Fable: The Return Chapter 49

==Chapter 49==
"I remember your face, Theresa. I remember you." Henry sat low on his knees staring upward at the glowing seeress. "You saved me. That night long ago... in Silverpines... you saved my life."
"That night," Theresa spoke, "you strayed far from the path you were given. That night, I knew you were strong... strong enough to change destiny. I saved you because you would have died because of your recklessness. I knew that returning you to your father would ensure that you would never find love in the world, you would never find the powers within your heart."
"You knew that all of this would happen?"
"I did."
"Even my father awakening the Court?"
"Yes, Hero."
"The you knew what would happen to my father, to my wife, to my... my son." Henry choked and gagged at the memory of his family, now lost.
"Within the spire, I hold great power. One of these powers is to see brief visions of what may come to pass. I have seen many branches, many straying paths of what becomes the true fate of the events in this world. If I had not saved you, you would have perished. But there were many other events I had foreseen. If you had not run from home, you would have always resented your father much like you did in Bloodstone. The difference would have been that the hatred in your heart would not lead you to a life of piracy where you would then create a life in Witchwood. You would never find your strength as Reaver's right-hand-man, and your powerful spirit would not find its freedom to truly bloom. Destiny has led everything to this moment."
"Why are you here, then?"
"Because you have not changed your destiny since that day when you were a child."
"I thought that was an issue... I would have died had it not been for your intervention."
"You are strong enough now to break apart a mask of the Court, one of the most powerful artifacts in this world with your hands. Defending yourself in the event that you stray from your path does not worry me now. Albion needs you; the world needs you."
Henry rose to his feet at this statement and looked at Theresa's youthful face. He thought long about what the seeress said. He then remembered that he saw her only moments ago when Jack took his father. "Where is he?"
Theresa remained silent.
"Where is my father?" Henry started to shout. "I saw you there... I saw you in Archon's Folly! I was about to destroy Jack and save my father... where is he?"
"I did what I had to do."
"What have you done with my father you bitch?"
"The thoughts of mortals so easily change. One moment I am your savior, the next I am your enemy. I am not the enemy you need to worry about."
"I will not listen to whatever you have to say unless you tell mw where he is!"
Theresa waited silently for several minutes. Henry never broke his intense gaze. "Your father has yet to fulfill his destiny."
Henry's eyes widened, "Wait... so my father is-"
Theresa removed the wrap covering her eyes and revealed them to be glowing silver. Fog surrounded them both and she grabbed Henry's face with both hands. "Now, Hero, you must listen to me."
His mind became empty; her heard her voice with his ears and also within his own mind. He heard and learned the words that she spoke.
"When a Hero in youth steals his grace,
The shards of the past shall fall into place.
Dark is the night that follows the reign,
But hope is the light that will dawn again.
Fire will fall from the clouds of war,
The blood of the innocent falls once more.
A weapon of old shall return to us all,
Bringing a bearer to answer its call.
From out of the ashes a flower may bloom,
Unless the holy rebellion marks it for doom."
"Tell me what it all means."
"What it means will come to you as it passes. The flower... if light is to prevail as the Evil rises... it must bloom."
"So I must stop a holy rebellion... but what does that mean?"
"I know not the images that I have seen in these words... my sight is not like yours. I see the words, I see the branches of Destiny growing from the tree of life... I see light and dark on each branch. The words I have spoken will come to pass; and you must be the defender of Albion in the days to come."
"So I must be king?"
"You must do whatever you can in order to assure victory. Long ago I spoke of an Evil that will rise to challenge Albion. I had thought the Darkness was that evil... and for a time after the Crawler's defeat I had assumed that was the truth. But as the final battle raged on here in the North, my visions of The Evil returned. Something is coming, something is going to happen. You must be ready; Albion must be ready."
"I understand."
"Do what must be done, Hero. You are our last hope."
Henry watched as Theresa faded away with her clouds of silver fog. With The Court finally defeated, and his journey over... Henry felt a weight lift from the world. In his heart, he felt a brief sense of peace. In reality, beyond Henry's sight, the world was healing. Fires stopped burning, the land that was scorched turned green once more, the buildings broken were rebuilt, and the innocents slain in Albion were brought back from the Void. Deep in the Void, the souls that ever cried in anguish rejoiced in knowing their ruthless masters were no more; but they knew soon that The Court of Blades were not the chiefest of rulers that dwelled in the darkness. The mysterious heavens sang with jubilant voices; and the music they sang drifted down to the land in rays of glorious sunlight that pierced the thick shadow. The peoples of Albion, Aurora, Samarkand, and other lands celebrated that life had seemingly begun again. For the time being, a time of peace and light had finally come back to the world. Destiny, however, sang no song. Time did not celebrate. Darkness did not sleep. The world was about to change...