Chapter 1217
New
Malcolm Tent
Monkey with a typewriter.
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I thought Belsara might attack me for a moment, her eyes lit with incandescent rage…and then it passed, and her smile, which hadn't actually changed during the dangerous moment, warm and inviting. "Why, what a peculiar question," she said airily. "Though I suppose hardly a surprising one, considering the obvious resemblance. Very well, why don't you all sit down. Calliope, darling, would you like something to eat? I have these DIVINE finger sandwiches I can whip up."
She didn't seem to care that I hadn't mentioned Callie's name, and with a flick of her fingers, she conjured a pair of chairs behind my wife and Terry, knocking into the backs of their knees and depositing them in the seats. In the blink of an eye, a cup of tea appeared in one of Callie's hands and a plate of tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off in the other. Terry got tea too, but it just appeared in the air in front of him and he had to fumble to keep it from spilling all over him. But hey, at least she wasn't biased.
Callie watched warily, scooting her chair over so it was next to mine, instead of behind me where she'd ended up due to my protective stance. She took a sandwich, biting it gingerly, but her eyes lit up as she offered one to me. If Belsara wanted us dead we'd be dead, and poison would be pointless, plus my Danger Sense wasn't warning me about the sandwiches, even if it WAS going apeshit right now.
I took the offered sandwich and bit into it, impressed by the depth of that flavor despite only really tasting cucumber and cream cheese. "These are amazing," Callie gushed. "What's in them?"
Belsara preened, and I frowned internally. I didn't think Callie was as aware of the danger here as I was. Possibly because she wasn't IN any danger from Belsara, but I didn't think she could sense my emotions through the bond if she was this relaxed. Which meant Belsara could not only SHUT the bond, she could probably tinker with it. That was VERY bad.
"The secret is finely chopped watercress mixed into the cream cheese," Belsara said modestly. "It was my daughter's favorite summertime snack as a child. I'm so glad you like it."
Callie swallowed hard, her face apprehensive. "Your daughter…Alara?"
Hot rage swam through Belsara's eyes. "My lucky star," she said roughly, her teeth clenching like she was in incredible pain. "Dead too soon because her failure of a father couldn't be bothered to pay attention."
I blinked at that. Right. Alara had been presumed dead when we found her. Even Atlas hadn't expected her to come back. I tried to decide how smart it would be to tell Belsara that…but unfortunately my wife was having a very different experience right now, and she didn't have that reservation. "But Alara's not dead!" she said excitedly. "She DID die, but there was an accident, and she came back as a vampire!"
Belsara, who had been taking another casual sip of tea…froze. Now, some people would use that term to mean that she went very still, but that wasn't what happened. Belsara FROZE. Not into ice, but almost in time. In fact, everything that wasn't US froze. It was like the world just stopped. "What did you just say?" she asked calmly.
"Alara is alive!" Callie gushed. "She was in stasis for a long time, so she's still pretty young, too. She ended up sealed in the Chaos Chasm!"
Belsara's hands shook slightly, the only sign of disturbance on her serene face. "That is…you're telling the truth. I can hear your honesty," her voice was shaky, despite the complete lack of facial expression, and I couldn't say I blamed her. I didn't even HAVE a daughter yet and the idea of something happening to her broke my heart. Maybe my premonition of doom didn't take this into account? Maybe things were turning around.
"What happened, exactly?" I asked her slowly. "Between you and Atlas? What happened to Alara?"
It wasn't too big of a leap to assume she and Atlas were an item if she was Alara's mother, not that I'd had much doubt before. But the sheer MALICE she expressed when talking about him gave me a not so nice feeling.
"My daughter was always daddy's little princess," she said in a shaky voice. "Ever since she was a little girl, she was Adam's pride and joy. I loved how close they were, of course. We were a family. But we were never his first priority. Not really. You see, Adam hated the Void far more than he loved either of us."
Callie looked confused by that. I didn't blame her. Atlas was an attentive father, even to Callie, who he had adopted later in life. He doted on Alara too. But then, if this story was going where I thought it was, maybe that was the point. Maybe he'd lost his family because of his hatred and tried to change. It would explain why he was so resolute about claiming Callie as his after giving her the archangel trait. "How did Alara die?" my wife asked in a small voice. I could tell she had never considered the question before. Honestly neither had I until today. I knew Alara, and she was still around, so I never bothered to ask.
"Treachery," she said coldly. "Adam was blinded by his hatred and trusted someone he should not have trusted. My husband was always far too emotional. We drifted apart after that, I'm afraid. I never could forgive him for letting her die."
That was truth, I could smell it. But it wasn't the WHOLE truth. I could almost feel the unspoken words behind that statement. The tragedy, the anger, the betrayal. How had she gone from that situation to this one? How had she been shattered and then trapped here? I somehow doubted she was the kind of god that any old divine being could destroy. And she had been very careful just then to change the subject when the fallout came up.
If I had to guess, I would have bet that Atlas himself had killed her. And I was willing to hazard a guess that she wasn't exactly blameless in that incident.
But I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't tell Callie, not with the bond being interfered with, and if I said something out loud she would probably just kill me. So I decided to play along until we could get out of here. "Well, I'm sure you're excited to see her once you're free," I said cheerfully. "I'm sure she missed you terribly."
Her face shut down, going blank. "Perhaps," she allowed. "But who knows what stories her father has been filling her head with? After I lost my lucky star, I was inconsolable." She reached out to take Callie's hand. "I'm afraid I did some things that I regret. You're going to be a mother soon, Calliope, surely you can understand my pain." She lowered her eyes in shame. "I'd love nothing more than to reunite with my daughter, but I'm not sure she would want to see me."
Callie, being one of the kindest, most empathetic people I've ever met, naturally melted. She squeezed back, offering Belsara a comforting smile. "I think you're underestimating my sister," she said softly. "When Alara came back, and found out that dad had adopted me, she didn't hesitate to embrace me as part of the family. If you're truly sorry for the things you did and work to change, I'm sure she'll forgive you. Family means everything to Alara. And I'm sure dad will be happy to see you too-"
"No," Belsara snapped, breaking the spell (metaphorically, I was almost positive). "I refuse. He can't be trusted. It was his fault. I warned him his crusade would end her life, and he ignored me. It was his fault she died. I wouldn't have needed to betray him to the Void if he had kept her safe!"
And there it was. I had kind of figured it would be something like that. Callie's face went pale, and she tried to pull away, but Belsara's hand clamped down on her wrist like an iron vise. I didn't hesitate, I blurred forward, calling on Bennu, pushing him to S-rank, flooding my body with as much power as possible as I funneled that five colored fire, now enhanced by my new flame, into and through my Domain, hurling the power into a seal designed to clamp down on Belsara and hold her long enough for us to escape.
I made it five inches before I froze in place. I raged against the binding, throwing every ounce of power I had at her, but it wasn't enough. Not at A-rank. Even with the boost, I could only barely breach the S-rank threshold. She was a god, even if only a fragment, and even my grandfather was helpless to do anything. I screamed and twisted and pulled, calling on every demon I could think of, but the solid hold of a god's Domain was beyond my power.
Callie, for the first time since she saw I was ok, looked afraid. "What are you going to do to me?" she whispered.
Belsara reached up with her other hand, cradling my wife's cheek. "Oh my child," she crooned. "I'd never hurt you. You OR your baby. Blood of my blood. I can see your spirit, how strong and beautiful it is. All I could ever ask for in a child. Alara will forgive me in time, I'm sure, but you said it yourself, she'd do anything for family. For her new little sister. I won't return you to Adam. Won't let him twist you the way he did her. Won't let him fail you. You OR your daughter."
"So…you'll let me go?" Callie asked hopefully. "You won't hurt anyone?"
"Of course I won't," she purred comfortingly. "I won't need to. After all, you're going to be a good girl and come with mommy, aren't you? I'll take you somewhere wonderful, where you and the baby will be safe."
My mouth was full of blood, I was clenching my teeth so hard they had cracked, my bones were groaning under the strain as I hurled every ounce of power inside me against the hold of her Domain. I couldn't let this happen, I couldn't let her take my wife, take my baby. My blood was blazing, all my bloodlines ignited, my soul was screaming, my demons were raging, Gehenna boiled inside my skin to explode into reality and rain down hell on anyone who threatened my family. I was blazing with more power than I had ever even considered possible…and it did nothing.
Callie turned to me, tears in her eyes, and I could see the trust, the love, the faith she had in me. I heard her whisper through the bond, telling me to find them. To be safe. That she loved me.
And then the house was gone. The table was gone. And both of them were gone. We were alone, kneeling on hard brown stone in the library, everyone except my wife, and the goddess who had stolen her.
The seal was gone, the fire erupted, and I screamed in loss and unbearable agony as I drove my fists into the floor, smashing through the stone as I unleashed every ounce of stored energy I'd failed to use to save Callie into the rock below. I punched, and I punched, and I punched. The energy faded, the power left me, my hands shattered, but I kept punching, like I could smash my way through the floor and into a tunnel that would take me to her.
A hand landed on my shoulder, then the other, my grandparents comforting me, but I never looked up. I fell forward into the crater I'd made, into the slurry of my own blood and the dust of the shattered stone, and I started to cry. That was the last thing I remembered before the darkness swallowed me. Mercy at last.
She didn't seem to care that I hadn't mentioned Callie's name, and with a flick of her fingers, she conjured a pair of chairs behind my wife and Terry, knocking into the backs of their knees and depositing them in the seats. In the blink of an eye, a cup of tea appeared in one of Callie's hands and a plate of tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off in the other. Terry got tea too, but it just appeared in the air in front of him and he had to fumble to keep it from spilling all over him. But hey, at least she wasn't biased.
Callie watched warily, scooting her chair over so it was next to mine, instead of behind me where she'd ended up due to my protective stance. She took a sandwich, biting it gingerly, but her eyes lit up as she offered one to me. If Belsara wanted us dead we'd be dead, and poison would be pointless, plus my Danger Sense wasn't warning me about the sandwiches, even if it WAS going apeshit right now.
I took the offered sandwich and bit into it, impressed by the depth of that flavor despite only really tasting cucumber and cream cheese. "These are amazing," Callie gushed. "What's in them?"
Belsara preened, and I frowned internally. I didn't think Callie was as aware of the danger here as I was. Possibly because she wasn't IN any danger from Belsara, but I didn't think she could sense my emotions through the bond if she was this relaxed. Which meant Belsara could not only SHUT the bond, she could probably tinker with it. That was VERY bad.
"The secret is finely chopped watercress mixed into the cream cheese," Belsara said modestly. "It was my daughter's favorite summertime snack as a child. I'm so glad you like it."
Callie swallowed hard, her face apprehensive. "Your daughter…Alara?"
Hot rage swam through Belsara's eyes. "My lucky star," she said roughly, her teeth clenching like she was in incredible pain. "Dead too soon because her failure of a father couldn't be bothered to pay attention."
I blinked at that. Right. Alara had been presumed dead when we found her. Even Atlas hadn't expected her to come back. I tried to decide how smart it would be to tell Belsara that…but unfortunately my wife was having a very different experience right now, and she didn't have that reservation. "But Alara's not dead!" she said excitedly. "She DID die, but there was an accident, and she came back as a vampire!"
Belsara, who had been taking another casual sip of tea…froze. Now, some people would use that term to mean that she went very still, but that wasn't what happened. Belsara FROZE. Not into ice, but almost in time. In fact, everything that wasn't US froze. It was like the world just stopped. "What did you just say?" she asked calmly.
"Alara is alive!" Callie gushed. "She was in stasis for a long time, so she's still pretty young, too. She ended up sealed in the Chaos Chasm!"
Belsara's hands shook slightly, the only sign of disturbance on her serene face. "That is…you're telling the truth. I can hear your honesty," her voice was shaky, despite the complete lack of facial expression, and I couldn't say I blamed her. I didn't even HAVE a daughter yet and the idea of something happening to her broke my heart. Maybe my premonition of doom didn't take this into account? Maybe things were turning around.
"What happened, exactly?" I asked her slowly. "Between you and Atlas? What happened to Alara?"
It wasn't too big of a leap to assume she and Atlas were an item if she was Alara's mother, not that I'd had much doubt before. But the sheer MALICE she expressed when talking about him gave me a not so nice feeling.
"My daughter was always daddy's little princess," she said in a shaky voice. "Ever since she was a little girl, she was Adam's pride and joy. I loved how close they were, of course. We were a family. But we were never his first priority. Not really. You see, Adam hated the Void far more than he loved either of us."
Callie looked confused by that. I didn't blame her. Atlas was an attentive father, even to Callie, who he had adopted later in life. He doted on Alara too. But then, if this story was going where I thought it was, maybe that was the point. Maybe he'd lost his family because of his hatred and tried to change. It would explain why he was so resolute about claiming Callie as his after giving her the archangel trait. "How did Alara die?" my wife asked in a small voice. I could tell she had never considered the question before. Honestly neither had I until today. I knew Alara, and she was still around, so I never bothered to ask.
"Treachery," she said coldly. "Adam was blinded by his hatred and trusted someone he should not have trusted. My husband was always far too emotional. We drifted apart after that, I'm afraid. I never could forgive him for letting her die."
That was truth, I could smell it. But it wasn't the WHOLE truth. I could almost feel the unspoken words behind that statement. The tragedy, the anger, the betrayal. How had she gone from that situation to this one? How had she been shattered and then trapped here? I somehow doubted she was the kind of god that any old divine being could destroy. And she had been very careful just then to change the subject when the fallout came up.
If I had to guess, I would have bet that Atlas himself had killed her. And I was willing to hazard a guess that she wasn't exactly blameless in that incident.
But I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't tell Callie, not with the bond being interfered with, and if I said something out loud she would probably just kill me. So I decided to play along until we could get out of here. "Well, I'm sure you're excited to see her once you're free," I said cheerfully. "I'm sure she missed you terribly."
Her face shut down, going blank. "Perhaps," she allowed. "But who knows what stories her father has been filling her head with? After I lost my lucky star, I was inconsolable." She reached out to take Callie's hand. "I'm afraid I did some things that I regret. You're going to be a mother soon, Calliope, surely you can understand my pain." She lowered her eyes in shame. "I'd love nothing more than to reunite with my daughter, but I'm not sure she would want to see me."
Callie, being one of the kindest, most empathetic people I've ever met, naturally melted. She squeezed back, offering Belsara a comforting smile. "I think you're underestimating my sister," she said softly. "When Alara came back, and found out that dad had adopted me, she didn't hesitate to embrace me as part of the family. If you're truly sorry for the things you did and work to change, I'm sure she'll forgive you. Family means everything to Alara. And I'm sure dad will be happy to see you too-"
"No," Belsara snapped, breaking the spell (metaphorically, I was almost positive). "I refuse. He can't be trusted. It was his fault. I warned him his crusade would end her life, and he ignored me. It was his fault she died. I wouldn't have needed to betray him to the Void if he had kept her safe!"
And there it was. I had kind of figured it would be something like that. Callie's face went pale, and she tried to pull away, but Belsara's hand clamped down on her wrist like an iron vise. I didn't hesitate, I blurred forward, calling on Bennu, pushing him to S-rank, flooding my body with as much power as possible as I funneled that five colored fire, now enhanced by my new flame, into and through my Domain, hurling the power into a seal designed to clamp down on Belsara and hold her long enough for us to escape.
I made it five inches before I froze in place. I raged against the binding, throwing every ounce of power I had at her, but it wasn't enough. Not at A-rank. Even with the boost, I could only barely breach the S-rank threshold. She was a god, even if only a fragment, and even my grandfather was helpless to do anything. I screamed and twisted and pulled, calling on every demon I could think of, but the solid hold of a god's Domain was beyond my power.
Callie, for the first time since she saw I was ok, looked afraid. "What are you going to do to me?" she whispered.
Belsara reached up with her other hand, cradling my wife's cheek. "Oh my child," she crooned. "I'd never hurt you. You OR your baby. Blood of my blood. I can see your spirit, how strong and beautiful it is. All I could ever ask for in a child. Alara will forgive me in time, I'm sure, but you said it yourself, she'd do anything for family. For her new little sister. I won't return you to Adam. Won't let him twist you the way he did her. Won't let him fail you. You OR your daughter."
"So…you'll let me go?" Callie asked hopefully. "You won't hurt anyone?"
"Of course I won't," she purred comfortingly. "I won't need to. After all, you're going to be a good girl and come with mommy, aren't you? I'll take you somewhere wonderful, where you and the baby will be safe."
My mouth was full of blood, I was clenching my teeth so hard they had cracked, my bones were groaning under the strain as I hurled every ounce of power inside me against the hold of her Domain. I couldn't let this happen, I couldn't let her take my wife, take my baby. My blood was blazing, all my bloodlines ignited, my soul was screaming, my demons were raging, Gehenna boiled inside my skin to explode into reality and rain down hell on anyone who threatened my family. I was blazing with more power than I had ever even considered possible…and it did nothing.
Callie turned to me, tears in her eyes, and I could see the trust, the love, the faith she had in me. I heard her whisper through the bond, telling me to find them. To be safe. That she loved me.
And then the house was gone. The table was gone. And both of them were gone. We were alone, kneeling on hard brown stone in the library, everyone except my wife, and the goddess who had stolen her.
The seal was gone, the fire erupted, and I screamed in loss and unbearable agony as I drove my fists into the floor, smashing through the stone as I unleashed every ounce of stored energy I'd failed to use to save Callie into the rock below. I punched, and I punched, and I punched. The energy faded, the power left me, my hands shattered, but I kept punching, like I could smash my way through the floor and into a tunnel that would take me to her.
A hand landed on my shoulder, then the other, my grandparents comforting me, but I never looked up. I fell forward into the crater I'd made, into the slurry of my own blood and the dust of the shattered stone, and I started to cry. That was the last thing I remembered before the darkness swallowed me. Mercy at last.