Liz turned to Maria, Balor, Matt, and Howie who was already picking Amanda up again. “We’re going to London,” she said.
“The Albion?” Maria asked, naming the coven that Trevelyan led.
“Yes. Maybe we’ll find out what happened at Ultima Thule.”
“Sounds good, let’s do it,” Maria said.
“Lead the way,” Balor added.
Liz nodded. “Are you okay with her?” Liz asked Howie, who had Amanda slung over his shoulder again.
“I’m good for now,” he said.
“Okay, let’s go,” she said and led the way over to the Portal.
“What about the girls?” Maria asked as they walked.
“Well, we can’t stay here, and I’m not comfortable taking Amanda back there. I’m sure Mercy and the others will be okay. They’re capable Magi.”
“I hope you’re right,” Maria stated.
“Me, too,” she answered as she reached the Portal. “Thank you, Crystal.”
“Safe journey. Maybe we’ll meet up again sometime.”
“I hope so,” Liz said with a smile before stepping into the Portal.
She emerged, after a rush of Magic and dislocation, into a dark side street that looked just like she remembered it. The Astral and Flux Magic flared behind her as Maria appeared followed by Balor, Matt, and then Howie last of all. As Balor looked around, she saw Essentia surge within him, and his figure faded into the background, camouflaged.
“Is this London?” Matt asked, looking around with curiosity. She remembered then, that Matt used to live here, so he probably recognised the English style of the road signs.
“That’s right,” Liz said. “Follow me, the place we need to go to is this way,” she said, leading them up to the end of the narrow side street. She motioned for Howie and Balor to keep back as she, Maria, and Matt walked to the end of the road. Liz peered through the people that were walking along the pavement and over the cars on the road to the office front on the other side, a little way up the street. Liz had visited once before with Amanda. It was one of the entrances to the Albion’s Coven House, and one of Amanda’s preferred ways of visiting Trevelyan. She liked the opulent interior, or, she had liked it…
Would she ever find out what was going on with Amanda? Would she ever get to speak with her friend again?
She shook her head and banished the thoughts as she scanned the street.
All looked normal.
Then, the front of Albion’s building exploded in a massive fireball that sent cars and people flying.
“Shit,” Liz cursed.
- Ultima Thule, Enceladus, Saturn.
As Crystal’s Magic faded, Mercy found herself standing beside Sabine and Tabitha in the main atrium of Ultima Thule again, just down the hall from where they’d been cornered moments before. Looking to her right, she could see Kez and Raphaella moving out of the hallway as Forest Ward’s body smouldered on the floor nearby.
Out in the main room, the Magi Council was throwing Magic around like it was going out of fashion. The power on display was orders of magnitude beyond what she could achieve, and it was fascinating to watch, but the danger was very real.
“Come on, let’s go,” Mercy whispered, heading back to where the ship had been.
Sabine and Tabitha kept close on her heels as they moved from cover to cover, trying to keep from being noticed.
The rubble and detritus from the fight made the going difficult, and Mercy lost track of where the corridor was that they needed to use.
~Where’s that damn corridor?~ she sent through their Mental Link.
~It’s this way,~ Tabitha replied and moved into the lead. Mercy followed, keeping an eye out for any threats as the corridor she’d been looking for came into view.
New Life
Between
The bright white of the between-place faded, and Amanda found herself inside of Sophia once more. She was sitting in a room with several other girls. They were all wearing lingerie or in various stages of undress, several of them choosing to be topless or entirely naked.
She looked around, a little surprised by the environment. The room looked dated. It was poorly lit with a single bulb that was shrouded with a shade, casting curious shadows over the walls.
The girls around her were chatting idly, but not with her. From somewhere close, in a nearby room, she could hear the distinctive sound of people having sex.
Was this a brothel?
She looked down and noticed she was in a set of black and green lingerie, complete with suspenders, stockings, and high heels. Her red hair fell over her shoulders and her bosom, contrasting with the colour of her underwear.
She looked around the room, feeling surprised, but also with a sense of déjà vu as she remembered her days on the streets of New York.
There was an old cathode-ray tube television on a retro-looking wooden cabinet. It was on, but the sound was off, leaving it to play in the background. Two metal antennas stuck up from the top of it, making it look like an alien robot.
The hairstyles on show here were big and dated as well. She wondered what year this was, but couldn’t get a clear read on it with her Magic.
Although she seemed to be an accepted part of the room, she felt somehow separate from it, like she possibly wasn’t meant to be here, or maybe she was the new girl.
What was Sophia showing her? Did Sophia do this?
The door on the far side of the room opened and an older woman, perhaps in her forties or fifties, stepped in, followed by a man in dark clothing.
“Girls. Girls, look lively now, we have a new visitor. Come in. Now, these are the girls we have available to you tonight, sir. Please, take a moment, have a chat with them, and let me know who you’d like to get to know a little better. Can I get you a drink?”
“No, thank you,” he said, stepping into the light.
Amanda recognised him immediately. She’d seen him before, both like this, and when he was much, much older.
It was Mr Black.
“Very well,” the matron said and gestured into the room.
Mr Black stepped forward, his eyes sweeping over the girls until his gaze settled on Amanda, or was it Sophia?
He smiled at her. She smiled back. He reached out with his hand and she took it, standing up before him. Did she do this or was it, Sophia? Was she controlling this, or was she just watching through Sophia’s eyes? She felt like she was there, in the room, and could feel everything. She could feel the pinch of the slightly too small bra she was wearing and the touch of Mr Black’s fingers on her hand as he smiled at her.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
She smiled and went to say, Amanda. “Sophia,” she said instead.
She’d not meant to say that, but maybe she was just living these moments and experiencing them as Sophia had. She wondered how much she’d experience.
“As much as you wish to know,” said her mother’s voice inside her head. I wanted you to know that for the short time I was with your father, I shared something special with him. I experienced love, passion, and more.”
She had to admit, she wasn’t sure how much more she wanted to experience, given that these were her parents. But this wasn’t her, this was her mother and these were her memories.
She chose to watch for a little longer.
“And what’s your name?” Sophia asked Mr Black in return.
The man paused for a moment. “Black. It’s… Mr Black.” It sounded like he’d just come up with that name then and there.
“How very mysterious,” she said.
He smiled at her and then looked back at the matron. “I’ll take Sophia,” he said.
“Sophia?” the Matron said, sounding a little confused, but then looked at her. “Oh, yes, Sophia. Sure, go ahead. She’ll show you to your room. Enjoy.”
“Thank you,” he said and turned back to Sophia. “Lead the way.”
Sophia nodded and followed her instinct, leading him out of the roo
m and into a dim corridor lined with red wallpaper. The stink of cigarette smoke was everywhere and smelled repugnant to her.
She led Mr Black past a couple of doors from which the sounds of fake orgasms could be heard, before leading him into another room. It was small, with a single bed and incense sticks smoking on the bedside cabinet.
He closed the door behind him and stepped up to her. “I know I had to choose you the moment I saw you,” he said.
She smiled. “Lucky me. So, what are you looking for tonight?”
“Something to take my mind off things,” he said and moved to sit on the bed, his attention elsewhere for the moment. Both Amanda and Sophia knew why this was. This was the night before he used the Time Device. He’d been chosen to go back in time, through the Time Device the Weaver had created for his family.
He’d take the Lazarus Scroll back with him and use it to hurt Horlack, stopping him from meeting his ancestors and enslaving his family for generations to come. He’d come here to forget this burden for a few hours, to enjoy one of life’s pleasures before he stepped into unknown dangers and put his life on the line for his family.
Sophia smiled and unclipped her bra, letting it fall to the floor before she knelt before him, running her hands over his legs. He smiled at her, his cares forgotten, as he focused on the moment.
Sophia wanted to keep it that way, to take him to heaven and back, and to give him a night to remember.
Knowing where it was going Amanda pulled back, feeling uncomfortable experiencing anything more.
She still got flashes of them being intimate and the love Sophia poured into him. For that brief moment, it was just the two of them in the whole world and nothing else mattered but that moment and their feelings.
As she waited, she felt the presence of her mother bloom in her mind and speak to her once more.
“You need to know this,” she said.
Opening her mind to her mother, Amanda felt Sophia reach inside of herself with her power and find the Aeon offspring she held within her. It lay dormant, silent, but filled with potential and she moved it, infusing it into the egg she held in her physical body, joining it with the newly fertilised embryo.
She had guided Mr Black’s seed, helped it reach the egg in a matter of seconds, and allowed his sperm to join with her egg, creating a new life.
As the potential life grew within her, it joined with the Aeon child, and the two became one. She knew right away it was a girl. But then, it was always going to be female. Aeons always created pairs of children—one male and one female—it was the way of things.
But this life was different. This life was not just Aeon. She was human, too. She was both. She was special, she was… her daughter.
She looked down at Mr Black and smiled. It was done, and things would progress as they needed to.
Amanda felt the scene pull away as the white glow faded back in, and she felt herself separate from Sophia for a moment.
“I just experienced my conception through your eyes,” Amanda stated, as the realisation of what she was started to dawn on her.
Amanda felt love and compassion flow out from her mother, and she knew she was right. She was part Aeon.
The glow flashed again, and the scene changed, fading into something else.
She was sitting on a bed, her legs apart as an incredible pain overtook her. She screamed as a fire raged through her body.
“That’s it, keep going,” Matt called to her. “I can see the head… Oh, my God, I can see the head, it’s coming. It’s… Wow, this is incredible.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this,” Amanda/Sophia said.
Matt blinked. He was younger than the man she knew. He looked around twenty years old. Young, virile, and totally out of his depth.
“Sorry, just... um, breathe. Okay? You’re doing well.”
A contraction seized her again, and she felt the need to push as the pain worsened. Taking a breath, she put everything into this one and pushed as hard as she could, grunting and growling with the pain, until she suddenly felt it slide out of her. Moments later, the sound of a baby crying filled the room as Matt passed the newborn to her. She was wet, covered in amniotic fluid, but she was beautiful. She was her daughter.
As she lay back, the baby latched on for her first feed and Amanda/Sophia felt intense love and contentment fill her as the scene faded away to white and Amanda was back in the pure, brilliant-white world of the Aeon.
“That was me,” Amanda whispered.
“It was you. It is you. You are my daughter. My Love. And you have made me proud.”
“Why did you put yourself through all this?”
“I have lived many lives on Earth, I have been many people. Experiencing life as a human, an organic being in the Material Realm of yours is… valuable to me. I have felt love and pain, hate and pleasure. I have seen the wonders of life and even created my own, but I have also made mistakes. Mistakes that have reverberated down through the ages of your world. Mistakes that have cost the lives of millions.”
“But... you’re powerful. More powerful than anything in my universe. You could just fix it with a thought,” Amanda challenged her
“That is close to the truth, but my mistakes have cost me my freedom. I am not the only Aeon. There are many others, and we have our laws, just as you have yours. My mistakes were discovered, and I was forbidden to interfere in the same way again. I could not fix things the way you describe without risking my existence.”
“But... you created me,” Amanda challenged her.
“I did. I have been allowed to guide and help in certain circumstances, but I cannot overreach. Bringing you here, showing you this, is close to the limit of what I can do.”
“You must have done all of this for a reason, though. If I am part Aeon, you must have had a reason for creating me.”
“You are part of this world, and part of your world. You bridge the gap, and you can act. I can help you, guide you, but it is your life. I cannot control you.”
Amanda frowned and sighed. “I sensed your thoughts earlier. Aeons, like you, you always give birth in pairs?
“Twins, one male, one female. We mate once with our partner to create another pair.”
“So, I have an Aeon father?”
“You do.”
“And a brother?”
“Correct.”
“May I meet them?”
“Perhaps, one day.”
“But not today?”
“I’m sorry,” Sophia said, as love flowed out of her and into Amanda. She sensed that she wanted to tell her. She wanted to allow her to meet them, to say who they were, but she could not, or would not.
“That’s okay,” Amanda said smiling. It turned out she not only had a father in Mr Black, but she also had a mother in Sophia and another father. Another Aeon.
She felt a little overwhelmed, but happy. Contentment overcame her as she knew she was loved by her mother. The light flared again.
What would she see this time?
- Ultima Thule, Enceladus, Saturn.
Tabitha led Mercy and Sabine around the pile of rubble and bricks, bringing their exit into view.
“Here we go,” Tabitha said, leading the other two women over to the corridor. She stopped at the edge of the archway and peered around the corner, her keen cat eyes seeing clearly in the darkness beyond. At the end of the corridor was the door leading outside, but before that, her Aetheric Sight picked up the signature of Yasmin’s Aegis, glowing in the dark.
“We’re here, but that Aegis is still in the way,” she said, turning to her friends.
“Let’s get down there. We’ll deal with that in a moment,” Mercy said.
Sabine nodded her agreement.
“Okay,” Tabitha said and stepped out with Mercy close behind her.
As they moved up the corridor and left the atrium behind, they sped up becoming less sneaky, moving out into the passage.
Two figures stepped out of a side corrido
r, frowns on their faces.
Tabitha stopped along with her two friends.
“Aaaah, some more Arcadians thinking they can escape,” one of the two men said.
“Nomads,” Sabine hissed. Tabitha pumped Essentia into her Aegis. It looked like they weren’t getting out of here without a fight.
Duat
London, England
Liz stared at the fire across the street as it consumed the front of the building and could feel the mystical element to it. This fire was caused by something Magical. She wasn’t sure what, but its cause was clear. As she watched, a couple of people staggered out of the front of the building coughing, their bodies covered in dirt and smoke. They were also glowing, marking them as Magi.
She peered at them and felt sure she’d seen them before. She couldn’t name them, but she felt certain they’d been a part of the attacking forces she’d seen at Ultima Thule.
They were Nomads.
Maria grabbed her arm and pulled her back, away from the street. “Nomads, two of them.”
“I saw them,” Liz answered and moved back up the alleyway, pulling Matt along with them.
“Trouble?” Balor asked, his deep voice filling the alleyway.
“Nomads, again,” Liz said.
“What do we do?” Matt asked.
“We need to get somewhere safe,” Maria said.
Essentia flared close by.
Liz turned and looked up the alleyway and so did everyone else. Standing a little way up the side road was a single figure in a long black dress and long, glossy-black hair with a severe fringe that framed caramel skin on a stunning face. For a moment, Liz thought it was Yasmin, but a second glance told her she was mistaken.
“Who are you?” Liz called out.
“The cavalry, and it seems like I am just in time,” she said.
Liz frowned and pumped Essentia into her Aegis. “Nice line, but I have no idea who you are, and right now, my trust is running low.”
The woman smiled. “I am Nefertiti, a friend of Amanda’s, and no friend of Yasmin’s.”
Magi Legend Page 145