by Bonnie Lamer
“And married,” Kallen points out with a distinctly jealous snarl. I guess Zeus was hitting on me.
Moving on. “Okay, my parents are stuck as spirits. But, Hades sent the Pixies and the vengeful spirits. Can I at least do something about them?”
“You are an impatient one,” Poseidon points out. Actually, lots of beings point that out to me. Forgive me for not having millennia under my belt to practice my patience. I freeze, hoping I didn’t say that out loud. When a trident isn’t suddenly in my face, I relax. I managed to keep that thought to myself.
“Can anything be done about the Pixies already released? No,” Zeus says. “You may do with them as you wish. However, there will be no more breaches of the realms. The Pixies in this universe, like the humans, have not been given the knowledge needed to transcend realms.” Very good to know.
“What of the spirits?” Kallen asks.
Hades sighs. “There will be no more spirits.” He sounds so disappointed that I find myself hoping Zeus punches him in the face at least once more before we go.
“Then, my parents will be free to live out their days in their spirit form,” I say in relief.
“No.”
The word from Zeus’ mouth is one of the most devastating I have ever heard. “No?” I repeat.
Angry, Kallen shoots back with a finger pointed at Hades, “Her parents will be punished for his cruelty?”
One of Zeus’ eyebrows rises. “Be careful, Fairy. You are pointing that finger at my brother.” With great effort, Kallen forces his arm back to his side. When he does, Zeus continues. “You did not let me finish.” His tone suggests we had better let him finish now. I bite my lip, hard, to keep myself from blurting anything else out. “My hapless brother’s actions have drawn censure. A demand for retribution has been made and shall be honored.” Rising to his full height, Zeus’ form fills the small space and his power rolls around us like thunder. “For the crime of interfering in your destiny and for unleashing beings meant only to diminish hope, Hades, King of the Underworld, you were in sight of the day you would leave this cursed place. Now, you will remain in this world of the damned for another million millennia!” It is Persephone who pales, not the King of the Underworld. I suspect that Hades never really believed he’d be allowed to leave. His wife, however, is currently regretting the fact that she ratted him out.
As for me, I really couldn’t care less what happens to Hades. I’m concerned about how his actions are going to affect the ones I love. Great, no more Pixies or evil ghosts. But, I now have to return to my parents and explain to them that they will never be whole again and that they need to move on. Kallen’s arm slips around my waist and I lean into him as we wait to be excused from the presence of these gods.
“You do not believe me finished, do you?” Zeus asks, a twinkle back in his eyes.
Nonplussed, I ask, “You have more punishments for him?”
Sitting down once more, he laughs again. Nothing falls this time, but a few rocks on the sides of the cavern crack. “No, I am done dispensing punishments. But, you have yet to receive your retribution.”
I’m still confused. “What?”
Opening his arms, he spreads them wide to signal his coming generosity. “You are to be granted a gift.”
“What kind of gift?” Kallen asks suspiciously. Hopefully, it doesn’t involve food.
“It has been decided. You will be granted the temporary power to call back life without repercussion.”
I heard Zeus say the words. They just refuse to sink in. “What?”
“You may reunite spirit and body. Your parents will be made whole and shall once again be mortal.” With a grimace, he adds, “Their desire for mortality is a mystery to me, however. They have eternity as they are now.”
I can’t help but smile. “I think you would have to be mortal to understand.”
Zeus grunts. “I suppose. Now, flee this place before my brother makes new plans for torturing you.”
He does not need to say that twice. Before we go, though, there are words to be said. Zeus first. “Thank you so much!” My eyes find Persephone. “I’m sorry for you being stuck here for another million millennia, but thank you.”
She nods sadly. “It was the right thing to do.” So glad she can look at it like that. The look she gives her husband tells me that the next million millennia are not going to be pleasant for him.
Kallen tugs on my hand. “We should do as Zeus suggests.” I agree. Backing out of the cavern, we leave the gods to themselves and catch the ferry back the way we came.
15 Chapter
Once we are outside the cave leading to the Underworld, we are sucked back to our bodies. It feels like a fun ride through a vacuum cleaner. I suddenly have empathy for dirt.
Back in the garage, we both bolt up with a gasp. Aunt Barb rushes to us and begins disentangling us from any wires and when she’s done, I leap from my chair. It’s with a wide grin that I run down the hall back to the kitchen with Kallen right behind me.
Dagda and Tana are both pacing the kitchen. Gabriel apparently returned here so he’d have a place to sit down and continue to absorb the fact that everything Aunt Barb told him about her life is true. The man may be entering the early stages of psychiatric meltdown from the looks of him. Mom and Dad are nowhere to be seen. Before I can ask where they are, I am engulfed in a bear hug by my biological father. “Finally,” he sighs.
“We haven’t been gone that long,” I mumble against his chest.
“It has been several hours,” Tana informs me. Huh, the ferry ride down the river Styx and back takes longer than I thought. Or, it could be the whole time changes in each realm thing.
Pushing out of Dagda’s embrace, I ask, “Where are Mom and Dad?”
“In here,” Dad calls.
I follow his voice to the living room. He and Mom are staring longingly at their bodies but with an air of despair about them. They fully expected us to come back with a solid no as an answer. “We can do it,” I blurt out. “We can make you whole again.”
Two pairs of blue eyes find me. “Really?” Mom asks in disbelief.
Nodding, I say, “Really.” Glancing around, I make sure everyone has joined us in the living room. I only want to tell the story once so we can get on with it. Aunt Barb is the last one to trail in, having stayed a minute in the garage to turn things off. I encourage them to make themselves comfortable while I tell the story. When I am finished, I have stunned everyone except Kallen into silence.
Finally, Tana speaks. “Hades apologized?” That was the most shocking thing about the story to her? Out of the corner of my eye, I see a distinct green hue of jealousy surrounding my biological father as he is reminded that his wife and the god were acquainted. Intimately.
But, now that I think about it? “No, I guess he didn’t.” Zeus said I was owed an apology and I received my retribution, but I never really got an apology from Hades. Bastard. He deserves that extra million millennia in the Underworld.
“What do we do now?” Dad asks.
I think back to what we did with Zac and Aunt Tana when I brought them back from the Shadow realm. “I guess you lie down in your bodies.” Or sit down. Dagda had propped Mom up in a chair before joining us in the kitchen earlier.
“Perhaps the rest of us should retreat to safety,” Kallen suggests.
I give him a puzzled look. “Why?”
His mouth tips up in a half smile. “Your magic is already powerful and Zeus said you would be given a magical boost to allow you to do this. I suspect it will be dangerous for us mere mortals to be around when it happens.”
“Oh,” I nod. “Good point.”
“How far do we need to go?” Gabriel asks. I suspect back down the mountain to Denver would be fine with him.
“Outside will probably be okay,” Kallen responds.
I narrow my eyes at him. “In case the house falls down?”
He chuckles. “Yes.” Fair enough. I probably won’t be hurt by my mag
ic, but they could be.
Bundling themselves up again, I wait for everyone to leave the house. I don’t hear a car start up, so Aunt Barb must want to stick around for what is about to happen. Even if her new fiancé is freaked out by the evening.
Finally, I am alone with my parents. “Ready to do this?”
Their response is to turn to each other and embrace. After a moment, they pull apart and float to their separate bodies. Mouthing the words, I love you, to each other, they slip into the still forms. They are more than ready to do this.
Moving to them, I kneel and position myself so I can lay a hand on both of their bodies. Closing my eyes, I begin to pull magic. Suddenly, I am filled with a rush of power that is not my own. It feels like light and air and darkness combined. It feels heavy enough to push me down through the layers of the earth to its very core, yet at the same time, seems to lift me to the heavens. I am spun and shaken, battered and healed, engulfed in flames and set free in cool water, all at the same instant. Time grinds to a halt yet the years rush by backwards and forwards as lives are created by this very same power, and lives are taken away. My mind is on the brink of insanity as I am consumed by knowledge I was never meant to have. Immediately, I feel a salve put in place. Something to protect those precious neurons in my brain from overload. Then, just as quickly as it came, it leaves me. It leaves me to do as it came to do, this magnificent, awful, glorious power. Underneath my fingers, electric shocks grow stronger and stronger. I want to pull my hands away, but I fear if I do, the magic will stop, even if I’m not really the one controlling it. I hold tight as my flesh burns from the contact. After several agonizing minutes, it stops.
The room is so ominously quiet, it feels like only death could be present. Pulling my hands back to my sides, I wait with my eyes closed. Finally. Finally, I hear it. I hear the softest of breaths. First, from Dad, whose body is stronger and his breath louder. I open my eyes and stare hard at Mom and see the faintest of rises of her chest. Up and down. Slow and rhythmic. I did it! Well, someone did it. It wasn’t really me. They are both alive.
Getting to my feet, I race to the door and throw it open. I shout to the anxious faces I find, “They made it!”
I have to step aside for fear of being bowled over as the others rush inside to verify this is true. Gathering me in his arms, Kallen stays with me. His eyes are on my face, not Mom and Dad. “You are amazing. Now and every single moment I am with you,” he says softly.
I smile up at him and then snuggle against his chest. “I wish I could take credit for this one, but you know it wasn’t me.”
“Whether it was your magic or not, it was because of you,” he insists. “You did all the prep work.”
Our conversation is interrupted by Dagda. “When will they wake up?”
Disentangling myself from Kallen’s arms, I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“From what you said, their bodies were in stasis. They may need time to reconcile themselves with this new state. Like a patient coming out of a coma,” Aunt Barb says, examining Dad and then Mom for signs of, well, anything and everything.
“Perhaps they need to be healed,” Dagda suggests.
Biting my lip, I consider the idea. Ultimately, I reject it. “No, I think Aunt Barb is probably right. I think they need some time.”
“We should bring them back to the Fairy realm,” Kallen insists. “Tabitha may be able to help.”
“Good idea,” I agree. Turning to my aunt, I ask, “Would you like to join us?” I see Dagda tense slightly for that would mean bringing Gabriel with us. A Cowan. Something not everyone in the Fairy realm would like.
Giving a nervous glance toward Dagda, Aunt Barb shakes her head. “No.” Moving closer, she hugs me and says quietly in my ear, “I have had enough of magic to last a life time. But, please, when they are well, send them back for a visit.”
I hug her tightly. “I promise.” I can’t blame her. Nothing good has happened to Aunt Barb in regards to magic. I would want to be as far away from it as possible, too, if I was her. Hell, there are some days as myself that I would like to be far away from it. Yet, I am awfully glad that I’m not going to be losing any of mine. I send a silent thank you to the powers that be who made this possible. And to the Angels who tried to help me reach the right decision even if I wasn’t planning to heed their warning.
Aunt Barb and Gabriel say their good byes and are gone as quickly as they came. I hope their relationship survives this. At least, any thought Gabriel may have had that my aunt was just a little crazy has been erased.
When they are gone, I realize there is something I need to do before we go home. “I can’t leave the car there, it’s dangerous,” I explain to Kallen.
He nods. “Do you believe you can do it on your own?”
I shrug. “We’ll see.”
Giving me a light kiss, Kallen helps me back into winter attire. “I have faith in you,” he whispers against my lips before standing up.
With a smile on my face, I teleport back to the car on the lonely stretch of mountain road. Not needing to waste any time on sentimentality, I simply reach out and touch it. Pulling a great deal of magic, hopefully enough to teleport a ton of mangled steal, I focus on my old house again. To my great relief, both I and the car end up in the driveway.
Hurrying back inside, I announce, “We’re good to go.” Not wanting to waste any more time, Dagda and Kallen each scoop up one of my parents. This time, Dagda chooses my dad. I suspect he doesn’t want his face to be the first one my mom sees when she wakes up. Consideration or fear? Probably both.
Back outside in the driveway, I pull back the fabric of the realms and before us is a bright, sunny day at the beach. Home. My real home now. Stepping through after everyone else, I give a long, last look at my childhood home and the surrounding mountains. I’m certain I’ll be back to visit again, but I’m sure glad I don’t live in that cold, lonely place anymore.
16 Chapter
I am not at all surprised to find Raziel waiting for us. “Just get here?” I ask.
He nods. “I have not even seen Adriel yet.”
“Come on then. I’m certain she wants to slap you or something.”
Grimacing, Raziel complains, “It was not of my choosing.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I assure him and ignore his scowl.
Kallen chuckles behind us. “Truly, it does not.”
Inside the house, Kallen and Dagda head upstairs with Mom and Dad to lay them in their room. They may have been spirits, but they still needed their privacy. Tana goes with them. Raziel and I go in search of everyone else. We finally find Adriel, Kegan and Alita in the second floor sitting room. When we enter, Adriel is out of her chair in a flash. To Raziel’s great relief, she does not slap him. She kisses him deeply in a show of affection that I really could have lived comfortably without ever seeing.
“Where is everyone else?” I ask Kegan. We checked the living room and the kitchen and there was no trace of anyone.
“Grandmother, Garren, Tabitha and Naja are taking the Pixies to the palace.”
“Pixies?” I repeat. “Plural?”
“Yes, Pixies. Taz and Felix caught her mate shortly after you guys left. They’re standing guard on the way to the palace in case there’s an escape attempt. The guards insisted on it since they couldn’t catch the little bastards. After seeing his mate in the condition she was in, the second Pixie went along quietly with the Tasmanian devils. Tabitha went to make sure the injured one was treated well and was healing properly.” The old Fairy will never admit what a softie she is. “Grandmother went along to make sure nothing happens to them once they get there.” Protecting them from scared Fairies. Good thinking.
I’m relieved the Pixies aren’t here. That problem is for later now that we know there won’t be any more coming. At least, not in the near future. I cringe at the thought of the day when they are allowed to leave their realm. The universe will never be the same.
“How did things g
o for you?” Alita asks tentatively, just in case things went poorly.
A grin spreads across my face. “Come see for yourself.”
We move our party upstairs to the floor that houses our bedrooms. Making our way to Mom and Dad’s, I knock lightly on the door. Kallen answers it. “Any change?” I ask.
“Not yet.”
I move closer to the bed to see for myself. “Their breathing seems stronger.”
“I sent a message to the palace to have Tabitha return. And to have Zac brought here.”
I smile up at my husband. “Perfect.” Maybe his presence will bring them around.
“Dear, we should wait downstairs,” Tana says softly to Dagda.
I shake my head. “Don’t be silly. You were a big part of this. You are the one who encouraged us to even try.” Even Mom will be grateful for that.
Tana smiles shyly. “I believe you would have come to the same conclusion on your own given time.”
I shrug. “Maybe, but I still think you should stay.” I believe there is real hope now of mending fences between my two sets of parents.
Tana nods and she and Dagda move near the balcony doors. A comfortable silence forms in the room as we wait for Tabitha and Zac. It gives me time to think about everything that has happened over the last couple of days. As one particular memory finds its way back into my mind, I slap my forehead. “Pandora!” I exclaim. To the confused gazes around me, I explain, “We should have figured out it had to do with the Greek gods when the Pixie said her name was Pandora. Hades must have told her to tell us that as a joke.”
Kallen grunts. “Not a very funny joke.”
I agree. “I never said Hades was funny.” Sick and twisted, yes. Funny, no.
Twenty minutes later, the bedroom door bursts open and the room is pretty much filled to capacity as two more enter. Zac leads the charge and he skids to a stop in front of me. “What’s going on?” he demands. “Tabitha said I had to come and see Mom and Dad right away. What’s wrong?” He is so focused on me that he didn’t even notice the forms on the bed. At least, not how solid they are.
