by Jack Crosby
She jumped in and pulled the seat down. Cas patted the leather with his hand. “C’mon Garden Boy, I haven’t gotten a chance to show you what this thing really can do.”
I dropped into the seat and immediately felt Cassandra’s hand on my shoulders. Cas hit the gas and off we were into the city night.
Chapter 5 – Merlin the Grumpy Old Wizard
We pulled up to an old brownstone in the Georgetown district. I was still holding on for dear life as the car came to a complete stop. Cas’s driving leaved a lot to be desired, and that’s being polite. I got out of the car, happy my feet were on solid ground. “Never again.”
From the other side of the car, “What’s wrong Oz old man? Never dragged raced before?”
Cassandra was out too and she was busy trying to keep my steady. “Of course he hasn’t dragged race you idiot! I doubt they even have cars in Eden.”
“You’d be surprised. My dad’s horse Khloros turns into a Ford Taurus SHO.”
I don’t think anyone was prepared for me to tell them that a Horseman’s horse could transform into a car. I let that sink in as I walked over to the house. “Is this Merlin’s place?”
“There is very old magic here.” Tyra’s wings were spread wide. “Some of it is rather hostile.”
“Don’t worry about Merlin, he’s a fucking asshole but a decent guy.” Cas unlocked the door and opened it. “Let’s not keep the old son of a bitch waiting; else we’ll have to listen to him fucking moan and groan before we get to the good stuff.”
The four of us entered the house and went up the stairs immediately off the entrance door. From the outside, this looked to be a three level home, but the stairs certainly weren’t matching up. As the minutes dragged on, I felt as if I was walking all the way to Heaven. “How much higher do we need to go?”
“His tower stretches well into the sky. Keep pushing Oz.” Cassandra gave me a smile and a quick shoulder rub. Tyra looked over, displeased. What was happening here?
We kept going. My feet burned, the knees were aching, and my leg muscles were cramping, yet there was no end in sight. The Twins were used to this and Tyra was using her wings to float above the stairs. That only left me really experiencing this awfulness, so I stayed quiet.
Then Cas stopped. “We’re here. Everyone stay quiet until I say otherwise.” He reached out and grabbed a door handle that wasn’t there a second ago. He pulled the invisible door open and immediately we were sucked into the room.
The place looked just like an old wizard’s tower should. Books lined all the shelves with gadgets and other questionable things lying everywhere. In the middle of the room was a large cauldron that was boiling over with an old man standing over it. “Shit, needs oregano.”
“Are you trying to make soup again old man?”
He looked over at the smart mouthed twin and scowled. “Ah Caspian, my greatest regret. I can’t say I’m looking forward to hearing your excuses this time.”
“Master, we found him.”
Merlin stopped looking at the cauldron when Cassandra spoke and found his way to me. “By Odin’s left eye, you found the Son of the Reaper.” He pushed his glasses up and walked over to me. “Oz Grimm, I never thought this day would come.”
Merlin’s face was wrinkly and his beard was decently long and pure white. The top of his head was bald, except for the sides. Trimmed white hair framed the bald scalp. “You’re truly Merlin, from like the Round Table and the stories.”
“Aye, I am. I’ve been alive way too long and I hope with you here now that will expedite my end.”
“What do you mean?”
Before he answered me, he looked at the other guest he had, Tyra. “An angel in my inner sanctuary, this is an odd day indeed. Let me guess, Caspian knocked you up and you’re looking for child support.”
While Cas looked incredibly okay with that idea, Tyra, to be blunt, was mortified. “Absolutely not! I am here as a friend to Oz.”
The old wizard waved it off. “It matters not, the more the merrier some assholes like to say.” He refocused on me. “What I mean Son of Death is my life force is tied to Morgan Le Fey. While one of us lives, both do. Cassandra has foreseen it that the two of you shall bring her to an end, which will finally allow me to move on.”
Oh great, more of that prophecy stuff. “I think I’m missing a few pieces of the puzzle here.”
Merlin grabbed an old book off the shelf and thrusted it at me rather briskly. “Time is not our friend tonight and I don’t wish to waste what little we have.” Even though it was in my hands, he opened the book to the exact page he was looking for. “Morgan Le Fey is responsible for inciting shadow wars at different times over the millennia. In fact, if she is left unchecked, another one will begin in just a year’s time.”
“So we do have time?
He laughed. I didn’t think this was funny, but he certainly did. “Time is a fickle mistress, doing as she pleases with no regard. Even as we speak, there is one out there on a quest to change it for the worse.”
I heard someone tapping their foot behind me. “C’mon old man, enough with the fucking riddles and tell him what’s up.” Of course, it was Cas.
“Ungrateful, snot nosed, little piece of shit…” Merlin may’ve been mumbling, but it was loud and clear. “Oz, the point of this is Morgan has sent your brother back in time to bring her the key to her ultimate victory. She needs pearl that resides in the Mermaid Queen’s heart. With it, none would be able to stop her magical powers.”
I rubbed my ears hard. “Did you say Jacoby was sent back in time?”
“This violates all laws written by the Almighty!” Tyra stormed forward. “One cannot simple upset the fabric of time like that.”
“I appreciate you telling me the rules angel, but I’m telling you it has been done.” He pushed her aside to get back to me. “To counteract this, I wish to send the three of you back to stop him.”
My brother was in a different era? “Do it, I need to find Jacoby.”
“Oz, I cannot allow Merlin to do this.” The hot angel grabbed my arms. “Distorting the time line is one of the worst rules to break.”
“I’m sorry Tyra, but I need to find my brother. There’s good in him and it’s up to me to reunite my family.”
The Twins joined Merlin around his cauldron. Cassandra reached a hand out to me. “This is your destiny Oz, just as I told you earlier.”
But Tyra wasn’t about this yet. “I am sorry, as an angel, I have the authority to stop this madness. Even with your good intentions, allowing such a blatant disregard of the Almighty’s rules to be broken in my presence will not occur.”
“Then come with us, in an official capacity.” I blurted it out really without thinking. “I mean, if that’s something you can do.”
“We don’t need the angel on this mission Merlin. Do something.”
The old wizard didn’t respond to Cassandra. Instead, he looked at me and Tyra. “The boy might be on to something. Tell me dear, is it your wish to allow Morgan Le Fey to gain access to one of the most precious magical items this world has?”
“No, I would never wish for anything like that to occur.”
“So if you joined this mission, you would be acting under the orders of the Almighty, correct?”
Behind Merlin I mouthed the words please to her. I could tell she was about to do something against her better judgement. “It seems we are in a difficult position. I shall accompany the time travelers and make sure we do not disrupt the timeline any more than needs to be.”
It was my turn to get happy. “Great! Now that’s all settled, where exactly do we need to go to find my brother?”
“Key West, in the spring of 1982. This is the last time according to celestial records that the mermaids interacted with the human race. Shortly after this date, they disappeared, never to be seen again. This is our only opportunity to protect the queen and hopefully find out where they went from there.”
“Did you say Key West?”<
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Merlin didn’t like being question. He barked at her, “Yes angel I did. Why?”
She shied back. “Oh no reason, other than it has the highest concentration of demons ever recorded.”
He pushed me and Tyra over to the Twins and laughed. “Then I guess the four of you better be careful. Now, off you go!”
“Wait!” I was about to ask how we’d get back when the job was finished, but I was too late. We were gone, sucked into the fabric of time.
Chapter 6 – An Old Friend
I landed hard on the street. “Damn, that really hurt!” I rubbed my head and stood up. The closest sign read Duval Street. “Everyone okay?”
The quiet nature of everyone concerned me. It was only then did I realize I was all alone. No foul mouthed Cas, no creepy, yet sexy Cassandra, and no beautiful and busty Tyra. I did a quick check around and decided my only option was to move forward.
It seemed to be late afternoon and my lord it was hot. I saw a paper lying on the ground and picked it up – April 21st 1982. Well hell, Merlin’s time travel spell or whatever he did worked. Having never been to Florida, I wasn’t prepared for the muggy, hot air that spring time apparently provides.
The further down Duval I went, the more people began showing up. There were also a ton of bars around, with plenty of people moving in and out, all with beers or shot glasses in hand. It seemed I was in the middle of some sort of party.
For some reason, the name Key West stuck in my head. I’d heard it recently from someplace, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. That is until I saw an old wooden sign on a store front – Captain Argus Fletcher’s Pirate Tours. My step-mom Roxanne had told me about this guy. Eagerly, I ran into the shop.
It was just as hot in here as it was outside. Fans were blowing all over the place and from behind the counter; a very handsome dude put down the paper and welcomed me. “Welcome to the Pirate Tours, I’m Captain Argus. Just one today?”
“Sure, yeah I’ll take a tour.” I reached inside my wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill. Thankfully the date on it read 1979, or else I might have some explaining to do.
Argus took the money and grinned. “The Black Cat is docked just two streets over. I’ll wait about five more minutes just to make sure no one else wants to come.”
I took a seat on the lawn chair by the front door. Just how the hell was I going to explain to him who I was? Hmmm, I needed some help. I looked inside my wallet again and took out the only picture I had of all three of us, Dad, Roxanne, and me. Walking back over to the counter, “Mr. Argus, this might be a tad bit strange, but do you recognize the lady in this picture?”
“Whoa kid, I’m a happily married ma-” He stopped when he saw Roxanne. “I haven’t seen that face in a good long time.”
I laid the picture down on the counter and he took it. “That’s my mom and dad, well step-mom anyway, but she might as well be my real one.” Shit, I was rambling. “Sorry, she told me some pretty awesome stories about you and I really wanted to meet you.”
With the picture still in his hand, he walked over and flipped the sign to read ‘closed.’ “Well I’ll be Davey Jones himself, Roxanne is still alive and kicking after all these years.”
“Yeah, she lives in the Garden of Eden with Death, who happens to be my dad.”
He handed the picture back with a look of disbelief. “Darina told her she’d find her soulmate, but hell if I’d thought it’d be Death.”
Another person walked into the office from the back. As she parted the beads that acted as the doorway, I immediately took notice to the flaming red hair and the pearl like skin. She was drop dead gorgeous. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop husband, but I couldn’t help but hear how you said Roxanne found her soulmate?”
“This kid here is the son of Death himself. Apparently Roxanne is his stepmom and they live in the Garden of Eden. How crazy is that shit?”
Darina brushed my cheek with the back of her hand. “He shares the same blood as I do.” Unsure of what she meant, she helped me out. “I’m a mermaid, a close relative the Lust demons. “If Roxanne isn’t your mother, than who is child?”
“I never met her, she died protecting me when I was just an infant. I do know she was a Lust demon too.” Dad did an excellent job of telling me all he could. Still, I’m sure where ever she was, she was happy Roxanne filled in. “All I ever remember was just the three of us, me, dad, and Roxanne.”
Something else seemed to bother her. “Just under the surface is an old magic, one I don’t even recognize. There’s more to this story I think.”
I debated for a second not telling them the truth. I knew somewhere my three allies were probably facing their own situations and it was time for me to do what I needed to. So, I broke down and told them everything from the moment I walked into my house and met Cassandra to Merlin sending us back in time to stop my brother. It was funny seeing their faces when I said I was from the future, but neither broke up my story and allowed me to finish.
“So, the basic nature of this mission is to stop my brother from killing the mermaid queen and taking the pearl that is in her heart.”
They shared a glance, which led me to believe they were unsure of my story. Then Argus spoke up. “Family of Roxanne’s is family of ours. We’ll help you in whatever way we can.”
“Fate is ever flowing Oz Grimm.” The mermaid’s voice was very soothing. “It was not a coincidence you learned about us before your adventure started.”
“Since you’re a mermaid Darina, do you know who the queen is? We have to do what we can to protect her.”
Argus snickered. “Unfortunately secrets like that aren’t easily divulged. But trust me Oz, she can manage for herself.”
I was skeptical, as I knew what kind of warrior Jacoby was. “Okay, well if and when you see her, let her know my brother is not to be taken lightly. He’s part Nyx and has a pretty nasty streak in him.”
“You’re concern is noted.” Darina winked at me and I felt my heart flutter for just a minute.
I was brought back into the moment by Argus. “So you have three friends stranded here too; the good news is the island is small. We should be able to find them rather quickly.”
“One of them, an angel named Tyra, said this place has a very high demon concentration. Is that true?”
“Aye, it’s true.” He nodded with his head over to the corner. A rather curious looking sword leaned up against the counter. “My cutlass, Asunder, has ended the lives of more than a few blights to this region.”
Demons are not what to fear though.” Darina gave an involuntary shudder. “For the last decade, our island has been under the constant threat of a sea demon as old as time itself. While here Oz, do not run afoul of Davey Jones himself.”
“I’m guessing this isn’t a joke…”
“A long time ago, well before I even took up the noble art of piracy, there was a captain so obsessed with immortality that he made a deal with an Arch-Demon named Beelzebub. In exchange for never fearing the Reaper, Beelzebub wished for this captain to send as many men to his realm as possible.”
The cocky, happy face that had been Argus was gone. “How did this Davey Jones do it?”
“Aboard his ship, The Flying Dutchman, there’s a portal that leads straight to Beelzebub’s kingdom in Hell. I’ve been trying for years to destroy the ship and with it, his power.”
“Argus, this isn’t a problem for our guest.” He closed his eyes and opened them back up with a smile. “My husband is right though; do try to stay out of the demon pirate’s path for your stay. He’s not known to be very forgiving.”
Consider that advice received. Outside I heard a bit of a commotion going on, but from what I’d seen so far, that seemed normal here. Argus went to look though. As he did, “Darina, where’s the one place I should start my search for my friends?”
I’d asked the mermaid; instead the former pirate answered. “Stupid question – is one of your friends a purple haired witch?”
“That’s Cassandra, why?”
He pulled up the shade to the window, allowing me to see. “She’s currently fighting a Wrath demon outside my shop.”
I pulled out my blade and let my chain wrapped wings appear. As my celestial fire powered up my sword, I charged outside into the streets.
Chapter 7 – Battle for the Conchs
I jumped, kicking forward at my target. The soul of my sneaker hit the angry Wrath demon in the chin and knocked him back a bit. I flipped off, using the impact for momentum and landed beside Cassandra. “You okay?”
Purple energy was gathering in her hands. “Oz, yes I’m okay!” She seemed genuinely happy to see me. “This creature thinks he can have his way with me.”
“Per the accords, these witch sluts belong to us demons!” His voice reminded me of a greasy used car salesman. It certainly didn’t match his large, muscular body. “I will take this whore and make her pussy yearn for me!”
This large oaf really thought he was entitled to Cassandra. “You got two choices buddy, back down or die.”
Large, black eyes found their way to my wings. “What kind of fucking sorcery is this? You have both the scent of a Lust demon and the enchantments of the Reaper.”
“I don’t think you need to concern yourself with that.”
“Oz, I think we need to kill him now.”
I didn’t take her for the kill on a whim type. “There’s still a chance we can talk him down.”
The purple energy grew. “You don’t think if he escapes, he won’t question who you are? That could have major consequences.”
Huh – Cassandra made an excellent point. “Death to demons it is.”
The Wrath demon roared in rage and pulled a spike right off of its back. I didn’t even see it had spikes, but sure enough, it just ripped off a piece of itself to make a weapon. Cassandra blasted the creature with the purple haze she had in her hand. The Wrath demon stumbled, but it didn’t seem all that injured or anything. Nope, more like just annoyed.