“Well, I think you’re pretty cool, too,” I replied.
“Really?” The smile on Lucas’ face was huge.
“You sure are,” Raiya said as she took his hand. “But let’s hold hands as we cross the street.”
Lyra reached for mine, and the instant she took a hold of my hand I felt a warm wave of contentment.
For a moment, we seemed like a real family. I wondered at that, floored by the rush of contentment I felt come from my own heart. My hand squeezed around Lyra’s as we came up to my house.
“Here,” I said to Raiya. “Let me take the bags inside. You can go and get the painting.”
It took her less than a second to dump her bags into my hands.
“Do you have them all?” Lyra asked. “I can take some.” She reached over and grabbed a couple from the top.
“Thanks,” I grunted. Maybe I did buy too much today.
I shook off my doubt. Raiya had new clothes, and the kids were happy and settled. Next time, I vowed to myself, we would take the car.
“Can we go play in the backyard?” Lucas asked. “I want to see if Raiya can teach us some more fighting moves.”
“I don’t know,” I said, looking up at the sky. It was getting dark, and I knew it was supposed to storm this evening. For the first time this month, Apollo City was expecting snow.
“How come you never teach us anything to do with our powers?” Lyra asked, as Lucas began pouting.
I sighed. “I don’t think I’d be a very good teacher,” I told her. I thought of my sword, stuck forever in a place where the world had been wedged open. “Lucas was right. I’d turned my back on the prince when I was younger and in pain. It’s been so many years.”
I glanced up at the window to my room where the painting had been carefully placed with the other things I’d packed. “Besides, Raiya’s the better teacher. She’s had a lot more formal training than I ever did.”
Even if it was with Grandpa Odd, a psychotic villain who tried to set free one of the most evil monsters in all creation.
“You love her, don’t you?” Lyra asked. “I can tell.”
“If you can tell, why are you asking me?” I gave her a playful smirk.
“It’s just nice to hear it,” she said. “My parents always act like that, you know. Lovey dovey, with googly eyes. I’m used to it.” She frowned. “I guess I took that for granted.”
“We all take some things for granted.” I was just about to assure her that Cheryl was just waiting on her parents to contact her when I pushed open the door.
Only to be met with the shock of my life.
SWORD agents, several of whom I did not recognize, and Dante, all stood in my parents’ living room; they had their weapons drawn, though some were not aimed at me—they were guarding Adam and my parents, who were bound to the couch.
Raiya was still, but shaking, as she stood by the stairs.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Instinctively, I blocked Lyra and Lucas from their direct view. “What are you doing here?”
“They’re here at my order, of course.”
I jerked my attention toward the far end of the room at the sound of the scratchy, bitter, old-woman voice.
Standing back from the window, I finally came face to face with my enemy.
As she turned to face me, I was instantly reminded of an older version of Pharris. Her hair was white and cut in a bob style, with the longer hair curling in the front and guarding the left half of her face. From all the extra frown-line wrinkles, I could tell she was not the kind of person who smiled or laughed a lot. Unless it was an evil laugh.
Even now, her mouth was pulled down into a severely pinched frown.
“Rosemary,” I grumbled.
“Tsk, tsk.” She shook her head. “Hardly a proper greeting, young man.”
Cheryl took the time to shoot me a glowering look. It seemed that even power-hungry kidnappers deserved some degree of politeness in my mother’s house.
“You’ll have to excuse my poor manners. I wasn’t aware that you kidnapping my family warranted manners on my part.”
Her eyes narrowed viciously. “Like it or not, I’m still the grandmother of your soon-to-be bride, am I not?”
“You’re not going to be invited to the wedding,” I replied. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Hamilton,” Raiya whispered. “Please.”
I saw the blatant fear in her eyes, and I tried to calm down. I eased back into the doorframe. Rosemary had us cornered; she might get to me, but she wasn’t about to capture Lucas and Lyra. Behind me, I could tell the kids were reluctant to move as I tried to scoot them away.
“So, Hamilton, was it?” Rosemary asked. “Unusual name.”
She pushed a new mag up into her gun as she talked, her elderly fingers agile and deadly against the glaring steel. “I’m surprised and rather displeased we haven’t met before,” she said. “But running a worldwide organization does tend to take priority. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I was once known as Rosemary Johansen, though I am known by another name now.”
“‘The Matriarch’ seems too egotistical for someone like you,” I said. “Although I guess it might seem humble from your perspective.”
I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but she frowned further, driving her lips into her face.
Before I could say anything else, Rosemary swiveled around toward the couch and let off a round of shots from her gun.
“No!” Raiya and I both tried to jump forward; she aimed to protect Adam and my parents, while I wanted nothing more than to take Rosemary down.
Instantly, several guns were trained on the two of us. We stopped short, but only when we realized no one had died.
Rosemary’s frowned eased up a bit as she saw the look on our faces. Her rounds ended up flying expertly between my family. I could see the bullet holes on the walls behind them, reading out like a warning.
“After all these years,” Rosemary said, “I’m a fairly good shot. I won’t miss next time.”
“You didn’t kill anyone.” Raiya’s voice was hushed, part in awe and part in terror.
“Not yet,” Rosemary assured her. “Now, my beloved granddaughter, let’s go for a walk.”
Fear of dying suddenly went away, as fear of losing Raiya again swelled up inside of me. “You can’t have her,” I croaked.
Rosemary cocked an eyebrow. “You can come along, too, Hamilton,” she said. “You’ll make a nice addition to my collection of agents.”
Before I could say something especially vile, I was interrupted.
“No one is going with you,” Lyra called out.
“Not as long as we’re here!” Lucas added.
Both of them jumped in front of me, pushing me off to the side. They’d transformed into their Starlight defender forms, and I felt the premonition in my gut go from bad to worse. Before I could stop them, they launched themselves forward.
Chaos broke out at once. SWORD agents scrambled to get the two younger superheroes, while Rosemary only stood by with a sense of expectancy.
Raiya also transformed, still in her darkened form. She hurried to cover for the kids, leaving me to hurry to try to free my parents.
I lashed out a few punches of my own as I came up to my parents.
Cheryl’s eyes were wide, and I could tell she was frightened. I didn’t have time to enjoy how messy her hair was as I untied the knot around her wrists.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” she said, as I carefully pulled off her gag.
“I’m so sorry,” I said as I hurried to free Adam. “I never meant for this to happen.”
A SWORD agent reached out to grab me, but I ducked, forcing him to go rolling over me. I grabbed him and pushed him away, just as Lucas came rushing forward.
“Ugh,” Lucas grumbled as he flattened the agent against the floor with his shield.
“Lucas,” Lyra called, grabbing his shoulder. Instantly, her power flowed into him, and he stood up, ref
reshed.
“Good work,” I said.
Lyra and Lucas each beamed with pride for approximately a half-second, before another onslaught of attacks began.
They dove into action.
As I worked to free my father and brother, I kept one eye on the two of them; they were naturals, both of them, even if I was going to give them a lecture about endangering themselves later on.
“Lyra, Lucas.” I beckoned to them, and they came over. “Take the battle outside. See if you can get them to follow you,” I told them. “Raiya and I will handle Rosemary.”
I glanced over just in time to see Raiya’s power managed to knock Dante out with a singular punch. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy seeing that.
I was also relieved to see her eyes, while determined, were clear. It was nothing like fighting her before; she was not on a blind rampage. She was more like her old Starry Knight self, even if she still didn’t look like she had when we were younger.
Maybe getting older prompted a change in color scheme? I wondered.
“Will you be alright?” Lyra asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Of course,” I said, even though I had to wonder myself if I was going to be able to transform. “Raiya will look after me,” I finally told them, confident that was the truth. “Go!”
The two of them listened to me only about half of the time, but this was one of the times they followed through. Both of them took off, Lyra out the door and Lucas through the window.
“After them,” Rosemary ordered. At once, the remaining agents, the few that were left, pursued them. Rosemary turned my way, her weapon steady as it aimed for me.
“Stop,” I yelled, holding up my hands.
Rosemary scowled. “You need to take your own advice,” she snapped, before cocking her gun.
“Hamilton!” Raiya cried out as she blasted Rosemary with her power.
The old lady screamed in aggravated frustration as she toppled over. Mark and Cheryl led Adam away, while Raiya grabbed me and pushed me back out the door.
“Run,” she ordered. We could see Lyra and Lucas fighting in the distance as we headed toward them and away from Rosemary and her guards.
I grabbed her hand as we ran, pulling her after me. Despite her improvement in the last week, I knew she was not up to running for miles on end. I was certain of this when I glanced over and saw her tired expression. “Are you okay?”
“I was never worried before,” Raiya told me as she hurried alongside me, “about fighting SWORD. I thought I could handle them.”
“You can,” I insisted.
“I’ve lost too much and too many people,” she said. “I underestimated them.”
“It doesn’t help that your grandmother came back out of nowhere and cornered you into it,” I said. “This was a surprise attack on us today, too.”
“She knows how to hurt people.” Raiya stopped running, ducking behind a small collection of trees. She put her hands on her knees, trying to rest. “I remember her visits when I was at their site.”
I squeezed her hand. “I know this sounds bad, but I wish you wouldn’t remember things like that,” I said.
Raiya gave me a quick smile. “She told me a lot of things. She was unhappy with her marriage to Grandpa Odd.”
“I’m hardly surprised. Two narcissistic megalomaniacs in a marriage doesn’t seem like a good match in the long run.”
“She said he abused her.”
“The victim often becomes the victimizer,” I said. Sadly, working in the law, I saw that a lot. The stats on it weren’t good. I also knew it was possible to break the cycle. Rosemary didn’t seem like the kind of woman who wanted to do that, let alone the kind who would try. “I’m willing to bet she abused him back.”
Raiya grimaced. “It’s not for us to worry about now, I guess.”
“I’d rather not, anyway. I don’t want sympathy for the woman who kept you away from me for all these years.” I caught Raiya’s eye. “And we can both agree that’s the least of all her crimes.”
“I can agree to that as well,” Rosemary said from behind us.
We glanced over to see her as she stepped out from behind another tree.
She smiled for the first time, her perfectly straight, white teeth adding to the overall unnatural aura she projected. “Odd was a smart man, but careless,” she said. “When I found out the truth about him, I had to go to great lengths to assure him I was on his side.”
“You were just using him,” Raiya said.
“Is it a sin to use someone who uses other people?” Rosemary narrowed her eyes. “I already knew about the fallen Stars when I met him. That’s part of the reason I convinced him to marry me.”
“Why do it?” I asked. “It hardly seems worth it to me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Immortality is a grand venture, and one that requires sacrifices of all sorts,” she said. “They say death and taxes are the only certainties of life. I’ve managed to avoid paying taxes; I can certainly avoid death, too.”
If nothing else, I thought, that’s enough to get her imprisoned for tax evasion.
“Once I have Raiya back, I’ll be able to open up this world into the next one, and I’ll be able to get the bloodwater from the River of Life. All I need is Raiya and the fabric of Time she has.”
“How do you know about the fabric?” Raiya asked. She shifted her feet slightly, and I knew she was gearing up to attack.
We just had to keep her distracted.
We can do that.
“You told me all about it, of course,” she said. “Including the seal you placed on it.”
Raiya’s expression was, thankfully, blank as Rosemary continued. “You must not remember our lengthy conversations down in your cell.”
I grew more uncomfortable as Rosemary’s smile turned more eerie.
“A shame, isn’t it? I know I personally will never forget the look on your face when I told you that I was responsible for your parents’ deaths.”
Before Raiya and I could respond, a small beep emitted from nearby.
Rosemary kept her weapon expertly trained on us as she held up a small device. “Yes?” she asked.
“Madame,” said a voice I didn’t recognize from the device.
Must be a cell phone or radio, I realized. Spy gear.
“We have them.”
Rosemary’s creepy grin returned. “Excellent.” She put the device away and turned back to us. “We have your starlings.”
“No,” Raiya choked out. She was already struggling, as the truth about the death of her parents clearly haunted her. I stepped forward, trying to shield her.
“Release them,” I yelled at Rosemary.
“Oh, I will,” she said, “when you hand over the fabric of Time.”
Before I could declare that she would never get away with this, Raiya’s power turned ominously dark.
She glowed with a blackened aura as she launched herself at Rosemary. “Augh!” she called out, an angry battle cry, one that resonated with my own heart.
Rosemary lost her weapon as she was knocked off her feet, and Raiya was more than capable of holding her own against that vile woman.
But I knew it couldn’t last; I could almost see the black hole inside of her heart grow and convulse as it twisted its way toward Earth. And I knew Raiya was supposed to be stopped from indulging in her darker thirst for vengeance.
Despite my synchronous desire, I stepped in. I pushed myself in between Rosemary and Raiya.
“Move,” I yelled at Rosemary, who looked shocked I’d stepped forward to save her.
She didn’t repay the favor, of course. As I stood, barely clinging onto Raiya’s shoulders, holding her back from the fight of her life, she scurried away.
Rosemary turned back to me, briefly. “You have until tomorrow at noon,” she said. “Bring me the fabric of Time, or I’ll kill your starlings.”
Raiya raged even more, her power trying to go supernova as I held her back. Rosemary
disappeared from my sight as I focused all my concern on Raiya.
I pushed myself next to her, placing my hand over her heart.
“Come back to me,” I called, hoping this would work. It had been many years since I was able to enter into the Realm of the Heart.
Something pushed out from the back of my heart and headed into hers. A second later, my mind followed along, and I got a new glimpse at the secrets in Raiya’s heart.
The world around me faded into a new one, one where places and paintings of beauty resided side-by-side. I felt the music of her soul call out to me, though there was another harmony in place.
“Huh?” I blinked and rubbed my eyes, just to be sure that what I was seeing was real.
Raiya’s Soulfire had always reminded me of liquid moonlight, with its silvery glow and blueish undertones. This time, as I looked into her heart, I saw two warring powers fighting inside of her. One was a familiar, blood-colored flame, while the other was a black hole.
The two had collided, and in the heart of their battle, I could see Raiya as she fought and fought off their power.
The Blood Flame, I realized. She had one now, too. Adonaias had forgiven her.
Instantly, I knew what was going on. She had told me herself, that the choices we made would “feed” our future selves, changing us into a particular way for the rest of eternity.
As a fallen Star, she was destined to fight this, the same way that I was. But with the Blood Flame, we were able to find resolution, even as the war continued.
“Raiya,” I called, hurrying forward.
Her eyes were dark, as her internal self glanced over at me. “Almeisan,” she murmured, her voice falling over me in caressing waves.
I came up to her, blistering at the battlefront, and took her hand. “You have to stop this,” I said.
“How can I?” she asked, helpless. “I’m scared.”
“I know it’s hard not to be afraid,” I told her. Her fear reminded me of the first time I saw the Sinisters and their minions, and of the first time I saw Maia suck out a Soulfire. I knew what it was like to be afraid of things it seemed impossible to understand.
But I also knew that it was a different kind of fear I felt toward Adonaias.
“I know it’s hard not to be afraid,” I said. “But you have to fear the right things.”
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