Incarnations

by Butler, Christine M.

  "I don't know." Jaxon said.

  "I tried to warn her that I didn't think it was safe to travel that way. She has no clue what it will do to the baby." Seth was furious, she could hear the anger plainly in his voice.

  "Did you call Gregore?" Jaxon asked.

  "No, I can't reach him. The cell he had before is no longer active. I'm not sure what's going on."

  "I do." Ash's voice was suddenly everywhere, like smooth velvet trailing across her skin.

  "What the hell?" The unfamiliar female voice nearly yelped.

  "Ash!" Seth said, "I'm glad you were able to get here quickly. She teleported in, then fainted, she hasn't come to yet."

  "Damn it. I didn't think she'd attempt to teleport anywhere or I would have been in the room with her."

  "What do you mean?"

  "She decoded that damn book. I was hoping to head her off at the pass so the rest of us could know what it said before she ran off on one of her little quests." Ash said. He must have been leaning in close because suddenly Caislyn's senses were flooded with the sweet, exotic smell of him. Faerie clung to him where ever he went, and it instantly made Caislyn feel at home and at ease. "And by the way, Gregore's gone. He gave Caislyn an ultimatum, and when she refused to stop training with me, in order to find you, he took off. No one's heard from him since."

  "That dick!' Jaxon proclaimed as she jumped up and started pacing back and forth. "I'm sorry, Cais. I'm so sorry. I didn't know I was still screwing things up for you too. Uggghhh! Does anyone know what the damn book said?"

  "No. Vesta's working on it now, but I came as soon as Seth called."

  Caislyn tried to open her eyes, to speak, to tell them how important it was for her and Jaxon to get to the Brotherhood. She wanted nothing more than to be able to make them all understand how monumental this prophecy was, but she just couldn't. The effort to try to open her eyes at all was so taxing. Instead, she found herself slipping off into a peaceful dream.

  ~*~

  "Where are we?" Ash asked as he looked around the small city.

  "This is what it will be like when the prophecy is fulfilled. Peaceful. We will all be able to live without all this drama that's been tearing us apart."

  "Wait, what are you saying, Caislyn?"

  "I'm saying things will be different if Jaxon and I do this, but it will be different for the better."

  "How do you know that? This is just a dream."

  "It's a dream of the future, Ash."

  "Momma?" A little girl of about four years old came running up and threw her arms around Caislyn. She looked so much like the woman herself, that there was no denying who she was. "Momma come see the pretty butterflies."

  "Okay, baby," Caislyn said without question as she walked off hand in hand with the little girl."

  Ash stood there watching and wondering what it meant that the little girl hadn't recognized or even acknowledged him. He stood watching as the woman he loved, and her daughter, walked over to a bush, commonly known as a butterfly bush, and sat down watching the perfectly normal butterflies fluttering around it. As he took notice the butterflies dipped into the flowers for the sweet nectar they provided.

  These butterflies were not made from Faerie, they were real and normal, which he guessed was what Caislyn meant, because he also sensed an absence of magic around them. He tried to reach out through the dream and tap into Faerie, but was unable to.

  "Caislyn?" He called to her, but she didn't turn around any longer. The minute the little girl came up to them Caislyn seemed to forget that Ash existed.

  ~*~

  "Well, did you reach her?" Jaxon asked as soon as Ash woke up.

  "Only momentarily, and then she seemed to forget that I was there."

  "What does that mean?" Jaxon asked.

  "It means that she talked to me momentarily then a little girl called her mommy, they walked off together, and neither of them acknowledged my presence again."

  "Oh." Jaxon could feel the emotion rolling off of Ash now. He was disappointed, thinking that it meant the baby Caislyn now carried wasn't his. "It doesn't necessarily mean anything, Ash."

  "No, but something else bothered me. Caislyn said it was a dream of the future. But in her future there was no magic. I couldn't even summon Fey magic inside her dream. I don't know what that means, but I was definitely blocked, and that's never happened before."

  "Okay, we have to figure out what to do to help wake Caislyn up so we can find out." Jaxon said as she took Seth's phone and began dialing.

  "Vesta, it's Jaxon." She listened for a moment, "no, no, she got here. We have a little problem though. I was hoping you would know what to do." Jaxon relayed what was going on with Caislyn, and then listened for quite a while as Vesta explained what they needed to do for her daughter. When she was finished she made Jaxon promise to call her immediately when things changed.

  "We need to get her outside, as close to Faerie as we can, and then you need to take her over," she said to Ash.

  "Why?" Ash asked.

  "Vesta said it was Faerie magic that caused this, since witches can only summon and not teleport. She said, because it was Faerie magic involved, that perhaps being closer to Faerie could help heal her as well."

  "That makes sense." Ash shook his head, “Vesta always was a smart cookie.” Ash said as he went to the bedroom to gather Caislyn up.

  ~*~

  Ash took Caislyn to the fields just beyond the condos and lay her there in the grass. He began weaving some of the magic from Faerie until the ground around them began to shimmer, then he grabbed hold of Caislyn and used his magic to pull both of them through to the other world. Caislyn's skin began to shimmer an almost greenish gold as she lay there under the Fey sky. Ash had never seen a sight so beautiful, and this had not ever happened on any of their previous trips to the Faerie. He began to wonder if it was because Caislyn was unconscious this time, and therefore not blocking out her Fey side. Either way, the sight of her here, in the glow of the Fey, made him love her that much more. She was real, she was attainable for him like this. It meant there was a larger part of her that was Fey than anyone had ever guessed.

  "Ah, Caislyn, if you could just let go like this when you're awake so you can see what you really are. You wouldn't question things as much. You really are your father's daughter."

  Ash placed a hand on her forehead, and another across her chest and concentrated on the healing energy he felt so connected to in Faerie. He let it flow through him and into Caislyn. He felt the warmth tingle through his body as he connected to the earth and sky, pulling energy from all around to give to her, that she might wake up and have the energy to carry out whatever task was set before her.

  Ash felt it the moment Caislyn started coming to, but he didn't stop there. He wanted to make sure she was healed thoroughly. It occurred to him that he could check on the baby in this state and possibly see if she had a larger than normal trace of Fey magic, but two things stopped him. He didn't want to betray Caislyn by checking without her permission, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know yet. As long as he didn't know, he still held out hope that Caislyn would fall just as in love with him as he was with her. Even if, in the end, it turned out not to be his child. He wouldn't care, he would stand by her and help her raise it since Gregore had already left. Ash had resigned himself a short time ago to give up on Caislyn and help her have the life he thought she wanted with Gregore, but after seeing her here like this in Faerie, he just couldn’t let go any longer. She was a part of his world, even if she wasn’t sure to what extent.

  Ash was lost deep in thought when Caislyn finally came around. She surprised him by putting her hand across the one he still held over her chest.

  "Ash, I need Jaxon." She whispered it, but she looked fine. He simply nodded to her and lifted the veil between Faerie and the human realm. They were back in the field outside the condo in only moments, and he helped Caislyn stand up.

  “Cailsyn,” he started to say, but she stopped him by
placing a finger over his mouth.

  "Thank you," she said as she turned and began walking toward the condo. He simply nodded and didn’t bother to try again. It was obvious Caislyn was on a mission and she wouldn’t really hear anything he had to say anyway.

  ~*~

  Caislyn looked around the living room and nodded to each of its occupants. "I need to speak to Jaxon in private for a moment, please." Caislyn smiled reassuringly as questioning glances were exchanged. "We'll still be here when you all return, I promise."

  Jaxon stood to walk everyone out the door, and then she joined Caislyn on the couch.

  "How are you?"

  "I'm good. Whatever Ash did helped immensely. We have to talk, but I know they're still listening." She motioned to the door where the vampires with their extraordinary hearing were still standing.

  "No problem," Jaxon said as she grabbed Caislyn's hand and formed a protective bubble around them. "Watch, they'll come pouring in any second because they can't hear us anymore."

  True to her word, the door flung open and a pair of wild-eyed, panicked men poured in. The girls both looked up incredulously at them, before Jaxon dropped the bubble. "She did say in private. Now, get out!" She pulled the bubble back up around them as Ash and Seth left the room once more.

  "Thank you," Caislyn said.

  "Cais, I'm sorry, for everything."

  "Don't, Jaxon. We've all made our share of mistakes, some of them we have to live with forever, others we don't. Let's not rehash them right now. I have a plan to make everything better."

  "Okay, so what's going on with this code you found?"

  Caislyn smiled. "It's the key to everything, to getting our normal lives back."

  Jaxon looked at Caislyn with that carefully hidden skeptical judgment she always had when she learned something new. Caislyn was not daunted by it, she had always been able to convince Jaxon of things in the past. She didn't think this would be any different, as long as she was really willing to listen. "Tell me," Jaxon said simply.

  "I'm gonna go backwards here. While I was unconscious, I saw a vision of the future. I saw a place where magic didn't exist." Caislyn smiled and held up her hand to stifle Jaxon's questions. "Wait, let me explain. It was beautiful. We were all still there, living our lives, but there was none of this magic bullshit. No one was trying to kill us, there were no looming other than human wars on the brink. There was just an air of peace and tranquility. I saw my daughter, Jax. She wasn't the baby I'm carrying now. She was from a different time and place, but she told me that we had a happy life. She also showed me what things looked like if we made another choice. It wasn't pretty. Always on the run. My child, the one I am carrying now wouldn't make it to see ten. He'll be killed by the same people who chase us down now. Fanatics, who don't even know what they're fighting for or against. I can't live through that, Jax. I can't watch someone else we love die for us, or because of us."

  "How do you know any of this was real? Maybe it was just your mind trying to work through everything that has happened."

  "And if it was, then my mind is telling me that I'm not willing to lose anyone else so that I stay alive. The code I found, it tells how to find the Brotherhood, and it tells why we need to find them."

  Jaxon perked up visibly with this information. "And where do we find them?"

  "First things first, we can not kill Caleb. It's not possible, even if we didn't need him."

  "Caislyn! He ordered my mother's death!"

  "I know, Jax. I know. I'm so sorry about your mom. I'm sorry about my dad too, because if he hadn't been Caleb's prisoner, he may still be alive too. All I know is that we need him to complete this transference of power."

  "What transference of power?"

  Jaxon, I am going to go into your mind, because it will be easier for you to accept what I’m about to say if you can see it happening before your own eyes, the way I saw it in my vision. I need you to be open to seeing what I’m going to show you though. I’m not a hundred percent sure I can even do it.”

  “Alright, give it a try, I guess.” Jaxon said, feeling a little unsure of having Caislyn trapsing around in her brain.

  Caislyn closed her eyes and concentrated on the magic that allowed her to visit Faerie, to dreamwalk, and to manifest things from another world. She focused long and hard until she felt the pop and pull of the in-between giving way and allowing her access. She was there, inside Jaxon’s mind, and she knew Jaxon was aware of it as well. “Jaxon, listen, we're giving it all back. The magic that keeps the vampires alive, the magic that makes the witch’s magic work, the lycans' ability to shift, it's all going back. We will all live out the rest of our natural lives as humans, equals. That's the huge change the prophecy was talking about." She flashed her vision before Jaxon’s eyes, allowing her to see and feel what the other world would be like. Jaxon soaked it all in for a little while and then waited for Caislyn to back out of her dreamwalking state before she asked any more questions.

  "What happens to us when we do? Do we die? Are we human too?"

  "According to my vision, we will live out our lives as humans too, but Jaxon, even if it kills us..." Caislyn hesitated only momentarily, "I want to do this, because I really can't loose another person while I'm cowering in corners trying to save myself. I've already lost my dad, you, and Greg's gone too."

  "Oh, Caislyn, you have not lost me. I will stand beside you and do this, because I can't keep running either. The more I run, the more the monster wants to take over. I can't tell you the number of times I just wanted to call you and beg you to forgive me for the things I was doing. I didn't think you ever could, so I stayed away. I wasn't running from you, Caislyn, I was running from me."

  "Well, now we have the chance to stop running together."

  Caislyn hugged Jaxon, “I would never hate you, Jaxon, you have to know that. You are my family now. You were the only one there, helping me try to get my parents back. I drug you into the middle of all of this, and look where’s gotten us?”

  “Cais, I...”

  “No, Jax, this is exactly why we need to do this. It doesn’t matter what each of us has done in the past anymore. We can change the future for the better. We can be rid of magic, of the prohpecy, and live normal lives. Let’s just do it.”

  “Okay,” was all Jaxon had to say after that.

  The girls took a little while longer to form a plan of attack on the Brotherhood. The only person they needed alive was Caleb, and they would shed some Brotherhood blood on the way to get to him. Of that, they were both certain. There was only one other obstacle they had to get around. They would have to ditch their current guardians who didn't want to leave them alone for long.

  ***

  THE BROTHERHOOD

  "We will be fine. I really wish you guys would stop worrying so damn much. Look, Caislyn can't fit into her damn clothes anymore. She needs new ones, and we need some time to catch up and bond again." Jaxon was telling Seth.

  "Well, at least take Brigid, so you have someone there to back you up if anything happens."

  "No offense to Brigid at all, but Caislyn and I would like a little time alone to discuss things." Jaxon eyed Seth again, "besides, I think the two of you could use some time to catch up on everything. You haven't really been able to have a good sit down chat about what's been going on with each of you since... you know." Jaxon turned as Ash strolled into the room. "Besides, I promise I will keep an eye on her, I don't want anything happening to her or the baby either." Jaxon flinched internally as she felt Ash's reaction to her comment. She wished she could tell Caislyn exactly how he felt and make it an easier choice for her, but she knew that nothing would ever be easy for her friend where Ash and Gregore were involved.

  "Just let them go," Ash commented offhandedly. "They're going to do it anyway." He smirked as Caislyn walked into the room. Jaxon could feel the love flowing through him at just one glance towards Caislyn, who was trying for the third time to fasten her pants, unsuccessfully. "Besides, C
aislyn really does need clothes that fit, look at that."

  Everyone turned to look, and Caislyn's face immediately took on a flame red glow. "Seriously, it's not funny. I don't fit in anything!" She turned and marched from the room pouting amidst snickers from everyone else.

  “Aww, Caislyn, it’s okay. It’s not like you’re getting fat or anything. You’re going to have a baby! You can lose the weight later.” Brigid tried to interject. Jaxon just smiled, knowing that Caislyn timed that little scene perfectly.

  ~*~

  The girls were two streets down from the condo when Jaxon grabbed Caislyn's arm and tossed up a little barrier that would keep their conversation private. "You know they're following us, right?"

  "Yeah, I figured as much. Don't worry, I have a plan!" Jaxon dropped her hold on Caislyn's arm and they continued walking a ways till Caislyn pointed up ahead of them. Jaxon looked in the direction she was pointing. They were about to duck into a boutique, where Caislyn's plan would hopefully work so they could get out from under the watchful eye of Seth, Ash, and Brigid. The minute they were inside, Caislyn eyed two girls who were laughing in the corner. She began muttering under her breath until the two girl appeared to look just like herself and Jaxon. Meanwhile, she and Jaxon dipped inside a changing room and grabbed hands, preparing to teleport straight into the heart of the Brotherhood.

  "Are you sure you can handle this?" Jaxon questioned one last time.

  "I have you here this time, and I'm pretty sure we don't have a choice in the matter anymore." The two girls Caislyn had spelled were leaving the building, still giggling about something or other with a package in tow.

  "Perfect, it looks like we bought something in here too." Jaxon looked wistfully after the girls as they left, “I wish that really were us, just out shopping together, laughing, and carefree."

  "It will be, Jax. That's why we're doing this, so we can have that." As she said it, she made sure to get a firm grip on Jaxon's hand. "Ready?"