by D. N. Leo
“You are to me, darling. Always.” Charmine smiled.
26
Ciaran, Arik, and Michael exited the hotel via the garage door. As they approached the car, they found Adam, the new CEO of LeBlanc Pharmaceuticals New York standing next to it. Ciaran stopped Michael and Arik.
“You tagged me?” Ciaran asked.
“No, I followed Lindsay’s trail and found documentation for his care of Michael. Lindsay was very careful, I must say. But unless you’re alien, any transaction on Earth has traces.”
“What do you want?” Arik asked.
“I’ve got news. I’m afraid it’s not good. The police found the bodies of a mother and daughter in the bushland. It was ruled a camping accident.”
“Damn it, goddamnit!” Ciaran slammed a fist into a nearby column.
Adam continued, “It’s Lindsay’s wife and daughter. You don’t know Lindsay well, but he has taken care of you for years, Michael.”
Tears fell down Michael’s face. He paced back and forth, not knowing what to do.
“Thank you. Is that all, Adam?” Ciaran asked.
“I’m here to help if there is anything you’d let me do.”
“You said before that this is the LeBlancs’ private matter. Why change your mind now?”
“I didn’t change my mind about the LeBlancs. I just didn’t have the courage to offer help before. Things happened too fast in the last few days, and I wasn’t prepared.”
“And you’ve become more prepared in the last twenty-four hours?”
“I followed the LeBlancs’ business for years. You might be too young to know, Ciaran, but your father offered to provide treatments we couldn’t afford that prolonged my mother’s life for another eight years. The additional time we were able to spend with her was precious for my family. I am indebted to your family for that. I had always wanted to work for your family…”
“You are now.”
“Yes, but I can do more. I know your family is involved with more than just the pharmaceutical business.”
“Be careful what you’re saying, Adam,” Ciaran growled.
“I understand. I can see what happened to Lindsay and his family. I checked Michael’s credit card details, I traced the car and the hotel, and I know Arik’s parents’ death has something to do with this. I know my way around, Ciaran. Let me help.”
“I think we’re going to need his help, Ciaran. You being disconnected with your network here and…up there…isn’t doing us any good,” Arik said.
Ciaran nodded. “All right. If you could organize this project so that it is self-contained and dismiss whatever else is relevant after you finish so that the main business doesn’t have any connection with this, it would be much appreciated, Adam.”
“Understood. What do you need now?”
“A private lab, a long-haul private jet, and weapons.”
“I only have access to normal weapons right now.”
“Those will do.”
“Do you need people?”
“Yes, but I’ve already ordered them. I do need someone to take care of Michael…”
“Come on, Ciaran! How much more do I have to do to prove to you I can handle this.”
“I know you’re capable. But you’re a minor. I can’t take you with me.”
“I’m eighteen!”
“He was fifteen the day before yesterday,” Arik said.
“I’ll stay behind. I’ll do whatever you say. I know you’ll leave after this. I’ve waited seven years to see you again, Ciaran.”
“All right. You have to do what I say.”
“Yes.”
As they followed Adam to another car, Ciaran’s wrist unit beeped.
“I thought you weren’t connected to any network,” Arik said.
“This is private, direct connection with Dinah’s unit. It doesn’t connect with any network and— What have we here?”
Michael peeked at the screen. “That’s gibberish.”
“No, that’s Morse code,” Arik said.
“It’s very primitive…and Earth-based. Even if it’s intercepted from, say, anywhere, the message won’t be easy to decode,” Ciaran said.
“And what does it say, Ciaran? Is Dinah okay?” Arik asked.
“She’s taking her parents home. She thinks she’s got the formula for the primer.” Ciaran smiled. “Wicked.”
“She can fly, too,” Michael said.
“Indeed,” said Arik and smiled.
Ciaran coded back the message then looked at Adam. “We’ll go to the lab first if you don’t mind.”
A short moment later, they were in the exclusive lab of the LeBlanc New York branch. Michael glanced at the equipment and yawned.
Ciaran said, “Adam, could you get someone to give Michael some training on weapon usage and safety.”
“Ciaran,” said Michael, “Lindsay told me you handled your family business when you were sixteen. I can’t imagine I’m doing anything near what you did. So please stop playing father. It doesn’t suit you.”
Ciaran glared at him.
“But I guess some training would be useful,” Michael said to Adam and then scurried outside the room.
Ciaran returned to Arik. “Bridget tried to cause a cardiac arrest in you, and she had some sort of a key code in her hand. I’m guessing you have some sort of ability she wanted to terminate, and that ability is artificial.”
Arik walked around the room. “Cooper said the thing that got Jenny in Xiilok is manmade. When Dinah and I were at the Red Shield camp, the majority of the soldiers were robots. Many of them were Grace lookalikes. Remember my ex? Grace?”
“Yes, she has a French accent.”
“She’s half French. Bridget spoke French. Is my entire life a setup of some secret mobs from Europe?”
“I have a theory, but it’ll take a painful test to prove.”
“How much pain?”
Ciaran looked at Arik.
“All right,” said Arik. “Let’s do it.”
A short moment later, every vein in Arik’s body was hooked to a machine.
Ciaran said, “It’s going to feel like you’re being electrocuted. Are you sure, Arik? This is the only way I can obtain information about the electromagnetic energy in your body and brain.”
“If you say this is the only way, why waste time? If I’m a stupid robot, then let’s find out.”
“I don’t think you’re a robot. It would be a lot easier if you were. Are you sure? I might need to give you three shocks to get enough data.”
“When did you turn into an old man?”
“The day I—unfortunately—got to know you.” Ciaran gave Arik some water then turned toward the control panel.
“Wait. If anything happens, can you tell Dinah I love her?”
“Do it yourself, even if you have to crawl out of here.”
Ciaran punched the button.
Arik grunted in pain, and his skin turned almost purple. When the pain subsided slightly, he said, “Again.”
Ciaran punched the button again. Arik’s eyes rolled back as his body convulsed with the shock. He said weakly, “Again.”
Ciaran slammed his sweaty palm on the button.
Arik’s body tensed up, and then everything stopped.
The machine pinged a happy sound as the data collection was completed.
Ciaran grabbed the machine nearby and pressed the resuscitators to Arik’s chest.
Once.
“Come on, you idiot, breathe.”
Twice.
Then again.
Arik’s pulse picked up as Michael walked in.
“You see, this is what happen when we play truth or dare at inappropriate times. I’ve got data to process, and you’ve got a job to do.”
“Yes, for sure.” Michael approached enthusiastically.
“Nurse him. He’ll be sick for a few hours.” Ciaran left for the computer.
Michael stood next to the bed. “Sure, I can be a nurse. Whatever it take
s.”
Arik turned to his side and vomited all over Michael.
27
Dinah and Jael flanked both sides of Charmine when they flew. They descended slowly to the soft ground in the transitional zone of the multiverse.
“Here will be good enough,” Jael said.
Dinah looked at her parents. "Will I ever see you again?"
Charmine smiled. “Don’t be silly. When the fight on Earth is settled, and when you are settled with your man, we will certainly come and visit you.”
“If we win the fight,” Dinah said and looked away because right now, she had no confidence and wasn’t sure of a victory. The only and most important task Ciaran had given her was to develop was the primer. She had made no progress and had ended up having nothing for Ciaran. She shook her head.
“Where is your sarcasm? Where is your confidence? You can do this, Dinah. You know the formula of the poison. And with that, you can kill the most prominent enemy in the Cosmos.”
"I have plenty of poison. I can kill with poison. But what we need now is a primer, not the poison. Whoever is jumping through the aperture will need this primer to survive. It’s okay if Arete jumps. He can die and rot for all I care. But what if Arik is the one who has to jump?”
“You don’t know that, Dinah.”
"No, I don't know. But his brainwaves have been manipulated for a long time. Ciaran just texted me that his parents died, and it has something to do with the aperture. I guess Ciaran isn’t aware of the merging worlds."
Charmine nodded. "Yes, it’s easy to compound poison, but it’s almost impossible to compound the primer.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Dinah muttered.
She embraced her parents one last time and took them toward the gateway.
“Why the hurry?” Arete spoke from behind them. He walked out with a creature that looked like a skeleton with a piece of black fabric wrapped around it.
Dinah could hear her father hiss audibly when he saw the skeleton figure.
“What do you want Xecheron?" Jael asked.
“Oh, I don’t have in introduce you two? That saves time.” Arete said.
“What do you want, Xecheron?” Jael repeated.
“One of your women. Your choice of which one I take and which one you keep.”
Saying nothing, Jael spread his wings and charged at him. Xecheron raised his arms, spread out his three pairs of bat wings, and flew at Jael.
Then, in front of Dinah, Charmine and Arete became a whirl of black and white light, a funnel of light and wind.
Dinah had no magic, no knowledge of it at all. She wasn’t sure what they were using to fight.
The wind died down quickly. Jael and Xecheron were separated, thrown apart by the opponent energy. They fell backward. While Xecheron seemed to have no problem getting back up, Jael was suffering.
“Power from the underworld. The skeleton is a condemned minor god. Your father had no chance,” Charmine said.
“If he’s condemned, how can he be stronger than Father?”
Charmine said, “Xecheron killed an angel before and was condemned for it. This is the transitional zone of no authority. He can do whatever he wants here. If he kills another angel, he can’t be punished for the same crime twice.”
“How stupid is that rule?” Dinah exclaimed.
“Jael never agrees with me. But, angels aren’t good in making policies.”
Arete scurried behind Xecheron.
“Coward,” Dinah muttered. As Xecheron rose from the ground, becoming bigger by the second, Dinah knew what she had to do.
She let go of her control and let the evil spirit of her aunty take over. Unlike the last time when she had no awareness of what she was doing, this time she could see herself doing it. She knew exactly what she needed to do to get reward.
She could see the world around her shudder from the evil of the spirit that possessed her. She raised her arms, pointing them at Xecheron. From her mouth, a string of spells came out, spells so powerful they stopped Xecheron in his tracks.
She made a fist with one hand and then pulled it back.
Xecheron’s chest exploded, and in Dinah’s hands was a bleeding heart.
Dinah withdrew her hands and dropped the heart. She looked at the bleeding heart until it stopped beating.
She was in control of he emotion, her mind and her body. She was aware that had just used her evil spirit to kill evil. She had turned her weakness into a weapon.
She turned and looked at her parents to show them she was in perfect control of her mind and body. Xecheron deserved to die. She could only help.
Arete threw a smoke bomb and vanished again into thin air.
"Are you okay, Jael?” Charmine asked.
He nodded.
“He got away. Arete is the evilest character in the Cosmos. Now he got away again.” Jael put his head in his hands.
“I’ll kill him,” Dinah said.
“How?” Jael asked.
“I need the primer.”
Jael asked. “You have already had my blood. That’s the blood from a magical creature. Can you make something of it? Do you really need blood from Amalgam and material world creatures?”
Dinah nodded.
Charmine pulled out a small knife she always carried.
“Don’t, Charmine!” Jael said.
“What if Dinah is the only one who can deal with Arete?” Charmine asked. She turned toward Dinah and used her knife to cut her own hand. As the blood dripped, she signaled for Dinah to use her jar of potion to catch it.
"I, Charmine, from the tribe of the North Wind multiverse travelers, now announce myself as a creature from Xiilok. As a Xiilok creature, I am an Amalgam creature forever. Here is my blood, the blood of a free spirit. Take my blood and use it with good intentions.”
Dinah looked at Jael and saw the devastating look on his face. But he composed himself quickly.
“Charmine can never be an angel after this. That makes my role as the angel of light meaningless.” He looked up and raised his hand in oath, saying, “I shall resign from the role, return the power to the gods, and declare myself as an Amalgam. I will travel with my wife for eternity.”
Jael and Charmine both turned and looked at Dinah. They smiled at her, and the trio embraced. A moment later, Jael took Charmine to the light gateway that had just opened for them.
Together, they stepped into the light, looked at Dinah one more time, and departed.
28
Dalat was a beautiful highland city in the south of Vietnam. Ciaran could see why it was referred to as a French settlement city. The French architecture was prominent in almost every major construction in the city. The streets had French names, and the shops were primitive, small-scale versions of those in Paris.
They flew the jet up to the city and so had missed the major scenery. But he was sure they would have a chance to visit later when everything settled.
They stayed at an exclusive villa. Arik needed a bit more time as he had not yet regained complete consciousness regardless of how many times they had changed transport on the way up here.
As Ciaran turned around to leave the room, he stirred.
“Arik, how are you feeling?”
“Well, you’re here, so I’m definitely not in heaven.”
Ciaran chuckled. “I take it you’re feeling well. We’re in Dalat, a city in the Vietnam highlands.”
“What? How long have I been out?”
“Long enough to delay everything. Do you want to sit up?”
“Sure.” Arik pushed himself into a sitting position.
Ciaran returned with a needle. “This is just nutrition. You can have solid food if you feel up to it. But if you want to chuck, don’t do it on me.”
“Did I do that already?”
“Yes…on Michael.”
“I must be his favorite person on the planet.”
“That’s about right. He’s not liking me much now because I wouldn’t let him carry
weapons. Which will make it a lot easier when I leave him after this.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. Not only is he fifteen, he’s an absolutely normal human being. Look at how you and I turned out. I don’t want that life for him.”
Michael entered the room. “How are you feeling, man?"
“Sorry I vomited on you.”
Michael sneered. “You were such a baby!”
Arik laughed. “So, after much effort, what’s the conclusion about my make, Ciaran. Am I a robot?”
“No, you are not a robot. But your human body has been changed. Biologically, you are the same. But the electromagnetic energy in your body has been manipulated. That’s why you’re ultrasensitive to sound frequencies. And that could also explain some of the time traveling and the way your body handles light energy. In a nutshell, you could be an energy source.”
“You mean like a battery?”
Ciaran chuckled. “Pretty much. Give me a few more hours. I’ll have a full profile of what kind of creature you’d make.”
“Well, what about a dragon!” Arik said.
Michael’s eyebrow winged up. “Really?”
Ciaran shook his head. “Dragons only exist in children’s fairytales. I can assure you whatever we’re dealing with now isn’t a fairy tale. We’ll find more information when we get to Tri-Sun.”
“I thought you said it burned down,” Arik said.
“The headquarters burned to the ground, but we’ll go to an abandoned branch. I’m sure I can make use of their database. That’s the main reason we came here.”
“Okay,” Arik said and got off the bed.
The light in the room flickered a few times.
Ciaran grabbed Michael, pulling him inside. Near the door, a small light beam opened and flashed, and Dinah jumped out. She was a bit disoriented, and one of her wings spread out and hit the ceiling fan.
“Ouch.” She withdrew the wing quickly, and it hit a gigantic decorative vase on top of the fireplace.
“Wow, nice wing.” Michael caught the vase before it crashed.
“Sorry. I travel too fast.” Dinah grinned.
“Dinah.” Arik approached and pulled her into his arms.
She looked at his arms and saw that some of the veins were bruised a muddy gray and purple. She shrugged out of his embrace. “What’s this?” she asked and then saw more on his neck.