by Lola StVil
“Please reconsider,” Fate pleads.
“If I do that, Pryor dies. And I’m not going to a funeral today,” I reply as I start to ascend into the air.
He runs out and calls after me in a stern, commanding voice, “There may not be a funeral today, but tomorrow, funerals are all you will know.”
"When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength."
~ Dalai Lama
We listen as Death explains how she became the Maker. I think somewhere inside we all thought it was a big mistake. We all thought Spider had made that shit up just to piss us off and misguide us before his death. So much bullshit happened in such a short time…
An hour ago, New York City began crumbling under the weight of the new evil that had been created: Alago. And as hard as we tried to stop Randy from turning into an all-encompassing force of evil, he did just that. Malakaro, now having successfully gotten Randy to turn evil, reached out to touch him and end life as we know it.
Time placed a shield around each of them and froze them in place, preventing them from touching. However, the hold only lasts for twenty-four hours; like I said, that was an hour ago. So we chased the being we thought made Malakaro only to find out that the one we were looking for was Emmy.
Now, we all stand in an alley with Death. And while there is chaos all around us, the noise seems to fade in the background as Death does her best to explain the unexplainable. None of us interrupt her; she tells her story from start to finish. When she’s done, I look over at my wife. Pryor’s world is imploding yet again, and once again, I can’t help her.
“That’s how it happened. I did what I did because I needed to save you,” Death says to her daughter.
“Well, I guess that makes it all better,” Pryor says angrily.
“It doesn’t, I know that,” Death assures her.
“Do you have any idea how much you cost us?” Pryor demands.
“I do, and I’m sorry about the way things turned out. But there was no way to know what could happen.”
“Fate told you not to give Jason your power, and you did it anyway.”
“Pryor, you don’t understand,” Death pleads.
“Yes, I do; because of decisions you made, millions of people will die,” Pryor shouts.
“That hasn’t happened yet. We can still find a way to stop Malakaro,” Death says.
“Will stopping your creation bring Key back? Will it bring back the thousands of angels, humans, and Quo that Malakaro slaughtered to get to this point?”
“Pry—”
“HOW DO WE GET THEM BACK?” Pryor rages.
“Babe, calm down,” I reply as I stroke her arm.
She shakes her head, enraged, and glares at her mother as her voice trembles. “Since the day I was born, all I ever heard was that our job was to put others before ourselves. We are the ones Omnis chose to protect the humans, even if it meant our lives. But when it’s time for you to pick humans, you didn’t, and look what happened,” Pryor continues.
“The way you were lying there in the hospital…I had no choice. What did you want me to do?”
“LET ME DIE!”
“No! I couldn’t do that. I just…couldn’t,” Death counters firmly.
“Well, I’m alive, Mom, but half of my damn heart is missing. My dad is gone, and he didn’t have to be.”
“Carrot, I’m truly sorry. You know I miss Marcus every single day. I still see him when I close my eyes. I still hear his voice calling me. And there are times when I think I won’t make it one more second because the pain of losing him is just too much.
“But that’s when I seek you out because I can see him in you. I can see the love of my life in my daughter’s eyes. That’s what keeps me going: you. You have kept me alive. And I’m so sorry for what has happened with Malakaro. But I’m not sorry I saved you. I will never be sorry for that,” Death admits in a pained whisper.
The team and I exchange a glance of deep regret. Our leader softens her voice as she replies to Death.
“Mom, I get why you did it. I do. And I’m sure in time, I can get past you putting one life above everyone else, and how you nearly ruined Aunt Miku’s family by bringing Redd back.
“Hell, I can even get past you enabling that sick son of a bitch Malakaro to have access to unlimited power. But if you hadn’t done what you did, Dad would still be alive. It’s your fault that Dad’s gone.”
“Pry!” East scolds.
“No, she needs to hear this, East. Mom, I love you so much, but I will never forgive you for taking my dad from me.”
“Pryor, please try to understand,” Death begs.
“I need to speak to my team, alone,” Pryor replies.
“No, we need to talk about this,” her mother insists.
“We just did,” Pryor declares.
“Pryor—” Death pushes.
“Mom! Please, just…go.”
I look at Pryor, and there is so much turmoil and pain in her eyes, I fear pushing her will only make things worse. So when Death goes to protest once again, I catch her eye and sadly signal that it would be best if she left. Death looks over at her daughter and reluctantly ascends into the air.
“Pry, I’m so sorry, but you shouldn’t have said that to her,” East says, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Look, I hate what your mom did too. And I’m really pissed that she would use my mom like that. And yeah, maybe Key would still be alive today if Emmy didn’t do what she did. But, Pry, as a mom…I get it,” Swoop says carefully.
“Yeah, well, you still have your dad, so…” Pry says.
“Parents make mistakes, Pry. Trust me, I know firsthand,” East offers. “Can you imagine the guilt she’s dealing with? I bet she’s in therapy. I mean, I would be.”
“You should be,” Diana quips.
“Yeah, but I think I’d need a whole team of them. You know, therapists that enjoy a challenge. And I bet they wouldn’t even have to pay for it. I mean, who has better insurance than Time, Death, and Fate, right?” East says, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, well, group therapy time is over,” Pryor informs us.
I don’t say anything because I know she needs time to cool off. I also know that once the anger dies down, there will be a tidal wave of emotions that will hit her. She’s trying to avoid that pain by being in “leader” mode. And as much as I hate to say it, leader mode is exactly what we need right now.
“Well, obviously we can’t try to kill the Maker,” Swoop says.
“Otherwise Christmas in the Cane household will be very tense this year,” East adds.
“Finding the Maker was our only plan. What now?” I ask.
“Now we have twenty-three hours to get done what we couldn’t do in over three years—find a way to stop Malakaro. So go out there, get me a device, a vial, a book—hell, bring me Harry Potter’s wand, anything—to kill Malakaro once and for all. But also stay together. With evil winning right now, there’s no telling what demons will crawl out to challenge us,” Pry orders.
“How are we supposed to get anyone to betray Malakaro?” East asks.
“Find a way. Kill and torture whoever you have to, just get me some answers,” she demands.
“You mean kill any demons, right?” I reply.
“That’s what I said,” she counters.
“No, Pry. That is not what you said,” I remind her.
“Oh, well, it’s what I meant.”
“Okay, you guys go get what info you can; then meet back here in a half hour. I need to talk to the First Noru,” I order. The team obeys me and takes off into the growing chaos, leaving me alone with my wife.
“Pry, I’d ask if you’re okay, but that would be stupid.”
“I’ll deal. It’s just one more thing, right?” she says, looking at her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I�
�m using this app to help me find where Hun’s Market is today.”
“You want to raid the market?”
“Yeah, it’s where Sellers and demons go to trade illegal stuff, so maybe we’ll get lucky and find a device or something we could use as a weapon,” she replies, sounding official.
“That’s a good plan and it may be worth a shot, but I need you to put down the phone for a minute,” I reply.
“We don’t have a minute. New York City is nearly demolished. The same thing will happen to the world if we don’t figure this out,” she says, continuing to avoid making eye contact.
Having no other choice, I take the phone from her. She looks up, clearly upset by my actions.
“I need my phone,” she snaps.
“No, you need to talk to me.”
“Aaden, I don’t have—”
“Time. Yeah, I heard you. We’re gonna make time.”
“What is there to say? I lost my little brother. I lost my teammate. I lost my father, and now, I just lost my mom.”
“No, you didn’t. Your mom is still in your life.”
“I can’t even look at her!”
“Pryor, I’m not saying that your mom was right to do what she did. But…forget it.”
“But what? Am I missing something? The woman who raised me also created the biggest evil that ever lived. And I don’t have a right to be angry?”
“Yes! You have every right. But you don’t know what it’s like to lose a child. When I lost Sparks…Pryor, there’s a separate hell that only parents face.”
“Aaden, I know you miss Sparks—”
“It’s not just missing your kid that tears you up; it’s knowing that you failed them. Human, angel, Quo, whatever. If you have a child, it is your duty to protect them. Your kid is not a big part of your world; your kid is your world. And when that kid is in danger, when that kid’s life is at risk…It’s a pain that I wouldn’t even wish on Malakaro.
“When I fly over a playground, I think about Sparks. I see a human teaching their kid to ride a bike and I think about what it would be like to teach Sparks to use her wings for the first time. And I swear to you, I would give my soul to experience what it would be like to hear her voice.
“I feel so much for a kid that never even made it out here. I can’t imagine what it was like for your mom, having known you for over a year. She watched as you started to come into your own. She fell in love with you. That’s what parents do—they fall in love with their kid. And if anyone gets in the way of that, anyone at all…Pryor, I would have done the same damn thing your mother did.
“I’ve seen the rage that comes over my own father when I’m in danger. And I didn’t get it until much later. Screw the rules, screw the balance between good and evil; anyone or anything that messes with your kid should be destroyed. Because, Pry, when your kid dies, you die.”
“My mother withheld this information from me for years. She broke the rules and she betrayed Aunt Miku’s trust. I don’t understand why you’re on her side.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side. But, Pry, you really hurt her with what you said. I know it sucks to find out what she did, but it’s done and there’s no point in making her feel more like shit than she already does,” I reason.
“So I’m the bad guy in this? How the hell did that happen?” she asks.
Before I can reply, my cell vibrates. I take it out of my pocket and look down at the screen. “We gotta go. East and Swoop are under attack.”
“Where’s Diana?” Pry asks.
“No idea, but we gotta move!” I tell her as I take off. She follows closely behind me. We find East near a construction site surrounded by demons. Pry and I attack from the air. She takes out six demons with the palms of her hands, and I set fire to the nearest scaffolding. The blaze goes up quickly, causing the towering structure to collapse and take out a dozen demons.
The demons take cover on the right side of the construction site, leaving my team to seek cover on the left. Pryor attacks the demon hitting Swoop and I tackle the bastard who impulsively flies over to our side and pins East to the ground.
We roll around in the dirt and I manage to get the upper hand. I get on top of him and start choking the life from his miserable body. But he wiggles out of my hold—literally; he transforms into a colossal serpent hybrid. It has the head of a black mamba and the body of a freaking python.
Great, this dick is a hybrid-Partial. Perfect.
The snake quickly coils itself around me and opens its gaping maw, revealing the blue-black color roof of its mouth. I’m now on my back, looking up at sharp venom-soaked fangs ready to devour me. It takes both hands for me to stop it from closing the gap between its fangs and my skin.
The snake then coils its lower body around me and tries to squeeze me to death. It’s working. I’m becoming light-headed and the world starts to blur. I try to summon something—anything—that can help, but I’m losing focus.
“I’ll be damned if I die at the hands of a low-ranking demon who is nothing more than a belt with teeth.” I gasp.
I summon the last of my strength and manage to get a good enough grip on the serpent’s head to twist it until its head bursts wide open.
“Silver, behind you!” Swoop yells.
I duck down, and black Powerballs rush by me, nearly taking my head off. I thank the two asshole demons for their gifts by sending a wall of fire their way. They cry out as they burn, but there is no time to enjoy the sight—Swoop’s caught on the demon side of the battle. Her forehead is being carved open by the laser beam emitting from the eyes of the demon holding her captive.
“Bird, I’m coming!” I promise her as she screams in pain. But getting to Swoop is impossible because of the sheer number of Powerballs coming down on us. What makes matters worse are the twin demons shooting blades from their mouths at top speed. Thanks to them, it’s raining knives.
“I need to get to Swoop,” I shout at Pryor.
“Go! I’ll cover you,” she says as she starts Pulling the demons’ life forces. Pry is able to kill many but not enough. And the twins are still firing at us.
“I can’t kill them,” Pry says.
“They are more powerful than the others. You need to get closer,” East says.
“Cover me or not, I have to go get Bird. She’s dying,” I shout back.
“The sideshow-reject twins are spitting out blades quickly, but after a few rounds, they are forced to pause in order to reload. When that happens again, I have a plan,” East says.
He is right; the twins pause in between attacks. East waits until the exact moment when their mouths open again; he then unleashes his lasso. He skillfully guides the tip so that it lands inside one of the twins’ mouths. The lasso sends a jolt of electricity down the demon’s body. He shakes violently as his insides simmer; he then falls to the ground, dead.
Seeing his dead twin at his feet, the remaining brother rages and opens fire. But his blade-throwing days are done because Pryor managed to sneak up on him while he was mourning his fallen brother.
“Let’s see how you like it,” Pryor says angrily as she picks up one of the discarded knives and sinks it into the back of the demon’s skull. She twists it, hard. He groans and she kicks him to the ground. She stands over him and digs the blade further into the back of his skull with the sole of her boot.
I make my way to Swoop, who has her eyes closed and is bleeding steadily. I incinerate the asshole on top of her and look Swoop over. Relief washes over me as she opens her eyes and moans. She’s in pain, but she’s alive. I take off my shirt and use it to apply pressure to her wound. That’s all that matters.
“Pry, look out!” East yells as a Powerball aims for the back of her head. None of us are close enough to stop the ball from making contact. Yet it doesn’t make contact. A shield springs up and covers Pryor.
The shield didn’t come from East, so who the hell sent it? Before I get to ask the question out loud, a brilliant orb appears, killing every
demon in sight. I turn in the direction of the light and find a group of powerful angels standing before us: the Omari.
“Since when did the Omari give a damn what happens to the Noru?” I ask.
“We came because our queen’s life was at risk,” Bellamy, the Omari leader, says.
“Where’s your queen?” Pryor says as the circular shield around her retracts.
“Right here,” a voice says in a reluctant whisper.
Diana…
“I’m sorry, what just happened?” East says.
“I’m the queen of the Paras,” Diana replies with a nervous smile.
“Wait, that would mean…” East can’t get the words out.
“Bex and I are married.”
“You and Bex are what?” Pryor shouts.
“I’m fine now. You guys can take off and get back to evacuating New York,” Diana says to the Omari. They do as they are told and leave just as suddenly as they appeared. She then goes over to Swoop, takes out her pouch of mixtures, and begins to attend to her. In no time at all, Diana is able to seal up Swoop’s wound and stop the bleeding completely.
“You’re okay now, but it would be good to get checked out at the clinic. Just to be safe,” Diana says. She indicates she needs help to move Swoop, but none of us follow. We are too taken aback to talk let alone move. And judging from the look on Swoop’s face, she couldn’t care less about having been hurt. She wants to know what the hell is going on just as badly as we do.
“Okay, I guess you guys need answers,” Diana says, swallowing hard.
“Gee, you think?” East says.
“Diana, I don’t get it. Are you being serious right now?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says.
“Well, we know Bex didn’t knock you up; Malakaro already did that. So…what the hell?” East says.
“Um…what he said,” Swoop adds in a weak voice.
“Maybe we should get you looked at before we—”
“Diana, out with it,” Swoop says as I help her prop herself up.
“We’re short on time, and it’s kind of a long story. I don’t think I can condense it,” Diana says.
