by S Lawrence
Chapter 7
Cora
Everyone is staring at me. "What?" I implore.
"Ye eyes are fucking… I can't explain it," Sean answers, his face scrunched up. My face falls, my feelings bruised.
"Oh sweetheart, they are amazing. Jesus, Sean! Shut the fuck up," Emma scolds the mountain of a man. I like him but then, I've always been drawn to the broken ones. Michael punches his brother on the shoulder, gaining a glare from the blonde giant. I stare at them a moment, yin and yang, dark and light; they are two halves of a whole. The idea gives me pause, and I narrow my now freakish eyes. Aislin misunderstands and grabs my arm, pulling me up.
"Come on! Let's go in so you can see how uniquely beautiful they are. You might have to get some contacts though; they aren't exactly human anymore." My heart swells with my love for her, and she stumbles. "Whoa!" she gasps, looking at me. "I love you too."
"What? I didn't say anything." I stare at her and laugh as a grin blooms across her face. She stops and looks at Emma.
"What was given..." Emma runs to us, and we stand to stare at each other before someone clears their throat, our heads whip to look at the men. They each step back, surprise on their faces. "What's the problem?" I ask.
"We can feel the power coming from all of you. A power that wasn't there before," Jason declares.
We look at each other again. "So fucking cool," I murmur before we link arms and move as one into the house. The boys, as Aislin calls them, follow close behind, guarding us against everything. I've never had that - someone to protect me. I met the girls on the street. I had been squatting in a house after Katrina; I had ended up there after running from my home. I had thought I was pretty stealthy when I moved in and out of the house, but apparently not. Somehow they had found me, huddled in the filth. I had been ten going on thirty. I thought for sure they were going to turn me into child services, but they didn't. Instead, they snuck me in and out of their homes every night. They made sure I had food and clothes but let me live as I wished. I spent my days outside Saint Louis Cathedral telling fortunes.
It didn't take long for my reputation to grow and the money started to become steady, enough for me to pay for myself. It was hard when they left for college and I stayed behind, but every weekend, they came home and checked on me. By that time, Conal had moved me into a room over the garage, much to Moira's dismay. She never made me leave, only asked I come and go from the back of the house. God forbid her friends found out about the street urchin Aislin and Conal dragged home. By the time I hit eighteen, I had moved into my own place -- a little studio near the quarter. Now I have a bit bigger place, my own website, and I book private events.
I told these girls years ago, magic and adventure were in their futures. They didn't believe me. I let go of their arms and move to the mirror, gazing at my reflection. My once bright blue eyes are now silver grey, shimmery and glowing. Shit. So fucking cool. But Aislin is right. If I ever want to go out in public, I need to tone them down. I grin, turning to look at everyone.
At the exact same time, Aislin, Emma, and I start to talk. We all bust out laughing as we stumble over each other.
"What did she show you?" I gush.
"That's what I want to hear," Sean grumbles. I pin him with a look that says 'you first', while smiling like I do at men in the Quarter. "Why you smiling like that?" His brows drawdown, and his lips purse. The girls laugh, and even Jason chuckles.
"With this smile, right here," I point at my face, "I can get away with everything and get what I want. So, you first, you brawny Druid," I lip off, mimicking their thick Scottish accent. Kai looks away, hiding his grin. Sean's mouth opens and closes.
"Ye look like a fish, brother," Michael crows.
"Oh, never mind. I'll go first," I blurt, practically vibrating in excitement. "She showed me everything. Not only people and animals but trees and plants, all the way down to the smallest thing. I felt them all." I look at the others, seeing if they had experienced the same thing. The women were nodding their heads. The men didn't have a clue what I was talking about.
"I think we should possibly talk about when the three of you stopped before we ever reached Danu," Kai suggests.
"Right, right. Sure that's smart." I ramble when I'm excited. I look at the boys, waiting for them to take over. Michael sighs as Sean and I keep silently urging each other to go.
"I'll go, for fuck's sake," he barks at us. Sean grins at me, and I can almost hear his taunting in my head. I respond with my own look that screams 'you wait'.
"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but the Tree of Life told me many things. The most important at this time is that Raven is in danger. She is being pulled between two sides in the final battle. She either knows something she shouldn't or is about to discover it." Sean is nodding his head in agreement with Michael.
They are holding back, holding the personal things to themselves. I'm tempted to push but I like these two a lot. They think they are coming to protect me, but I don't think so. I'm going to defend them. To guide them. To show them the path to their destiny. I stare at them, and an image starts to form, foggy and out of focus. I know it is them, but it is just out of reach.
Suddenly, I'm jerked back to reality by a bruising grip on my shoulder. I blink up into Sean's dark emerald eyes, eyes so close, I notice the streaks of gold in them. His breath whispers over my face. "You stay here with us, Lassie," he scolds me, his voice distant. I don't miss the fear in his eyes before he fades away.
I blink and realize I'm surrounded by worried faces. "Ye left us for a minute," Michael admonishes softly.
"Sorry. I don't have a handle on this boost in power yet." I grin at everyone before dipping my chin at my guards. "What did I say?"
Before he can respond, we all feel the surge in power that heralds Nestor's arrival, and my little vision is forgotten for now. It's so fucking cool! He comes through like he's walking through an invisible door, long strides as he arrives in this dimension in a shimmer of light. Okay, all the incredibly horrible bullshit I put up with when I was younger, well, that was totally worth it for this. I look at the women who saved me, and I wonder about what Yggdrasill told me. How our threads were woven a millennia ago, how the weavers set us on a path. I know every little thing affects us, shapes us. Our choices send us in different ways, but now I must wonder how much those woven threads pull us to other people, people that are part of our destinies. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been found by Aislin and Emma and if Conal hadn't sheltered and pushed me. If I hadn't been at the wedding, would I have still seen my way to Sean and Michael? Shaking my head, I refocus on what Nestor is saying. He has delivered everything to the tree.
We plan late into the night, finally breaking apart right before dawn. Nestor leaves us to check on Mimi and Powaqu. He will come when we need him. He will move between each of the realms, using his powers to keep watch on us travelers. Tomorrow, we will step through the portal and start toward whatever destiny awaits us. I curl on the floor in front of the fireplace, and Michael and Sean each take a couch. I fall asleep with emerald and azure eyes locked on me. Dreams of Valhalla fill my mind, recent Marvel movies probably influencing them, and I can't help but fall in love with the villain… Just a little.
Chapter 8
SEAN
Everyone is sleeping, and I'm fucking laying here scared to close my eyes. I know the nightmares will come, the monsters will tear at my mind. Yggdrasill hadn't told me anything. I was frozen. I could see the others frozen but I didn't see any pretty images in my head. There was no sense of peace washing over me. She didn't proclaim my goddamn soul was good and light. Nope, nothing but flashes of my life and Michael's. She showed me secrets long buried so deep that they shouldn't have been dug up, and they weren't only mine. I roll my eyes to look at him. His sleep is fitful, and I know why. All those years, I thought I was protecting him, and they still took him, destroyed him. I know why he didn't tell me. We both fought to protect those who were weak and coul
dn't. I had thought I had shielded him as well. Well, this time, I will be his shield. I will stand before him and protect him.
I glance at Cora. She's a fucking kid, but I sense her damage as well. Won't we be quite the trio? Three broken, fucked up souls wandering through the Tree of Life? Yeah, this is going to be awesome. Oh yeah, and I can't forget the powerful beings that would rather kill us than let us discover their secrets.
I watch as Michael shifts and moans quietly; the nightmares have started. I focus on him, willing him to find peace. Jason walks out of the bedroom, silent as he crosses to us. He stands behind Michael, but his eyes are on mine. Knowledge stares at me, and shame washes through me. I want to look away but I refuse. I jump when a soft hand touches my shoulder, a testament to the turmoil in my mind that I didn't hear her approach.
"I could have hurt ye!" I hiss as I sit up. Aislin wraps her arms around me, burying her head against my neck, and I feel her hot tears running down my chest. "Ach, lass. Don't."
"So much pain. So much hurt," she mumbles against my skin, and I tense. "I don't know your secrets, but apparently now I can feel your emotions. The other thing you are feeling, please don't, Sean." Her voice is barely a whisper when she speaks again. "Things were done to you the same as they were to me. You were a boy and couldn't stopped it. Please believe me when I say you are a good man."
"Shhh. Stop crying, a sheòid," I beg as I rub her midnight hair. I hear Kai moving in behind her. My heart starts to slow, my shoulders relax, and I look up at Jason. He stands, whispering to Michael, but his power flows over all of us -- easing our pain. I want to fight it. I don't want to be better. I want the pain to fester and boil deep in me. It gives me strength. I see the faces of those that hurt us, and I rage. I'm in the room we found Chris in with Aislin, and I want to kill. If this adventure we are about to go on is anywhere near as bad as we've been told, I will need that will to kill. I will need the anger to wrap me up and let me unleash the beast they created.
I refocus on the room as Aislin's arm slides away from me. Kai pulls her to him as his dragon growls at her pain. I look at Michael, and his eyes are open. His body tenses as he realizes the others are standing around us. Cora still sleeps curled in front of the fire, oblivious to the demons that ride us every minute of the goddamn day and night. She reminds me of the little girls at the orphanage, sweet and innocent in her sleep. I pray we do a better job protecting her than we did them. My jaw clenches, my heart pounds as their cries fill my ears, and I'm transported back. My chest is heaving when I become aware of Michael beside me. My eyes are squeezed tight. I don't need to see him. His lips are near my ear when he whispers, "She is not them, and we are stronger now."
I jump to my feet and stalk out. I can't be around them anymore. I don't hear him but I know he follows. He always has and always will. I'm running as I hit the last step and race from the barn, the horses stamping in agitation. I run for the tree to unleash my anger and fear. When I reach it, I collapse under the sweeping branches behind the curtains of moss and I roar. A lifetime of hatred erupts from me. Never before, since we found out the Gods are real, did I dare to ask, but now my rage has wrestled control from me. I fall to my knees and drop my forehead to the ground.
"WHY? Why would you not stop them? Why didn't you save us?" I beg for answers, my voice sounding like it had so long ago in the darkest part of night. My mother's face flashes in my mind. Tears are on her cheeks, and I know that they often were. Her eyes are unfocused, and she is lost in a haze of the drugs she is always using. She's holding me on her hip, the bone poking me. It's dark and she sits me on the steps of the orphanage, promising that I would be safe there, that she was sorry but she just couldn't take care of me. Unable to keep me safe, she rants about finding him in my room, standing over my bed of blankets in the rat infested hovel.
Raising my head, I stare down as tears I didn't know I had fall, seeping into the dirt beneath the tree. The dirt drinks them in as each one plops down. Drip, drip, drip. My fingers dig in as I clutch handfuls of the rich brown loam and then I begin to feel it. Her. She. Mother of all things. Tendrils of her move through the tears and into my hands, sliding up my arms, wrapping me in her power.Her magic caresses against my cheeks, wiping away the tears that are cascading down them. She whispers to me, speaking of things past and possible futures.
My anger, so like molten lava, cools and hardens, becoming the strength she says I will need. The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fires.
Chapter 9
MICHAEL
I keep my gaze on him from the window. Kai watches from the sky, a great bronze dragon circling, ready to protect my brother. Sean's pain and anger beat at me. I want to go to him, to be his shield in this, but I can't. Emma holds my hand, keeping me here. Her new found power shows me what I need to understand. It doesn't make it easier. Sacrifice. That's what this is all about. Emma sacrificed herself for not only Jason, but also for the one who tortured her, Arias. Because of that strength and compassion, she has been bequeathed with this gift, one that she is quickly learning to use on me.
She whispers to me, telling me how I will need strength to get him home. We will both need to sacrifice greatly to survive the trials we will face. Her grip tightens as Sean's tortured voice rings out, demanding answers. I fight her gently, unwilling to hurt her.
Jason's hand grips my shoulder, and I look into his eyes. He leans in and whispers in my ear, "I have seen the horrors, the secrets buried. They will use them against you where you travel. Look around him, really look. She speaks to him. She wraps him in her power. Peace, brother." I still, my gaze turning once more to Sean on his knees. Aislin is gliding over the ground to him. Her power joins Yggdrasill's to bring him comfort. I watch and wait.
Suddenly, a bolt of magic hits me and my body arches. The others seem far away, although I can feel their hands holding me. My back bows under the magnitude of the force. I'm linked with those beneath the tree, and in my mind, their heads turn to me, eyes locking on me.
'You are all my children. And now you are strong enough, forged in the fires of loss, abuse, and torture. You three, along with others, will fight for humanity itself in the war that is to come.'
And just like it came, it was gone, and I'm panting as the others ease me to the couch. Cora is sitting up wide eyed, terror stamped on her face. Gone is the confident sassy young woman that was ready for anything. Her body is shaking. Her pale skin is ashen. I'm about to ask her if she had been shown anything when her eyes shimmer, filling with light as her new powers flare to life. Her shoulders fall and her hands ease open as her muscles relax completely. The vision is taking her far from us. Her eyes are glittering like diamonds or stars in the darkest sky.
Her voice is flat as she begins to speak loudly; it holds nothing of Cora in it. "They watch, they gather, they bring chains to leash the beast. One protector conquered." The light dies out as her voice fades. She looks around at us, "What?"
"Ye had a vision, lass," I state, eyebrows raised at her.
"What? I always see the stuff. I usually remember. I don't remember anything."
I don't miss the fear in her voice or on her face, and neither do the others. Emma slides down beside her. "It's probably just the new powers. I'm sure it will take you awhile to figure them out. I don't even know what mine are." She shrugs like she doesn't care that her powers are changing, but we all feel it bothering her. I look at Jason; we had both felt Emma's power as she shared it with me. Does she really not know what she had been doing?
"What's that look?" Emma demands.
"My love, you used your power on Michael as you held him locked here."
"I couldn't leave, Emma Girl. YOU kept me from going to him. My resolve strengthened because of you."
Her eyes widen, and her mouth opens and closes as she looks at us and then Cora. Jason chuckles. "I don't think she's ever been speechless."
Cora's laugh burst from her, a short little bark of amusement, and she shakes her head. "N
ot for as long as I've known her."
"Oh shut up all of you. I think we need a magic bootcamp to get a handle on these 'gifts'," she grouses, not really angry. Jason moves to her, taking her hands and pulling her up into his arms.
"Don't worry, Em."
"I could hurt someone or worse. I could make them think they are invincible and they could hurt themselves!" she retorts, her fear making her voice rise. Footsteps pound up the stairs, and AIslin bolts through the door, startling us all. She doesn't stop until she pulls Emma in her arms. Kai is close behind her, and Sean comes in last.
"She felt her distress all the way under the tree," Kai explains. Jason steps back, a smile on his face. Sean has a slight smile on his face as the two women gather Cora to them and walk into a bedroom, closing the door behind them, never saying a word. Those two women have a bond that's tighter than any I've ever seen, besides Sean and me. I think about their new powers and realize those that gave them to them understood that bond. The others have moved to sit, knowing it will be a long while before they join us again.
"They gave them complimenting powers. Two sides of the coin. Strength and compassion," I proclaim, and the others nod.
"I realized it when Emma's power washed over us." Kai's eyes flare amber. "I'm sorry, my dragon realized it as he watched from above. He can see the power - the colors, the patterns. Theirs weave together when they use them. Before, Emma's reached for Aislin's, and vice versa."
We all look toward the bedroom. As humans, those women were a force to be reckoned with. Now they are going to be like the hurricanes that blow through their beloved city.
Chapter 10
LOKI
I return to my brother's hall. I slip my mask in place as I walk into the room; we have played this game since we arrived on this world. The moment his warring nature took over and he forgot the reason we left our home planet is the moment I became the Trickster. I've played my persona to Gods and humans alike for thousands of years. Only a few know the real me, know the reason for my deceptions.