Epsilon

by Dezirae Bates

  “Move and I’ll take away every memory she has all the way back to age five. She’d literally be a walking toddler, capable of doing pretty much nothing until she learns it all from me, your call,” he shrugged, the red spiking over his fingers as he watched the scene unfold.

  Cassidy continued to walk, watching Sebastian and he was quickly pleading with her, hoping and praying that he hadn’t already wiped her memory.

  “I know you don’t remember us. I wish I was strong enough to help you then like you’ve helped me. Cassidy, I’ve been lost without you. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you. I’m sorry I didn’t do it before but I didn’t want to scare you away. Please, Cass, look at me. You know me. You know how I feel. Whatever Chase said you have to do, you don’t. Fight it, you’re strong enough to fight anything,” he pleaded with her, watching as Cassidy finally crossed to where he was standing, quickly pulling him into her arms and pressing her lips against his. He hated his initial reaction of wrapping his arms around her, knowing that there was a purpose in sending her to do exactly that. A few other thoughts swam around his head, thoughts of teleporting out of there, attacking the two men and knocking her unconscious long enough to get her to safety... all of the thoughts were valid but her sanity was too delicate to risk. He knew just how desparate Chase would get if need be and risking her memory wasn’t something that he wanted to do anymore.

  “I don’t understand,” he muttered, setting her back to the ground when their lips pulled apart. It wasn’t necessarily how he wanted to kiss her again but it was far past the time in which he wanted to do it. He knew it came with strings, though. Never would Chase grant him the joy of a kiss. As Sebastian thought on the matter, the knife that Cassidy used to stab herself, the one that was collected from the League in the raid earlier in the evening found a new home in Sebastian’s back, piercing fairly deep and causing Sebastian’s knees to buckle, the pair clattering to the floor. Sebastian stared into Cassidy’s eyes which were glazed over and obviously coerced into doing something that she simply didn’t want to do.

  “He said you’d want a taste of what you’d never have again before you die,” she said with a shrug, as if she just told a child that they weren’t going to be able to have ice cream since they didn’t finish their dinner. It was scary and eerie, the tone of her voice as she pulled the knife out, setting it to the floor next to them as Sebastian clamoured his hands behind him in an effort to stop the bleeding.

  “Cass, I need your help, please,” he muttered, Cassidy conjuring up Epsilon chains which were just like the Sigma ones he had on earlier but the woman snapped them on his wrists before he had a chance to move, keeping him bound there. Sebastian screamed, the metal reopening the wounds that were at least scabbing over from earlier. Sebastian really was backed against a wall, the pain from both wounds starting to sear into every aspect of his body. The Chancellor and Chase stood clear from the pair, their smiles more smug than ever. It was clear that this was their endgame all along. If Cassidy wasn’t truly the person to fulfill the prophecy, they were going to see to it that she became a weapon of some sort, whether she wanted to or not. It took months to truly break her, to put her in a place where it didn’t matter the history she had, the subtle feelings she could’ve had for Sebastian; the only thing that mattered was her loyalty and her ability to jump when told to do so.

  “I told you your bond was nothing to worry about. See? She’s cooperating beautifully,” the Chancellor said, clasping Chase’s back in excitement before moving to the two on the ground, Sebastian’s blood pooling underneath him enough to create a puddle.

  “Cassidy, don’t listen to them,” Sebastian said, coughing up blood as he watched the Chancellor get closer, his hands covered in his own blood as he desperately tried to reach out to her, to grab her hands and get her to remember anything. The chains burned against the fragile flesh that they were touching and his teeth gritted against one another to stop himself from screaming. All he could try to do was push past the pain and hope that Cassidy was in there somewhere.

  She pulled her arms away from Sebastian’s reach, moving to stand to welcome her father. It was still unknown as to what Chase told her that made her so compliant but it was obvious that it was working. The man opened his arms up for her, pulling her into a hug which she welcomed just as quickly as he did.

  “Welcome home, my darling. We have all missed you. And with you here, without any more distractions or reservations, we’ll be the strongest we’ve ever been,” he said, pushing her hair behind her ear as he gazed over her face.

  “Of course, Father. This is where I’m meant to be,” she said calmly, lifting her lips into a smile as she received him in the same manner he did for her. The air in the room was so strange as the three standing seemed to be conversing as if nothing else was going on but Sebastian was clearly dying on the floor at their feet. He moaned out in pain, writhing on the floor and reaching out to grab either of them, the chains clattering against the marble flooring. When he was rolled over, his eyes locked onto his brother’s, the hurt obvious in his eyes.

  “Chase, don’t do this. Don’t follow in his footsteps,” he choked out, trying whatever he could to get someone in the room to see reason. Instead, Chase walked to close the space between him and the other two, happy to see Cassidy not only calm but apparently happy, regardless of all the blood on her.

  “Cass?” he said, waiting for Cassidy’s attention to fall upon him as he grasped her hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. He was hoping that what he was about to say wouldn’t need any coercion but he’d use it if need be. “I know you’ve had a long day. But, right now, I need you to do one more thing for me, can you do that? For us?” he asked and she glanced from her father back to Chase and nodded, licking her lips in anticipation. “That’s my girl,” he said sweetly, reaching up and touching her cheek, the smile growing on his face before he went on with what he needed. “You did a great job with Sebastian here but, I’m afraid, it’s too dangerous to leave him here to just die and his strength is too vast to just waste. I’m going to need you to channel his energies. I’ll be here the whole time if you need me, I promise,” he said, gesturing down to Sebastian who was a large puddle of blood at this point, trying to scoot back away from the three as he heard what Chase needed her to do to him. With the amount of blood that he had lost, the pain and torment he’d already gone through and the amount of his Origin that he managed to use already in the evening, he knew that it wouldn’t take her long to practically snuff the magic and the life right out of him. It wasn’t a common action to do, especially for one that wasn’t in Sigma but channeling was a process that was generally mutual. Normally, someone would push a little out, take a little in and learn to control their abilities that way but it could also be used to the extreme if one was powerful enough. Cassidy only had the control of one Origin, she was exceptionally powerful with just those abilities and it was clear that she’d be able to channel in a way to get what she wanted, especially if coerced to do it.

  “Cassidy, fight this,” Sebastian spat out, the edges of his vision slightly fuzzy but he was pushing through it if only to try and save her one final time. She looked from Chase to her father who pushed her to continue on Chase’s orders, moving to kneel next to Sebastian. It was the first time she’d looked at him after she stabbed him, her eyes glancing from the knife and to the man who was writhing tremendously in pain. Before she even moved, she just stared at him, taking in the sound of his pain, the look on his face, the way his blood was starting to fill the little crevices in the marble underneath them. There was a subtle nagging feeling in the back of her mind that made her want to think this wasn’t how the night was supposed to end, that it was supposed to end in a different way all together but she couldn’t put her her finger on it just yet.

  “Should I help?” Chase asked, his hand igniting red and the Chancellor tugged him back, shaking his head.

  “This has to be her. You’ve set the precedent, you gave
her the parameters, she has to go in for it now or we’ll be making these calls for her the rest of her life,” he said, almost sounding as if he was watching his child learning how to ride a bike without training wheels instead of committing murder. No matter the free will that Cassidy still had, it was clear that the original coercion that Chase set forth was still in her mind, chugging on as truth as the green slowly erupted around her skin. Sebastian saw her Origin, letting out a gutwrenching breath and closing his fists when he could finally tell that she was going to carry out Chase’s order.

  “I don’t think it’ll hurt,” she said, her fingers brushing up against his arm before she managed to clasp against his, linking her fingers in line with his own. The green Origin flashed a brilliant green color, igniting over her skin and into his as his skin started to burn a bright red. The chains kept him from being able to use his Origin but it made it far easier for her to take it from him.

  The cry that left his throat nearly pierced the windows in the room, his fingers digging into the backs of her hands as he felt the energy from his Origin being transferred into her. There were times before that this act was done voluntarily, while Sebastian was relearning control and simply trying to stay afloat with his Origin. Cassidy and he had nearly daily sessions until he was able to shoulder the ability he had cultivated over the years. But this had a completely different feel than before. Instead of being consensual, he could feel the energy being ripped from his body and siphoned into Cassidy’s. Instead of her calming voice ensuring that he was alright and that he could handle it, Cassidy simply sat there, the green of her Origin glowing brighter as the seconds ticked by.

  “I love you,” he whispered, Cassidy finally looking down into his eyes and noting just how green they were. They were just as intense as the first time she could remember meeting him in the bar, before she ever knew who he was. As the Chi Origin energy surged through her body, she could feel her strength growing, the catch in her breath causing her to snap her eyes closed and her nose was bleeding before she even had a moment to notice. As the origins blended together inside of her and her eyes were pinched closed, all she could do was think which took her deeper within herself than she ever had been before.

  With the Chi energy surging in with her own, her closed eyes transported her back to her dream she had over a month ago of chasing her mother through an endless maze, nearly a second behind her. She weaved eagerly behind her, calling out and pleading with her to simply stop so that she could catch up to her. By the time that she did, unlike before, it was as if Cassidy was watching a memory, rather than a dream.

  “Xander, I’m begging you, keep Cassidy out of this. You let her go, you leave my little girl be,” Elizabeth pleaded, the woman kneeling in front of the Chancellor, her hands shaking violently and the color was drained from her skin. It was clear that the effects of Origin overuse was running rampant through her frame but she exuded a strength that was unmatched by most. Regardless of the pain that was evident among her body, she was still putting up a hell of a fight.

  Xander crossed the short space between him and the kneeling woman, grabbing her face and hoisting her gaze up towards him so that she was looking at only him. “She is my daughter too, must you forget. Whatever I say goes when it comes to her. If she gets triggered tonight, tomorrow, it will happen when I deem it is a good time. Not a minute earlier or a minute later, do you understand?” he snapped, letting her face go and Elizabeth kneeled strong, not bending or cowering or even trying to move away from his grasp. Every single inch of the woman who was kneeled on the ground exuded a kind of confidence that Cassidy remembered, or at least she thought she remembered. Watching the scene unfold in front of her started to nag at the back of her head, continuing the thought that what she was replaying was in fact a memory, not a dream.

  “You see her as property. As a pawn in your game to rule the world! I will not let you take her from me. No matter what you may think, whatever you think you can convince her of, one day, it will all come back to her and there will be no one there to protect you from your decisions. I may not be the one to bring you down but damnit, I promise you, it’ll come,” she said, spitting up into his face in aggression. Elizabeth, being one of the most powerful Chis around was generally respected when she promised something in the future. One of her many gifts was the telling of not only prophecies but seeing the future in general. And, knowing that information, Xander smacked her dead across her face, the anger swelling inside of him simply left unchecked for too long.

  “You fool! You are leaving this home we’ve built for a bunch of degenerate disgraces to the name of our origins! Here you will have power beyond measure! Here you will achieve greatness and I will make sure you get there!” Xander said, almost as if he was trying to convince her, through everything, to stay. Elizabeth laughed, her tongue sneaking out to the edge of her lip to lick away the blood that he had brought to the surface, shaking her head.

  “You lost me the second you used my own Origin against me. How long did you think feeding me other Origin magic was going to last until I broke? Look at me! Xander!” She paused, trying to stand but the weakness in her body refused to bare the weight of her. “LOOK AT ME, DAMNIT!” she screamed, Cassidy now no longer in the room but hiding behind a door in the hallway, the door leading into the room that Xander and Elizabeth were in. Instead of seeing the entire dialogue, it was clear that Cassidy was now reliving what she actually experienced over a year ago. These were the memories that were wiped from her.

  “You loved me once. Even if you refuse to admit it to yourself. Because, underneath the man that is in front of me right now, there was once a man who had beautiful ideals, respect, honor. He wasn’t a man who would take away someone’s identity just to get what he wanted. Your hunger for power has made you disgusting and as much as I wish I could pity you, I can’t,” she said, still kneeling upright but the rest of her body was trembling uncontrollably.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Liz. I really am. But you know what I’m most sorry for? I’m sorry that you are completely invaluable to me now,” he said, his voice cavalier as he delivered what was practically a death sentence to her. Before she was even able to get another word off, the Delta magic swelled from his hands, the silver Origin burning into Elizabeth’s skin and sinking in. To someone so overwhelmed with magic consistently over the past few weeks, it was hard to shy away when the magic started to creep within her skin. It was just as addictive as a long time sober person tasting drugs again for the first time in years. The trembling stopped as Elizabeth’s body accepted the magic, her eyes changing from the pale blue to a deepening black until her pupil spread over the entire color of her eye. Before she could even take another breath, Xander was pressing more and more magic into her. Elizabeth could tell it was too much, trying to pull away but her body’s natural reaction to want more overroad her fight or flight instinct.

  “If you hurt my daughter, I’ll find a way to end you, even in the afterlife,” she said, a cry leaving her throat as her body began to shut down. Cassidy pushed open the door, stumbling into the room as the silver magic started to dissipate and her mother’s heart stopped beating all within the same second.

  “Mom!” she cried out, running to her side and shaking her, begging anything or anyone, whoever would listen, to not take her mother from her. She clawed at her body, pulling her up into her lap and trying to nuzzle herself into her hair. “Mommy, please don’t leave me, please,” she cried out, the tears soaking Elizabeth’s shirt as the woman’s color left her face. Cassidy waited a few more breaths before looking up at her father, blinking away the tears that quickly turned to absolute hatred for the man in front of her. She heard everything he had to say. Hell, she saw most of it.

  “How could you do this, Dad?” she spat out, clutching Elizabeth’s body to her lap as if trying to protect her, even though it was too late.

  “Darling, it’s not what it looks like. Your mother, she was sick, sh—”

&nb
sp; “I heard you, Dad! Fuck, I saw you! You... you’re a monster! You killed my mother! And you have the audacity to stand here and lie to me when her body isn’t even cold yet!” she bellowed, laying her mother on to the ground and clamouring to her feet, wishing now more than ever that she had an Origin of her own to command.

  Xander’s eyes narrowed, shrugging his shoulders at her accusations. Regardless of what she believed, he knew that he could convince her, much like he originally convinced her mother, to trust and believe in him. And, the best way that he could do that was to be joined to her. Before he said a word, he moved and had her lifted off of the ground, his hand clenched tightly around her throat and hoisted into the air. Her scream echoed through the room as he pressed her against the wall, his grip strengthening as she fought against him. Her nails dug against his skin, clawing and ripping at his hands as they tried valiantly to save her own life. She knew that it was a moot point but she would be damned if he could kill her just to get what he wanted.

  “Dad,” she croaked out, her skin turning a bright red and slowly working its way into the purple spectrum as her body begged for air. Her hands started to claw at him just a fraction slower and she knew that she’d be unconscious in the next few seconds.

  And, with that realization, Sebastian had opened the door, hearing her screams further down the hall and the sight of the woman he loved being killed by her own father, Elizabeth sprawled out on the floor, it was evident that he happened upon the scene just at the right time.

  “Cassidy!” he yelled, the red Origin sparking over his hands and knocking Xander clear across the room, pulling Cassidy into his arms as the woman took a few deep breaths, rubbing the skin around her throat.

  “Go, go, go,” she said, patting his chest and before she knew it, she was spinning through a teleportation back to Sebastian’s room. The room was much like his that he’d create in the League but it was evident that she was living there too. Her clothes, her things, touches that were evidently female instead of male and the rooms were littered with photos of the two of them together.