to have to say goodbye to you. You’ve been true friends, but that’s the way it has to be.”
    “You’re not coming with us!” Richard sounded shocked.
    “We can’t, Richard. At least, not all of us. Flint and I came from the past. You know that. We were brought into your world for a purpose but that’s over now. We have no reason to stay.”
    “You’re going back where you came from?”
    “No. That’s finished too. We have another journey.”
    Richard hesitated. “What about the others?” he stammered.
    “That’s up to them.” Matt looked across the glowing fire. “Jamie, Scarlett, Pedro. You have a choice. You can stay here and help build this world. Or you can come with us. But you have to choose now.”
    There was a long silence. Then Scarlett laughed nervously. “You don’t make things very easy for us, Matt.”
    “It’s easy for me,” Jamie said. “I’m leaving too.” He looked up and the flames, low now, reflected in his face. His eyes were very bright. “Holly, I’ve loved travelling with you and being your friend,” he went on. “But I never really got used to not having Scott around and I guess I need him now. Or Flint. Whatever he wants to call himself, we belong together. So that’s my decision.”
    “Of course I understand,” Holly said but there was a crack in her voice.
    “I want to go with Matteo,” Pedro said. “What is there for me in Peru? There is nothing. You think I want to go back to Poison Town? Forget it!” He drained his glass. He had drunk a lot of wine that night. “I’m with you.”
    “That just leaves me,” Scarlett said. She glanced at Richard. Of the five of them, she was the most torn. But finally she came to her decision. “I’m one of the Five,” she said simply. “I suppose that’s all it comes down to. I would like to go back to Dulwich. I had a friend called Aidan and I’d love to know what happened to him … or maybe it would be better not to find out. And I’d like to help, if I could. But if I was left on my own I’d probably regret it for ever, so provided there are no more shape-changers, evil monks or mad sheikhs, I’ll stick with Matt and see where it takes me.” She sighed. “So that’s that.”
    Matt stood up. “We should leave now,” he said.
    They all