by P. S. Power
The only flaw in using that trick first thing to check on who was whom, was that it required a very close contact. If Darla hadn’t been herself, she might well have used her proximity to kill Keeley, without having to even work too hard. Keeley was decent in a fight, compared to most beings.
Most of the others of her kind would kill her in mere moments, if she tried to fight them hand to hand. Darla had shown that she could do that every single time they’d practiced together, in the past. There was no reason to imagine that had changed at all.
On the other hand, Darla might have been in the same boat, if some of the others had been allowed to get that close to her. Keeley was no more of a threat at two feet than she was at twenty miles. Her main power was, clearly, her ability to take slaves. That could be done from well away from her target.
So the contact was a risk. A danger to them both, potentially. As it turned out, it was a reassurance, when it happened. It was possible to fake the mind of another person, but only a few of their people could pull it off and none of them, except Fram, had ever managed to trick people with hundreds of years of made up backstory. That had been done so well that, now, after learning that Fram was actually a different being all together, she still tried to think of him as the slightly goofy demon who had let himself be taken as her slave and still had tricked her into thinking he was who he’d claimed.
That had taken manipulation on a level that Keeley doubted she could have seen, even if the man had pointed it out to her at the time and given her a chart of what he was doing. That was humbling to realize, but very close to true.
Darla left first, heading into the lines, moving south, since it was easier for all of them to go to Costa Rica than it was to move Bente while injured. After a moment, Keeley went, stepping directly into place so smoothly that Tarsus turned suddenly, his left hand raised and spoke a single word.
“Zack?”
She shook her head.
“Keeley. We aren’t demons anymore, so I got him to show me how it’s done. You should do that too, if you haven’t already. He’s actually a good teacher. Plus, he didn't even charge me anything for the lessons.”
The old man, who had been a demon for longer than civilization had a written history, and been a god before that, simply smiled at her.
“Good to see you’re using the new situation to your advantage. Did you take lessons in shape changing as well?” He was standing out in front of a cave, the kind that seemed to run back a long way into the side of a rocky hill. The area wasn’t volcanic, in particular, and there was a pile of stones in front of the mouth of the thing, showing that tools had been used to at least increase the depth of the thing.
Inside of that was a sense of two beings. The kind who drank reality in around them, drawing others toward their position, if slowly. Tarsus did the same thing. She did as well. It was a racial trait, after all. Part of what made them as potentially powerful as they were.
Shaking her head, she realized that she kind of had. After a fashion.
“Avery Rome mentioned some things to me, which helped. Then I refined the process a bit. I can use it to change or heal others, as well. Humans and Mages at least. Shifters and Alede. I haven’t tried it for one of us. I don’t suppose you’d let me try on you, sometime?” She was actually playing a bit.
At the moment the oldest of their people was looking like a twenty-year-old Greek boy. His tan skin looked blemish free and he was clearly going to be rocking some nice abs under his thin t-shirt. She’d seen him look like this before, and the feeling was correct. That didn't mean he couldn’t have been someone else.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded.
He didn't let her speak again though, smiling at her.
“We can do that. I’d ask what you were paying me for it, but we need to be done with that sort of thing. Which is a shame. I’m very good at haggling. I invented that, you know?”
She hadn’t, but checked the information that the man had put into her library. Which yielded nothing on the topic at all. That didn't mean it was fake. Tarsus had never been in her copy of the information library. The man had done that to protect himself, clearly.
Greater Demons had been a bunch of assholes. The Wise Ones were better that way, but how much so was going to have to be seen, over time. A part of how they acted was, naturally, just based on what they had been born as. Most people had that going on. Biology was a factor, even for people like them.
“I didn’t, actually. I agree though, as to the need to change. Fram set that up, I think. Us dropping the whole demon thing. I called him on it about a week ago and he didn’t deny it. Actually, he copped to it instantly. He’s out of reach?” Darla had said she’s called a lot of people, but not all of them. Fram should have been on the short list, since he was an ex-boyfriend of her sister.
Tarsus simply nodded.
“No answer on any of the seventeen channels I have to reach him. That… He was incredibly brilliant in his plan. I asked him about it not long ago as well. The thing there is that he’s Falchias the Clever, a member of our ruling council… A thing in the memories that I’ve given every one of our people who asked for that, or who would take it when approached. The only thing there is that there has never been a Greater Demon of that name. It’s in the memories you have, but not in my own. Not in the original copy that I used. Indeed, it was inserted there, in your library, by a third party. The magic is, different. Refined on a level that is nearly ephemeral.” He didn’t seem sly about it.
Instead he looked probing. As if he expected her not to get what he was going for.
“Crap. Fram the Bold is an Angel?”
For the first time since she’d met the man, a look of honest shock covered his face. That didn’t last long, but it had really been there.
“I, yes, I think so. I had an event some years ago, with Gregor and Tyler Gartner. I was spoken to, by a being that claimed to be the God of this world. I was gifted with the ability to hold a certain kind of being, Angels, in mind. A thing that our people had not been able to do before that point. Truly, I’d thought I was the only one to manage it, so far. Not that it was my doing. How did you do it?”
Keeley shrugged, which was lazy of her, but fit how she felt.
“I became good. Good enough, at least. I went from being a poor example of a Greater Demon to a fairly rough version of a very powerful psychopath. When that happened, the psychological portion of things, I could recall all of the talks I had with Angels. There were a lot of them, really. Gregor, but also one named Michael.”
The name got a nod.
“The Void. That was what I called him, before I understood more about his nature. Of course, given that, it’s fairly clear that Fram the Bold is actually Michael, the Arch Angel. That or a close confederate of that being.”
Keeley could see that. It didn't shock her to find out, at any rate.
“A confederate, most likely. He couldn’t fake being one of us without being fallen. Mike simply isn’t. He’s pretty much an energy being, to our perspective. Which probably means that the rest of this has something to do with that kind of being, doesn’t it? At least, I can’t think of any other kinds of beings that could do this kind of thing. Even just getting five hundred of us to not answer their phones at the same time would take a lot of power. None of us can make that happen, I don’t think. Maybe you could do it, if given enough time.” She shook her head. “Darla can’t hold the fact that Angels are real in her head. Do you know if Linden or Bente can do it?” He’d claimed that he’d thought he was the only one that could, before she mentioned the idea. That didn't mean he’d been being honest about it.
The man tilted his head, then, instead of casting magic around, he waved for her to follow him, moving to the mouth of the cave, which took winding around on a loose stone path, a thing that had been arranged but that was meant to look messy and random, even if it wasn’t. When they got into the front of the space, Tarsus simply called out.
“Linden, can you recall that Angels are real?”
There was no answer for a moment, then, instead of screaming at them, a fairly average looking black man walked to the mouth of the cave. He wasn’t special in any way, other than his skin being very clear. They all had that going on, she noticed. It was probably due to vanity. Clearly, she needed to work on blemishes more often.
When he got there, he waved at Keeley, as if they knew each other, and nodded.
“I can. You two are doing that as well? I’ve been able to for… I don’t know, six hundred years? I’ve mentioned it to some of the others, but after a while I understood that no one else could really do it. Part of my insanity, no doubt.”
Keeley could understand why it would be taken that way, or could be. Thinking for a moment, she nodded.
Then used words that gave the lie to that.
“It isn’t insanity. I mean, I don’t know if you are or not, otherwise, but my guess is that you were simply not all that evil by nature. I’ve been trying not to be that way, actually working on it, and was hit with a flood of interactions with that kind of being, a few hours ago. Memories of it happening. Tarsus has had that going on for a few years. I think…” She had to go silent and remember things then, taking hints from conversations, and finally a deep breath.
“I think that Zack can do that, too. Hold them in mind. He’s missing, so I’m either wrong or this situation isn’t strictly about that factor. Things like that can happen.”
Darla was coming, which had them all turn around, looking into the distance, waiting for her to come in through the blue and silver rent she made in space. When she stepped through, she had to find them, up on the hill. It didn’t take her long, but she didn’t run over to them or anything. Instead she walked, slowly. Being wary like she was.
When she got there, she looked at each of them, closely.
Instead of commenting that it was shocking to find Keeley there already, she simply tilted her head.
“Have you worked something out?”
Keeley was willing to lie, since it was clear that Darla wouldn’t understand things all that easily. Tarsus nodded. In many ways he simply wasn’t all that kind to the others of his own kind. The man truly expected them all to step up and learn, or overcome any obstacles in their path, without complaint.
“Yes. We need you to cause yourself to become good, on an innate level. Keeley thinks that if you can match the level of a violent Human Psychopath, you’ll be able to understand the needed plan of the moment.” The man looked at her, as if seeking her input.
She thought first, then shook her head.
“Try for something a bit less violent than that. I think the changes need to be both psychological and biological.” Otherwise it would be too simple to just change back, which wouldn’t count, she had to think.
Darla looked skeptical, then shut her eyes. Everyone else just waited for her to fix evil. As if it were a thing that could be done by using a bit of magic and holding the right mindset.
After two minutes, Darla opened her eyes.
“Holy fuck, Angels are real? Plus… I’ve had one visiting me for… Well over two hundred years. Michael?”
Linden nodded.
“I know him. A few others as well. So… I thought I was evil all this time when I was actually a good being? That’s interesting. No wonder I seemed insane.”
Keeley nodded then.
“We need to check on Bente then, we can do that while you process, Darla. It’s a bit of a shock. At least it was for me.”
That Darla had managed to become good, or at least better, in about two minutes, a project that Keeley had been working on for nearly half a year, wasn’t that great to learn about. Yes, part of the difference was that Keeley had been working on the idea alone and hadn’t realized that simply becoming good, using magic would count for some reason.
No one had ever told her that she couldn’t do it that way. She’d assumed, on a deep level that she was evil and that changing that wasn’t allowed. Even while learning to change and alter everything else about herself.
Darla had just been told to do it, without any instruction of hints at rules being in place. It had been a mistake on her part, Keeley understood. A limitation that she’d put on herself, which had slowed her down.
It wasn’t a race, of course. She tried to console herself with that fact, as she followed the others deeper into the cave. It was pretty deep, but most of it, past the stone door about fifteen feet back, was just one giant room. A large space, carved with ornate artistic designs in the walls, with screens placed strategically to make small room like baffles. There were things there. Statues and paintings placed on the walls. Tapestries as well. Pillows were a theme of the place, but not the only places to sit.
Most of the chairs weren’t that well done. Things bought at common shops, no doubt. They were made by Human men, if by hand. Not fine craftsmen, though they were strong enough to hold the weight of a seated person. Unless the wood was weak, of course. If that was the case, they probably wouldn’t have been there. The place felt like Bente, though a different aspect of her than Keeley normally saw. It was pretty enough, without being perfect. There was an eclectic nature to the place that seemed like a well-appointed attic, rather than a secret palace hideaway.
Rounding a set of screens allowed her to see Bente, who was lying back on a soft looking bed. Her upper body propped up with soft seeming pillows. It was a four poster, with draped fabric on the top and large enough to be interesting. The woman herself looked bad. Not just bad for her, either. She was missing part of her limbs. The left arm and part of her chest on that side. Her face was stripped of skin on that side as well, it having been burned away. At the moment, she was pushing food into her skeletal face, awkwardly. Her hair, which was normally attractively done, was nearly gone. What was left was burned and melted together.
All the food that was next to her on the bed, clearly having been dumped there by Linden, was nearly gone. There was more on the floor, so Keeley jogged over and started to open packages, placing them in reach of the singed woman.
The food products were all of foreign make, being mainly from Japan, if the labels were correct. A lot of them were junk food, of course. Without hesitating, the woman took food from Keeley’s hand, carefully. It was a layered cake product that didn’t seem all that fresh. It had probably been good, two weeks before. It wasn’t rotten or anything, so it was eaten instantly.
Keeley looked at her closely, then handed her more food, which was taken by her right hand, the only one she had left.
“Bente? It’s Keeley. Would it be all right for me to get a copy of you, do you think? We have an idea of what might be happening, in part. At least… We think it might be related to Angels. That’s…” She didn’t get to finish her statement before a hand darted out, food dropping from it to the high thread count bed covering. That move ended in a touch on the back of Keeley’s right arm, done with two fingers.
The familiar tingle wasn’t an attack, it was clear. After a moment the other being, a former Greater Demon and current Wise One, flooded into Keeley. Her own life flooding back the other direction. It wasn’t an equal exchange, of course. Keeley had been alive for thirty-two years. Bente was over fifteen hundred. Still, as the contact went on it was easy to understand that she, too, had knowledge of Angels. A very recent thing for her, that had taken place right before she was attacked. No more than moments before, in fact.
That part got Keeley to nod.
“All right. She knows and thinks that it was several Angels that attacked her. She couldn’t kill any of them, though they were losing when the fight took place. The damage to her came at the end, when one of them used a strange weapon. A thing like a sword. Then she ran, onto the lines. They didn’t seem to be able to follow her.”
The words got a single nod from the woman, who went back to eating, instantly.
Tarsus needed to know more, so simply held his own hand out. To Keels, in or
der to have her pass a copy of the memory to him. That wasn’t too hard to manage. Instead of holding his hand, she transferred the data directly to his library, making the attachment a bit roughly.
Instead of whining at her or giving her a high-handed look, the being, who was once called The Librarian, smiled at her.
“Work is needed there, but at least you’re trying. That makes one of you in the last four hundred years. We can go over the finer points, some day? Soon, perhaps? At least if we survive this current issue. They really didn’t go down for long, did they? Their fighting ability is… Common enough. That weapon was powerful. My guess is some form of concentrated celestial energy. Even you were too evil to resist it, Bente. Meaning all of us are, at the moment.”
Keeley nodded then.
“These aren’t the fallen. Angels who took Human bodies, like Gregor. What I can’t take from the memories is why they attacked like that. I mean, we aren’t exactly great people, but we’re clearly trying. It’s hard to go from pure evil to good like we’re managing. You’d think they’d cut us some slack.”
Tarsus shrugged.
“Maybe they are? We’re alive, unharmed and except for Bente, who fled and fought very well first, whole. You weren’t attacked at all, were you Keeley? Darla either, even though you hadn’t mastered being a good being at that point. Linden was always good. I think there’s more in that realm. Good people who were forced by my projects to become evil, in order to survive.”
Keeley nodded.
“Right. Zack was never evil. He always knew that Angels were real, too. At least as soon as he was told about them. We talked about it, but I couldn’t hold it in my head at the time. I tried, but it was too hard. He’s missing. Lyn is too. She was on the list of people that Mike told me were of my kind but good. Better than I was. Darla, Lyn, Finias, Darrel and Linden. Some of the others are better at hiding things than I am.” That was what had been said.