The hill was wide and grassy and warm in the late fall/early winter sun thanks to the temperate climate of Protea as a whole. Springtime would bring thousands of tiny flowers blooming across the face of it. At the moment, though, it was nothing but dark green grass and autumn leaves. It was a thinking spot, a quiet place for contemplation or art.
Raine had sought it out for both of those things. She laid on her back with her hands under her head and let her mind drift. Tasia's story was moving along swiftly, and she had needed a place to help her think. The best place she had ever found had been a grassy hill outside the limits of the wall surrounding the whole of the Protea Kingdom. The wall enclosed first the farmlands, and then the city, and then inside its own wall in the center, the palace grounds and castle.
She had been unable to resist transporting herself there, to see if the spot existed in this Era and to see what the ruins looked like before they got restored. They did not at all look depressing, actually. It felt a little like a promise of hope, not unlike the force of Hope that existed inside both Apexes—and maybe Tasia as well. It was, after all, an arcane force. Only the two Apexes could unleash the full power of it, though, by gathering in all the hopes of the universe and releasing it as their Whisper to create a miracle. Tasia definitely did sometimes miraculous things, but she had never made an actual miracle.
Raine could remember the day she and Tasia had first found the hill. They had been barely ten, and Tosh had taken them and Storm for a drive to get them all out of Olivia's hair; she had been stressing over a couple trees not producing properly. The hill had looked like the perfect place for a picnic, so they had stopped. While enjoying it, all four witches had mutually sensed an odd power nearby. An investigation had uncovered an old well that resonated power of some sort.
The moment Tasia touched it, she had uncovered that it had been around since the Royal Era, and it had once been used as a wishing well because of its ties to the Ephemeral Plane. You dropped in something important in exchange for asking for something. All four had decided to give it a try, so Raine and Tasia had sacrificed their favorite earrings they had been wearing, and Storm had sacrificed his favorite bracelet. All three had wished to find soul mates someday. So far Raine and Tasia had more than succeeded, and Raine felt confident in Storm finding his soon enough.
Tosh? He had sacrificed his engagement rings from his deceased wife. She had passed six years earlier, barely a year after Storm had been born. He had continued to hold onto the engagement rings she had given him, though on a chain rather than his thumbs, and had said he would let go of them when he felt she had let go of him as well. She let go there, at the well, and he had offered them for his wish. The kids had never actually known what that wish was, but, curiously, they had returned to discover the trees giving trouble on the Martine farm had inexplicably started to bloom without any further issues.
Was the wishing well still there? Raine considered that for a moment and realized she was getting herself confused between times. It had to still be there because it had been around since the Royal Era, and she sat in the Rebirth Era. Really, how did Clara or Rachel keep these things straight? She shook her head and got to her feet. She tucked her sketchbook under her arm as she hurried down the hill.
The line of trees that marked where plains started to become the mountains still stood, and there, resting between a few of them, stood the wishing well. It looked little different from now until the future, as if the planet had already weathered it as much as it wanted. Gray stone formed its body and only a few cracks marred the surface. In the future, someone had filled the cracks with bits of amber as a sign of respect. She lightly touched it with a finger and felt the same power of ages she had felt in the future. It still felt ancient, even in that year.
Something caught her eye and she knelt down to see it better. Carefully carved into one of the stones was a series of characters she didn't recognize. She brushed her fingers over them and tried to use a clarification spell to read them, but even that didn't clear it up entirely. All she was able to read was a single word, but that was more than enough to startle her. "Liena," she said softly in shock.
A sound behind her warned of danger and she dropped her sketchbook as her spear appeared. She swung around yet was not in time to stop the vine lashing at her. It smashed into her chest and sent her tumbling backwards into the well with a shout.
Left open on the ground, her sketchbook reflected the image of a young man confronting a demon in his dream.
* * * * *
Where the hell was Raine? She should have been home hours ago but she was still out somewhere, and evening had fallen. Rhya paced in agitation between the windows. It had been too quiet in the week since the attack on Leslie. They should have known something would happen soon.
Rhya was the only one not handling her worry very well. Everyone else, even Storm, had found something to distract themselves. Raine wasn't hurt or in danger—if she was, then Tasia would have known—so the others did their best to assume she had gotten lost in her own art world and was just late.
Tasia had her headphones on attached to her PCM, and she was writing something that did not look like her story. Storm got close enough to peek without being creepy and noticed a program playing some sort of music. It looked orchestral in nature. "She's lyricizing," he told the others as he sat down again. "Uncle Doug must've thrown something her way."
"He did." Theo tucked his legs underneath himself on his chair. "He's the composer for a musical stage theatrical that is having auditions at the end of the month. I'm auditioning for it myself, actually, and so is Ryan. Uncle Doug ran into verbal roadblock when it came to writing the lyrics for the production, so he grabbed Tasia, as usual." He shook his head. "And he questions his talent sometimes. I don't think he knows how bloody unusual it is for a Shaman to write music a Mystic can perform safely."
"So says the Virtuoso who can sing duets with a Mystic," Beth noted dryly. "Most Virtuosos are lucky enough to get enough seasoning in their souls to simply be able to sing backup let alone a duet. Normally you'd just be drowned out and disappear into her voice and power."
Theo shrugged with a smile. "Being a Dual Cultivator means I have a far more flexible soul thanks to my Seed, enough that I can take a harder impact from our Mystic without risking my gift. The only caveat to it is that there has to be a sort of balance in what music we sing together. I can't sing to her music, but she can't sing to something too weak. Our happy medium is stuff that is written by another Virtuoso . . . or Uncle Doug."
"Oh ho!" Emily's brows went up. "Are you thinking to get Tasia to audition with you?"
"I want to," he admitted candidly. "I'm aiming for the male lead, and I really don’t think she has any clue just how utterly perfect she would be in the female lead role." He smiled at Ryan. "Thank you for not competing with me. I'm utterly terrible when I want something."
Ryan snorted. "I'm happy with getting the main supporting role since I don't sing that well." He looked over at Tasia as well. "I agree that she would be perfect." He grinned. "Though I'm not sure how well Rodi or Kim would handle knowing you two smooched on a stage! They're so possessive."
"It's a romance?" Beth asked curiously.
"It is! It's also set during the Majik War, so it definitely is a forbidden one. Specifically, it's set just before the War began, when witches found themselves beginning to hide themselves from humans in an effort to remain safe from the rising jealousy. That lasted maybe a year or two, I think, before whatever set off the full War happened. Honestly, none of us have ever been sure what made it happen. I don't think Tasia even knows." Theo held up a finger. "Point being, that time of tension is the perfect setting for a forbidden love between a witch and a human laced with tragedy, mystery, evil disguised as good, and still a happy ending tying everything off. I cried when I read the script. I need to be part of this! It's my heritage, too, you know?"
"It's going to be so amazing if you get your way." Leslie shook her head. "Music created by a Shaman performed by Virtuoso and a Mystic? Talk about bringing down the house."
"And if you do get Tasia in, there's going to be an additional layer of serendipity," Rachel offered. At the lifted brow, the Memory Cultivator smiled. "The director/writer is the son of a director that Jean Kinsley worked with frequently."
"Are we allowed to use 'serendipity' as a word?" Beth asked. "I know 'coincidence' is a bad word. Is 'serendipity'?
"It's acceptable." Leslie grinned. "We use it when we're not entirely positive if Destiny did things or if it just happened that way. Where Pivots are concerned, you really can't tell sometimes. Especially right now. Isn't the director also Anna's dad? Tasia has been her babysitter almost every week since, and I would swear she said her dad did theatricals."
"You are correct!" Theo agreed. "Which is how I got my hands on a script early. Also, I'm not convinced he didn't write the female lead for Tasia, honestly. Guess we'll know for sure when auditions roll around."
The front door opened on a gust of wind, and Rodi walked in with Striker and Haeth clinging onto his jacket so that they didn't get blown away. He had been out looking for Raine, and both dragons had gone with him to provide additional boosts to his Finding power. Finders could find just about any lost object or person as long as they had a trail and therefore could effectively become the lost item. It tended to be more accurate with people thanks to the larger energy signal even non-powered people left behind.
Tasia pulled off her headphones and turned around to look at her husband. Their eyes met, and Rachel lifted a brow as she felt the telepathic conversation. She couldn't read it since they naturally blocked her alone let alone together, but she could still know it was going on. "Out loud, if you don't mind."
"Sorry." Rodi walked over to Rhya. He handed her the sketchbook he had found and watched her go very pale. "Rhya, you have to find her. I've maxed what I can do via my True Shadow and Finding. I tracked her to the ruins, but she literally disappeared. You've got the best chance of figuring out where to go from there."
"But how?!" She clutched the book to her chest protectively. It almost felt as though she could almost touch Raine through it. "I don't know how to do that!"
Tasia got to her feet and walked over to Rhya. She gently put her hands on the smaller female's shoulders. "Rea," she said softly, "you know how. It's inside your soul. All soul mates of any kind can find one another if they follow where their souls touch. Twins, lovers, even soul-siblings, like Logan and I or Shana and Edgar or Siobhan and Rocky, can use our connection to find one another."
"Is that related to how twins to High Rulers can feel them in danger?" Beth asked softly.
"It's actually a part of it. All Caretakers to Cultivators can feel them in danger, and actually feel the pain they suffer as well. It only goes the other way when the Cultivator is a Defender; Rulers don't have that ability. For obvious reasons, twins to High Rulers also feel them in danger which allows them to alert the whole team as needed. Twins don't feel physical pain from one another, though—only soul-deep emotional pain—and a High Ruler be they Defender, Ruler, or Dual doesn't sense their twin in danger. Almost as soon as a Caretaker or Cultivator feels that danger, they just instinctively know where they are."
None of that sounded new or unusual to anyone, but it again brought up a question asked for millennia about the soul-siblings sets. Edgar, as Caretaker to Siobhan, naturally sensed her in danger and felt her pain even though he himself was just a Ruler. Same applied for Rocky to Shana. Also naturally, Siobhan and Shana, as Caretakers to Edgar and Rocky, felt them in danger and their pain alike. Siobhan and Shana being Duals ensured that even if Edgar or Rocky ever Deactivated, they would still feel the danger and pain. Rodi and Tasia had proved that; they had had the same dynamic of being mutual Caretakers up until Rodi had Deactivated and he became the only actual Caretaker. He had not lost his ability to sense Tasia in danger or in pain, and of course she had not as well by being Dual.
However . . . both Edgar/Shana, Siobhan/Rocky, and Tasia/Logan all sensed danger to their sibling and felt their pain as well. It could not be blamed on being a High Ruler; Tasia was not one. It could not be blamed on being Activated Cultivators; Logan obviously was not one. The best guess now lay in it plausibly having something to do with the arcane forces all three women wielded, but either way, the nearly-twin siblings consistently showed elements of both sorts of soul bonds as well as unique attributes all their own, and it had been proven all too painfully that they could not exist without each other either. In fact, it echoed strong enough to echo out reciprocity; it could well be the reason Rocky and Edgar, Shana and Siobhan, Rodi and Logan, and Raine and Tasia had such immensely close friendships themselves. It usually happened that way, though, again, only guesses lay as to why. Everyone could only assume it would eventually be revealed when Destiny felt it the right time.
"So whatever is existing that allows someone to feel danger to someone soul-bonded to them can be used deliberately as a sort of tracking?" Leslie asked curiously. "I've never seen anyone do that, so I didn't know it possible."
"To be fair, it's rarely ever needed," Tasia admitted. "Like I said, when danger arrives, we use it automatically to find the one we love. It's really rare for something like this to happen where a soul mate has disappeared without being in danger and has to be found. But it can be done, and since Logan isn't here, it's on Rhya to attempt it. She may not be able to sense if Raine is hurt or in danger, but she can sure find her."
"But you can sense Raine?" Emily asked.
"Yes, but that's an entirely different skill entirely, derived from my being the High Priestess. I can sense danger and pain to any witch within my coven. Raine is just fine, but she's definitely stuck somewhere, so it's on Rhya to find her."
"But how?" Rhya asked on a wail. "I've never tried!"
"As long as Destiny herself is not blocking you for some reason, you should be able to just feel her if you close your eyes and think of her."
Ryan looked at Rachel. "So that's why you can't find Allister."
She nodded tightly. "And why during the Arian War, Logan could not find Tasia or Raine despite his best efforts. It means something is happening of enough importance that it cannot be interfered with." It was not a reassuring thought for her. Just what destiny was Allister being called out to complete? They had always known there was something special inside him beyond just being her Caretaker, and that the Light Shadow and Present Sight he possessed could not be a fluke; he had always seemed to have powers beyond those things that had never been identifiable or fully manifested. He certainly was on the older side nearing forty to finally figure it out, though. What had changed?
Rhya gulped down a breath and reached out with her mind, thinking fiercely of her beloved twin soul, but all she got was an impression of static. Her lips trembled as her eyes opened and tears began to swim. "I'm blocked too."
The front door opened again suddenly and was narrowly kept from slamming into the wall by the person entering. "Hell of a night," Shana said cheerfully as she walked in and shut the door behind her. "The wind is crazy out there." She pulled her hood off and looked around the family room with a lifted brow. "Ah ha, so it must have been Raine."
"You know where she is?!" Rhya turned toward her aunt quickly. "Aunt Shana, please, where is she?"
"I only know where she's been, not where she is right now, but it's a start." She glanced at Rodi. "You were near the old well as well, weren't you?" When he lifted a brow at her, she smiled. "As I thought. You see, that old well is one of the few physical connections to the Ephemeral Plane. Liena made it ages ago, and anyone who gets close to it is sensed by the Ruler Cultivator of Protea. Or Cultivators as the case may be in my generation. Once Leslie takes the throne in the future, she'll feel it instead of us.
Tasia lifted a brow. "Raine must've fallen in the well and been taken to the Ephemeral Plane. Huh. Curious that none of us felt her enter, because that even I would sense, but whatever is blocking Rhya must be blocking us as well." It dawned, and she looked at Rhya. "Well, I guess it's finally time for you to meet Pallas."
Rhya fought down her nerves. "Am I allowed to be scared?"
"Sure," Shana told her before anyone else could. "That's how it goes for you Delphinians. You lot are loud and extroverted and the life of the party, but you are so incredibly shy that you have trouble reaching out that first time. Meanwhile, we Proteans are quiet and introverted and hell no parties, but we're hardly shy. We only get hung up when emotion overwhelms us. I think as soon as you see Pallas for real, the part of you that is Protean will kick in and it'll be fine." She smiled. "And I will enjoy watching it happen."
"Are you going?" Theo asked as he and Emily began grabbing jackets and shoes for everyone.
"Hell yes I am. While we could technically open a portal right here without issue, I want to check the well. I want to make sure it was just a quirk of destiny that Raine fell in and not something more problematic." She pulled her hood on over her hair again and watched as the others got their shoes and jackets on. All except Tasia and Rodi wore hoods though, and Shana had to smile to herself as she saw the signs of their Shadow element. Chance and Aldan were the same. People with Shadow power had a strange dislike of nearly whole or whole concealment. They could wear hats and masks, but not hoods.
Shana knew best where they were going and so took care of transporting them all to the site of the well. The wind happened to be blowing there as well—proving it was more from overflowing magic than an actual difference in air pressure—but as soon as she walked into the trees, the wind died down. As she passed Theo, the Aster Cultivator told her drolly, "Show off."
Shana grinned at him. Not for the first time, she thought about how much she enjoyed this new generation. They were a product of their time, and it was wonderful. She could not be happier to see how the Resurrection Era would shape up. She leaned over to look in the well and looked for the familiar signs of someone passing through. She suddenly sensed danger and started to turn, but Tasia's own internal warning system was sharper and faster. The sorceress leapt at her queen and took her bodily to the ground and safety. The thick branch that had been intent on impalement retreated back into the foliage where it had come from. Shana huffed a little breath out. "Great. Alloran planted a booby trap."
Tasia scowled. "I should have let it hit you."
"Please, you? As if you ever could. No amount of puns will ever turn off your need to save me. Also, get off me. You're heavy."
"My sincerest apologies." Tasia rolled up to her feet and then offered a hand to Shana to help her up as well. "It's not my fault most of those who have to tackle you are usually smaller than you."
"And also aren't pregnant sorceresses!"
Emily looked at Leslie. "Talk about things never changing. This is basically identical to the future. Mom says she feels her job is easier with Tasia around now."
"Very funny." Tasia walked over to the well where Shana had stood and leaned in as though looking. A vine shot out of the darkness and she dodged gracefully to the side. She grabbed the end of the vine and held on tight when it tried to recoil. "Nice try, but you can't use Nature on us!" Rainbow-gray arcanistry welled up her body and then poured into the vine.
It withered instantly and disintegrated, and a Gensome gave a roar of pain. Beth and Theo took up defensive positions with Emily and Ryan. "Go!" Emily told Shana. "We'll handle the weed whacking. You guys find Raine and help Rhya meet Pallas!"
Shana had never not trusted Defenders to know what they were doing, especially not this generation. She jumped into the well, and the others followed close. Emily just smirked as she grabbed her Mask. "I normally don't enjoy pulling weeds, but this time I'll make an exception."
The portal to the Plane opened within inches of jumping into the well, and it whisked those going there away quickly. It took only moments until they landed in the Plane itself. It was not an unfamiliar location to anyone by that point; all had been there more than once for various reasons. Tasia and Rodi had spent their entire lives meeting there, and she had been there beyond that in her role as High Priestess. Leslie had been visiting as long as she had been alive; it felt as much her domain as Protea did. Storm had of course visited often enough as a witch, and Rhya herself had unintentionally visited during those astral walks where she had met Pallas.
What no one expected was that, upon arrival, all found themselves effectively forced into their Ruler outfits. None had intended to access them; it just happened the moment they landed. "I guess we're supposed to dress for the occasion?" Storm asked as he looked down at his Gladiolus Ruler suit. He then looked at Rodi. "Guess we're glad Tasi figured that out for you, else you might be naked."
Shana looked at Rodi and blinked at finding he wore a Ruler suit as well. It looked like what she would expect of the future king to Iris, resembling that flower mostly, but it also paid homage to Aria's black poppy, including a black poppy pin he wore on his lapel. That was what Rocky and Edgar had as well; Ruler suits that more closely resembled their married world than their birth world yet with flower pins and echoes back to their born lineage. What confused Shana at all was that Rodi was Deactivated. He should not have been able to call up his suit at all; just put it on the old-fashioned way. "Figured what out and how?" she asked curiously. "You're Deactivated. The ability to summon a Ruler outfit goes away when you do that."
"It did," he confirmed. He smiled. "However, Tasia got curious in the way only a sorceress can and started investigating, and we uncovered something both useful and not surprising."
Tasia nodded. "Basically, when a Ruler is Deactivated, they give up just about all of their magic, and along with it, they give up their magically generated Ruler outfit from their Seed. The only magic they will retain is whatever single skill they need for the person they will remain Caretaker for, basically making them exactly alike any other Caretaker. They get one magic skill from either Ruler or Defender category, depending on need, right? And that single skill produces enough magic that allows any Caretaker to hold a weapon immaterially that they can call up when they need it."
Shana's brows shot up. "Wait."
"You got it!" Tasia grinned. "Rodi keeps his Ruler suit as my prince and future king the same place he keeps his sword. In his case, that's actually his majik, but same difference in the end. He did not keep any magic because he had no need as my Caretaker."
"It would have been overkill," Leslie grumbled. "He's got enough majik to not need the rest."
"You be quiet," Rodi groused back.
"Holy darkened hells," Shana murmured. "That's a game changer across the board! I'm thinking of the Commanders and Chance as Captain. All are Caretakers." She felt no need to dance around her daughter's future when she had seen it coming long before. "They have the ability to hold their weapons there, so what's to stop them from starting to hold their uniforms as well? Hell, that could be a safer option. Sherry personally made those uniforms, and Jean added protective charms to them that make them stronger than the average stuff. Not on par with Defender armor, no, but in line with the suits my brother and husband have. Just a little bit extra that can make a difference sometimes. If all the boys could start calling up their uniforms as they charge in behind the girls, we might all breathe a little easier! Did you teach everyone in the future?"
Tasia smiled wryly. "I hadn't had an opportunity yet. I had just figured it out."
"Add it to the list of aspects of this Pivot. It's turning out to be a complicated critter," Shana said just as wryly. "We'll have you teach everyone the skill at first moment. In the meanwhile, we have something important here to be done." She walked over to Rhya and put an arm around her shoulders before lifting her voice in a way that made it carry. "Archon Pallas, I call upon you."
A soft shimmer of green and pink filled the air and then Pallas walked out of almost nowhere. He carried his long broom as usual, and it looked not unlike the brooms owned by witches for millennia. The only difference lay in his having a crystal in the hilt that enhanced his various powers as a demi-god and Archon of the Fields. "Hello, Shana," he started to say, only to break off in sheer shock as he saw what stood before him. His eyes riveted to Rhya.
Rhya could not tear her eyes from him. How beautiful he seemed to her! Green hair and eyes that reminded her of her favorite grassy fields, and sun-kissed skin as if to say the sun itself loved him; he had a Nature Flower Element, so it was likely true. Slim, despite his great magic—usually magical types ran to a more plump shape, like herself—but with as hard as he worked the Fields, he no doubt got plenty of physical activity. A powerful well of desire that felt as if it could never burn out surged up inside her body and soul alike. The unleashed fury of it felt only a little shocking, but not at all alarming. She had waited so long to feel that way.
Any nerves she had felt seemed to drown in the need to feel his arms and taste his kiss. She gathered her skirts and started running toward him, but she still managed to trip over her own feet. He hastily dropped his broom to catch her, and tears spilled down her cheeks at finally feeling his arms for real. Uncaring for time or place or audience, she caught his face in her hands and kissed him with all the hunger inside her soul. He paused for barely a moment before catching her closer and returning the kiss just as feverishly. He had waited millions of years to find her.
Raine walked up beside the other Cultivators, also in her Ruler gown, and said somewhat solemnly to Tasia, "Meeting him felt like meeting another brother. I have no objections to this, though their mutual magical-orientation means they're going to drive me utterly mad trying to keep them both healthy. Save me, Tasi."
Tasia snorted softly. "Don't worry. Logan and I will both have your back."
The couple finally parted, and Pallas stared at Rhya with a longing that could be felt. "So long," he whispered. He pressed his forehead to hers. "I waited so long. I never imagined I would have a soul mate. And then you appeared in my Fields one day. I didn't know who you were until very recently, but I don't know that it would have mattered. I have missed you these last four years."
She framed his face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I couldn't accidentally walk here anymore once I knew that's what I had been doing, and I was just too shy to ask to come see you." She smiled. "I didn't know who you were either until Tasia and Rachel told me." She started giggling. "It should feel very awkward that I just kissed my Defender's uncle like that, but I don't think I care."
Rachel grinned. "I don't care either, really. And Pallas and my mother are far more alike than they admit, so I doubt he does either!"
"I really don't." Pallas was smiling as well. He loosened his grip on Rhya without letting go and looked at the others. "It is an honor to meet all of you in person at last. Well, other than Tasia and Rodi of course. I have known them for years." His eyes softened as he looked at Tasia. "She was walking here before she could walk. I helped her take her first steps. I fear she is very dear to me."
"I'm rather fond of you as well," she retorted, but on a smile.
"Confused!" Storm held up a hand. "I did not think the Ephemeral Plane was separate of time, but we only have one Pallas."
"The Plane is not separate of time," Pallas told him, "but I am. I am watching over both Rebirth and Resurrection Eras at the same time. It is . . . difficult, I admit, but being a child of Horatio and a grandchild of Time, I have some liberty to move between the Eras as is needed. If I was not apart from time, I would be of the Resurrection Era and have the conflict of running into my past self, as is now how my sister is. It was always said to me that I could choose the Era to affix myself to, but I never had a reason to do so."
"Until now," Shana murmured. "We will discuss this in the future, Pallas, when all is settled. I believe we can make things work as needed. When Clara emerged into the Rebirth Era and created a future self in the Resurrection Era, the Hall of Records became stronger for having two Librarians across time. Three, if you include Rachel. I think that when Claret passes control to Rachel eventually, Rachel will see the next Era beyond Resurrection and have a future self as well. You may have a little different of a role, but Edgar and I shall do everything in our power to make this work for you and Rhya."
Rhya suddenly gave a little gasp, released Pallas, and rushed to leap onto Raine. "Oh, you remember me now," her twin teased her.
"You scared me!" Rhya shouted at her. "Darn it, Raine, you were missing and I couldn't find you and we didn't know where you were and okay maybe Tasia probably did because she knows everything but she wouldn't tell us and then Aunt Shana said you fell into the Plane and why didn't you call me?" she ended on a little wail.
"There's no PCA service here, beloved," Pallas murmured, visibly trying not to laugh.
"Well, make some!" she retorted.
A speculative look filled Tasia and Storm's faces alike, and Shana started laughing. "Oh gods. You two and Rocky are too much alike! Give you a technical challenge and you take it personally!"
It made everyone laugh, even Rhya, and she released Raine to go back over to Pallas. She knew Raine would not mind. Pallas could not go with them when they left, so she needed to fill herself on his presence while she could.
A sudden slimy sensation of danger filled Shana, and Tasia's blood boiled, and their heads jerked up as one. Raine saw their faces, looked to see an ugly blast of magic hurling at Pallas, and lunged forward sharply. She gave him and Rhya a hard shove that sent them stumbling, and the blast plowed into her own chest. It tore out the back again with her darkly glowing Life Orb, and a shout rose. Before anyone could grab it, a Gensome burst across the field and got its claws on it first. It looked particularly horrific, more like a nightmare than not.
Rhya scrambled up and over to Raine's side. Storm got there first, and he caught his sister when her knees buckled. Together with Leslie, they lowered Raine gently to the flowers. She seemed barely aware, her eyes fixed on the Orb the Gensome clutched.
As if they had one mind, Tasia and Shanae stepped in front of Raine defensively. They glanced at one another, and Tasia inclined her head slightly to imply she would defer to Shanae as the stronger Lead. Shanae accepted the gesture with an incline of her own head and then looked at the rest of the team present. "Masks and weapons up. This won't be a pretty fight. Alloran had to work hard to get this bastard here; he may well have ripped it from the Underbelly of the Plane where the worst of evil goes when destroyed. Tasia and I will take point; everyone else break through to Raine."
Masks were grabbed and donned to call armor, and all who had weapons grabbed them as well. Shana and Tasia shot forward with their swords at ready, and the Gensome used the Life Orb to blast them. Both absorbed the blast without pausing and kept on in their rush. "Nice try!" Shana mocked as she made the first strike and gouged flesh deeply enough to make the monster shriek. "Those with a Dark Flower Element—or a Dark or True Shadow element—can absorb just about anything thrown at them, and the stronger we are—"
"—The more we absorb!" Tasia's own blade severed an arm, the one holding the Life Orb.
Before either she or Shana could grab it, however, a magical, shadowy, rope coiled around the Life Orb. No one could be alarmed; the rope hauled the Orb over to the others where Rodi could grab it safely. Once he had a hand on it, the rope disappeared.
Pallas had been kneeling beside Raine as well, and he let out a breath of relief. "Do not be alarmed," he said. "That is Fitzgerald. He's an ally."
"Fitzgerald?" Tasia repeated. Her sharp eyes moved over the landscape and found a patch of shadows more light than dark not far away. "Come on out, friend."
A figure emerged from the shadows but his identity could not be determined for he wore heavy metal armor of a shimmery green and gray color. A mask hid his face from view even more effectively than the Defenders, and it did not resemble a flower at all. It looked vaguely symbolic in some manner but not one consciously noticed by the others. He carried a sword of the same metal as his armor propped on his shoulder, and another magical rope—a lasso, actually—hooked at his waist. A hat covered even his hair, preventing even the smallest bit of his identity from showing. "Do y'all need some help, or was that enough?" he asked.
"Hey, he talks like Tasia does!" Leslie exclaimed.
Tasia winced wryly. Try as she might to keep her accent under check, it colored her words most of the time. Her Mystic power gave her the ability to use any accent fluently, but she had to actively concentrate on it if it wasn't her normal one. The drawl was her normal state, no matter what language she spoke. On the other hand, one of her Mystic gifts didn't need to be turned on and off. She had a sensitivity to anything audible. Voices acted like fingerprints to her. She recognized this one easily. "So that's what's going on," she muttered under her breath.
Storm's eyes narrowed as he looked at Rachel and found her frowning. A pattern had emerged with several possibilities, and he filed them for later viewing. He just needed a little more evidence. This pattern was . . . complicated.
It wasn't possible, was it, Rachel wondered as she watched Fitzgerald closely. He moved like Allister, sounded like Allister—and he even called himself Fitzgerald. Samuel Castlera happened to have once been called Sabin Fitzgerald, and when his brother, Aldan Castlera, had gone to the Resurrection Era with Rachel, he had taken the name Allister Fitzgerald until they had married and he had taken on her last name of Statice. They used Castlera as their 'casual' name, though, so most didn't even realize. But could this really be Allister/Aldan? He had not even looked her way. If it was him, wouldn't he have said something, anything, to her? Surely he knew how afraid she was, how lonely she had been. Surely . . .
If Shana suspected anything—and, being Shana, she probably had as many suspicions as Tasia did—she kept it inside. "That was enough," she told Fitzgerald. She looked at Tasia. "Anastasia, help your sister. Rodi will join me."
Rodi handed Tasia the Life Orb and then leaned down and kissed her fiercely before going to Shana to help her keep the Gensome at bay; even one-armed, it could be dangerous. Tasia went over to Raine and knelt next to her. She held out the Life Orb silently. Raine drew it closer, but it wouldn't return to her. Rhya, Leslie, and Tasia all shared looks and then they looked into the Life Orb as well to find the memory that prevented Raine from reclaiming it. It was not hard to find for it was one burned into Raine's soul as deeply as her mind.
Neither Rhya nor Leslie had known the details before of what had happened to Tasia that led to her opening her school, and now the end results played out in horrific detail from Raine's point of view: Tasia walking away from what looked like a brutal encounter with five opponents. Abusers who had been bullying her for years. All five sported broken noses, bloody lips, and very deliberate bruises. Tasia herself had been bloodied as well, from the broken nose she had sustained from an abuser getting the first shot. The only other blood on her came from the blood staining her hands from her enemies. Her eyes had looked almost black rather than chocolate, proof of where her own Dark had tried to take her from her Light long before they had been forcefully merged to Gray.
Tears slid down Raine's cheeks. "I didn't even know what she suffered. I couldn't heal her."
"Raine!" Tasia grabbed her shoulders and shook her until her eyes lifted to meet hers. "You were there!" she told her fiercely. "You were the first thing I saw after I walked away from that horror. Do you have any idea what that means to me?" she asked shakily. "I tried to tell you on Aria, but you wouldn't listen then either. You were there when I needed you. When my hands were covered in blood, you took them in yours and told me it would be alright." She cupped Raine's cheek. "You are my sister. Is it because we share Logan's soul? I don't know. I don't care. That memory . . . it has more good than bad in it." She smiled suddenly. "Besides, you said my crooked nose was cute."
Raine closed her eyes as she found a smile. "It is. You're right," she added softly, "that memory is special. It didn't matter that I was late to the fight. I was there. I was the only one who blamed me. I want this memory!" she shouted suddenly. "I want to hold this memory in my heart forever! It's a part of me!"
"Move!" Tasia scrambled back and dragged Pallas and Rhya with her. Storm, Leslie, and Rachel hastily scrambled the other way.
The Life Orb blazed black around Raine's hands as the familiar majik circle cast around her. She rose up to her knees, and the Orb returned to inside her soul. Her Defender Flower Mark burned hot and bright for a moment and then sprouted another daffodil blossom. She yanked her Mask off her bracelet and pulled it on to summon her now-strengthened armor. As she rose up to her feet, she held out a hand. Rather than call her three-headed spear, she called out her wand with a surge of gold majik. The yew tipped with ametrine had belonged to her for many years.
"Oops." Shana grabbed Rodi's arm and they moved as fast as they could out of the way. The Gensome had been so busy trying to fend them off that it looked actually surprised at their sudden fleeing. It turned to see Raine, and it seemed to freeze in abject terror.
"Summoning!" Magikry welled around her body as she drew an invoking pentagram and then hurled it into the air. The ground began to quiver in promise. "Immortal Blade!"
The land split open to release ribbons of liquid metal into the air. It swelled up around Raine's body and then began to solidify beneath her. As it grew larger, she rose up higher in the air until she stood on the shoulder of a massive metal titan whose edges glinted sharply and lethally. The titan offered a hand for her to step onto and then lowered her safely to the ground. A little smirk touched her lips as she snapped her fingers.
Any gentleness evaporated as the titan melted and reformed into a thick and powerful sword. It began to wobble back and forth and then fell with metric force until it landed blade side down on the Gensome, severing it perfectly in two. The halves of monster evaporated into the air and then seemed to move as if to be absorbed in the land, but a blast of shimmery-gray power from Fitzgerald erased it entirely. The metal sword dissolved peacefully into the air until nothing remained; for all its force, it had not damaged the Fields at all.
There was a moment of silence and then Rhya said, "That was so cool!" She happily leapt into her laughing twin's arms and held on tight. "Stop scaring me!" she said into her shoulder on a little hiccup. "You always scare me!"
"I'm sorry, Rea. It can't be helped. I am your twin." She looked over Rhya's head at her elder sister and then smiled. "Your nose is cuter crooked. I just don't think it's fair than an imperfection makes you look more beautiful." She grinned when her sister laughed at her and then looked at Pallas. "Sorry for the mess."
Pallas shook his head on a wry smile. "It is not the first battle these Fields have seen. It is a far better thing than the Chaos War, to be sure." He took Rhya's hand when she walked closer. Without hesitation, he removed her Mask for her. Only a fellow Cultivator or a Caretaker could touch a Defender's Mask. "I would go with you now if I could," he told her softly, "but there is a very important thing I must do here first. With permission, I would be your Caretaker for this war."
"Granted," Shana told him as she removed her Mask. "And I know that should be said by me and Edgar alike, but I doubt my brother will disagree. Once you handle what is needed handling, you may enter into the physical world to be Caretaker. Yes, it is dangerous, and we will definitely need to discuss whether or not it will be permitted in the future, but for now, it is."
"It's not permitted?" Storm asked.
"No, it's too dangerous for now with him as Archon," Shana explained. "If something happened to him, it would be pretty bad for the Plane as a whole and not just the Immortal Fields. Again, it is to be discussed and evaluated in the future, and it will be something between me, my brother, and my High Priestess."
"Oh!" Leslie's eyes went wide. "Wait, that finally made sense to me. Tasia is High Priestess of the Plane and Pallas is just the Archon of the Fields. So he answers to her just as much as you and Uncle Edgar, and that's how Tasi can serve in lieu of either of you two as Ruler herself."
"Exactly." Shana grinned. "That's a nit-picky detail you would have been told when you were closer to coronation. And as a point of fact, Tasia can serve in lieu of Pallas too if needed."
"And Librarian, I bet," Rachel murmured.
"Yeah, no, not testing that," Tasia muttered back. "I promised, remember?"
Rhya bit back a laugh. "Okay. I'll accept that. I'd accept anything." She kissed Pallas again quickly and then forced herself to let go and went back over to her friends. She glanced around, did not see Fitzgerald, and frowned to herself. Such an unusual new ally, that one. Something tickled her mind but would not form so she let it go. Instead, she blew a kiss at Pallas as Shana called up transport magic to take them all back to the physical realm.
Pallas watched them go and barely kept himself from reaching out to stop them from leaving. The only reason he could even endure letting Rhya go again now that they had met was because they had not fully interlocked their souls; they had merged deeply, to be sure, but not wholly locked. Both would have suffered dreadfully if so. That would only happen once they became lovers, which he deeply looked forward to. He would enjoy being a Caretaker to his spirited Delphinian mate in many ways.
Fitzgerald walked up beside him, and said, "Yeah, definitely a deliberate match with you two."
"Mm. We had best take care of things quickly, friend. We both have need to be other than here, as much as there is need to be here." Pallas lifted a brow as Fitzgerald opened a shimmery-gray transport. "Where are you off to?"
"Tiny little thing of more importance to take care of elsewhere but I'll be back very soon. Someone needs me more than the Fields do, you know?"
Pallas smiled. "Indeed. I shall see you when you return." He watched Fitzgerald disappear into the shadows and then bent to pick up his broom. So much could happen in such a short time. Even he, at millions of years old, could be fascinated by it. Be intrigued by the delicate way Destiny wove her children together. "Thank you," he murmured. "I am honored you chose me to be Caretaker to a Dual Cultivator descended of your own beloved twin soul. I will not let you down."
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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