Issue 25: Bel Redux
It has my body but no longer controls my mind or soul. The
best way I can help? Repent for the small crimes I did while alive. The problem
with taking a person’s body? Even Unity doesn’t know all the back
doors.—Catherine Bel, aka “The Eventide Specter”
There is another out there. Lucifer
knows this. We shall force it from him.—Unity
I
thought I was in the thick of it. My brother knew. He had always known. I don’t
blame him for keeping everyone in the dark. Even myself. If we were to win? I
would be the one to channel those building blocks. The ones that Abbadon
denied.—Sleeping in Starlight: Final Protocol
Earth
The Weave
Deep Veil
Colors
swirled around me. My grandfather followed.
His
face was composed. He had been to the inner portions of the Weave. What those
called the Veil. That thin line between worlds. Between realities. It brushed
up against the Night Realm. Captain Overwatch governed powers I didn’t fully
comprehend. Her silver and purple armor
glinted within the twilight of the sky around us.
Saira
waved us forward, “Phase Two.”
A
silver burst of light transported us.
Wheat
rose from rolling fields. A white oak table. 8 figures awaited. My parents. Sir
Avalon. Ta’mathon. Proctor Gansys. I waved. The other three waved back. The
oldest demi wore a simple white shirt and jeans. Her face lined with age. The
second had a jaunty black uniform on. The overcoat was House Murphy patterns.
While the third was decked out in the Avatar of the Sands gear. Each image
shimmered.
V’alkor
smiled, “A bit more of Me, Myself and I.”
Silver
Fox clapped her hands together. “I missed that. Heya Grandpa Wolf.”
I
said as we reached the table, “Sol is the Last Line of Defence for Earth and
Eden. What does that mean for the Twin Suns of Typha?”
*****
I motioned to my parents. Via the
Unseen Channel.
///Abbadon
will find the spirit pyramid in the Night Realm. Dexter will draw enough
Amarche there for the bait to stick. I know that look Ma! We aren’t sacrificing
them. They are animating Sleeves. Not of Terran design though. Hatheon. He
keeps saying that Tears line but he doesn’t know the half of it.///
My father nodded. By the set of his
shoulders, he knew the battle plan to a point. Being the 3rd Phase
Life Thronebearer had perks but I didn’t want to muddle the temporal. I had
forgotten how easily my Mother could handle multiple conversations.
She flexed her fingers. The High
Tounge. That trip to Elysium had made an impression.
Good.
But do we have enough to fool Chronos’ forces?
I tapped my ring finger. Golden City
era Eliza piped up with a few lines.
“All three of those stars are going
to help us in the 2nd phase. The Ark of the Covenant is a sapient
alarm system. Designed to—she mimicked the movements of a Sleeve –control assets.”
My past self did a double take, “But
don’t they need….”
Our
other self finished, “Beyond a regular human brain piloting them from afar.
They will jump from system to system after a certain point. To keep Chronos distracted.
He’s one of Abbadon’s backup skin suits.”
Mom
glared, “Lovely.” Her hands moved once more.
How does letting this Red King know about
his backups via Unity’s Memory Shroud help us?
My
words made my parents sit up straiter.
///We
want Thoth to be his only option. The only way he can come into the physical
world properly. Hilary will succeed in poisoning her father. His Sleeve form
will become useless.///
Dad’s
fingers danced.
Are all of Chronos and his minions'
Sleeves?
I
nodded slowly.
///They
all share a seed of Abbadon. The Red King uses the Flesh of Unity and the souls
it has acquired to slice off bits of people. Add a sliver of soul shard to
animate them. It's why the basic Void Walkers dissipate upon death.///
J’ino
muttered, “All to mock Aether and the J’kua.”
I
pressed my lips together. Lost in thought.
If
they only knew what that J’kua would unleash. Karma would be knocking.
*****
I paced, “But why tell me this? Won’t
they know when I die again?”
Silver Fox stated clearly, “Yep. This
time we are feeding them information on purpose.”
I scratched my chin, “The first time
was my complete ignorance.”
Mom crossed her arms and gave my
oldest self a “You are Grounded” expression.
Saira said, “I have to admit I am
sorely glad I don’t have your job, Eliza. Too confusing.”
I grinned ruefully, “One of us had
to be swissed! Might as well roll with it.” If it saved trillions upon
trillions from Unity and the Red King? I’d call that a win any day of the week.
Dad gave me a double thumbs up while Ta’mathon spoke heavily coded Egyptian to
Sands Classic.
That version of me glanced up and
winked. “Remember when the biggest events were crazy cavemen from hollow earths
or T-Rex in SPAAAAAAAAAACE!”
I replied, “Will things be simpler?”
Silver Fox interjected, “Provided we
win.”
I blurted out, “Second Death is the
Bad Information Arc. So it’s the 3rd phase that will be the deal
breaker.”
Silver Fox held up three fingers. “Make
the enemy overextend itself. Force it out into the open. Cleanse it with Divine
Fire.”
Sands Classic added, “Oh boy. It’s
all coming together now.”
House Murphy Military era version
blew out a long breath, “When do I have to connect the Ark of the Covenant
system to our trio of Ship Sisters.” The phrasing was strange to me but based
on Sir Avalon’s reaction? He knew exactly what future I was alluding to.
*****
As the Arbiter or Avatar of the
Sands, I made a few quick calculations, “Place History 2 at these coordinates. “
That was our code for Jupiter Rising. Her sister ships would be positioned
across the temporal spaces to help direct the energy of the Covenant across all
vectors of time and space. The math was too much for me to handle but they
would know what to do. It still rattled me that they were what the Terrans had
called the Moirai.
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.
Jupiter resided in the present.
Lachesis.
When in the past? Clotho resided.
Future belonged to Atropos.
So whenever Jupiter had to jump anywhere?
Past, present or future? Her two sisters compensated by jumping further or back
in time. Based on their dominion. The Highest had never put all his time
weapons in one basket. The Icath rulers just wanted to be the blatant target. I
wish I could tell my past version what all this meant but it would ruin
carefully laid plans. Silver Fox motioned with her fingers. Super speed.
Faster
than what my other past selves could detect.
The
Third Trial will be when we can lure Abbadon into Thoth’s body permanently.
Tell Eddie, Arthon, and Robin to be ready. Cleansing the shards of the First
Blade was a good start. The Vigil remains.
Not just our Vigil. It was the only
way we could speak of Dexter’s mantle.
A multiverse where nothing dies?
It
would make Unity look like a pale reflection of paradise. The cycle would need
to be restored. Not only for the souls trapped by Unity but for the Night Realm
itself. The Red King’s Dominion had to end. Samantha’s voice crackled in my
ear, “Ta’mathon found the Leyline site. How’s that meeting of Selves going?”
Lorain
muttered, “Hold still. I have to fix that…..”
Behind
me, the half-finished Golden City rose from the sands. We would be here for
another 100 years getting the proper materials and people in place for Earth to
form into the Terran Alliance. I pulled away from the Holo matrix. The sigils
for Time kept me stabilized within the feed. I made a few gestures to make sure
no sound reached that place.
Samantha’s
hair was pulled up into a braided bun.
“About
how I remember.”
She
rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.
“How
does Bel fit into all of this?”
I
held my breath. I had no idea how’d I breach that subject.
Sy’taran
Abbadon’s Seat of Power
3rd Layer of the Night Realm
Unity strode across the pits.
Souls
howled at her feet. This body would serve until another suitable host came along.
Bel had interesting qualities. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t question
that particular soul. No matter what blood ritual was used? They could not
locate her within the Ouroboros Requilaries or the Plains of the Dead. The
In-between was plagued with that Twilight Thronebearer. But that place was for those
who committed suicide or infanticide. The domain of Lost Souls. She could not
hide there. For in her mortal life she had been a common thief. Her demi power
made that life quite interesting.
Men
would die for her. So would women. The young. The old. It didn’t matter.
Abbadon snarled, “Why are you here?
I require souls for the ritual.”
Unity stilled.
She genuflected. “I cannot find the
Soul Shard of Catherine Bel.”
The red cowled shape drifted closer.
Twin red stars sparked within the darkness of its hood. Satan took over the
body. His deep voice troubled, “That should not be possible.”
Abbadon hissed, “My brother places a
weapon within.”
Leviathan spat on the ground. Smoke
rose.
“It is a distraction. What can one
weak human soul do to us?!”
Abbadon backhanded Unity. Her form
went sprawling. The flesh on her legs cracked as they touched the lava. A
constant hit of regeneration made the skin renew and then dissolved once more
as the flow ran against her prostrate form.
The Red King summoned Meathook, “While
Karvax taunts the Golden Bulleteer I wish you to seek a certain soul. The
Highest isn’t as clever as he believes.”
*****
Catherine Bel whispered, “The Trail
thickens.” She wasn’t listed in the HeroNet files. Only known as the Eventide
Specter. Many in the magical community assumed it was a callsign to hide a
whole group. Demis who could talk to the dead. Light Shamans could do so but
the Brookes family had ties all their own. Alice Brookes, formerly Haden,
peered upward. The welcoming blue sky was filled with the sound of birds. New
Ashbury had been quiet for years. That would end. The Golden Bulleteer was in
danger. They would come for him. She turned on her heel. The red-bearded face
of Robin Hood materialized on her HUD.
<<Death walks among the
Reeds.>>
Robin’s expression hardened,
<<I’ll warn the Redeemers. All-Hands level.>>
Another Icon appeared. Morrigan cawed
into the pickup. Unity would not have his soul.
*****
I flew over the skyline of New
Ashbury. It was good to be back home.
I loved space. Loved exploring but this was where
everything started. The meeting had gone
well but I could tell that Sir Avalon had been waiting until I had left to let
my other selves have it. My father’s parting message helped ease the confusion.
///Your end cycle self told me that you’d be needed back on Earth. Do what you
do best!///
My
HUD flickered and Eddie’s voice came over the line. <<HeroNet wants us at
Union Hall 5 minutes ago!>> Even as he finished the line I landed on the
outer balcony of the uppermost spire. The rest of the Redeemers teleported in
from all corners. Fancy new tech. My smile dimmed as I saw the devastated expression
on White Lily’s face.
She couldn’t even get the words out.
Her eyes were puffy. Even behind the dynamo mask.
I focused on my grandfather’s
heartbeat. It was steady. I could hear Doc cursing softly, “Everything is here
but….”
I reached out with my Thronebearer
senses. His mind was there. The memories. But his soul shard was outside his
body. The silver tether barely connected. A woman with mousy brown hair stepped
out. She linked with me on a private channel, <<I am Alice Brookes. Your
Grandfather is within the Duat.>>
A ghostly form clung to the woman. Her
eyes were a bright blue.
Catherine Bel.
Issue 24: Here
Issue 26: Here
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