Vala Eminence

by J. F. Jenkins

  Growling quietly, Denver opened his eyes and glared at the teacher. “I would be able to focus a lot better if you didn't interrupt me all the time. You don't shut up.”

  “You will need to learn how to get into the spiritual realm without concentrating so hard. That is the nature of your magic. Anyway, I was not referring to your physical senses. Your mind is wandering all over the place. I am surprised you even entered the next level with how busy your head is.” Mr. Thantos put a gloved hand on Denver's shoulder.

  With a frown, Denver faced him. “Weren't you sitting at the desk earlier? How did you get behind me?”

  Exhaling deeply, the angel walked to the front of the room. “Precisely my point. I was able to pass you several times before settling in the back on the other side of my office. If you had been focused, I would not have been able to sneak up on you. Since I mean you no harm, this is not a big deal, I suppose. However, there are others who will take advantage of this lapse.”

  “Yeah, I know. Lucien's got assassins after me,” he mumbled.

  “Like the demon you are getting close to now.” Mr. Thantos crossed his arms in front of him. “It would be wise to not place too much trust in her. Regardless of if she was created by Hades the First, she is still a demon. They only act in their best interests.”

  “She owes me her allegiance. My orders rank higher than Lucien's, or so she said.” But what if she did lie? Demons are deceitful.

  Mr. Thantos's black eyes never left Denver. “She did not lie to you, of that you can be reassured. That does not mean she will not change her mind in the future. If she sees Lucien as being more powerful than you, she will switch sides like that.” He snapped his fingers. “I am impressed you lived during your first encounter with her to begin with. Clearly, you are capable of achieving the level of spiritual connection I am trying to teach you.”

  “Yup, I can be smart sometimes.”

  “It has nothing to do with your intelligence level.”

  “You're a buzz kill, man.”

  “I have been told that often.” The dark angel actually smirked, an odd sight since the man never smiled, let alone expressed much of any kind of emotion.

  With a heavy breath, Denver closed his eyes. “I wasn't focused.” The words left his lips quickly and quietly. Admitting he was wrong was not something he did, but he was having a lot of firsts these days. A lot of uncharacteristic behaviors in general were coming from him. Why not add to the list?

  Mr. Thantos peered at him. “What was that?”

  Denver growled. “I wasn't focused, okay? I've got a million things on my mind right now that I'm trying to piece together. It's not anything you'd understand.” He shook his head and shifted in his chair so he was looking away from the angel. There was something unsettling about seeing him with his large broken and black wings.

  “My apologies. Perhaps I am pushing you too hard, too fast. I do not need to explain the severity of this situation.”

  “Nope.”

  “So I do not need to explain why I am pushing so hard. At the same time, perhaps it would help if I took the time to answer some of the questions that are plaguing you. I am not heartless or unkind. There are a number of things I understand better than you realize.” Mr. Thantos returned to his desk and sat on top of it. He brought his legs up underneath him — it was far too casual of a pose for him. Denver did not like seeing the real version of his teacher.

  Scowling, he faced the front again and leaned forward. “Okay, fine. Answer some stuff for me, or at least tell me if I'm on the right track or not, how's that? I mean, this place is safe right?”

  “Yes, my office is safe. The darkness cannot enter here, or rather, not the kind which Lucien has.”

  “Yeah, so when you say stuff like that I get confused,” Denver admitted. “Because it's kind of drilled into most people's heads that darkness is bad stuff. It's evil. It's wrong. Stay far, far away. So what's the difference between darkness and the kind that Lucien has?”

  The smirk returned on Mr. Thantos's face, and it was unnerving. “Is the night evil Mis… Denver?”

  “Depends on who you ask.”

  “In general, is the night evil, or is it the people who take advantage of the dark it provides who are evil?”

  Denver had to think about that one for a moment. “The people?”

  Nodding, Mr. Thantos continued. “Think of yourself as the moon. You are destined to live and rule over a dark domain. With your magic, you can see all of the things happening beneath you. Some of them are good, acts of love, passion, joy. Some are bad, deceptive, and evil. All people desire the covering of the darkness to either hide their actions, or to make their own light shine brighter. Not everyone who dies and comes to the underworld is a bad person. It is not the jail cell for those who were cruel on the earth. It is simply a necessary place for some souls to wander.”

  “Right, because you said that was my purpose and that it involved walking a thin line or something? Which I get. You work close with people who are corrupt, and there's the risk of letting it mess you up. I think I'm living proof of that one.”

  “You being corrupt is not your doing. It was a curse. Now if you decide to keep being corrupt, that is another story. Your father got into trouble with the demons because he did not keep a close enough eye on them.”

  Denver gazed down at his hands. “And that started this whole mess to begin with, huh?”

  “What started it was the Divine getting power hungry and rather than be patient, they let the demons deceive them into handing over what control the Divine do have over the magical world. The covenant between Hades and Persephone was blood bound, and never fulfilled. A broken promise of such a degree would result in the Divine losing even more power. Lucien claims he can return the lost power because he is Hades's heir. In reality, we know this is not true.”

  “Right, so Lucien wants them to lose that so he can take control over the Divine Council?” Denver asked.

  Mr. Thantos shook his head. “That is only a small piece. If he becomes the heir to Hades, and fulfills the covenant, he will gain the full power of the Divine that way. If he becomes Divine, then he will have command over the magical world, the spiritual world, and the living world of the ordinary humans. No one creature is to have that kind of power but the one true God.”

  “So he wants to rule the world and be 'the man'. Got it,” Denver said.

  “Boring and cliché I know, but he has never had much imagination.”

  Tapping his hands on his knees, Denver mulled over what he was being told. “What happens then if he doesn't fulfill the prophecy because I step in and retake my throne, so to speak? Everyone is happy and safe?”

  A soft sigh could be heard coming out of Mr. Thantos. Another odd thing to hear coming from the angel. It made him seem soft and tender. “He is still wed to Cheyenne. Until death do they part. So long as he is married to a Divine, he can still find a way into the Divine Council himself. It is why he had taken Anj Willam. There is another way to become Divine. It is an unnamed magical pool. No one who has tried to enter its waters has returned to tell the tale.”

  “So how do you know it even exists?” Denver challenged, rolling his eyes. It sounded stupid. A mystical pool of water with no name that could make someone Divine?

  “It is real because it is knowledge that was given to the Fates at the beginning of time. The more Fates who are in one place, the stronger the memories of the pool become. And Anj has the power of one-hundred inside of him already, or so Lucien thinks.” Mr. Thantos gave a small smile. “Still, even fifty is a lot. Fates are so few and far between, they hardly ever meet one another in person.”

  Denver leaned forward, greatly interested now. “I had heard about all that. Didn't understand it, but heard it all the same. I do a lot of listening when I'm down in the underworld. Lots of neat stuff happens down there. But what do you mean Anj's only got fifty? I thought he had one-hundred.”

  “He is an identical twin.”<
br />
  “So?”

  “On the day of his conception, ninety-nine Fates were killed. Their power is spread through death. Which means, that the spirits of all of those Fates moved into him. Because he is an identical twin, that means he and his brother shared the same egg. It is one unit that was split into two. Zes has the power of the Fates inside of him as well, they just have never been unlocked because it is tradition for a Fate to choose only one of their children to carry on the gift.”

  Denver took in a sharp breath. “Maybe being nice to Zes and helping him out is more beneficial to me than I originally thought. Smart, Teague, smart.”

  Neither one of them said anything for a moment. Mr. Thantos went back to watching Denver, his eyes narrowed to the point where it was impossible to tell if he was angry or thinking.

  Finally, Denver couldn't stand it anymore. “What?”

  “Teague told you to help Zes?”

  “For my good deed. I thought I'd help de-brand him. I mean, I've got to have magic that will help with that since it's dark magic and all. Which I wanted to talk to you about that, using more of my magic, I mean. It might be good for me to learn.”

  “You know who Teague is right?”

  Looking up and shaking his head, Denver snorted. “Yes, I know who he is. He's from the future, proof that Anj and Jewl eventually decide to get interesting and do the nasty. Big deal, but not since nobody knows who he is but me… and apparently you. But why am I not surprised, you know everything.”

  “So long as no one else knows,” Mr. Thantos said softly.

  “Anj knew for about three minutes, but I was able to wipe that out of his memory because I'm awesome like that. I know a few useful spells. I'd like to know more. Hint, hint.”

  Mr. Thantos shook his head. “I do not think it is wise for you to get involved too deeply into Teague's problem, or with the Willam brothers.”

  “See, the problem with that is I am involved with them whether you, or they, like it. I don't like the twins. Teague on the other hand is cool. I'm just trying to keep the kid safe and happy until he can get back home again.” Denver glared at the teacher. “He asked me nicely to help his dear sweet uncle, so I thought I'd give it a shot to earn some karma points since you said I needed those to get over this curse thing. Which I would like to do, I should add, because then I can kiss my girlfriend and tell her I love her without it making me feel like I'm having some kind of a heart attack!”

  “The situation is delicate.”

  “Duh!”

  “You cannot tell Teague the truth.”

  Frustration was starting to overwhelm Denver to the point where he was about to lash out. He managed to keep it at bay by simply clenching his fists. “You do realize that if I was going to say something about it, I would have by now, right? I know what happens when you tell people from the future that they're from the future before they're supposed to know. The world blows up or something like that. He won't know, they won't know, and you know that Lucien is after him, so he needs my help. They all do.”

  “Fine,” was Mr. Thantos's stiff reply. “Practice what I have taught you some more. You need to progress before I can decide if I want to teach you something more aggressive. I will admit that is not my area of expertise, but I would rather you learn it from me than from Mr. Orinda. Now, I believe our time is up.”

  Denver got up from his chair. “Sure, whatever.” He left the office and pulled out his cellphone. On it were five missed calls from Cheyenne and one text.

  “I guess you're busy, so don't worry about coming over. TTYL.”

  He muttered a curse and then typed in a quick reply. Before sending it, he had the brains to read it over and realize he said a great deal of mean things that he'd regret later. He erased the message, took in a slow, calming breath, before settling on something simple.

  “Working on your surprise. I'll see you tomorrow then. <3”

  Smiling and satisfied with his work, he hit the send button. She's gonna love that heart.

  Chapter Ten

  When Denver got back to his dorm building, Zes was in the lounge. Zes did not live in the same dorm as him. The guy lived in Athena hall along with just about everyone else Denver socialized with. There wasn't much reason for Zes to be at Denver's dorm either, since it was a well-known fact that the twins did not keep many friends. Only a loser would be meeting for a study group so early in the semester, so Denver was confused — even more so when Zes approached him the moment he walked through the main door.

  Peering at Zes, Denver shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yeah?”

  “I've been thinking a lot about what you said to me at the Old Union, and I think you're right in that you can help me. Since this is all your fault to begin with, you kind of owe it to me to make it better,” Zes said in a quiet, rushed, hurried speech.

  Denver wanted to point out that it wasn't his fault, but held back. In truth, Zes was right. Denver did have a lot of involvement in the attack from Lucien back in the fall. If Denver hadn't given Lucien a means of getting onto the campus, Zes wouldn't have been taken and tortured in the first place.

  But Denver had to play it cool, because if he said anything of the sort, he'd end up in the hospital with a number of missing teeth and an expulsion notice. He simply nodded.

  Zes let out a quiet huff. “So this is the part where you're supposed to reveal your grand plans for fixing this.”

  “I don't think I trust this spot much either, too many eyes and ears everywhere. Let's go for a walk.” Denver waved for Zes to follow him back outside. It was freezing out, but he had an idea of a safer place to talk.

  With a rather dramatic sounding sigh, Zes followed. The twins were more alike than Denver gave them credit for, after all. Usually, Anj was the dramatic one. He huffed, made wild gestures constantly, and had no issues with raising his voice whenever he thought everyone else was going to be listening. Denver had always admired Zes for being the level-headed one when things got rough. Perhaps he brought out all of the worst in Zes. Or the guy might have finally become too jaded to continue caring about being polite all of the time. Either way, Zes's dramatics were not anywhere near as annoying as his brother's. If anything, they were fascinating. The dark side of Denver wanted to keep pushing his buttons just to see what might happen.

  But I can't. I promised to help him and that means I can't have any fun at his expense. Besides, if I made him mad that would only make things worse, and then I'd just end up losing Cheyenne. I don't want to fall further into Lucien's hands. So Denver held his tongue and walked into the forest behind Athena Hall toward a gazebo the students had long forgotten over the years. The staff kept up with it, making sure it stayed clean and in good condition, but the students found other places to hang out over the warmer months.

  Zes stopped walking when it came into view. “I don't want to hang out here. Lots of bad memories.”

  “Bad memories, or memories that are good so you don't wanna revisit them? Would it bring out too many sad feelings?” Denver trailed a fake tear down his cheek. “Get over it. At least you have good memories of some kind. That's more than a lot of people can say.”

  “Like you?” Zes snapped.

  “Yep.”

  “Is this the part where you give me your sob story so I feel sorry for you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good, because nothing is going to make me care about what happens to you.”

  “Likewise.”

  The two glared at one another for a moment, before Denver kept pressing onward. He didn't know how he knew the gazebo would be safe, but his intuition urged him to go there all the same. Inside was a small replica of Persephone's garden, and Denver couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of gateway to his true domain. Either that, or it was a rather grand, sappy, gesture his ancestor made for his one true love. It was safe. It had to be. It belonged to him.

  Outside, the gazebo roof was covered in snow and icicles hugged the white Grecian columns holding
up the structure. The windowpanes were all frost-kissed. Inside it would be just as cold as it was outside. Denver was getting bored with the cold, which was another reason he preferred the underworld. Down there, it was always warm.

  The young men stepped inside of the small building and stood across the room from one another. Denver searched along the inside columns, shivering so hard his teeth were starting to chatter.

  Zes took a moment to blow on his hands before hugging himself. His breath was thick with each exhale as he looked around. “This was a genius idea. Couldn't we have gone some place with heat? Even if it was only a little higher than the freezing point, I'd be happy.”

  “Not to be punny, but chill out. I'm working on it.” Finding what he was looking for, Denver let out a soft sigh of relief. A rose was engraved onto one of the columns. He pushed on it and it gave way under his weight. A quiet rumble filled the room and Zes jumped as the floor around the center began to shift into a spiral staircase going down into the depths of the Earth.

  With a swallow, Zes watched the stairs form. His eyes were wide, and for a moment neither of them said a word. Not like they would be able to hear one another over the loud grinding of stone against stone. When it ended, the sound reverberated throughout the building for a few seconds. Eventually, Denver's hearing returned to normal. He started down the stairs.

  Zes followed. “What is this place? Where does it go to?”

  “A place where we can talk,” Denver said. I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew by bringing him down this way. This better not come back to bite me in the butt.

  The stairs went down about fifteen feet and into darkness. Despite the lack of light, it was already significantly warmer down in the hole than it was above the ground. Denver closed his eyes, took in a relaxing breath, and concentrated, calling upon the spiritual magic inside of him just as Mr. Thantos had taught him. When he opened his eyes, he gasped.

  Where in the physical realm there had been nothing but darkness, Denver now saw pure light. There were no demons present. The only sign of darkness was Zes, actually. While most of the teenage boy’s body was bright from the light within him, his arm had a black sigil on it — his brand from the demons and from it, darkness leaked into Zes's body. Tendrils of darkness spread from the brand as if it were slowly moving through his veins.