by Randi Darren
“What the fuc—”
The woman’s eyes snapped open.
One was a bright blue in color like Irene’s, while the other was the Lich’s dark blue.
“Sam?” asked the woman, her brows coming down slowly as her eyes moved toward him. “What… what happened?”
The two-headed soul stood up and stepped away from the body. Almost immediately, the two heads seemed to be arguing with one another.
Sam noticed that the core at the middle of that soul was significantly larger now. And much brighter.
“I… honestly don’t know,” Sam said. “You kinda tackled the Lich and then the two of you got into a duel of sorts. Then I pulled you onto my plane when we could escape.”
“I feel… really… strange,” the woman murmured. “I think… I was losing. The Lich was… she was… she broke my body down into nothing. She was killing me. Killed me, actually. She knew I was undead.”
“Uh huh,” Sam said, not quite sure if it was really Irene he was talking to.
“I had her soul though,” said the woman. “I had Caer’s soul. That was her name. Caer. I was taking over her soul while she took my body. I’d just torn out her core.”
“I’d say… you won… but also lost. Pyrrhic victory at best,” Sam murmured. “Because… well… it’s you in there, right Irene?”
“Huh?” asked the woman as she got herself into a seated position. “Of course, it’s me. What in the hell?”
The woman was staring down at her chest now. Her substantially bigger chest that had belonged to the Lich. Which also looked like it was going to burst out of the blouse Irene had been wearing.
“I’m… I’m not me…? I’m… I’m… the Lich? I’m Caer?” asked the woman.
“I can’t speak for who you are in your head, but you look like a blending of Irene and Caer,” Sam said, looking at the two-headed soul again. “Like you put parts from both of you into one body.”
The soul was still effectively arguing with itself. Though it seemed the Lich, or Caer as it were, now had control of the left arm.
That or Irene was casually brushing Caer’s hair out of her eyes for her.
“I’m Irene,” claimed the woman. Then she grabbed her breasts and gave them a squeeze. “And apparently… I… took control? This was what Caer was doing. She made this body out of us. She broke me down and started adding parts to her own body. And I took the whole thing from her. Because… I took her soul? I don’t know.”
“Well… not entirely full control of her soul. Your own seems to have a new guest,” Sam murmured, once more looking at the soul. “Or… addition?”
Which apparently having realized it was being watched, looked toward Sam.
Irene also looked at the soul.
“I can see my soul now,” Irene murmured. “And… it’s Caer’s soul… too?”
Nodding its head sharply at that, the Caer-head started to clearly curse at Irene. Though there was no sound.
The Irene-head heard though and took offense, laying a slap across the face of the Caer-head.
Which didn’t seem to do much other than annoy Caer.
“Right,” Sam said running a hand over his head. “Right.”
Ignoring their body, and Sam, the two heads began to bicker again.
Twenty-Four - One and Only -
Leaving the two-headed soul to argue with itself, Sam held his hands out to the woman he believed to be Irene.
Taking his hands in her own, she pulled herself to her feet.
“Thanks, Sammy,” Irene murmured and then looked down at herself again. “I’m… not really me anymore am I?”
“I mean, your mind is your own, and as far as you’ve said there’s nothing in there of the Lich, Caer,” Sam said, extremely confused about the situation. He’d never heard of such a thing happening.
Ever.
“I suppose that’s true. My mind is my own. She made the body and took it, and I took the soul,” Irene said. Reaching down she started loosening the belt around her hips. “And because I did that, I control the body and the mind?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sam said.
He was having some difficulty processing things right now. The fact that Irene had abandoned the vehicle and come back for him was forefront in his mind.
She’d risked everything and came back for him.
And had apparently lost herself for it.
“But… whatever the result, I’ll do everything I can to fix it or… or… well, I’ll do whatever,” Sam promised and meant it.
He wasn’t used to someone coming to his aid.
And that means I owe Eugenia as well. Because that was her army that showed up.
Damn.
Irene sighed and gave up on whatever she was doing and shucked her pants off.
“That’s so much better. Why the hell did you give us hips so wide, Caer?” Irene growled irritably.
Glancing to the soul, Sam watched as the Caer-head turned to Irene and replied.
“I mean, yeah, he does, but only if I let him,” Irene said shaking her head. “None of my clothes are going to fit now.”
Then Irene froze and looked at the soul again.
“I can hear you?” Irene asked.
Caer looked confused and then said something slowly that looked like a question.
“Yeah, I can hear you,” Irene said, then looked at the head of her own soul. “Can I hear you?”
Irene’s soul grinned and said something while pointing at Sam.
Which caused Irene to turn a deep dark red.
“Yeah,” Irene said, looking away from her two-headed soul. “I can hear my soul. Or… souls… I guess. I think… I’m a Lich now, too?”
Holding up her left hand she was suddenly holding a black ball of roiling oil and filth.
“But a Witch, too,” Irene murmured and held up her right hand. A purple ball of witchfire spawned there.
“Best I can figure,” Sam said when Irene looked back to him, “Caer… was shackling your body to serve her, then decided to hop into it and merge it with hers. You shackled her soul and… won the resulting prize. Just like you said. Except Caer is still… in there… somehow. So you’re a Lich and a Witch.”
Caer said something angrily at that, her face looking rather angry.
“No. It’s mine now,” Irene said, dismissing both balls of magic. “Maybe if you prove yourself I can have Sam create a body for you to control partially. For now… you serve me, Caer. Just as you would have had me serve you.”
Irene’s soul nodded at that, then reached up and moved Caer’s hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.
To which Caer clearly said a noiseless thank you and then sighed.
Okay. Irene is… something very scary and I have no idea what to do about it, if anything.
“We should get back to the others, shouldn’t we?” Irene asked, looking at Sam. Then she reached up and stretched herself out.
The buttons that had held her blouse closed lost their battle at that moment and several buttons popped clear off.
“Damnit, Caer, we didn’t need these either,” Irene complained, looking at the ruined blouse.
Sam wasn’t about to tell her that she looked hotter than she had previously, and hotter than Caer had looked as well.
The two really had blended into a singularly beautiful woman.
She might actually creep up to Jes, Irma, and Inese’s level.
Shaking himself free of his thoughts, Sam turned to an empty spot of the open grass-filled plane they were on and concentrated.
Decima would never be able to get away from him. She was his creature fully.
Even if she eventually separated from him and went ten planes deeper than the prime, he’d be able to find her.
Focusing on her location, Sam opened up a portal large enough to peek through.
As soon as the portal formed, a sphere of blood magic formed around it and locked it down. Poking at the construct, Sam had
to admit that Stacia was becoming rather formidable.
“Hello, it’s me,” Sam said through the portal. “I escaped. I have Irene with me. Can I pull you all out now?”
“Yes, please,” Carissa said. Her voice was followed by the sound of gunfire.
Oh, shit.
The shell around his portal vanished, allowing him to control it once more.
Looking into the portal, he could see they were traveling down a road. Building a second portal ahead of them big enough for the SUV to drive through, Sam angled the exit to put them across a wide open expanse of grass.
Then he closed the first portal and waited.
Seconds later, the SUV shot through into his personal plane and Sam slammed the portal shut.
Engine roaring at full rev, the SUV zoomed away from him and began to slow down.
“Err… got… any clothes?” Irene murmured.
Glancing to the mostly naked woman that was and wasn’t Irene, Sam used a speck of Essence and garbed her in a construct while eradicating the clothes she had on. Much as he’d done for himself for many years.
Appearing in a long dress and blouse, Irene looked considerably closer in appearance to Caer in the clothes.
“Oh, thanks. Uhm, do I… look really different? My face that is. They’re not going to recognize me are they,” Irene said. She sounded incredibly unsure.
“Your face is definitely different,” Sam confirmed.
“Really? Ugh. Okay. This is so weird,” Irene muttered.
Slowly, the SUV began turning and coming back toward Sam. There were a number of problems with the vehicle that he could see.
There was also some bullet holes in it.
Shit. They had their own problems to deal with.
Coming to a stop in front of Sam, the SUV rumbled quietly for a second and then shut off.
He could see Decima, Carissa, and Stacia all sitting in the vehicle.
One and all, they were staring at Irene.
“Hi,” Irene said waving a hand at them. “It’s me, Irene. I jumped out to help Sam. Got more than I bargained for.”
“Is everyone alright?” Sam asked, jumping straight to what he actually wanted to know.
Decima turned around toward the rear of the SUV.
“Hill? You and Mitch okay?” she asked.
There was a muffled response that Sam couldn’t hear.
Looking back at Sam, Decima nodded. “We’re okay.”
Letting out a slow breath, Sam felt a massive weight hanging in his stomach vanish.
Everyone’s okay.
***
Knocking twice on the door, Sam stood there. Mitch was next to him, looking a lot like a young man who had no idea what to do with himself.
Decima stood on the other side of Mitch. Everyone else had retired back to HQ to check in or handle the fallout from the mission.
The door opened several seconds later, revealing Miles standing in the doorway.
Saying nothing, Miles looked from Sam, to Decima, then Mitch, and finally back to Sam.
Taking a step to the side, Miles nodded at everyone.
“Come on in,” he said.
Decima went in first with Mitch, one of her hands on his shoulder.
Following Decima inside, Sam didn’t go far beyond Miles.
As soon as the door closed, Sam cleared his throat.
“We good to talk here?” Sam asked bluntly.
“Yeah,” Miles said, his eyes moving to where Decima had sat Mitch down on the couch and then joined him. “Really fucking weird to see her in a dress, by the way.”
“I think she looks really good in a dress. She can hear you by the way,” Sam said with a small smirk. “So, everything went to shit.”
“I know it did,” said Miles. “Well, know most of what happened. There’s some that’s blocked from me obviously.”
“Right, short answer then. Lich, Archangel, portals got cut, golems died, zombie apocalypse, plague, Seville, a crazy Elf,” Sam listed off and then shrugged his shoulders. “Eugenia, Romulus, Eugenia’s army, and then here.”
Miles winced when Sam finished and then shook his head.
“Right. Well. Seems I was right to ask you to handle this for me. I just… underestimated how fast it’d change and how big the response would be,” Miles muttered.
“Uh huh. Well, here he is. There wasn’t really anywhere else to take him since the golems died,” Sam said. “Anything else you need from me?”
“No. No, nothing else,” Miles said, turning his head and looking at the young man.
Mitch had leaned back in the couch and had almost instantly passed out and was now snoring softly.
“Who is he?” Sam asked. He had a hunch, but he wasn’t about to voice it aloud.
“Probably exactly who you think he is,” Miles murmured. “But I can’t confirm it. And it’d be best if you never voiced it either. He’s going to have a hard enough life as it is.”
Sam nodded at that and decided that it really was best left alone.
“I’ll wipe some of his memories but I’ll leave the majority of them intact,” Miles said. “Get him set up with a new set of golems. As if they’d traveled with you.”
“Got it. That’s probably for the best. If he wants any hope at a normal life,” said Sam.
“What happened to the Lich?” Miles asked. “I’ve made it a point to hunt them down whenever I can. They don’t benefit anyone, regardless of what their original intention was.”
“She… uh… she merged with Irene or… something like that. Their souls are intertwined and they ended up having a body that’s part of one and part of the other,” Sam tried to explain.
“They… what?” Miles asked, looking at Sam oddly.
“If I had to explain it any other way, it’s as if they were put in a blender,” Sam said holding up his hands in a gesture of frustration. “Irene is the dominant soul and holds sway over Caer, I guess that was the Lich’s name.”
“Caer? You said… Caer?” Miles asked, staring hard at Sam.
“Yeah. You want to see her? Irene that is,” Sam asked.
“I do. But later. If what you’re saying is true, then you just got rid of a Lich I’ve been after since R— since the Originator had to leave,” Miles murmured. “And she’s completely subdued? Irene has control?”
“Yeah. Caer’s soul only seems to have a head and it’s… on… Irene’s soul,” Sam tried again. He really wasn’t sure how to describe it other than what he had.
“Mm. I have a theory or two. Irene was somewhat undead after all and a Lich controls them. But Irene wasn’t actually undead,” said Miles with a sudden chuckle. “Ah… I bet that was a surprise for the bitch.”
“I mean, she’s more or less dead now so… yeah,” Sam said. He felt drained and just wanted to go home.
And check on Jes. She’d likely been without Essence since the start. Most of his brothers and sisters couldn’t go a few hours while starving, let alone days.
There was a dark stain on Sam’s heart. He was terrified of what he’d find once he got back to Jes.
What she likely would have been forced to do.
“You’ll keep your word?” Decima asked. She’d come over to stand next to Sam and Miles and done so very quietly.
“I… my word?” Miles asked, looking at Decima.
“The price for this mission. Being godfather,” Decima clarified.
“Oh! Yes. I’ll be godfather to any children Sam has,” Miles said with a smirk. “For whatever that’s worth.”
“It’s worth a great deal, Curator,” Decima said. Then she nodded to him. “Please care for my children when I have them. Sam and I currently use contraception of a sort, but I imagine we will try for children soon enough.”
Miles looked shocked at that then, having started to shake his head, then slowly began to nod it instead.
“Ah. Of course. I’d be honored to be the godfather of your child, Lady Vera,” said Miles. “Were you planning on havi
ng them with some immediacy? ”
“No. Not until we’ve solidified our company and standing,” Decima said, looking thoughtful. “Irma suggested we all postpone such things until we can move everything to Sam’s personal plane. Much easier to defend and work from there.”
Irma… you lovely woman. Always thinking ahead.
That kind of gives me more time.
“Alright, I’m going to head back now,” Sam said. He really did want to get back to Jes as soon as possible. “You good?”
“Yeah, good as I can be. Thanks,” Miles said.
Sam nodded and then then just pulled a portal down over himself and Decima.
“That was somewhat rude, Husband,” Decima said as his personal plane came back into view.
“Yeah, well, he’ll survive. I’ve been rude to him before, and vice versa,” Sam muttered. Moving at a quick walk, he entered the portal that would take him to their HQ.
He’d known he had to take Mitch to Miles immediately, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to see Jes first.
Stepping into the receiving room of the building, Sam began casting about with Essence for Jes.
She wasn’t here.
Frowning, Sam looked around to see if there was anyone nearby who might know where she was.
Spotting Alexis standing near a portal that would lead to Saint Anthony, he cleared his throat.
Turning her head at the sound, the lovely Imp gave him a wide smile.
“Hey there, Sam. Care for a quick go?” asked the Imp, coming over to stand next to him.
“I’d normally say yes. Do you know where Jes is though? I need to find her,” Sam said.
“No. Haven’t seen her today. Or yesterday, actually. Sorry,” Alexis apologized with a frown. “Come find me though when you’re ready.”
Alexis reached out and gave Sam a pat, only to go back to the portal she’d been standing next to. Someone was on the other side filling out paperwork.
Alright. Let’s… let’s pull on her brand with her true name. We’ll do it from my old apartment just… just in case… she’s… yeah.
Clenching his teeth and fearing Jes had broken mentally and indulged in feeding herself with other men, Sam re-entered his personal plane.
Ignoring everything and everyone, he made a portal to his old apartment and stepped through into his living room.
