by W. M. Martin
“Come on, Alice! We have to go! Something’s coming!” Lester shouted while pointing at the monstrous omniport which had begun swirling like a pitch-black maelstrom.
Alice leaned up and kissed Lester gently on his lips and replied with a soft whisper in his ear, “Something’s already here, Les,” before driving both of her twisted black daggers into his back.
Maggie was so shocked, by what she had just seen Alice do to Lester, that she could not move.
Thomas screamed with white-hot fury, “No! Lester!” before bracing his morning star with its sharp, jagged spikes and running to his brother’s aid. Alice removed both of her black, twisted assassin’s blades from Lester’s back and she dropped them at her feet. Lester fell to the ground immediately after Alice’s knives. She raised the Pentagem high above her head and summoned her totem, Mr. Thistle, to her side. Just before Thomas got within striking distance of Alice, she blasted him away with such an explosive, magical force, that it took everyone else in the forest off of their feet and caused Edgar to drop Mary onto her side. Thomas landed hard on his back and was certain that the impact with the ground had, more than likely, broken the majority of his ribs.
Maggie shouted angrily, “Alice, what have you done?! Lester loved you!”
Alice’s eyes turned entirely black and were void of any recognizable sign of life and emotion.
“His love for me was his downfall, just as your friendship with me will be yours,” stated Alice coldly.
“Alice, please don’t do this!” Maggie begged, hoping that her friend could be saved from herself.
Alice replied with unnerving menace in her voice, “My name isn’t Alice, Maggie. It never was. I have been referred to by many names throughout time, but you can address me by the name of my birth. You may call me Okeaous.”
The black maelstrom, at the now revealed Okeaous’ back, was churning even more furiously than before. The Dark Lady was steadily being encased in a black and oily tomb of armor with a long, black cape attached to her shoulders. Okeaous’ helmet was that of the head of a ferocious-looking great white shark. She was smiling, with dark intent, from inside of the jaws of the shark. Okeaous pointed the Pentagem at Mr. Thistle and the power that erupted from the stone tore him to shreds and slowly morphed the small shrike into a large and predatory great white shark, whose cold, black eyes mirrored the Dark Lady’s.
“This is Leviathan, Maggie. This is ‘Mr. Thistle’s’ true form and his true name. He is terribly hungry,” Okeaous said just before Leviathan rushed through the air to strike at Maggie.
As Leviathan’s massive jaws were poised to bite Maggie in half, Elliot exploded out of the mark on Maggie’s arm and repelled the mighty shark with a flawless sapphire shield. The powerful safeguard surrounding Maggie was pulsing audibly and with great vibrancy. Flames of mystical energy were rolling off of her body and sending concussive waves out to protect her from Okeaous’ frightening totem.
Maggie stood resolute to face who she had believed was her closest Kindred friend, she who had just revealed herself to be one of the First Five, the treacherous Dark Lady, Okeaous. Maggie’s sky-blue eyes burned with an irrepressible fury for the evil villainess who had taken both of her parents and had her father murdered. Maggie’s internal rage began to take on sentience and that anger slowly began to cover her entire body until she was completely bathed in scorching, blue flames. An elegant set of sapphire armor trickled gently over Maggie’s entire form like crystal-clear water cascading down a mountainside.
As she was still being shielded by the safety of the mystical, azure bubble, her beautiful face was softly eclipsed by a streamlined helmet in the likeness of Elliot. Maggie reared back and swung her fist at Leviathan, whose attacks were still being held at bay by, what she had assumed to be, Elliot’s extremely radiant and durable shield. She had managed, in the midst of her anger, to tap into so much power that the force of her punch knocked the ethereal great white shark against a large oak tree, causing the tree to snap in half. Okeaous took a step back and summoned Leviathan to return to her side.
“You truly are quite powerful aren’t you, Maggie? No matter, I have what I want, and you’re powerless to stop me. Heed my warning, Maggie. If you follow me to my castle, then you won’t live to return to this side of the Veil again. I’ll destroy you and everything that you hold dear,” stated Okeaous cruelly, before stepping backwards into the black maelstrom and disappearing entirely from view before the inky omniport snapped shut. The radiant and impenetrable shield that had been reverberating over Maggie had dissipated at Okeaous’ exit and left her standing in the clearing replete in her sapphire body armor.
Nancy, not seeing any more signs of the Fallen, cast a massive omniport of her own in order to send everyone back, safely, to the academy. Nancy’s omniport was incredibly powerful and it was obvious that her powers had been greatly augmented by the Spire for her being accepted as the new Head Instructor.
“Everyone in, now! Edgar, don’t drop Mary again! Can everyone else walk? Yes? Good! Hurry up!” Nancy stressfully barked as she ushered everyone, including Maggie, into the omniport.
Only two large Praetorians stayed behind with Nancy. One of them was from Clan Secarn and the other one was from Clan Okeaous. Nancy and the two Praetorians went to gather up the Baker twins. Thomas had crawled over to Lester’s body and was softly weeping for his brother. The Secarn Praetorian carefully raised Thomas up, being mindful of his fractured rib cage while the Okeaous Praetorian gently and respectfully lifted Lester’s body into his arms. The Praetorians carried the slain and wounded Avior brothers through the portal. Nancy looked back at the spot where Alice Pennington, the sweetest and most happy Avior that she’d ever met, had revealed herself to truly be Okeaous, the Dark Lady. Nancy wiped away the tears from her eyes and stepped through her omniport to join her students in the infirmary.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Okeaous stepped through her omniport, into her throne room, with her prize in hand. She was greeted by Lieutenant Ara and a large contingent of Fallen knights. Every warrior in the room knelt down and bowed their heads in fealty to their Dark Queen.
Okeaous eyed the room for a moment and asked, “Where is General Strato? He was specifically instructed to capture your niece, lock her away and bring the Pentagem to me personally. He has failed me and his failure very nearly cost me the stone. An example must be made in regards to how I feel about the dereliction of my orders. Find him and bring him before me.”
Lieutenant Ara spoke up timidly and replied, “He’s dead, my Queen. By my sister’s hand,” before lowering her head in fear.
To Lieutenant Ara’s surprise, Okeaous burst out with frightening laughter and said, “That arrogant, pretentious fool was defeated by a woman who’d been locked away and beaten for two consecutive years in my dungeon? That is the single, most hilarious thing that I’ve heard in a very long time.”
Ignoring the fact that the Dark Lady was laughing about the death of her most loyal general, Lieutenant Ara queried, “My Queen, if I may ask, why did you command that General Strato be the one to retrieve the Pentagem from my niece? Wouldn’t it have been simpler to have just killed Maggie as soon as she had released the Pentagem from its bondage, and taken the stone for yourself?”
Okeaous hollowly replied, “No, Lieutenant. It would have been impossible for me to touch the Pentagem without it being freely given by the one who liberated it from the Kindred Academy. That is, unless it was freely given to someone who had leverage over her. Someone who held, in my dungeons, not only Maggie’s friends, but her mother as well. That someone being none other than General Sapka Strato. Then of course, once the general had it in his possession, he would have handed the stone over to me.”
“Forgive me, my Queen, but what would have prevented Sapka from keeping the Pentagem for himself?” asked Lieutenant Ara suspiciously.
Okeaous replied, “General Strato would have most certainly tried to keep my stone for himself if he were truly i
n control of what he wanted to do with it.”
“Was he not, my Dark Queen?” asked Lieutenant Ara with a hint of disbelief in her voice.
“No, Lieutenant, I would never leave something so important in the hands of a lesser being,” stated Okeaous with clear disdain for even her loyal followers.
“Who was in control of Sapka’s will, my Queen?” asked Lieutenant Ara, her interest having been well and truly piqued.
Okeaous narrowed her eyes and hissed threateningly, “Be cautious, Ara, that your curiosity doesn’t get the better of you. I’m more than willing to introduce you to the one who dominated General Strato’s will. All you need to do is ask me about them again.”
Ara quickly averted her eyes from Okeaous’ cruel yet beautiful gaze and changed the subject by quickly asking “Should we prepare to invade the academy, my Queen?”
Okeaous replied knowingly, “No, Lieutenant. They will come to us.”
“How, Your Majesty? You control the Pentagem. How could they pierce our side of the Veil without it?” asked Lieutenant Ara.
Okeaous looked hard at her Lieutenant, almost as though she were peering through her and answered coldly, “Because the Nexus favors the Guardians and their weak dependence upon it. They will come for the Pentagem and I have a feeling that we’ll be greeted by our enemies sooner rather than later. I foresee the Guardians, who are now being led by your former friend, Nancy Decker, beseeching their feeble, old relic for guidance which will inevitably lead them all back here to me, and to their long overdue destruction.”
Lieutenant Ara asked, “The Spire would aid them? I believed the Spire to be neutral, Your Majesty. What about my sister? She’s incredibly powerful and could prove to be a serious threat now that she’s escaped to the academy. Couldn’t she?”
Okeaous smirked and answered with cruel satisfaction, “The Spire has interfered once before, on Avior’s behalf, to stop me. I have no reason to believe that that particular part of history won’t repeat itself. This time, however, I will be ready. As for Mary Bennett, she won’t survive through the night, Lieutenant. I noticed, while in the Forever Forests, that her leg had been punctured by a weapon that I know belonged to our recently departed General Strato. The fangs on his whip simply ooze with toxins.”
*
Nancy followed the Secarn and Okeaous Praetorians, who held the Baker twins in their arms, into Dr. Sobek’s infirmary. Dr. Sobek and his staff were rushing around and treating the returned students’ injuries. Most of the students’ wounds were merely superficial and so they were treated by Cleopatra and sent to their enclaves. Only Oliver Wells, Thomas Baker, and Mary Bennett were in need of emergent care. The only other Kindred being kept under the watchful eye of Dr. Sobek was Jax Cooper, who was unconscious, but recovering.
“I’m sorry, Maggie. Nobody knew who Alice really was. She even somehow managed to fool the Spire enough to be accepted as a First Year and receive a totem which would guarantee her entry into Clan Avior. I don’t know how she did it though. Each of the Clan Leaders and I are about to go and consult with the Wise Ones. Is there anything that I can do for you before we go?” asked Nancy, who had walked up to Maggie from behind.
Maggie turned her attention to Nancy and replied with frighteningly little emotion, “I want to see Kylie. I have questions, and I feel like she may have some answers.”
Nancy paused slightly and said, “Maggie, it’s obvious that Kylie was being controlled by the Eye of Kariagi, just like Lucy was. Lucy had no answers to give that were of any use. What possible help could Kylie offer?”
Maggie returned an answer without batting an eye, “She has answers that she doesn’t know she has. Lucy certainly did. Lucy was screaming at the top of her lungs that Okeaous had returned and in your arrogance, you, the Praetorians, and every other Guardian at this school thought that she had lost her mind.”
Maggie’s words cut Nancy deeply. She immediately regretted saying them when the look which washed over Nancy’s face was one of acquiescence and failure.
Maggie began to apologize, “Nancy, I’m sorry. I...”
Nancy held her hand up to silence Maggie, stopping her mid-sentence and said, “No Maggie, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you and to everyone else here. You're right, and your anger is justified. We have failed you all. No, I have failed you all. My negligence cost Lester Baker his life and has also allowed Okeaous to reclaim the Pentagem. I plan to tender my resignation as Head Instructor as soon as the Clan Leaders and I meet to consult with the Nexus. If it’s the will of the Wise Ones, I’ll be relieved of my duties and all of the power that came with them and a new Head Instructor will be named in my place. Whether the Nexus accepts my resignation or not, I’d like to see you again later this evening. If you’ll meet me later, then you and I both will go and see Kylie, and you can ask her your questions. I released her from custody shortly after speaking with you, before you took the Pentagem to the Fallen’s side of the Veil. It was evident that she had been under the Eye’s control and so the Spire purged her of any guilt in regards to Mr. Evans’ death after she’d been found innocent of his murder. Cornelius’ blood is on Okeaous’ hands, not Kylie’s. She’s been resting in her room ever since.”
Maggie agreed to Nancy’s request to meet up later at Kylie’s dorm room before returning her attention to her mother. Nancy left the infirmary and made her way to the Macrocosm Chamber where the five Clan Leaders were waiting for her at the foot of the Spire. They each bowed their heads in greeting to Nancy as she entered the great room and made her way over to them.
No one said a word until after Nancy had spoken, “Thank you all for meeting me here. I have come to give up the position which the Nexus granted me only a few short hours ago. In that time, I have allowed the Pentagem to be taken from this academy by a student, however noble her intentions may have been and have let another student die on my watch. Also, the Pentagem is now in the possession of Lady Okeaous, who was, as far as I knew, long dead. I’m afraid that the Nexus far overestimated my capabilities as a competent Head Instructor. I have questions that only the Wise Ones can answer, and I’ll need your help to awaken the Spire so that I may commune with the Great Source,” affirmed Nancy with no small amount of shame in her voice.
Mr. Akiyama, uncharacteristically softly, replied, “The Spire chose wisely, Nancy. The Nexus believes in you. So do we. Go and seek your answers. We will be here when you return.”
Nancy was touched by Mr. Akiyama’s sincerity as were the other Clan Leaders. Ms. Holiday was acting as though there were something in her eye, but Mr. Carver knew that it was a tear that she was wiping away. The emotional turmoil, which had wracked everyone at the academy over the past few days, had taken a great toll on the Clan Leaders. All five of them had sworn to protect the young Kindred under their care and in their hearts, they knew that they had failed.
Each of the Clan Leaders placed their hands on the Spire and watched as the storm in the center began to churn to life. Nancy waited until the maelstrom was at a fevered pitch, and then placed both of her hands against the massive surface. She took a long breath in and stepped into the eye of the storm which was rolling and spinning just in front of her.
Nancy was inside of a sea of blackness. She could not tell a difference in her surroundings when her eyes were open or when they were shut. She waited patiently, for what seemed to her to be an eternity, for the Nexus to address her. Nancy knew that her presence had been acknowledged when a flawless and radiant star came to life and cast an almost blinding beam of light over her.
The Nexus, with multitudinous voices thundered, “We know why you have come, Nancy Decker. You seek answers, explanations, and to return the gift of the power which was recently bestowed upon you. You wish to know how Okeaous was able to return and take the Appointment of Clans. You wish to know if We were aware and allowed it. Our answers are thus: Okeaous was able to return through a perversion of Our power on the Fallen’s side of the Veil. Her acolytes had erected
a flawed monument of their own, using forbidden magic and the totems’ powers, which they had stolen and accumulated over the centuries. This “Dark Spire”, as they call it, brought Okeaous back, and it had falsely promised her supreme power once she claimed the Pentagem for herself. We were aware of her return, but not of her transformation into a powerless, sixteen year old girl, an average, Kindred hopeful. She kept her true form hidden from Us and buried deep within herself, in a place so dark and so empty, that even We could not see into it. When she took the shrike, which she named Mr. Thistle, as her totem, any suspicions We may have harbored were laid to rest. Only when Okeaous bathed herself in her Fallen armor, right before your very eyes and destroyed Mr. Thistle to reveal Leviathan, were We made aware of the charade known as Alice Pennington. Okeaous had purposely been failing in her Armor Envelopment class so as to keep her true identity and her evil intentions from discovery. Had We been aware that she was here, on this side of the Veil, she would have been arrested, on Our order, by the Praetorians and sent directly to the Spire to answer for her crimes, by Us. Okeaous would have been remanded here, for all of eternity, under Our authority. As for Us taking back the gift which We freely gave to you, Nancy Decker, We shall not be requiring its return. The power and authority of the Head Instructor is not yours to relinquish. It is Ours and Ours alone to give and take away. We have searched your heart, and it is filled with goodness. You are to remain the Head Instructor of the Kindred Academy and you are to pass on what you have learned.”
Nancy quickly replied, “What about the ‘supreme power’ that Okeaous was promised by the Dark Spire? What is it? Can it be stopped? What would you have me do?”
After a few moments, the Nexus answered, “The power which was promised to Okeaous is not the Dark Spire’s to bestow. It belongs to another one of Our children. It belongs to Avior. Only she has the authority, granted by Us, to pass on the power that you speak of. That power is second only to Our own. It slumbers deeply within the Pentagem and answers to her call above all others. The false monument can boost Okeaous’ magic, but it is a pale imitation of the power that she truly seeks. The Dark Spire can be stopped, but not by you. You must gather your forces, Nancy Decker. Gather them and prepare to lay siege to Okeaous’ castle. The Pentagem must be returned to its rightful place in the heart of the Kindred Academy.”