by Cara Wylde
“You have to get out of here.”
I jumped when Francis grabbed my arm, and almost punched him in the face. It took me a minute to realize he was my Francis, not his evil doppelganger.
“You’re bleeding,” he yelled at me. “And you’re not healing!”
“I can’t leave them.”
He looked at the shrouded figures that hadn’t moved a muscle. It was as if they didn’t care about what was happening around them, didn’t care whether Morningstar got to them or not. We were busting out asses to protect them, risking our own lives, and they simply sat there like statues.
“I’ll make sure they’re safe,” he said.
“Why aren’t they doing something? They are literally Life and Death!”
“They keep the world in balance. Their very existence makes our existence possible. I will protect them with my life. Go!”
“Francis…” He was just a revenant. He was strong and agile, but he couldn’t summon locusts, shift into a beast, or breathe fire.
“I’ve got this.”
He gave me a reassuring smile. In the next few seconds, before my eyes, his smile turned into a sneer. His mossy green eyes turned yellow, his pupils became long and thin, his nose flattened, and his chin elongated. Green and yellow scales appeared on his cheeks and forehead. As he held his legs and arms close to his body, he started turning into a snake from the neck down. A huge, fat snake with spikes along its back. A forked tongue emerged from between the thin lips, along with a hiss.
I yelped and jumped a few feet back. The snake didn’t attack me, though. It coiled itself around Life and Death, and anyone who wanted to get to them, would first have to defeat it. Him. Not an ‘it’, Mila. This is Francis. Your Francis. And now I knew. That was why, in my dreams, his eyes were often yellow.
What this meant was that I could do it, too. I could shift into a snake, since I was a revenant and a… it hurt to say it… a daughter of Yig. The Father of Serpents, Professor Lovecraft had called him. I understood so much now.
I focused on my own body and willed it to do something – turn, convulse, shift. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried harder.
“You can’t,” Francis hissed. Actually hissed. Not an exaggeration. “You’re too weak and young.”
“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!” I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t help any of them. I was useless.
There was one thing I could do, and that was to run. Teleport. But where?
Yolanda.
* * *
She was in her room, on the floor, surrounded by drawings, colored pencils, craft glue, and a few pairs of scissors. She had her back to me and was hunched over something she was working on. Corri was helping. Since I knew I couldn’t take my pixie to the Great Hall of Life and Death, I’d tasked her with keeping Yoli company. They’d become best friends by now.
“Mistress, what a surprise! Come see what we’ve been working on.” Her brown eyes widened with excitement. “It’s awesome! Yoli just taught me about cosplay, and it’s my new favorite thing.”
Yolanda looked up. There was something in her innocent blue eyes, a mystery that was just within my grasp.
“And we got a new friend,” Yoli said, giggling. She pointed at a small aquarium she’d made out of an old salsa jar. There was a tiny spider inside, on a bed of sand in which she’d planted a flower. “His name is Pete. From Peter Parker, you know.”
So cute. She doesn’t realize the flower won’t survive. But the spider will. The creature had built a web between the walls of the jar, and the thing was already full of insects Corri had probably caught for him, because Yoli would never hurt a fly.
And then it struck me. It struck me so hard that I almost doubled over and laughed at my own lack of simple fucking awareness. Yolanda was the weapon.
“You don’t look so good.” The joy in her eyes was replaced by concern. She stood up, her project abandoned on the floor. “Oh my God, you’re bleeding! And you smell so bad it’s not even funny. Wait. Shouldn’t this have been fixed by now? You’re a Grim Reaper, immune to death and… well, rot.”
I couldn’t look away from the thing she’d been working on, gluing, cutting, and polishing.
“What is that?”
“Oh, it’s my scythe! I know I can’t have a real one, but Mom and Dad promised they’ll let me go to Comic-Con with Hailey and her older brothers, and I want to go as a Grim Reaper. A real Grim Reaper. I modelled this after yours.”
She picked it up and handed it to me for study. It looked pretty good. The handle was wood, and the blade was made of some kind of foamy material she’d painted silver. She’d even gotten the red runes right. It was a decent replica of my scythe.
It was all coming together. The pieces of this whole fucked-up puzzle. I looked at her, then at the toy scythe. I looked over at the tiny spider in its kingdom of glass. I remembered what GC’s grandfather had told me in the heart of the Himalayas: “When you want to get rid of someone, anyone, well… except for some cosmic monster, there’s one weapon that will never fail: a pure heart and a hand that has never hurt a thing, not even a fly. The loss of innocence is the weapon.”
Was I going to do it? I had to.
Would she have the courage to do it? She had to.
“Yolanda, you have to come with me.” The tone of my voice signaled this was serious.
“What happened?”
“It all went very wrong, but you can make it right.” I gave her back the toy scythe. “Let’s see what this baby can do.”
She looked at me confused, but when I motioned for her to get under my cloak so we’d teleport, she did it.
Bringing a child into battle. Father was right. I am a villain.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
There was blood and rubble everywhere. Neither side was winning. I guess it made sense since the good guys and the bad guys were, essentially, the same people, and had the same powers. The only ones who’d registered any progress were evil Caspian against good Merrit, and good Sariel against evil Sariel. Also, evil Morningstar against good Mason Colin.
Headmaster Colin was lying on his side, still breathing, but struggling to get up. Valentine was facing Francis in his snake form. The massive serpent stood his ground, his strong body wrapped around the throne of Life and Death, his head hovering above the ground, dodging Valentine’s attacks and spitting venom.
I ran to Headmaster Colin, pulling Yolanda after me. I had to push evil Klaus out of the way, then good Lorna helped me get rid of evil Pazuzu. She threw a wave of blue energy that knocked him on his ass.
“Are you okay? Sir, get up.”
“What’s a child doing here? Who is she?”
“She can help us.”
“Mila, get her out of here.”
I pulled him up, and I could swear his weight dislodged my shoulder.
“Can you stand?” On your own, I wanted to add.
“I’ll have to, because…” He turned his head to the side and took in a deep breath. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
Offended, I made sure he was stable, then put some space between us. Did I really stink that bad? If I was to die today, this was an undignified way to go, indeed. They said: “live fast, die young, leave a pretty corpse behind”. First two – check. My corpse wasn’t going to be pretty, though.
I scanned the room quickly, and I realized I couldn’t see Francis anymore. My brain went into panic mode first, then my body slowly followed. I made a dash for it, pushing people out of my way, my scythe slashing back and forth. I got evil Pandora in the stomach, and she howled in pain. I wonder why I’m not here… No time to ask around where my evil doppelganger was. Francis was down, and Morningstar had chopped off a good chunk of his tail. The serpent was writhing on the ground, and my father was getting ready to strike again.
“No!” I jumped to cover Francis with my own body. His big head fell on my lap, his eyes closing. “Don’t… don’t die on me!”
“It’ll heal,” he hissed. But there was a river of blood, and his spine was practically severed.
“Stop it!” I yelled at Valentine. “Why are you doing this? What do you think you’re accomplishing? And who are these people?”
He settled down for a moment, holding his scythe casually, and looked at me like I was the most disgusting creature in the world.
“Daughter, you smell like a pile of rotten corpses. And this coming from Death himself…” He laughed darkly.
“You’re not Death!”
“Soon.” He eyed the two sisters – or brothers – who were sitting helpless on their throne. There was no one left to protect them. Just me, and a dying Francis. “Once I kill Death, I will become Death.”
“That’s not how it works! You kill Death, Life dies, too. You know that! You’ve seen it before, haven’t you? Is that what happened in their universe?” I motioned toward the evil Grim Reapers.
“It is. You see, their universe was just like this one. With one single exception. Their Valentine Morningstar never met Katia and never had a daughter with her. The concept of you never even existed. So, he was free to focus on his own greatness with no one to stand in his way, challenge him, or try to ever retire him. He built an army of Grim Reapers, and together they put an end to the reign of Life and Death. They freed Time, and they freed everyone.”
“And how did that work out for them?”
“There’s a catch, daughter. It’s never that simple.” He grinned mysteriously. “What Valentine Morningstar did was impressive, but it was only the first step. He thought he’d become Death. He hadn’t. So, I found his dimension, and I found him. I fought him, killed him, and took over his army. Because I know how to finish what he started. To become Death, you see, you have to find her in all the inter-connected universes. What I’m doing here… this is the second step. There will be many more after. A life’s work, but it will be worth it. When Time is free in all the inter-connected dimensions, it will be powerful enough to flow over space and unite all the worlds in one big, eternal universe.”
“And you’ll be… what? King?”
“I’ll be the destroyer of worlds and creator of the one true cosmos where Time will do as it pleases, and space won’t exist. And in that cosmos, new beings will come into existence. Perfect, powerful, eternal beings…”
“And all that, just to prove grandma wrong,” I said as if it had just crossed my mind, knowing full well it would drive him mad with anger. “All that, just so she’ll finally admit that of all her children, you – the nephilim, the hybrid – were always the worthy one.”
My words had the intended effect. His eyes turned red with fury, and his skeletal body glowed wild and crimson. The runes on his scythe started bleeding. I stood up, ready to face him. But when he raised his scythe, he didn’t aim it at me. I was too slow. My ankle popped and gave out, and I fell on my hands and knees just as Valentine’s scythe descended upon Life and Death. He was going to cut the conjoined twins apart, and they would bleed to death, unless…
Someone blocked him.
That someone was Yolanda. With her toy scythe. My eyes widened in horror. There was no way! A little girl against the most powerful Grim Reaper in the world!
He laughed crazily and pushed harder against her, but not actually using his strength, as if he was an amused adult who was just humoring a child. She furrowed her brows in concentration and stood her ground. For her, this was not a game. She was taking the fight seriously.
“Little girl,” Morningstar said in a tone that betrayed both humor and surprise. And somehow, his words traveled through the room, catching the Reapers’ attention.
Lorna yelled something I couldn’t quite make out, and the next thing I knew, a stream of blue energy shot right out of her chest and enveloped Yolanda’s scythe. With her power, she was helping Yoli keep Morningstar at bay. Valentine took a step back. Klaus noticed what was happening. He threw a blast of green energy into his doppelganger’s chest, and the next blast he threw at Yoli. And sustained it.
I used my scythe as a crutch to pull myself up. Francis had returned to his human form. A horrible wound ran across his lower back, the blood gurgling on the floor. A mage. I need a mage, I thought. In my mind, a mage could fix him. Headmaster Colin was powerful enough to fix anything, right? I scanned the room frantically and spotted him fighting Pazuzu and Caspian at the same time. He was barely holding up. Merrit was on the ground, scrambling to get back on his feet.
“Merrit!”
He looked at me, and I waved at him. “I need your help! Francis!” My voice was drowned in the maddening buzz of a swarm of locusts. He didn’t understand what I wanted. Instead, he saw Yolanda, and Klaus and Lorna feeding her toy-lame-excuse-of-a-weapon scythe with energy. From where he was on the floor, he lifted his hand and sent a wave of yellow energy to join the blue one and the green one. While I appreciated that they were helping and protecting Yoli, and that Morningstar was slowly taking another step back, and then another, I didn’t understand what they were doing. The amusement on my dear father’s face had long been replaced by a mix of anger and dread. Some surprise was still there, in his bloodshot eyes.
With the help of the three mages, Yoli advanced. Feet firmly planted on the ground, hands squeezing the handle of her energy-shrouded scythe so hard that her fingers turned white, she let out a cry and pushed with all her might. Morningstar stumbled backwards. For a minute, he didn’t understand what was happening.
“How is this possible? Who are you?”
But he knew who she was. My cousin, Yolanda Aleksiev. Eleven years old, dream jumper. Also, his nemesis. The weapon.
The show wasn’t over. As Morningstar lunged at her, ready to cut her little body in two, Lorna, Klaus, and Merrit sent a new wave of their combined energies into her scythe. A miracle happened. It must’ve been their intention to turn the toy into a real weapon. It must’ve been Yoli’s pure desire to own a scythe just like mine. It must’ve been both. In her hands, the scythe grew in size – bigger and taller than even my own. The cheap wood handle turned into sturdy Fae’s Alder, and the foam that was supposed to be the blade turned into steel. The runes carved themselves into the top edge of the blade, and glowed red and thirsty for blood.
Morningstar’s scythe and Yoli’s new scythe met. Morningstar’s turned to pieces. Feverishly, the adrenaline of the battle raging in her veins, Yolanda stroke again and cut Valentine deep across the chest. She lost her balance and used the scythe to lean on, the blade too heavy for her to wield again. She was breathing fast, almost hyperventilating. She looked up at Morningstar, barely believing herself what she’d done.
Valentine looked around him in a daze, then down at the wound across his chest. The parchment-like flesh was torn apart, leaving the ribs underneath it bare. He touched the edges of the wound, tried to pull them back together. He wasn’t healing. In fact, the wound was growing, digging deeper inside him, tearing him open. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He couldn’t believe it. He was going to… die.
“Who are you?” He asked Yoli again. “How did you…”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence. The edges of his wound started sizzling, as if the blade that had cut him had been poisoned. His chest and stomach were an open crater, and flecks of dust started flying out one by one. He was burning silently and turning into dust from the middle to his legs, and from the middle to his head, and he was aware of every second of it. He let out a cry of pain as he crumbled to the ground.
Silence fell over the room. Everyone stopped fighting. As the great Valentine Morningstar turned into a pile of sizzling dust, no one dared to breathe. He was gone.
“You did it,” I whispered.
Yoli caught my gaze. “I did it.”
The locusts were long gone, and the wild desert winds the two Pazuzus had summoned had vanished with them. One by one, the Grim Reapers that had invaded our universe teleported away, and I briefl
y wondered where. How did they get here from another dimension? Had Morningstar taken them with him? Had he become such a powerful dream jumper that he could move others from one universe to another? Questions, questions… Mysteries that didn’t matter anymore, because it was over.
“I killed a man,” Yolanda said, her voice trembling. The magnitude of what she’d done fell like a boulder on her shoulders. She suddenly looked years older. A teenager, at least. “I killed a man.”
“No.” I attempted to take her in my arms, but remembered I stank like a mass grave that had been stuffed full and not yet covered. “You saved the world. Yoli, he was going to bring the apocalypse. The actual apocalypse. Do you understand that? You were always the only one who could retire him, and you did.”
She shook her head. She wasn’t listening to me. “I killed a man.”
Deep down, I wondered if she was ever going to be okay again. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was a hero. But I had the strong feeling that she didn’t want any of it.
“Look what you’re holding.”
She looked at her scythe, which she was holding upside down, the blade acting as a fulcrum.
“It’s yours. And what’s crazy is that you actually made it. With your own hands.”
She lowered her gaze and sobbed. I didn’t know what to do, how to help her.
Headmaster Colin was making sure everyone was fine. GC returned to his human form, and was standing in the middle of the mess, dazzled and naked. He looked at me, and for a moment I had the impression that he didn’t recognize me. He was shaken. Paz and Sariel ran to Francis’s side. I watched them as they helped him up, and I couldn’t believe my eyes that he was alive and he could stand.
The perks of being a revenant…
I ran to them and wrapped my arms around Francis, because I knew he’d never reject me, whether I smelled like roses or rotten meat.
