“What the fuck is going on?” he asked, pulling Cassidy into his arms and trying to sort through the mess that he had walked in on.
“He killed her,” she said, the realization settling in even more, now that she wasn’t in the room anymore. “Bas, he killed my Mom and and, tried to kill me,” she said, rubbing her throat and trying desperately to figure out what to do next.
“We have to leave,” Sebastian said, moving to the closet and grabbing up an already packed up duffle bag, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Things in the Exodus had been rough for some time, especially after Elizabeth left the group to begin with. Sebastian and Cassidy weren’t originally planning on leaving at all but they wanted to be prepared for the worst, in case it happened.
“No, we can’t leave,” she said softly, watching Sebastian’s realization when she said that she couldn’t leave. “He killed her, Sebastian. He killed her in cold blood. He just tried to forcibly trigger me and we’re the only thing that can bring him down. Don’t you get it? This... this is what the League needs to win this fight before it even begins!” she said, the drive in her voice clear as day as she stared at the man she loved, the bright purple bruise spreading over her throat, clearly in the shape of handprints.
“But—you, you’re human, Cass. And, you are one hell of a fighter, you just can’t hold up in these kind of fights. We agreed weeks ago that if it came to this, that we would run because having you safe, having us together... was worth more than anything else, remember that?” Sebastian closed the distance between them and slung the backpack over his shoulder, staring at her. The bruises on her neck caused a pit in his stomach to grow, watching just how vulnerable she could be in all this.
“Then trigger me!” she exclaimed, opening her arms up. “If anyone should do it, it should be you. I want you to do it. Screw what my mom has been saying for years, this is my choice and I choose you. Do it, Bas. Kill me and bring me back and not only will I be stronger but we’ll be stronger. We’ll be joined. We can do this,” she said, and the fear practically escaped from her as she spoke. The adrenaline was carrying her through her words now, marching her on from sentence to sentence.
Sebastian was taken aback by her statement. They’d joked about it once before but Elizabeth was so adamant for her to experience the trigger naturally that no one, not even Xander, dared forcibly trigger her despite the years she spent within the Exodus. Of course, now that she was dead, there was no one to stop Cassidy from doing what she wanted to do in the face of the most ultimate danger. Her father.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, brushing her hair back and moving down to press his lips against her forehead, sighing heavily.
“There’s not a person in the world that I trust more than to do this. We’ll grab a bag, go someplace out of the way and we can do this. Train a bit, hook up with the League and then plead our case. It’s us. It’s me. The Elders will believe me. I won’t let him get away with this. Please, Sebastian. I need you,” she said, looking up at him with the redness still clear in her eyes. The pain was obvious and he could tell that it was going to take some time for her to heal but he was more worried that her entire decision to trigger herself was fueled by some need for revenge against her father. At the end of the day he was still her Dad but he’d oblige her, if only to get her out of the Exodus, out of harm's way and into safety. Maybe once there was distance, she’d think clearly enough to want to stay out of the world that inevitably killed her mother.
“If you want me to do it and are sure... then, let’s go before there’s no way for us to leave, alright?” he said, moving to grab her hand when the door to their apartment ripped open, a man making his way through promptly grabbed Sebastian up and pulled her away from Cassidy.
“Dad?” Sebastian said quickly, noticing that it was his father that had entered his room. Before he knew it, his father was seeping the Chi Origin into his body, slowly making him woozy.
“I’m sorry son, he threatened your mother and Holly, I had no choice,” he said softly, watching as Sebastian crumbled to the ground, unconscious. Cassidy screamed for help, trying to run past him when he snatched her up, craddling her body against his.
“Shh, I’m not here for him. Well, I am, but I’m going to do my best to give you as much time as I can but, I’m sorry. This... won’t work if you remember. I trust that the love you have for my son will guide you two back together. You two were always meant to be, no matter who tried to keep you apart and no amount of Origin magic can get in the way of that. So, I’m going to do my best to hide you. But, one day, you’ll be brought back here. One day you’ll be forced to relive the horrors that you’ve faced tonight and for that, I’m sorry. Your mother asked me to protect you if anything happened to her and this is the best way that I know how, Cassidy. So please, forgive me one day. When you remember this, when you have to see how this night played out, all I ask is for your forgiveness.” Chase and Sebastian’s father, Richard, seeped his magic into Cassidy’s body, blocking out her entire life as she knew it, filling in the holes where necessary, creating an entirely new life and family, a new history devoid of the Exodus and of Origin magic. She was to live her life as a normal woman until the time came to bring her back and show her what she went through. And, because of his blatant disrespect to Xander’s orders that night, Richard was murdered by the Chancellor the next night.
It only seemed like a second past in the real world while Cassidy’s mind remembered what happened that night, her body continuing to syphon out the Chi energy from Sebastian as she sat there, kneeling. She couldn’t remember anything before the day that she just remember, it was as if the Chi Origin that was seeping into her skin was unlocking only fragments of her original history which surprised Cassidy entirely. Everything that she’d been told about regaining her original memory was useless since Richard Williams was killed. Cassidy couldn’t pinpoint what caused her to suddenly remember the evening but she was thankful for the clarity, nonetheless.
When Cassidy opened her eyes, she could see the short, rapid breaths that Sebastian was taking as he struggled to keep his heart beating as the Chi Origin was being stripped from her. The realization of that night was enough to break hold of Chase’s own commands as she began to take in the surroundings and all the exit strategies. Controlling how she channeled from him, she made it so that it looked like she was still taking from him, the green spark of Epsilon magic igniting brighter every other moment or so to make it look like she was growing stronger. It didn’t take but a second for Sebastian to notice it, trying desperately to lift his head to look her over but he couldn’t. She shifted her weight, moving her non-linked hand to the chains that she had shackled on him a few moments earlier. As quiet as she could, she tugged on them, freeing on the hand that was hidden from the Chancellor and Chase. Using her own Origin magic, she used the opportunity she had to spark the electricity in the next room over, causing a bright explosion of light and a rather loud popping noise to distract the men from what she was doing. Her free hand went to the wrist of Sebastian’s linked hand, freeing him from that one as well and once both of his wrists were freed, her hand went to his chest, tapping excitedly.
“Go, go, go,” she said, her words nearly echoing exactly what she said when her father tried to kill her that night. Sebastian blinked at the realization that she had somehow broken free of Chase’s hold long enough to free them both. Mustering up the last of his energy and feeding off of some of Cassidy’s, the two snapped out and teleported out of the room, only to infuriate both Chase and the Chancellor at losing the pair.
Sebastian managed to land them roughly ten miles outside of the Exodus, in a rather open but brush filled clearing. The two clattered to the ground as it was obvious that they’d pushed their limits on how much Sebastian could stand.
“Bas,” she said softly, clinging to his body as he tried to lay there, still writhing in pain and losing blood rapidly. She couldn’t remember anything about their relationship other
than the night that she got while channeling from him but it showed her that at one point in her life, she trusted him with her life and then some.
“You remember,” he said softly, looking up at her and cracking the best bloody smile he could muster, all things considered.
“No- I mean, yes, I remember some things, but only that night, nothing more, really,” she said softly, squeezing his hand and looking around at where they were. She had hoped by now that the others that were captured had been rescued, pulled out and tended to. And, she hoped more, now than ever, that she could get ahold of one of them. “You just rest, okay? I’m going to get help,” she said, giving his arm another squeeze before moving a few spaces away from him and sitting down. She mumbled a few words, pointing in a five star order in the same order she would if she were organizing the origins to get into the League compound. It took her a few moments, trying desperately to do it by herself which was only something she had seen someone do, never attempted herself. After a few seconds passed by, Joseph and Flora arrived a few feet away. The two were just as roughed up as others. Their wrists were obviously healed but the scars were evident that they were shackled just as Ezekiel and Sebastian were.
“Oh, thank God,” Flora said, looking from Cassidy to the ground in which Sebastian was laying, the man barely holding on at this point. “What the hell happened?” she questioned and Cassidy hugged her arms to her stomach, trying to figure out what to say happened.
“Long story but please, help him. He’s not doing well,” she pleaded, moving over with Flora and watching the blue Omicron Origin surge over Sebastian’s body. Cassidy’s eyes darted to Joseph, ready to talk to him while Flora worked.
“We need to leave. Is there anyway you can teleport us while she works on him? The Exodus are going to be looking for us, now more than ever and if she doesn’t treat him now, he’ll die,” she said, swallowing back all the emotions she had experienced over the night. Joseph nodded, moving between Flora and Cassidy and placing a hand on both of them as Flora’s hands were on Sebastian. It took a moment to get going but within a few seconds, the group was teleported back to the makeshift League headquarters. The building was large but rather plain, much like the last time. They had an emergency switch that got them through all of the security locks in one fell swoop instead of having to take the time to go through each and every one of them like they did before. Once they were on the inside of the sanctuary, Cassidy took in just how lucky she was that she wasn’t nearly as beat up as the rest of them. All of the survivors had burn scars around their wrists from the chains, and in one room a small group of dead bodies had been recovered including Jane’s from earlier in the night and one that appeared to be Geneva.
“Geneva is dead?” Cassidy exclaimed, looking to Joseph for answers as he nodded.
“When we were trying to escape, she had to go back for one more once they were freed. A Chi ended up getting her before she even had a chance,” he said softly, shaking his head. “Numbers are still a little rough but it looks like five dead, three unaccounted for, or well, one now. The rest of us are pretty rough but nothing the Omi’s can’t fix for us,” he managed, looking Cassidy over, staring at her bloodied hands.
“It’s not mine,” she managed to say, rubbing her hands along the tattered fringe of her shirt, her eyes darting around the room to try and find if Bryan managed to make it out. “And Bryan?” she finally asked, peering around to try and find him.
“Well, prior to you two getting here, he was the worse off out of all of us. He’s resting in one of the side rooms. Some of the more stable have been trying to set up Origin rooms but it takes up far too much energy and most of us are beat,” he said with a nod, Cassidy trying to take the night’s events in. With Geneva gone, the entire League would be scrounging for a leader and from what her last memory of her mother was, that seemed to be a role she was destined to fill.
“No, no, you’re right. We all need to rest. Heal up, take a breath where we can and just start on rebuilding tomorrow,” she managed to say, only directing her gaze to Flora when she popped up from helping Sebastian.
“Is he going to be okay? Please, tell me he’s going to be okay,” she mumbled, chewing on the inside of her lip as she waited for Flora to answer her.
“He’s pretty rough, I’m not going to lie. It’s going to take him some time but, he’ll pull through. And, I’d say it looks like he has you to thank for that,” she said, moving to grab her hand, squeezing it gently before Cassidy muttered out a thank you. A few others went up to her, feeling a need to check up on how the events of the night played out for her and Cassidy asking the same. It was nice to see that even though everything that happened, they all still seemed so connected. She knew that it was time to break her bond with Chase and with Epsilon but it’d have to wait for daybreak for that to happen. For now, she’d simply work on staying vigilant through the night so that Chase didn’t happen to use that bond against her.
Her feet took her to the side of the bed that Sebastian was resting in, her hand lying on top of his as she sat in the empty chair. The voices around her were all rather hushed, people thanking one another for helping the other survive. It was clear that this was the family that she originally thought that she was fighting for. It was the one that her mother before her had fought to have and she wished that it was clear to her back then as it was now. So much bloodshed and lives could’ve been spared if she’d had just known what all was going on.
“I’m sorry I haven’t... I’m sorry I’m so stubborn,” she said to Sebastian who was still unconscious. “I should’ve known from the moment I met you who you were to me. And, although I can’t remember anything before that moment between the two of us, I know what you did for me that night. Your father gave up his life to ensure that I’d have a chance in this fight. I’m sorry for everything that I said and did and God, if you’d had died tonight because of me…” She trailed off, wiping away the tear that was rolling down her cheek, burying her face into her hands as she took in a shaky breath. “All I know is that now I know what I’m fighting for. I’m fighting for my mother. I’m fighting for your father. I’m fighting for you. I’m fighting for all the people surrounding us tonight that put their lives on the line for this cause but most importantly, I’m fighting for me. Because, all I want to do now is make my mother proud of me and you know what? I’m sure we can win this thing. This is war,” she said, her back standing a little straighter in the seat as she watched Sebastian take in a few shallow breaths, the bright red Chi Origin conjuring to Cassidy’s hands for the first time ever. Finally, she was able to wield a second Origin.
Epsilon Page 20
