by M J Marstens
Zahra trailing off is never a good thing.
“I’m sure you came up with a clever replacement,” Merc praises.
“Yeah, I used cotton balls. I mean, it has the word right in it.”
“Brilliant.”
I can’t tell who is crazier between the two of them.
“Then what?” I ask, despite myself.
“Well, I still needed to make the product ‘natural’, ya know? I decided to bind the cotton balls together with vines and shit.”
“Even more brilliant!” Mercury cheers.
Zahra is eating up his words, but I’m still wondering what the devil is up to.
“Thanks,” she acknowledges to Merc. “One of the popular girls was going through an ‘all organic’ phase and once she bought one, the rest sold like hotcakes. Since it was a novelty item, I charge $5 bucks a tampon. Rather pricey when you consider you can buy a box of commercial ones for the same price. I had twenty and made $100 and really was only out the $2 bag of cotton balls I bought and some time to harvest the vines and make the things.”
“I’m going to guess by your desperate need for a job that the idea didn’t take off?” I ask dryly.
She turns her face from me, but I catch a side view of her lips moving, as she mutters under her breath about what a dick I am.
“So what did happen?” Merc asks when Zahra doesn’t continue.
She heaves a sigh.
“A frickin’ disaster that nearly got me suspended,” she responds with a matching dramatic arm shrug.
Of course, to be fair, I highly doubt she’s embellishing. This story had frickin’ disaster written all over the moment she first mentioned it.
“So a handful of girls who were menstruating at the time decided to give ‘em a go. . . and a few teachers as well.”
I bow my head and groan; even Merc looks uncertain now.
“Well, it turns out that the, ah, “vines” I used were actually poison ivy.”
“No!” Mercury breathes in horror.
“Yeah. And it also turns out that the “vine strings” I made were not nearly as sturdy as I had originally thought. . . so when the girls started itching and tried yanking my homemade tampons out, the vine snapped.”
I shudder at the picture she’s painting.
“So then, everyone had to dig them out. The girl’s bathroom looked like a massacre happened. I mean, it sounded like women were getting slaughtered as they screamed- from the itching and burning. And of course, they were bleeding, so their hands were bloody messes trying to dislodge my, ah, creations.”
Merc actually gags.
I’m made of stronger stuff and contain myself from puking.
Barely.
“And I assume this is why you were suspended?”
“Actually, I was almost suspended and no, that isn’t the reason.”
“Oh god,” I moan.
How can this story get any worse?
CHAPTER 22
ZAHRA
It’s not until I’m telling the story that I realize how terrible it truly sounds. I mean, no malice was intended. . . I was just a girl looking to make a quick dime; so, sue me. Trust Tree Sisters, sometimes you gotta hustle. I know you ladies get it. And if my homemade tampons weren’t wrapped in something that causes vag rash, I know you would totally support me by buying some.
Thanks.
You always have my back and I freaking love you.
Speaking of vag rash. . .
“Yeah, so the reason I almost got suspended is because the secretary was a little. . . dimwitted-”
“How dimwitted?” Illu asks me.
“She gave me a semesters’ worth of hall passes in exchange for a tarot card reading detailing the winning numbers of the lottery with my stipulation that I just didn’t know which lottery.”
“So she just kept buying tickets and using the numbers you drew?” Mio queries.
“Yup. That dimwitted.”
Both guys shake their heads sadly at the woman’s plight. Probably because she had the misfortune of getting entangled with me.
“So anyway, she bought one of my homemade tampons and decided to try it. . . even though she was well past menopausal years.”
Mio and Illu cringe.
I do, too.
The thought of stuffing one up into a dried old canal sounds. . . difficult, but kudos to the old bird, because she succeeded. She succeeded so well, she had to get it professionally removed by a doctor. By that time, she was so sick with infection and delirious from the itching, she had to stay in the hospital for two weeks.
All the other girls had to go to the hospital, too, for a special vaginal itching ointment.
Oh, and I refused to give everyone their money back.
Because by the time the principal demanded it, I had already spent it.
Illu looks downright terrified of me, but Mio has a hint of a smile curving his lips.
“What did you spend it on?” he asks me, while Illu tries to shush him.
“Supplies to make more homemade goods,” I tell him nonchalantly.
“How were you not expelled?” Illu demands.
“My parents went in and spoke with the principal. I don’t know what they told her; probably something along the lines that stupidity begets more stupidity, and that I really couldn’t be held accountable for mine because of my age. I dunno. Whatever it was, it saved my ass, but my parents forbade me from ever making anything ‘homemade’ again. Even food. That’s how I ended up focusing completely on astrology and tarot. Oh, and I was grounded for like a month,” I finish my tale.
“Please don’t ever make me anything homemade,” Illu commands with a shiver.
“My other products weren’t that bad,” I retort. “Well, my toothpaste was a little caustic. . .”
“Stop!” Illu shouts and Mio laughs.
I’m glad to see he is perking up a bit.
His olive complexion had been looking ashy.
Suddenly, Illu stiffens and *poof*, disappears.
I stare in astonishment at the spot he had been, wondering out loud where the hell he had gone.
“Uranus must have told him something urgent, or else he never would have risked manifesting potentially in front of humans.”
I hope everything is ok.
I begin to worry about what could be wrong, when Mio completely diverts my attention.
“Sunny’s going to love that story, by the way. Vag rashes,” he chortles.
“You have Nyam?!” I screech.
“Yep. Make sure you tell him that story. And make sure you tell him you love him, just as I love you. Tae ickum leevum, carina. Never forget it.”
Before I can say anything to his solemn sounding words, his body dissolves into shimmering particles. By now, I’m familiar enough with the tiny fragments to recognize them for what they are: soul essence. Why the fuck Mio has just burst into a thousand pieces is both baffling and distressing.
Before I can even begin to contemplate and figure out this new clusterfuck of a situation, the door slams open and in strides Mary. Damn, she’s one strong-ass old lady. I could barely get those doors to budge. I bet she could totally take on the Gert.
She’s watching Mio’s essence float around and I bet she’s wondering what the hell is happening. Since I don’t have a clue, it’s doubtful I’ll be able to explain anything to her. Her eyes bug out when the particles coalesce into the shape of a person, and I realize Mio gave up his life to bring back Nyam.
He must have ingested Nyam’s essence and planned all along to give up his life for his brother’s.
I’m not sure what to do and just stand there watching like a ninny, but Mary leaps into action. She jumps into the softly glowing flecks and disperses the material. Fearful Nyam won’t be able to assemble himself, I rush to Mary’s side and begin a haltingly terrible explanation for what she’s seeing.
I stop mid-sentence when I realize she’s sucking the particles into herself.
“M
ary, stop!” I order, fear tripping my words up. “It’s Nyam. I know that doesn’t make sense, but just stop breathing for a second, dammit!”
By the time Mary internalizes my words, Nyam’s essence is gone.
“Nooooooo!” I wail in despondence.
I scream over and over again until Mary loses her patience with me and backhands me across the face.
“Shut up, you little slut!” she shouts.
I’m too numb to acknowledge her harsh words, but they feel out of place.
Mary doesn’t speak like that to me.
No one speaks to me like that.
Well, no one but. . .
A petty cuntcushion.
Fuck. Me.
Mary is Lina.
That deceitful hoar.
CHAPTER 23
URANUS
I call Neptune to me immediately; human consequences be damned. Right now, we have a fucking fiasco on our hands. By the time Saturn, Mars, Pluto, and I made it to the conference room to get the Minors, a massacre had happened. Everyone, save Chiron, had been slaughtered. I say ‘save Chiron’ because the man is nowhere.
I’m unsure if this is because he wasn’t here to begin with or because he escaped.
I might even suspect him of foul play, if Vesta, Pallas, Ceres, and Juno didn’t have moonstones sticking out of their chests. Beside them, the four Elements lay, their throats simply slit. This is clearly Lina’s handwork. Mars and Saturn look beside themselves, and Pluto is doing his best to trace their deaths.
Unfortunately, security came into the room and found us with the bodies and immediately called the police. Neptune needs to get his ass in here to do damage control. He’s the only with the power to influence the subconscious mind. Like a fucking superhero, he pops in and gets to work, swaying the security officers’ minds and then getting on their phone, and swaying the cops’ minds, too.
He barely finishes doing this when something tugs inside my chest. I know he feels it, because whatever I feel, so does my twin. But looking around the room, I realize all of my brothers feel something off. It takes me a second to place it and I realize it’s Mercury’s energy.
“Tchyo za ga`lima!” Neptune howls and vanishes again.
He had mentioned before that Merc was up to something, but the Minor’s deaths overshadowed any real concern. I turn back to Mars, Saturn, and Pluto. I know Neptune will call me if there’s trouble. I need to help my other brothers with the clean-up. I can tell from Pluto’s face he can’t track their soul essence.
The moonstone did something to their deaths.
Suddenly, Mars and Pluto slam to their knees, roaring in pain.
Saturn and I reach out mentally and see that their soul bond with Zahra has been broken.
My heart slams in my chest.
“Neptune!” I shout.
But I get no response.
I feel through our connection, searching for him. He’s still there, but it’s as if our bond has been frozen. I leave Saturn to deal with Mars and Pluto and manifest myself back into the office. I find Lina, dressed in Mary’s clothes, leaning over Zahra, draining her of her power. Across the room, Neptune is in his god form and truly is frozen.
With a roar, I rush the bitch, but she darts away. I look to Zahra, and notice she’s barely breathing, but she still has a faint glow. Sunny’s and Jupiter’s powers are still sustaining her. Lina didn’t take it all. I turn back to the crazy bitch who’s made our life hell and stumble to my knees.
She’s standing next to Neptune, with a moonstone sledgehammer in one hand, and the other is stroking his cheek possessively.
“Do you know how to get around the illusion?” she asks me.
I’m too furious and scared to answer her stupid riddle.
She laughs, knowing my thoughts via our bond.
“You have to shatter it,” she supplies with a shrug.
Then she lifts the moonstone hammer and swings it into Neptune’s frozen stomach. His body breaks into a thousand tiny shards of ice and falls to the ground, while Lina tips her head back and laughs maniacally.
“Guess you should have chosen me, but we’ll get there,” is all she says, before sucking up my twin’s essence.
In truth, I’m frozen, too, and can’t seem to move to do a damn thing. I feel my body vanishing and realize that my brother’s death sealed my own. Being soul-tethered has made us one, not just two halves of a whole, but inseparable. I make one feeble attempt to call Saturn and the others to us.
They must protect our Venus.
The Universe save us, Lina is about to become even stronger, having consumed my brother’s and my powers.
And the last thing Lina needs is a boost in rebellion.
B
SATURN
Luckily, Neptune swayed all the humans’ minds, but when we feel Mercury dissolve into essence, I knew shit hit the fan. It takes all my energy to calm Mars and Pluto, who are nearly mindless with grief, feeling their bond with Venus severed. In front of six humans, they unconsciously shift into god form, ready to do battle.
Neptune is going to need to do more clean-up.
I think this just as Mars walks over to a screaming guard and starts beating him to death.
Literally.
Pluto’s eyes are completely black and he makes the Grim Reaper look childish.
It doesn’t help he’s still dressed as the character, thanks to Zahra.
The human men scream in fear.
I have no idea what has come over my brothers.
I go to separate them from the security guys, but fucking Mars snaps and lashes out at me. I barely miss getting a fist to the side of the head. I reach out mentally to calm him down, and this is how I learn the truth: Mars and Pluto have lost themselves to Lina’s curse. Without Zahra’s light anchoring them, they have given themselves over to the darkness.
Knowing human lives are at stake, and Zahra would never want that, I do the unthinkable.
I suck out Mars’ power quickly.
Thankfully, Pluto is too intent on drawing the humans’ souls from their bodies to notice, which makes it easy for me to steal his energy, too. Now, both Mars and Pluto are just essence. I mentally yell for Neptune again, and realize another problem is brewing when I get no response.
Then I feel Uranus’ horror.
Fuck the humans.
I manifest out of the room and leave the security guards to deal with later.
I enter my office in time to see Lina sucking in the last of Uranus’ energy.
With a triumphant snarl, she blows me a kiss and winks out of existence.
Shit, she’s taken Zahra’s Luminary powers!
I turn to our Goddess of Love and see she’s barely alive.
Lina didn’t get all of her Luminary powers, and what little is left is sustaining my beloved woman. I gather my silly, wayward goddess into my arms and rock back and forth. For the first time in my existence, tears stream down my face.
We’ve lost.
All my brothers, save me, are gone.
And now, the one woman I’ve grown to love is also fading.
I’m the only one left and when Lina aligns with the total lunar eclipse, she will make it so I fall for her, according to Zahra.
I cannot bear the thought of being made into Lina’s love puppet.
Her bitch.
Fuck. That.
I won’t give the petty cuntcushion the satisfaction.
“Zahra, wake up. You’re fading, but I’m going to reinforce you. With what little Luminary energy you have left, go to the tenth dimension. Lina’s gone to her domicile for the total lunar eclipse, I know it. Kill her. Her death will bring back the others. Do this for them. For me. I love you, kaṣmīmī.”
Zahra’s head lolls to the side and soon, she’ll be nothing but essence.
I feed her my powers quickly.
And Mars’.
And Pluto’s.
Once depleted, I use the last of my discipline to direct myself towards Za
hra’s nostrils. I don’t want to be reformed. I want to go home. Zahra is my home. I give myself wholly to her. Hopefully, my love will fill her with energy to fight this last battle.
My last thought as she inhales deeply is that she is finally cooperating with me, for once.
And then I join my brothers in nothingness.
CHAPTER 24
ZAHRA
I imagine most people, knocked unconscious and sucked of their powers by the Wicked Witch of the Universe, are a little fuzzy when they come to. Like, the details are a little murky. Not for me. I see and know everything with a crystal clarity and a determination that’s startling.
It’s Khal’s discipline, bringing me to task.
Keeping me focused and on point for the first time in my life.
Caed’s energy spurs me into action.
And Arawn’s promises death to the Bitchhole.
The fucking dickburger took most of my powers, barely leaving me anything. Thankfully, Kane’s expansion energies were enough to leave some of Nyam’s Luminary power intact, and this little bit is what I need to transport myself to the tenth dimension. I know this is a one-time deal. After I use this little bit of power, I’m fixed in time and space.
But all I need is one shot at Lina.
Khal’s words echo in my ears.
Find Lina.
Kill her.
Bring back and save the others.
I manifest myself inside the cave where Lina had previously trapped the Minors. To my surprise, Edgar is there, waiting.
“What are you doing here?” I demand.
“Vesta asked me to stay behind in case things went awry on Earth.”
“Oh, they fucking went awry, all right,” I say hotly.
I tell Edgar what happened, and he looks sick to his stomach.
“Khal is sure she’s back in this dimension. The void-of-course will be upon us soon. Edgar, it’s our only chance of killing her.”
“She’ll be in her Emerald Palace,” he says. “Get on my back.”
Edgar’s in centaur form and gets down on one knee so I can straddle his back.