Incarnations

by Butler, Christine M.

  "Ah, Seth, always one to interrupt the party," Marc spat.

  "Shut your..." Seth noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, a third person he hadn't seen in the room yet. Caislyn had warned him that Jaxon was traveling with someone, but she failed to mention who that someone was. "Oh my God!" Was all he could manage.

  "Seth?" Brigid whispered.

  "Family reunions are so sweet after so very long, are they not?" Marc's laughter that accompanied his question was beyond cruel. And Jaxon just looked on at the three of them puzzled by the turn of events.

  "Family reunion?" She questioned, looking from Seth to Brigid and back again.

  "Brigid?" Seth questioned. "How?"

  She pointed to Marc. "He's the reason our whole family died. I didn't see you with the others when I awoke, Seth. I just assumed he took your body to spite me and make me wonder."

  "How is it possible that we've both been, well, still of this earth this whole time and never knew?"

  "Your lovely sister went rogue. Kitten didn't like to play, and she hid from me for a long time, but I see she's finally found that fiery spirit that attracted me to her all those years ago, along with some new friends," he nodded his head behind him towards Jaxon.

  "Okay, seriously, what's going on here? Seth? Brigid?" Jaxon looked between the two of them, never removing her calming hand from Marc’s neck.

  Seth was the first to answer. "It's my sister, Jax. Remember the sketch Caislyn did of Marc with the girl? The one she said was of the past instead of the future?"

  "Oh," realization dawned on Jaxon all of a sudden, "Oh! Oh, God. And all this time, neither of you knew the other was still alive?"

  "Well, not exactly alive, Jax, but no, we weren't aware. At least, I wasn't" Brigid added, before going to her brother and hugging him.

  Seth just shook his head, "Brigid, if I had known..." He released Brigid from the hug, slowly, and then sunk down on the couch across from where Jax was still standing behind Marc. Jax had to stop herself from going to him and remember that she still had information to get.

  She looked down at Marc, squeezed harder and said, "now that you just got off on destroying someone's family all over again, I do believe you were about to tell me a story..."

  ***

  THE ALTERNATIVE

  "Ash, where are you taking me exactly?" Caislyn called to him as he walked ahead of her into the forest. He just smiled back over his shoulder at her and kept on walking. She continued to follow, intrigued by the fact that their training session was finally going to be held somewhere other than the stupid RV that had become almost like a jail cell to her.

  "I think your abilities were being stifled in that monstrosity. The Fey have always weaved their greatest magics in nature. You need to learn to use what comes natural to you, and I don't think being stuck in an RV is natural." It was then that Ash pulled back on the browned, dead looking brush before him and revealed a clearing in the woods. Caislyn could hear the babbling sounds of the stream up ahead, and as she walked into the clearing she saw the picnic that was spread out on a blanket, waiting for them.

  "Ash," she started, but he just took her by the hand and sat her down. "Ash," Caislyn tried again, "I did not come out here for a date. No matter what's happened between Gregore and I, we are still married. I won't betray that again."

  "We are training, and you are going to get hungry. I can just be a nice person you know." She eyed him wearily, but the hurt look in his eyes convinced her not to press any further. She looked around and took note that there were berries, cheeses, crackers, and more along with juice sitting there waiting. Caislyn’s stomach betrayed her and started rumbling frantically, just as her mouth started watering at the sight of all that food. “See, someone has to think ahead for you. It’s not just you anymore Cais.” Ash nodded to her belly, which was starting to show signs of growth.

  "Okay, well, let's get started then," she said as she picked up an apple slice, waggled it in front of Ash with a roll of her eyes, and popped it into her mouth.

  Ash chuckled before starting the lesson for the day. "Look around, Caislyn." Ash watched Caislyn as she did just that. She wasn't sure what reaction he was looking for, but she decided to ignore him, and focus on the world around them as he had asked. She saw the picnic he had planned for them. She saw the forest surrounding them, and then she realized she was seeing something sparkling out of the corner of her eye.

  "What the..." a smirk graced Ash's face as her awareness took hold. The sparkle started to grow, and before long Caislyn felt as though she were going to be blinded by the brilliance of it. Panic started to spread through her until she felt Ash's hand on her shoulder, grounding her as the brilliance washed all around them. When Caislyn opened her eyes again the world was a different place. The forest around them came alive, vibrating with its own energy. Where the silky grasses ended, velvety moss began. Greens were suddenly greener, reminding Caislyn of the amazing brilliance she always saw in Ash's eyes when he looked at her. The sweetest smells lingered on the air, things that Caislyn couldn't quite make out. Hints of vanilla and something spicier. Flowers swayed in the gentle, almost breeze, while a burst of color was flushed out of a bush nearby. Butterflies were suddenly exploding from outward toward the azure blue sky that seemed to have a life all its own. She held her hand out allowing the butterflies to land on her, and before long there were more than she could count. They stayed there long enough for her to draw several breaths and then they fluttered away again. She watched in awe as they took off, and then she turned her attention back to the person who was responsible for all of this. "You brought me through to Faerie."

  Ash didn't respond, he just smiled at Caislyn and held his hand out, gesturing to the landscape around them. "I thought maybe it was time you explored your own homeland a bit."

  "But, they told me I wasn't allowed here. You brought the warning, remember."

  "Things change, Caislyn."

  "Yeah, but I chose to marry Gregore. I didn't think those changes applied once I did that."

  "Caislyn, in our world you are married to the one you procreate with. There's still hope for me." Ash glanced again at Caislyn’s belly, and then held his hand out for her again.

  A shocked "oh" graced Caislyn's next breath. Just when she thought the pressure couldn't get any worse concerning who's baby she carried. Now, her father's homeland hung in the balance as well.

  "Am I allowed to come here then, at least until the baby is born?"

  Ash simply nodded in affirmation as Caislyn took his hand and stood with him.

  "Can I go see my father's resting place?" A sadness settled over her, but she couldn't forget her father, not when she was here. She needed the closure.

  "I'm not sure where it is, Caislyn." Before her mood could dissipate further he moved forward and grabbed her up into a hug. "But I will find out so that next time you can."

  "Thank you," she said. Caislyn took a few more minutes to catch her breath and then she went back to looking over the world they were now standing in. "How easy is it for me to get here? Do I have to do it with you?"

  "Well, isn't that what got you into this trouble to begin with?" He laughed, loudly as Caislyn first looked confused and then caught on.

  "Ha! You're hilarious, and I do believe you know what I meant."

  "Oh, I know what you meant, but it's so much more fun to insinuate things..." he was still laughing when she smacked him on the shoulder.

  "I'm being serious."

  "Okay, seriously, I think you can do it yourself, and I will teach you."

  "But? I sense a but coming on."

  "But, I would rather you come here with me, at least for a while. You may be allowed to be here, but Faerie is a different world, Caislyn. It's one you aren't equipped to deal with on your own just yet. There are still those here who would take you, use you to further themselves, or to hurt others."

  "Okay, no scare tactics needed. I get it. Safer with an escort." Caislyn wondered if
she was imagining things or if the tree behind her had actually gotten closer to her when she noticed the harsh look Ash was sending over her shoulder. The tree suddenly moved back and Caislyn's eyes bugged out of her head at the thought of a tree, a freaking tree, moving that close to her. Hell, a tree moving at all. This was what Ash was talking about there were so many things she didn't know about Faerie, things she wouldn't know to look for. The tree had just made his point for him and she could sense the damn thing laughing at her now.

  "Okay, so while we are here I wanted to show you a few things that may help with you connecting to Jaxon, and getting her back. Not just to the camp, Caislyn, but really getting her back. I know she crossed some lines that you don't think she can pull back from, but I promise you we all have our dark days and every one of us is capable of finding redemption."

  Ash sounded for all the world like he was speaking from personal experience, but Caislyn didn't pressure him for any more information. She knew there was only so much she was going to get from him. He definitely wasn't the open book that Gregore had always been.

  "Okay, I'm ready." Caislyn noticed the shocked look on Ash's face. He had apparently been waiting on her to question his last statement, like she always did. Instead she surprised him by taking it at face value and moving on to the lesson.

  "Okay." He said and then flashed his usual grin at her. It was the grin that melted her heart every time. She tried not to imagine the night they had spent together, but that grin always took her back there to that night. A warm flush hit her cheeks and there was no hiding her blush from him. He returned the favor and didn't question her. Instead he continued on, "Faerie is the place you go when you're in the in-between. Dream walking places you in the essence of Faerie. While you aren't actually here like you are now, it's almost like a ghost plane. The distinction isn't really important. What is important is that it can be used the same way. You can manipulate things easier here than in your human world. The same goes for the dream walking realm. Remember when I brought us here that night?" As he said this emerald flower petals fluttered around them and that blush started creeping up Caislyn's neck and face again. He smiled at her reaction. "Well, it's the same principal. The flowers came out of the dream with you. Other things can too. You can't pull a person out of the dream per say, unless they are Fey, but you can manipulate almost every other aspect. You have the power to make Jaxon believe whatever you want her to believe. You need to use this to your advantage, Caislyn. It's the only way that she's going to come back from what she's done. She needs someone to guide her out of the dark and that someone can be you.

  "How do I do it?"

  "Clear your mind."

  The look she threw at Ash said a million things all at once and they all boiled down to, "Really? Like that's possible."

  "Okay, well at least try to shut off the majority of that jumbled mess you have going on up there."

  "Fine, what next."

  "Make the flower petals come back."

  "What?"

  "Concentrate on what you want. Make the petals come back and have them dance for us."

  Caislyn blushed again at just the thought of the petals. Then she closed her eyes and pictured them. Of course, picturing those petals took her back to those memories of her with Ash. An ever present blush crawled across her skin and settled in for the long haul. The petals were there in her mind, a tangible thing. She drew one more breath and opened her eyes demanding that the petals be there. They were. Both she and Ash sat in a sea of emerald petals. "I did it!" She cheered.

  "Not quite." He smiled at her, "now make them dance."

  "Sure, easy." She thought about the petals dancing around them in swirls and flutters and before long they were responding to her thoughts. It was a beautiful storm of green, showering down around them and fluttering away again. The petals repeated their movements and before long Caislyn realized there was laughter intermingled with the petal dance. It was her own laughter. Something she hadn't really been capable of in recent days. She had missed her laugh and there it was, bubbling over, reminding her that she used to have such a happy life. It seemed this realm was capable of more healing that she had thought. Jaxon wasn’t the only one who could benefit from a bit of the Fey’s influence.

  "Beautiful," Ash proclaimed, but he wasn't paying any attention to the swirling petals. His eyes were for Caislyn, and for her alone. She knew that, just from the look, but she wasn't sure what to do with it. The minute she started to fret over what her heart really wanted, the petals dropped to the ground and then disappeared altogether.

  ***

  FLASHING BACK

  "The Brotherhood you are so desperate to do away with is what made me who I am today," Marc started into his story, as Jaxon, Brigid, and Seth sat listening. "Once upon a time ago I thought I was merely human. That was until the Brotherhood got hold of me. I apparently had an interesting skill set that they thought to use in their war against evil and magic. I was born a witch, not that I knew it. I was also tossed aside, a screaming orphan in the gutters near a whore house. I was raised by a scullery maid who found me, but she died when I was eight, leaving me on my own. I wasn't aware that my mother had been a witch. So, when the Brotherhood found me around the age of 10, stealing bread on the streets, they snatched me up and took me in. I was grateful for the regular meals and a warm place to lay my head, and soon, I was listening with rapt attention to the tales of evil that Brothers would tell. I began to ask questions about how I could help their cause. I didn't want the evil to spread any further either. That's also about the time that my magic began ot manifest. They say some witches don't come into their power until they hit puberty. The chemical changes in the body release the power that has been locked away. For me, that was very true. Though, I suppose, had I known about my powers all along and exercised them, they probably would have shown up sooner. Anyway, I was obviously in great distress when my powers started to bleed through, even as I tried to supress them. Brother Miles pulled me aside one day and I cried to him in his room about being the evil the brothers feared. He assured me I was not evil, that I had been given access to the powers for a reason. I was to fight fire with fire. They had a special position for me to ascend to, but first, I would have to start training."

  Marc was lost in his thoughts for a moment, until Jaxon leaned over and placed her other hand on his. She wasn't trying to comfort him, she was encouraging him to keep going with her touch. She pushed the need to purge all this emotional baggage out of him. And he responded with an audible gasp before continuing.

  "I met a boy, when I first came to live with the Brotherhood. His name was Caleb. He always struck me as odd, because he had eyes so blue they almost appeared white, crystalline even. He was to train with me, as a back up, in case I didn't meet all the requirements of the position. The Brotherhood thought they would push us harder because we each had competition, but what they did was forged a friendship that time couldn't break. Caleb and I trained, daily, for our new roles as the protectors of the world. We weren't sure what that entailed, and we spent lots of time pondering over what it would one day mean. As we grew older, trained harder, and grew to be trusted, we were told more. There was a way to bring magic to an end. One of the two of us would be instrumental in making that happen. I for one, hoped it would be me, because my magic was still out of control at times. I thought it would help cure me."

  "Little did I know, it would be the end of me." Marc shook his head before continuing. "By the time Caleb and I reached our 19th year, we were told that we were to be tested. Whichever one of us did better during the testing would go on to attain the position of Regent of the Brotherhood. We would in essence, one day become the leader of the Brotherhood. We were tested, and then tested some more. Just when we both thought we would quit rather than endure any more of the physical and emotional strain, the end of the testing was announced. Two days later, they came forward and explained that I was to be Regent, and that Caleb would be my second. We w
ere both okay with this. I took the oath and followed through with the ceremony, naming me Regent. Then, I grew God-awful sick. I'm not sure what they did to me during that ceremony, but for 6 days afterwards, I thought I would die. I was delusional, with fever, I felt as though I would burn up from the inside out. Before it was all over, I lost weight, dropping down to an unrecognizable welp of a boy rather than muscular man I had become prior to the ceremony. I was weak, and I felt as though my magic had been drained from me."

  "Was it?" Jaxon interrupted. "I mean, was it drained?"

  "No, not in the way I had hoped. It was transformed. I was told, once I recovered, that my magic would keep me immortal until such time as I could find the two who would change the course of our history. The two that had been spoken of by prophets for ages. The two who could... well, they could change things forever. So, I began to recover. As my strength grew, so did my recklessness. I didn't believe that I was truly immortal, and Caleb and I tried everything to kill me. Nothing worked. It seems stupid now, to think on the things we did to test the theory, but it also showed the blind faith we held in the Brotherhood. We literally put my life in our hands at every turn, just to test the waters, not caring what happened as a result, because we knew the Brotherhood was telling the truth about immortality."

  "I was warned, however; that I would not be allowed beyond the Monastery gates after the change. This was unacceptable to me. I needed my freedom to roam as much as the next young man. It would be another two years of following orders while Caleb and I secretly tried to find a weakness within me. After two years though, I grew beyond restlessness and knew that I had to get away from the monastery, even if only for a short time. I was bored with the never ending games Caleb and I devised to try to test my immortality. So, we decided to leave the Monastery and find adventure."