Max opened his eyes inside the Source.
There was no ground beneath him and no sky overhead. Light extended in every direction, divided into currents of colour. They crossed and separated like rivers flowing through an ocean without boundaries, each carrying an emotion in its purest form.
Green surrounded him most closely.
It moved around Max in slow waves. Every current responded to his presence. Some passed through him without resistance, while others bent around his body as though welcoming something that had been missing.
Max looked down at himself.
His human form was gone. His body was made entirely of emerald radiance. Stars burned within his chest and arms. When he opened his hands, entire constellations shifted across his palms.
He flexed his fingers.
The movement felt both natural and strange. These were his hands, yet they were large enough to hold worlds.
He was no longer merely Max.
He was Ion.
This was the first time he had completely joined with the Entity of Will while inside the Source. Before this, they had always remained separate. A union like this had only become possible after millions of years of preparation.
Even after all that preparation, Max felt himself being pulled inward as memories that had never belonged to him began to surface.
He experienced them as though he had been present.
As though Ion had been present.
Because it had.
The first memory consumed everything around him.
A universe was dying. The Fifth Cosmos trembled at the edge of collapse.
A figure was attempting to harness the Spectrum.
Moridun, Sorcerer Supreme of the Fifth Cosmos.
Max watched Moridun draw upon the Source. Magic wrapped itself around the colours of the Emotional Spectrum and attempted to force them together. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet were dragged toward a single point.
Moridun believed that combining them would create life.
Instead, something went wrong.
He created absence.
The colours vanished wherever his magic touched them.
Something black emerged. It was emptiness given form, a place where emotion had been cut away so completely that nothing remained to feel fear, hope, rage, love, or will.
The black light spread.
The memory ended before Max could see the outcome.
Another replaced it.
This one was violent.
Ion had somehow entered physical reality.
It was fighting something within a black void. Celestials drifted through the emptiness, their immense bodies split open. Some had been beheaded. Others had been torn apart.
Max saw the being Ion faced.
Blackness clung to it. A sword rested in its hand, its blade darker than the void surrounding it.
Ion attacked.
The memory became a storm of green and black. The other entities joined the battle, and then everything turned white.
The memory ended.
Max seized his head as more followed.
They came too quickly. He tried to block them out and force them back, but there was nowhere to send them. They were already his. Ion had experienced them, and Max was Ion.
He bent forward, his fingers pressed against the sides of his head as stars raced beneath his skin.
Then he felt someone approaching.
The green currents shifted around him.
Blue light appeared in the distance.
It began as a single point above him, then spread until it filled part of the endless expanse. The blue carried warmth. The pressure against his mind from the assault of memories eased as the light touched him.
A figure descended through it.
She was humanoid. Her form was made entirely of blue radiance, with stars moving beneath her surface just as they did within Max. Many wings spread from her back, layered one behind another until they formed a luminous crown around her body.
Max felt stronger in her presence.
A name entered his mind.
“Adara.”
It was not a title given to her by another. The blue entity had chosen it for herself.
Adara smiled.
“Welcome,” she said. “At last, Ion, you are whole again. At last, we may speak.”
She drifted closer, her wings folding partially behind her.
Max remained silent.
“What you are attempting here is wondrous,” she continued.
“You know?”
“We all know.”
Max became aware of movement beyond the green light.
The other colours had been distant before. Now they shifted at the edges of his awareness, responding both to his presence and to the gateway he was attempting to open.
Red surged like fire. It struck everything near it, consuming and rebuilding itself in the same violent motion. Max felt rage within it so pure that it required neither cause nor direction. It existed only to burn.
Orange curled around itself.
Yellow remained farther away, almost hidden. It watched from beyond the other colours, patient and calculating.
Violet moved in slow, possessive waves.
“Of course they do,” Max said.
“We each carry a part of you within us,” Adara explained. “Fragments of what you felt when you first entered the moment of creation. They became the embers from which we fully awakened and grew into what we are.”
“I see,” Max said.
He felt the others circling beyond the green, each responding differently to the realisation that Ion was once again whole within the Source.
Adara turned her attention toward the narrow connection leading into the physical universe.
“What you are creating will not merely allow energy to leave the Source. It will establish a permanent gateway between this realm and physical existence.”
“I know.”
“Through it, there is a chance that we may enter the physical world.”
“Some of you may.”
Adara studied him.
“You would permit me to cross?”
“You’re welcome to.”
The blue light around her brightened.
“The others aren’t,” Max added.
“Their influence cannot be contained so easily. Emotion already exists throughout the physical universe. So long as living beings feel fear, rage, love, compassion, or avarice, the entities may reach them.”
“I know. I’m not trying to stop emotions from existing. I’m trying to prevent the entities themselves from forcing their way through the Battery.”
Adara drifted closer.
“Proselyte and I will assist you, should you accept our aid.”
Proselyte, the Entity of Compassion.
“Proselyte agreed to that?”
“She asks only that you do not interfere with her followers.”
Followers Max wondered. So she had some form of influence already then.
“And what do you want?”
“I will ask nothing of you.”
“Why not?”
“Hope cannot be demanded,” Adara said. “Nor should it force itself upon another.”
There was no deception behind the words. Max could feel that much. Adara genuinely expected nothing from him in return, not because she lacked desire, but because demanding repayment would violate what she was.
That alone separated her from several of the presences watching from beyond.
“The others will not show the same restraint,” she continued. “Each time you return, they will tempt you. If temptation fails, some will attempt to use force.”
Max looked toward the yellow current.
Parallax remained almost motionless, concealed behind distant waves of light. Yet Max could feel it touching the edges of every fear he carried.
Losing himself inside Ion.
Waiting billions of years, only to discover that his family was gone.
The yellow current stirred.
Max pushed it away.
“And I’ll need to keep coming back,” he said.
“Many times.”
The green light around him flickered.
Max’s body dimmed.
At first, he thought Parallax had done something. Then the currents surrounding him began to feel heavy. The infinite pressure of Ion’s consciousness returned all at once, closing around the fragile boundaries of his individual mind.
Adara moved closer.
“You must stop now.”
Max forced his body upright. “I can keep going.”
“No.”
“I’ve barely opened the connection.”
“You cannot maintain this state while remaining divided from Ion.”
Adara extended one hand, surrounding him with blue light.
“To remain any longer, you must merge completely with Ion.”
Max said nothing.
“You do not want that,” she continued.
“I’ll be back soon,” Max said.
Adara’s smile held equal measures of warmth and sorrow.
“Many times, it would seem.”
The blue entity placed a hand against his chest. Strength returned, giving him enough time to find the path leading back to Oa.
“It will be difficult,” she said. “But I believe in you.”
The Source disappeared.
Max’s eyes opened.
He was inside the Central Power Battery again.
Pain struck before he could move.
His entire body felt as though it were burning from within. Emerald energy crawled beneath his skin and escaped through his eyes, mouth, and fingertips. The channels surrounding the platform blazed with light while warning symbols flashed across the chamber walls.
Max rose too quickly and nearly fell.
The ring stabilised his body as he launched himself from the platform. He flew upward through the core shaft, passing conduits that still carried the energy he had drawn from the Source.
The glow faded as he climbed.
By the time he reached the central laboratory, only a fraction of the Battery remained active.
Veridion was waiting.
The Celestial stood before a field of readings that filled most of the chamber. His attention shifted between Max and the energy patterns recorded during the attempt.
“The attempt was partially successful,” Veridion said.
Max lowered himself onto the platform. His legs threatened to give way, but he remained standing through spite more than strength.
“How much?”
“A stable connection existed for one point eight seconds.”
“That’s all?”
“From your perspective, the duration within the Source was considerably longer.”
“It felt like hours.”
“Your neural patterns indicate an experienced duration of approximately three hours.”
Veridion expanded one of the readings.
“The gateway remained controlled. No destructive feedback reached the Battery, and the conduits successfully distributed the energy across the equatorial network.”
“That sounds good.”
Max waited for the rest.
Veridion continued. “However, the gateway closed before the Battery could establish an independent bond with the Source.”
“How many more attempts?”
The Celestial processed the information for several seconds.
“Based upon the rate of adaptation demonstrated during this session, approximately eight hundred thousand and seventy-six additional sessions will be required.”
Max stared at him.
“Fuck.”
“The estimate may change.”
“Lower?”
“It may change.”
Max wiped one hand across his face. His skin still felt hot beneath his fingers.
“I need some time alone.”
“Your physical condition should be monitored.”
“I’m fine.”
Before Veridion could object, Max flew from the vast chamber.
He left the Battery through an upper passage and crossed the sky without choosing a destination. The ring carried him north, away from the equator and into one of the regions Ord had planted years earlier.
Eventually, Max descended toward a cliff overlooking a broad valley.
A river curved through the land below, reflecting the orange and violet bands spread across the evening sky. Forests covered both sides of the valley, their silver leaves shifting in the wind. In the distance, one of Oa’s moons had begun to rise above the mountains.
Max landed near the edge of the cliff. He placed both hands on his knees and breathed, though each breath still felt too shallow.
Eight hundred thousand and seventy-six sessions.
Eight hundred thousand and seventy-six more visits to the Source.
Eight hundred thousand and seventy-six chances for Parallax or one of the other entities to fuck with him.
“I can’t do this,” Max muttered.
He remained silent for a moment.
“Yeah, I can.”
He straightened.
“And the Blue Lanterns. I could make that happen too.”
Adara had offered her help directly. Blue rings would be more difficult to create, and there would likely never be as many Blue Lanterns as Green Lanterns.
But even a small number could matter.
“They’d be useful,” Max murmured. “Especially since they strengthen the green.”
He was about to sit down, perhaps even lie down, when he felt a presence behind him.
Max turned.
The woman from the hill stood several steps away.
The same veil covered her head and obscured part of her face. Her pale-purple skin seemed almost luminous beneath the Oan sky, while her thin clothing revealed even more than it had before.
His cosmic awareness reacted.
This time, it provided an answer. The knowledge settled into his mind, and Max wondered how he had failed to recognise her before.
“Death,” Max said.
The woman inclined her head.
“Ion.”
Her voice was quiet. Every living thing in the valley seemed to fall silent when she spoke.
“Or should I address you as Max?” she asked. “Perhaps Green Lantern?”
“Ion or Max. You choose.”
“Max,” she repeated, testing the name. “I prefer it.”
She moved closer.
Her form changed with each step.
Her pale-purple skin lightened until it resembled extremely pale human flesh. The veil and loose garments dissolved, replaced by black shorts and a short black top that covered her chest. A dark cloak settled around her shoulders, trailing behind her without touching the ground. Black lipstick covered her lips. Dark eyeliner surrounded her eyes, sharpening a face that was already difficult to look away from.
Max stood speechless for a moment.
Death smiled.
“A better form, don't you think?”
He cleared his throat. “It’s certainly something.”
“You disapprove?”
“No. Definitely not.”
Her smile widened slightly.
“What are you doing here?”
“Observing you and have been for some time.”
“Well, that isn’t unsettling at all. May I ask why, unless you’re here to reap me?”
“Oh, nothing like that.” Death regarded him for a moment. “You are my opposite in several ways. You are bound to life. I am the end awaiting all life.”
She stopped before him.
“We have met before.”
Max frowned. “I think I would remember that.”
“You were less interesting then. You did not speak. You barely appeared conscious. The Celestials summoned you, and you entered physical reality long enough to defeat the Lord of the Abyss. Then you departed.”
Ion’s memories returned.
Dead Celestials floated through an empty void. A figure stood among their bodies, holding a black sword darker than the emptiness surrounding it.
Lord of the Abyss
“Knull,” Max realised as the figure’s face became clearer.
“Yes. Him.”
That battle had taken place between the end of the Sixth Cosmos and the birth of the Seventh. The surviving Celestials must have drawn Ion from the Source to fight Knull, who appeared to have gained control of the Black Light.
Perhaps that was when Max had been separated from Ion. He would later be found by the Watcher and, finally, Veridion.
Death moved closer.
Max remained where he was.
She crossed the final distance until only inches separated them, then placed one hand against the centre of his chest. Her touch was cool. The burning left behind by the Source faded wherever her fingers rested.
Her dark eyes studied him.
“You have been rather busy.”
“That’s one way to describe the last few billion years.”
“I was referring to the present.”
“That too.”
Something like amusement passed across her face.
“I seem to have arrived at an inconvenient moment.”
She withdrew her hand, and the burning slowly began to return.
“I will visit again when you are less occupied.”
Before Max could speak, Death vanished.
He remained there for several seconds.
Then he sat at the edge of the cliff and looked across the river.
“What the hell was that?”
No answer came.
Max leaned back on his hands, replaying the conversation in his head.
He began to laugh.
Guess the tropes were right. Death was a goth.
.
.
Adara
Max and Death