Slowly but surely, the Companions dig through the rubble of the warehouse to extract the fallen Elementals.
As Jharm tosses debris aside, he sends a mental image to Cameron. Cameron is still weighed down by the loss of Kalana. But the image of Jharm’s forces combined with the promise of possible justice fills him with determination.
Thank you, friend. When the time comes, I look forward to having you at my side.
Just as Jharm receives Cameron’s reply, he breaks through the pile of debris to find Karyl face down on the ground. His guitar is underneath him, and he appears to be positioned to shield it from the falling rocks with his body. He is unconscious and badly in need of healing, as his arm and both legs are clearly broken.
Sepher is the next one to make a rescue. Heaving a huge support beam aside, he uncovers the crumpled form of Garr. He appears to be more intact than Karyl but a terrible gash on his head indicates where he took a direct hit from the falling beam. He is also unconscious.
Cameron barely overhears Kitharsis speaking with Soul Reaver as he digs through a pile of rubble nearby. They are tending to Danyael. After some time, Kitharsis sends Danyael to his ship. Cameron sighs and takes mental stock of how many people they have left.
Down another one. Who knows if we even have enough people left for the final assault. And I haven’t heard anything from the Marine forces since we entered this place. They could all be dead as well.
Cameron ends this train of thought as his next move uncovers a leg. He clears away more rubble until he has revealed all of Kari. She had managed to seal herself in a protective layer of ice and water, and as Cameron clears the last chunks of metal off of her, the barrier shatters. Kari struggles to rise, shaking her head.
“Cameron… what happened? Where is everyone?”
Cameron helps her to her feet. She is wounded and bleeding from multiple places but still able to stand. Cameron allows some of his elemental energy to enter her, replenishing her drained supply. Her wounds begin to slowly close.
“Peterson escaped. All survivors have been accounted for except for Mary”
Kari leans heavily on her staff as Cameron turns his attention to the pile that Gulgrim is working on. As Gulgrim lifts up another rock, he finds that he is being assisted from inside the pile. Within a few moments, Mary emerges. Her wounds are already knitting back together. She brushes herself off and looks at Gulgrim.
“Wow. NOT the first thing you want to see when you wake up.”
Mary shakes her head and pats the ork on his massive shoulder as she walks past him.
“Thanks for the assist, big guy.”
Cameron locks eyes with Mary as she turns towards him. His face is expressionless.
“Cameron! You brought down the barrier! Did you guys get Peterson? Is everyone okay?”
Cameron says nothing. Mary looks past him to the large pool of blood still staining the ground where the barrier had stood. Her face falls.
“...No, you didn’t get him, did you. We failed.”
Cameron seems to turn this over in his mind once or twice before disregarding it.
“Are you alright?”
Mary nods, breaking eye contact with Cameron and looking back towards the other elementals.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Banged up, and low on energy, but okay.”
Mary turns her attention to Garr and Karyl. They are both hurt pretty bad. She is just getting ready to walk back and she if she can help when Cameron’s voice rings out inside her head.
You knew, didn’t you?
Mary knew this question was coming, but she wasn’t expecting him to talk to her in her mind like this. It catches her off guard every time he does it. Mental powers are not normally one of the skills possessed by Elementals. And now Cameron’s voice in her head sounds louder than usual. Clearer. She almost replies out loud before remembering that he can hear her thoughts anyway.
I knew what, Cameron?
She turns to face him and discovers that he has not taken his eyes off of her or changed expressions since she took his eyes off him a few moments before. It’s obvious what he is about to say, but she lets him say it anyway, cause it’s easier than saying it herself.
You knew that she was going to die.
Mary closes her eyes and does not reply. Cameron’s eyes narrow.
“You DID know. You knew, and yet you didn’t tell me.”
Mary can’t help but notice that Cameron has stopped bothering to keep this conversation private. Kari, who had been making her way back to Karyl and Garr to try and heal them, stops and turns around.
“Yes. I knew. When this is all over, before I go to fight Peterson and save you and myself further in the past, I’ll brief the Mary from this time period on what happened. I know this because I was there, and that’s what I did. So yes. I knew. But I didn’t tell myself when, or how.”
Cameron’s eyes widen.
“Why the hell not? Did you not think that was important?”
Mary shakes her head.
“It’s not important.”
Cameron’s mouth falls open.
“What the fuck do you mean, it’s not important? Of course it’s important! You could have stopped this! I could have stopped this!”
Mary opens her eyes and stares back at Cameron.
“No. You couldn’t have. That’s not how this works. You can’t change anything that’s already happened. Time travel only works like that when you jump into alternate timelines. If you go back in your own timeline, then you can’t make any changes. You can try, but you’ll fail.”
Cameron doesn’t say anything, so Mary presses the point.
“I know that I was able to save myself and you cause you’re both still alive in my time. I know the Eye of Terror gets destroyed because it’s gone in my time. I know that Soul Reaver survives. And I know that Danyael survives. I don’t know about the rest of you. And I don’t know anything about the people who are missing right now. But I also know that Kalana is dead. I knew that before I came back here. And even though I knew I would fail, I tried to save her. I tried my hardest, even though I knew it was hopeless. I tried.”
Mary closes her eyes again.
“But I failed. I knew I would fail. If there was anything that I could have done here to stop it, then she’d still be alive in my time, but she’s not. There was nothing any of us could have done.”
Cameron shouts, clearly frustrated.
“You could have told me!!! I COULD HAVE STOPPED IT.”
Mary regards cameron coldly.
“If you had known, would you still have come here?”
Cameron is stunned into silence. Mary waits for a moment, and then asks again.
“Would you still have come here?”
Cameron lowers his head.
“No. I wouldn’t have.”
Mary turns her back on Cameron.
“That’s why I couldn’t tell you. Because I know you came here. You had to.”
Mary walks away to see if she can tend to Karyl or Garr. Kari hesitates for a moment as Mary passes, but eventually turns and follows her. Cameron remains behind, staring at the ground, lost in thought.
