by David Risen
2006 – Subject Graduates from UNC with honors and a degree in Journalism. As a combination graduation and wedding gift, his mother gives him a house in his hometown. The subject begins his career as a freelance journalist.
2008 – Subject’s Watcher gives birth to a 7 lb. 6 oz. baby girl. The Sisterhood has elevated the rank of the watcher to High Priestess and ordered her to normalize relations with him meaning no more weekly reports as he has diverted from the path that would take all of us to danger. The subject’s original watcher’s rank has been elevated to High Sorceress. The Grand Arch Sorceress is most pleased with the success of the Bridgeton Ward.
2014 – The natural event that would have taken Subject 23’s life in the most exasperating and humiliating fashion has come to pass. A disgruntled executive disgraced and facing charges due to Subject 23’s article about his corruption and misuse of public funds has made a valid and possibly successful attempt on his life. His daughter perished in the car accident designed to kill him, and Subject 23 is in critical condition in the ICU expected not to survive the next few days. The Grand Arch Sorceress called an emergency assembly of the Bridgeton Ward. Following many successful rituals, Subject 23 has been revived. After Considering the possible consequences of the loss, the Sisterhood bribed the Doctor to prescribe more pain medication than required and keep him on it longer than necessary in hopes that his addiction will keep him from the dangerous path.
2016 – Subject 23 has diverted far from his intended path. He is now unemployed, on felony probation, and completely overtaken by his substance abuse. The Grand Arch Sorceress after having completed her annual audit has decided that no further direct intervention in his life is necessary. His original watcher will keep distant tabs on him, and his wife has been released from her stewardship in order to deal with the subject who has been redesignated “Sub_US_GA_Bridgeton_24.” But this act proved to be a dangerous mistake. SUB_US_GA_Bridgeton_24 was never intended to cross paths with SUB_US_GA_Bridgeton_23. It has also come to our attention that Sub 23 is now aware of our existence. And though he doesn’t understand the significance of it yet, he knows the location of his mate. The Grand Arch Sorceress Sophia Sacco has resigned pending the completion of Subject 23’s repositioning. After much trouble, Subject 23 has been rewoven into a new identity with a new initiate watcher masquerading as his wife. He has been redesignated “SUB_US_GA_Darrien_A.” Subject 24 is actively trying to discover his location.
Amelia backed out of the document and clicked on the next link labeled Correspondence from the offices of the Arch Sorceress of the United States. Inside, she found another form letter.
March 28, 2016
Mrs. Walden,
As directed by the office of the Grand Arch Sorceress in Rome, Italy, our stake office is providing you with a few documents crucial to your success with SUB_US_GA_Darien_A.
Do not underestimate this threat. Your subject A is the second most dangerous threat in the mortal world and one of the reasons for the creation of the sisterhood. Some of the stories you may have heard when you were a girl at our shelter in 1962 are true. Your subject A is the Abysmal Patron as spoken of in the Profezia Apocalittica in 42 BCE.
To assist you in your endeavors, we’re transferring one of our brightest and most capable initiates in these kinds of matters to stand in as his wife. Her name is Sister Delilah Powers.
You are to follow normal protocol in your exchanges with Sister Powers. You are to tell her nothing directly about the Subject. Merely to direct her based on the knowledge that we’ve sent you. No part of the excerpt from the Compendium of Maleficent Spirits is to be disclosed or discussed with anyone in your Branch including your counselors.
Because it is necessary for you to separate your subject from all other Celestial Shards, I’ve also included the description of the others and their powers.
If you need any further assistance, you may call the hotline at any time.
Do not fail. The Office of the Grand Arch Sorceress will be paying careful attention, and the new Grand Arch Sorceress is much more aggressive and much less forgiving than GA Sophia Sacco.
Sincerely,
Gina Pratt
First Counselor to the Arch Sorceress of the United States.
Amelia clicked the DOS icon in the attachments box.
A white title screen appeared in the center of the screen telling her that Adobe Acrobat was in the process of loading.
Once it finished, Rider and Amelia found themselves staring at another password screen.
Amelia sighed with frustration, and closed her eyes. In a few moments, she opened her eyes again and typed the password. The document opened against a black background – the letters glowing green.
The following information is not to be discussed, eluded to, referenced, or pondered outside of a sacred circle. It is not to be shared with anyone with a rank lower than High Priestess without the consent of the Vatican.
No further information shall be committed to paper.
In rare cases in which more detail is warranted, such information shall be conveyed only by word of mouth inside a sacred circle.
The Celestial Shards and Their Properties:
The Vivacious Shards:
The Vivacious Matron:
She has an affinity for all art forms particularly visual arts and the written word. Even in corporeal state, her mere presence can rehabilitate the deathly ill back to life.
Her physical home is normally surrounded with thriving foliage not because she has a green thumb, but because all life thrives around her.
She is one of the four shards who can procreate in corporeal form. To that end, she is a gifted lover.
She spends most of her time helping others.
To date, this spirit has always followed the law of mortality.
In spirit form, she is one of only four who can mate with her counterpart and create new souls. Her offspring is generally meek and thoughtful.
But in her spirit form, she is not always kind to humanity. She sometimes cultivates pestilence to control populations of humanity, plants, and animals.
The threat level of this spirit is minimal as long as she doesn’t come in contact with the other shards including her mate in the physical realm.
The Vivacious Patron:
Like his mate, he is very skilled in all art forms, but his interest is always in musical or performing arts.
He is also mechanically gifted. He can create a mechanism to solve almost any problem.
The Vivacious Patron is also capable of procreation in both the corporeal and spiritual realms.
His healing abilities extend to the mind and the spirit.
In the corporeal realm, most of his cohorts will be spiritually whole and psychologically functional.
On at least one occasion, the patron has violated the law of mortality via spontaneous incarnation. In this form, he has the power to control the water and earth as well as harm or heal the physical bodies of those around him. And he has been known to create and command new types of pestilence.
The threat level of this spirit is minimal if he doesn’t couple with any other shards in the physical realm or break the law of mortality by invoking himself into physical form using the power of spontaneous regeneration which is a power that specifically belongs to the vivacious shards, but can be used by any who know the rites.
Like all Celestial Shards, he should never be faced directly in spirit form or following spontaneous regeneration. His foe is beyond all mortals and most spirits.
The Conciliator Shards:
The Conciliator Matron:
The conciliator shards are about preserving the balance between the vivacious and the abysmal, but the conciliators don’t always follow the law of mortality.
Particularly the matron possesses the active powers of both the abysmal and the vivacious, and this can make her very dangerous when she is in a state of imbalance.
In natural birth, physical form, the matron is both practi
cal and judicious. She has no physical powers, but she is brilliant at resolving disputes between two parties other than herself. She is a champion of moderation, and a highly empathetic soul.
Her opinion of a mortal soul can either bring peace and happiness or chaos and destruction. The more powerful and like unto herself she becomes, the less likely her physical body is to procreate. At present, the Conciliator Matron is completely impotent along with her mate.
Only on one occasion has she ever given birth to live children, and this occurred in distant antiquity.
She becomes a serious threat when she doesn’t follow the law of mortality. The fact that she is a woman and ruled by her emotions causes her to forget everything – including her identity – following spontaneous regeneration.
In this state, she is paranoid, and she possesses the full spectrum of active powers. Any attempts to subdue her are futile, and the attempt, in the past, has led to death for all of those who attempted it.
At present, only reunion with her mate will restore her memory, which is an event that simply cannot occur in the corporeal realm.
She’s no threat in natural birth physicality, but after spontaneous regeneration or if she is exposed to any other Celestial Shards, she is the most dangerous threat we face.
The Conciliator Patron:
In natural birth, physical form, he is empathetic, wise to a fault, terrible at business or any other matter that requires him to take advantage of others or otherwise be selfish or unjust.
Despite his numerous encounters throughout his many physical lives, the Conciliator Patron has never fathered a live child.
In spirit form, his powers are all related to understanding, but he can also command the other elements.
Like his mate, he doesn’t always follow the law of mortality. Following Spontaneous regeneration, he possesses the ability to interact with disembodied spirits in the physical realm who have either not moved on to the spirit world or have maleficent intentions.
After regeneration, he can read thoughts, and nothing short of Supernatural Magic can cause his death.
He is not plagued with the same amnesia as his mate following regeneration, and because of his status as the father of wisdom, he’s prone to melancholy.
Of all the Celestial Shards he is the most helpful to the physical realm. On a few occasions, he assisted the sisterhood with the reweaving of unbalanced celestial shards. This generosity would not extend to his own mate, and this is the only instance in which he may become unstable and dangerous.
The sisterhood is aware of the location of the post-reanimated Conciliatory Patron. We do not intrude in his life as the sisterhood mostly views him as an ally, but we do actively seek to keep him separated from any knowledge of what he is and separate from his mate.
The Abysmal Shards:
The Abysmal Matron:
Even in natural birth physical form, the Abysmal Matron’s spiritual pressure and emotional turmoil have grown to the point that she has very destructive, supernatural powers.
She is a stormy lover, and she can procreate like the vivacious shards. However, she is so moody and unpredictable that she may even bring harm to her own offspring. When she does procreate, the children of the Matron always have new and unique souls. Their attributes are always war like particularly if she mates with the Abysmal Patron.
In natural form, she also has a fondness for popular music mostly because of its ability to pass on the emotions of despair and despondence. On several occasions, she’s tried her hand as a popular musician but her efforts are normally frustrated because her music is too dark.
Due to all the sorrow and chaos that plagues all of those who have the misfortune to be near the Abysmal Matron and her lack of self-control when using her powers, she has been deemed too dangerous to walk the physical realm. The Celestial Shards always reincarnate almost as soon as they perish, so it is also too dangerous to release her into the Spirit World, as it is far too dangerous and difficult to track her once she passes beyond the vale.
The Sisterhood under the leadership of the Grand Arch Sorceress Sofia Sacco chose to bind her in her physical body and suspend her in a stasis in a secure location. To circumnavigate any potential negative ramifications from the Abysmal Matron’s removal from Mortality, the order ensconced her physical vessel within a special sarcophagus designed to siphon off her power so that the Grand Arch Sorceress may use it in the most balanced and advantageous way to mankind.
The only threat remaining presents itself with the Abysmal Patron, as all patrons are spiritually drawn to their matron. The Patron must not find the location of her incarceration. If he succeeds in doing so, he will free her and begin a chain of events that will bring about the Prophecy of the Celestial Apocalypse.
The Abysmal Patron:
Naturally born, the abysmal patron is usually a reluctant warrior, but his life tends to follow a pattern that always ends in the destruction of all those around him – sometimes, entire nations.
His spiritual pressure and internal chaos has not yet reached critical levels – meaning that he doesn’t have power until after death and reanimation. Due to the treatment of his mate by the order and the fact that he always gravitates to her during his natural lifetime, the sisterhood keeps a close watch on him.
In natural and spiritual form, the Abysmal Patron has a fondness for the written word, mostly because of its power as propaganda and its ability to persuade. He is also predisposed to any kind of addiction, as this is his method of controlling his own emotional instability.
The Abysmal Patron was the first of the celestial shards to violate the law of mortality in concert with his mate. His physical life always seems to follow the same pattern. He’s born. He lives a rather harmless and unremarkable life or he enters politics or military leadership, and then suffers an exasperating and humiliating death at the hands of someone who should have been trustworthy. In the past, this is when the abysmal matron has stepped in and offered him the rites of spontaneous regeneration.
He never comes back the meek and reluctant warrior that he was before death. He becomes a tyrannical warrior, an evil king, or a malicious dictator whose exploits always end in the total annihilation of a society.
The Abysmal Patron is a charismatic leader, and raises the aggression level in a society to the boiling point often precipitating total war and Genocide.
The sisterhood has intervened on the behalf of humanity several times to put down the eminent threat posed by the reanimated Abysmal Patron. In antiquity following a genocidal rampage that was escalating to extinction levels in Britannia, the sisterhood bound the undead warrior in a sarcophagus not unakin to the one that now contains the Abysmal Matron.
A fatal mistake by the sisterhood, in which the Abysmal Matron in physical form found his sarcophagus and released his spirit after several centuries, caused his rebirth into the world.
Since then, the sisterhood has cleaned up numerous trouble caused by the spirit and sent him back to the Spirit World for rewyrding. His presence is credited for the Civil War in the United States, The French Revolution, and World War II.
The reason the order has not contained him is that he is not without his useful moments. In antiquity, he managed to free mortality of several powerful, parasitic spirits passing themselves off as Gods. His ability to put an end to societies that have grown out of balance and threaten to enslave the rest of the world. Is both famous, necessary, and dangerous.
It is incumbent upon the sisterhood to keep the Abysmal Patron from the location of his mate’s prison. If the two are reunited, they have become as destructive as to cause the end of the corporeal realm as prophesied.
It is also unknown by the sisterhood if the Abysmal Patron can spontaneously reanimate himself, but just to proceed safely, it is necessary to protect him from any kind of physical harm that would cause the posthumous embittering of his spirit to the point that it fails to move on to the Spirit World.
Amelia cocked an
eyebrow.
I suppose that passage is supposed to pertain to you.
Rider gaped at Amelia with his mind spinning and fury boiling.
So, let me get this straight. They believe that I am this Abysmal Patron? They’re trying to keep me from dying a terrible death, so I don’t go nuclear. And they don’t want me to find this girl?
A permanent scowl formed on Amelia’s face.
That’s the statement in their documents.
Rider shook his head.
And they’ve been playing me like a fiddle since the day I was born?
Amelia cocked her eyebrows.
If the shoe fits.
Rider furled his brow.
Is any of this pissing you off?
She nodded.
Their ego has outgrown their abilities. It’s time someone teaches them why they shouldn’t play God.
Rider bunched his lips and shook his head.
You realize that whole bit about the Abysmal Matron means that they labeled some poor girl much like you, dragged her out of her home, performed some god-awful ritual on her bad enough to put her in a coma, and locked her away indefinitely.
She frowned and looked at her computer screen.
We should find out where she is and go rescue her, if not for any other reason that the simple fact that they don’t want us to do so, but first we should teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget.