The Halo of Amaris

by Jade Brieanne

  “Heaven? What are you talking about? I was–oh. Oh! You don’t understand how the realms work! You don’t understand where we aren’t.” Aria laughed. “I’m talking fondly of Caeli, but we aren’t in Caeli. We are in Discord.”

  “This isn’t Caeli?” Jin looked around with narrowed eyes. “This…this looks exactly like Caeli. Just how many realms are there?” Jin sputtered.

  “Countless but that’s not important. Let’s concentrate on Discord since you’ll be here for a while.”

  “A while?” Jin’s eyes widen and she clutched at the collar of her shirt. “Am I in Hell?”

  “No, silly girl.” Aria tsked. “That’s Gehanna. You’re in Discord. I just told you that.” Aria patted the concrete rail. “Cop a squat. We are short on time and there are some things you need to know before Glut,” Aria said, thumbing over her shoulder, “reaches us and carries you away.”

  Jin turned around and looked at the bay, watching it flow far beyond the bridge and into what Jin guessed was an ocean named Glut. Or maybe it was a boat? Like a ferry to her next destination?

  “It looks calm.”

  “Everything always looks calm before you drop a pebble in a bucket of water.”

  Jin took her time taking a seat along the rough rail, looking out over Glut while Aria’s focus remained inland. She grimaced as the bottom of her thighs and the backs of her knees scraped across the concrete. She wanted something soft, comfortable, safe. A bed. That would be nice.

  “A bed you want, a bed you’ll get!”

  “What?”

  Aria’s eyes flicked to hers then away. “Nothing. As I was saying, Discord is one of three realms we have access to. It is sort of like…Florida.”

  Jin tilted her head back to peer at her. “Florida.”

  “Florida! Like a retirement home for spiritualist. It’s a foil realm to Antris. Discord is for super-powered spiritualist and Antris is–”

  Jin held her hand up. “Oh! I know! It’s where those super-powered psycho trolls live under the bridge,” she deadpanned.

  “Ah, you’ve met them!” Aria clapped her hands together as if the trip had been a pleasurable one. “Then you’ve met my mate! White hair, hard glare, doesn’t smile a lot? Tall, dark, and handsome?” she finished, smiling like a teenage girl who’d just opened her locker to a love note from her crush. “He’s there and I’m here. It sucks. Anywho, the difference here is displaced timelines are the power source of Discord, and Discord is the power source for all of the other realms. People in them serve as…snacks, while Discord is the main meal. You’re in a displaced timeline right now.”

  “Displaced?”

  “Anomalous. This did happen in the middle of a revolt except the city wasn’t nearly as old, the war horns were blaring, and there was mass panic. Caeli was destroyed. Caeli is a child of the Caustum itself. This timeline of peace is an anomaly.”

  Jin frowned. “Aren’t those destroyed?”

  Aria brought her knee up on the rail and placed her chin on it. “Nothing in this world is destroyed. Everything that is and will ever be, whether it was created in seven days, seven hundred days, seven thousand years, is always there. When a timeline is anomalous, it doesn’t cease to exist. It is simply moved away from where it doesn’t belong and stored here.”

  “What or whose timeline are we in now?”

  “You know of him, vaguely, but you’ve never met him," Aria answered, and a look crossed her face, disappearing when a breeze swept across the bridge. “However, that’s another irrelevant issue. Here are the things you need to remember.” She paused to hold up a finger and again Jin’s eyes darted to the tattoos running along the entire length of her right arm. “One, Ahn may seem like the enemy but he isn’t. I know you want to rip his face off when or if you see him but don’t. I, this Aria specifically, haven’t been outside of this timeline but I’ve had visitors and while I don’t have the knowledge to tell you who, I can tell you it isn’t who you think. Some think that they are your enemy and have targeted you but they are not the ones you need to watch out for.”

  Jin blinked slowly in her confusion. “What?’

  “I’ll let Onyu expound on that. She and The Old Goat are the smartest and strongest things in this realm. Ha. Figure that, The Old Goat finally stronger than me,” Aria grumbled. “Alright!” she announced, her voice pitching high in sudden excitement as she spun and hopped down from the bridge barrier. “It’s been fun.”

  “Wait!” Jin’s eyes widened. “Where are you going?”

  One of Aria’s brows lifted. “I’m going over there.” Aria pointed to the end of the bridge. Amassed like some kind of society of secret scary people– because who the hell wears capes and cloaks in this weather but secret scary people–stood a group of figures shrouded in black.

  Where in the hell did they come from?

  “Shit, I’ve already started to bleed, too.” Jin noticed the color of Aria’s eyes had shifted, shining with an eerie purplish tint. “Spent too much cutting the breeze with you, love.”

  Jin looked down to where Aria was pressing. When she pulled her hand back from her side, there was blood, and lots of it but the tips of her fingers shined as if it were iridescent.

  “You’re…you’re bleeding. You have blood…inside of you,” Jin gasped, horrified. “And it’s…sparkly…”

  She held her hand out. “Qeres poisoning. My son–he was…tricked by whoever it is down there to do this and now they’ve come to finish the job,” Aria huffed.

  “What do you mean finish the job?” Jin asked, slow and careful.

  “I die, remember?”

  “No,” Jin bit out, her hands curling into fists. “You don’t get to die and leave me here, okay? Just…stay on this side of the bridge and everything will be fine.”

  “I wish I could. So many things would be different if I could but everything is set. Inevitability cannot be stopped. A butterfly’s flutter cannot cause chaos here.” Aria wiped her hand on her pants leg before pulling her weapon out of its sheath. “Having my real spear would be helpful right about now,” she huffed. “I fought with my spear in this timeline originally, remember, you old goat?” she yelled at the sky. “But you won’t let me out of this damn timeline to get it! I hate this place!”

  Aria began towards the other end of the bridge where the figures were, but skid to a stop. “Ooh. One last thing…uh, well, two. Don’t try to save me. Ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. And do not try outrunning Glut–you have to face it head-on. And don’t lie to Onyu. You’re not smart enough. No one is.”

  “Onyu? Who is that–?”

  “And,” Aria pressed on, “a lot of things are going to be painful before they feel good. It does get better but it is really going to fucking hurt. Truly. Or it should get better. I can’t see into the future, ya know? You can escape this place if you change and if you fight. You must fight, Jin. Gather the strength to survive. Oh, and–”

  Jin cocked her head to the side. “That’s like five things.”

  Aria laughed. “You’re going to be alright, cub,” she said. Jin had only seen that sort of warmth in her eyes once. After Ahn stabbed her. “An’a aasifa, Jin,” Aria finished, bowing her head.

  Jin did not like the look in her eyes. That warm look always preceded a bitter cold feeling. Jin began to make her take it back, whatever it was, whatever it meant, when she felt the pressure again, this time stronger than before, vibrant, electric, almost driving Jin to her knees. The air crackled with energy and Jin could feel it lifting the hair off the back of her neck. Aria looked at her one last time and Jin gasped at the color of her eyes. They were like gold faceted gems with a thin ring of purple dilated iris circling them.

  “Alar,” Aria whispered and then Aria was gone, her image blurring, then reappearing further down the bridge, her hair flowing in the current, her sword at her side.

  It was hard to see. Not because Jin was too far away or the smoke and debris obstructed her view. No. It was hard bec
ause Aria moved, burred at the edges, disappeared and reappeared in a blink of an eye.

  Jin had never seen Aria fight. Honest to God fight, for her life, for anyone else. She’d caught glimpses here and there in her head, in memories that shouldn’t be there but had never seen it with her own two eyes. And damn, if it wasn’t something to behold! Her movements were fluid, her sword moved like water, and her tattoos made her look ethereal. She fought as if she were a graceful dancer, a warrior made of liquid and steel and fire. Aria dispatched a number of them with ease, her sword singing its death song for all to hear.

  One of the figures sat back, just out of the range of Aria’s swing. The figure moved towards her, surreptitiously, maneuvering themselves to Aria’s back as she continued to fight through the circle of attackers. Jin noticed the movement, noticed the figure pulling out the long sword, the metal shining with the same iridescent sheen Aria’s blood took.

  Qeres? “Aria!” Jin began.

  Don’t try to save me. Ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

  Yeah, right! She wasn’t about to let her only means of escape die! “Aria! Behind…you…” Jin tore her eyes from Aria when a loud noise cut through the air, the sound reminiscent of a mighty roar.

  “…before Glut reaches us.”

  Jin’s mouth dropped in horror.

  Glut wasn’t the ocean. Or a boat or a ferry. It was a wave. A huge, thunderous, towering wave!

  “You can’t outrun Glut.”

  The hell I can’t! Jin turned back towards Aria, to get her attention, to try and warn her again, but the words froze in her throat. The tides in her fight with the cloaked figures had changed and Aria was on her hands and knees, her chest heaving, and her side bleeding. Her injury, the gash across her side, was horrifying to look at. Her skin was ripped and the edges of the wound were ragged like torn paper.

  Aria’s eyes fluttered as she desperately grappled for a sword that was just out of her reach. Blood so dark it appeared black seeped out of her mouth and pooled below her. Her lips moved as she tried to say something, but Jin couldn’t hear. She couldn’t hear anything.

  The figure raised a sword over Aria’s back. Fear choked her, Aria’s fear choked her, wrapped its hands around her neck and squeezed until tears filled her eyes The sword plunged down, viciously, sparking against the ground as it ran Aria through and hit the asphalt.

  Jin felt Aria’s pain.

  “NO!” she screamed and took off for her. She didn’t have a weapon. She couldn’t fight worth a damn but the grip of terror she shared with Aria’s soul was enough. She couldn’t die. She couldn’t. Jin clutched her chest but it wasn’t her wound that was hurting.

  Everything is set. Inevitability cannot be stopped. A butterfly’s flutter cannot cause chaos here.

  Her voice was lost in the eclipsing roar of the water and she stopped dead in her tracks when a shadow cloaked the bridge in darkness. Jin stared at the wave as it hovered over them, her eyes quivering, her breath short, hands shaking. Jin sought out Aria again only to find her lying on her side, her limbs akimbo, her eyes, once brilliant gems, now murky like river rocks, were blinking Just…blinking. Jin and Aria’s eyes locked and her perception shifted, time did something funny like freeze or speed up, she didn’t know.

  Again, she heard Aria’s voice in her head.

  “You can’t outrun Glut.”

  As if Aria could read Jin’s mind, the angel smiled and nodded in an aimless fashion, as if she’d lost the energy to keep her head up, before her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

  “Let go.”

  Glut slammed into the bridge and the impact knocked Jin off her feet. She scrambled to stand as warm, salty water sprayed across her face.

  The sound of it was deafening. It silenced the screams in Jin’s head. It overpowered the roar of the wind between her ears. It eclipsed her cries. Whitewater crested over the bridge and extinguished the fire with a hiss and a rise of steam.

  She watched Aria and her foes disappear in a spiral of water. She watched the water speed for her.

  In the space between heartbeats, the water crashed into her. She frantically reached for something to hold on to–the ground, her sanity–to try and keep from going under. She wrapped her hand around the rail just as the water washed over her.

  Jin looked out as blue and black surrounded her, as the weight of the water pressed against her chest, sucking the life from her. Her body began to get colder and colder and with every passing second, her grip on the railing began to weaken.

  “Let go.”

  Jin closed her eyes.

  ANGELS: a spiritual category under the major three taxonomy of spiritual beings. Angels operate under a genetic hierarchy from which they govern themselves: Seraphim, Cherubim, Throne, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

  THE GLORY BEYOND ANGELS: Angels who have always officially resided in The Glory Beyond (Heaven). Some have post on earth as guardians, in Caeli as facilitators, and other realms such as Discord, as Spiritualist.

  FALLEN: expelled angels, from those who fought in the War in Heaven, angels accepted into Satan’s legion, and angelic parents and their Nephilim offspring.

  NEPHILIM: The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God" (angels) and the "daughters of men" (humans) according to Genesis 6:4; and giants who inhabited Canaan according to Numbers 13:33. Being born of one angelic parent, half-angelic parent, and a human.

  Angelic Parents x Human Parent= Nephilim | Half-Angelic Parent x Human Parent = Nephilim

  Half-Angelic Parent x Half-Angelic Parent = Nephilim | Angelic Parent x Half-Angelic Parent = Nephilim

  MUTARE: Latin word for change. Mutare are especially skilled Nephelim angels. Once they exhibit a naturally high ability in mathematics and science as well as other physical pre-requisites, their name is submitted to the Academy for consideration.

  LINEAL GIFT

  A lineal gift is an ability that is passed down either through the maternal side or through mating.

  • Healing - Key (Kithlish), his father, Team Gazelle and Junta Gazelle all have known ability for healing. This is outside of path powers.

  • Foresight – Tambour’s maidens have the gift of prophecy as well as foresight interpretation.

  • Gift of Tongue - This is one talent all candidates for The Academy must have, the ability to interpret every language, from general syntactic languages to the supernatural. It is a learned skill but can be a lineal.

  • Empath - Those who have a highly developed sense of empathy. It manifests itself through the ability to feel others emotions and /or reacts as they would. They can project their emotions but it is rare. Sariel of the Fallen has the ability.

  • Telepathy - Lucan, Pythia Del, Pythia Phi. Lucan's use is temporary and conditional, where knowing his name or any personal deep rooted fact about him disrupts the frequency to communicate mentally. Pythia Del, however, is a high leveled telepath only trumped by one other person.

  • Synesthesia - Defined as a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. RARE. Aria Jinni is the only known possessor of the power.

  SPIRIT ESSENCE: the scent of a soul, can sometimes be blocked by a clog–an olfactory disrupter that disguises the scent.

  SPIRIT MASS: The amount of power contained in a soul.

  SPIRIT PRESSURE: using the power (spirit mass) contained in a soul in a tangible, metaphysical sense. The more powerful the person, the heavier the pressure feels.

  RUAH: the force that feeds the spirit.

  NEPHESH: the force that feels the body.

  KUFSAH: a soul container.

  KEYSTONE: a specially modified kufsah stone that “contains” the soul of someone who has died.

  SIGILLUM DEI AEMAETH: The seal of God, or signum dei vivi, symbol of the living God, called by John Dee the Sigillum Dei Aemaeth) - A late Middle Ages magical diagram,
composed of two circles, a pentagram, and three heptagons, and is labeled with the name of God and his angels. It was an amulet (amuletum) with the magical function that, according to one of the oldest sources (Liber iuratus), allowed the initiated magician to have power over all creatures except Archangels, but usually only reserved for those who can achieve the blessed vision of God and angels (beatific visionary).

  About the Author

  [4]

  At the not so tender age of eight, when she should have been immersing herself in the pleasure of learning math, Jade Brieanne was busy hunched over a desk–with its own personal cubby hole because elementary school rocked–writing a story about a child who gets a surprise visit from a house-eating robot.

  Her love for writing only grew from that point. And it was ugly. Plot bunnies, little green ones with bucked teeth and wild eyes, attacked her at all times of the day, and were relentless at night. Now Jade and these plot bunnies–who get prettier every year–have called an armistice. Instead of the bunnies trying to rip ideas though her hair follicles, they now cultivate together. It’s quite amicable.

  And it only took twenty years.

  Jade Brieanne is a thirty-something-year-old with the wild imagination of a sugar- addled fifth grader. She is from Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is the eldest daughter of four. She is a member of the IC. She is a Colt from Cape Fear High School, and an Aggie from NC A&T SU. She likes epics, Hip-Hop, K-Pop and manga.

  And she’s a writer. [5]

  Please visit

  iamjadebrieanne.com

  for more information about the books, to sign up for the mailing list, and to connect with me!

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