“Wow,” Crystal said, stretching her arms above her head, feeling the humid evening air revive her, “That was easy.”
“Yeah,” Austin agreed, standing next to her, looking at the world as though he’d never seen it before.
Crystal had to admit, after staring at ice and stale metal walls for the past…well, Crystal wasn’t sure how long it had been, but it had been long enough to make her forget how beautiful the sky could be, even if it was cobalt gray with evening. Crystal turned her head and saw Amanda standing against the horizon about fifty yards from them. She seemed all right, accept for she still had on the black clothing and the sword was shoved into the ground at her feet. She wasn’t looking in their direction.
Crystal started to wonder about it when Austin said, “Hey, Sam, thanks for getting us out of there, man. Too bad we couldn’t bring the building back with us.”
Sam slowly turned his head to face Austin, “Problem, no.”
Austin blinked at him, wondering if the choice of words was intentional, when Sam suddenly burst out, “Esike osikay de boyos-la.”
“Uh, you okay, there, Sam, boy?” Troy asked.
Sam’s eyes rolled back in his head, his jaw went slack, and drool oozed out. He collapsed backwards onto the grass making clicking noises in the back of his throat. Sam continued to babble gibberish even as everyone crowded around him. Austin drew back his fist to put the suffering computer geek out of his misery.
Troy caught his arm; “No, no…Let him be.”
“I suppose I broke his head,” Kaine said. “Perhaps there’s a medical term for it.” Everyone did a jump-take as the priest suddenly appeared beside them.
Austin grabbed the white-haired immortal by the collar of his robes and screamed, “DO HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH TODAY? DON’T--DO--THAT--AGAIN!”
“Why, Austin, whatever do you mean?” Kaine asked, innocently.
Austin prepared to break Kaine’s neck when Crystal gently released Austin’s hands, saying, “Leave him to me, dear.”
The heavy-set boy backed off and Crystal leaned toward Kaine. “Kaine…” she said, sweetly.
“Hm?” Kaine said, also leaning forward.
Crystal brought the back of her left hand across Kaine’s face, making a noise like a hammer smacking ripe fruit.
“Don’t try to sacrifice any of my friends ever again or I’ll take away something that I’m damn sure you don’t need to be a priest, got it?” she said, savagely.
“Y-yes, Your Highness--I mean--Princess--I mean--Crystal,” Kaine stuttered. Crystal raised her hand again, “I’ll be silent now,” Kaine said.
“Good,” said Crystal.
Kaine straightened, smoothing down his white-and-black robes. Waving his right hand through the air next to him, he summoned his carved staff from thin air. His calm demeanor restored, he looked more like the mystic priest that he was supposed to be. All save for the red handprint forming on his cheek. “Where is she?”
Crystal heaved a sigh and pointed to where Amanda was still standing, indifferent to the appearance and slapping of Kaine. “She’s been through a lot; there’s no telling what she’ll do. Especially with her new toy.”
Kaine fixed his eyes on Amanda’s silhouette. The sun was beginning to rise behind her, outlining every edge of her body, but cloaking the expression on her face. Kaine nodded once and began to slowly pace towards Amanda. When he reached her, he realized that she had had her back turned and was facing the rising sun. Before her, thrust into the ground was the legendary Crystal Sword. Kaine had not seen it since long before the Dynasty fell. The sun glinted off of the translucent blade, showing the different grooves of texture on the sword’s razor-sharp surface. Kaine remembered almost everything about the sword, how it was formed, how it stole souls, and even that there was a fatal poison that laced its edges.
He regarded to sword so closely that he was surprised when Amanda spoke, “Beautiful, huh?”
Kaine, eyes still transfixed on the sword, nodded.
Amanda continued as though he had not spoken, “Do you know where it came from?” She didn’t wait for a reply; “It came from a place best left unknown. It came from a place beyond heaven and Earth and deeper than Hell. And it came to me.” She pivoted slightly, facing him. The detached, emotionless voice now became more like the lost, confused girl she was, “Why?”
Kaine raised his gaze to Amanda’s face. Instead of seeing the tearful, pleading eyes that he expected, he met only a still and demanding expression. Her eyes bored into him, and Kaine knew he could not lie, “It came to its owner; a woman of great power and great pain. You’re right; that sword could very well be from a place beyond hell, but what matters is that sword is here.
And it came to you.”
Amanda blinked once, slowly, than turned her head toward the sunrise. Golden rays highlighted the faint red tint in her hair. Like the color of dried blood.
Kaine leaned forward slightly, “I can help you. I can teach you, show you, how to use that sword.”
“Can you?” Amanda murmured her eyes far away.
“Yes,” Kaine said, whispering intensely. He needed her help so badly.
“You need the sword so badly,” Amanda said.
Kaine gave a little start. She could read his mind?
“Well, take it from me,” she continued, her eyes still set on the sun. “Go on,” Amanda urged, “You’re so powerful; you can take it away from me.”
Kaine shifted uncomfortably, “You know as well as I that that sword can and will only be used by you.”
“Really?” Amanda said, her voice barely above a whisper, “Then…how did you plan to help me, DUMBASS!”
In one abrupt movement, she swung the sword up from the ground and straight at his head. Kaine ducked and quickly parried with his staff. A resounding clang of materials with no names in this place echoed hollowly in the empty lot. Amanda pulled back and swung again and again, striking at Kaine’s legs, mid section, and head. As he parried, sidestepped and struck, Kaine realized that Amanda wasn’t just playing around; this was a fight for his life.
Kaine had been around for a long time and seen many things. He had fought everything from unspeakable monsters to drunken bar brawlers, but he had never had to fight anything so unpredictable as a teenager in the depths of a hormonal and psychological cataclysmic rage. And while Kaine was by no means hindered by his age, or rather a lack of one, Amanda had a strength and vigor that few above the age of twenty-five could match. Kaine knew many tricks, but it did little more than keep Amanda from injuring him. That was a definite plus, because one tiny nick from that blade could send anyone into a coma for about a month.
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In the end, Kaine won only because of his endurance. Amanda managed on final stabbing motion that could have pierced Kaine’s head; Kaine had had his staff low and guarding at his knees, but no swipe from him could’ve deflected the blow in time. So, he dropped his staff in favor of catching that deadly blade between his two hands, just centimeters before it could reach his forehead. Amanda was so weak that she couldn’t push the blade any farther forward; she stopped her assault and loosened her grip on the sword.
For a moment, the pose was held; Amanda gripping a poison sword angled directly at the symbol on Kaine’s forehead; Kaine holding the blade between the palms of his hands. Then, slowly, Kaine pulled both hands away, Amanda stepped back, and both of the combatants sagged to the ground. Kaine examined his hands for cuts, but thankfully found none; Amanda hadn’t been using much strength to push the blade forward.
Amanda wheezed, “Okay, I buy it.” She levered up on the Crystal Sword like a walking stick, “Lord Almighty, I need to quit hanging around smokers.” She looked at Kaine, who was still kneeling. “So, you going to help me ditch these clothes and get my old ones back? I really liked my shoes…”
“Of course,” Kaine said with soothing indulgence. He was able to fathom that it’d be difficult to fade from teenager to semi-immortal and back again. If you’d never done it before, that is. But the process was simple and Amanda was a fast learner. Inwardly, Kaine cringed when he saw the bloody shreds of what remained of Amanda’s clothing. He knew well that he was probably sending her to her death in that building, but he though he’d be spared from actually seeing the aftermath of what he’d done. He almost regretted it.
“Thanks, dick head,” said Amanda.
Almost.
“Why do you call me that?” Kaine asked, not at all offended. He’d been called far worse in his time.
“Because I’m fucking pissed at you, that’s why,” Amanda said, crossing her arms over her chest to hide her now-exposed bra. She didn’t sound mad, but Kaine realized that that could be the deadliest form of anger. “You knew what you were getting me into. You didn’t care if I died or not. Now I really don’t care what happens to me, but you gambled with my friends’ lives. That is not okay, got it?”
Kaine met her hostile stare evenly. “I did what needed to be done. That is all I ever do.”
Amanda glared at him with eyes that could melt ice. For a second, Kaine though he saw a shadow pass over her eyes. But it was gone almost as quickly as it came.
“I don’t trust you,” Amanda said, finally. She didn’t know it but Kaine had heard those words before…from the pale bloodless lips of Astrea herself.
Fearing that Amanda would see too much on his face or in his mind, he turned his eyes away to look at Crystal and the others. Or at least they had been there… “Hey.”
Kaine found them snoozing in Austin’s Four-runner, listening to Bob Marley.
“Well, Kaine, we’re teenagers of the technological age,” Crystal reasoned, wiping sleep from her eyes, “You can’t expect us to pay full attention to one thing for over five minutes. That’s why TV shows have so many commercials.”
“Yeah, and its way past my bed time,” Troy said, displaying his watch which was now ticking regularly, “See? 9 o’clock.”
“Actually, it’s 9 a.m.,” Kaine said, “You were in the time warp all night.”
“Oh,” Austin said, still humming to tune to Buffalo Soldier.
“What day is it?” Daniel asked.
“Thursday, why?” Kaine asked pleasantly, knowing full well why one under the age of twenty would ask.
It took a full fifty seconds for it to dawn on the six teenagers that it was 9 am on a Thursday and they weren’t in school where they should have been. “SWEET MERCIFUL CHRIST!”
But it still had the effect Kaine was hoping for.
“I can’t believe all six of you showed up to school at exactly three hours and twenty-seven minutes after the tardy bell and not one of you with a parent’s note,” Ms Canti, the Dean-of-Students was saying.
“It would’ve been fifteen minutes if it weren’t for Crystal’s hair,” Crystal heard Troy mutter in the back. Crystal just stuck her nose in the air. Her pigtails were adorable and worth the extra time, thank you very much.
“Coincidence?” Daniel suggested brightly. He gave a sudden jerk as though someone had kicked him in the leg.
Ms. Canti arched one carefully penciled eyebrow before scribbling them all notes of unexcused absence to fourth period. “Just in time for Biology,” Ms. Canti said, flashing a knowing smile in Amanda’s direction.
“Gee, maybe I should’ve fixed my hair,” Amanda muttered.
In the hall, Kaine said, “I can’t believe none of your parents realized that you didn’t come home last night.”
“Well, mine are accustomed to me being at home in bed as soon as they walk through the door, so they probably thought I stayed there,” Austin said, putting out an arm to prevent Sam from walking into a column. Sam was still brain-fried from the time warp.
“Mine are never home…” Amanda reasoned.
“I snuck out in the first place, and there’s nothing unusual about that,” Troy said.
“My parents though I was spending the night at Troy’s,” added Sam, looking at dead air to left of Kaine as though he was standing there. He probably needed to lie down for a while.
“My parents just yell for me if they need me; they never check to see if I heard,” said Crystal.
“And my parents thought I was spending the night at Crystal’s,” said Daniel, earning a smack from Crystal.
“Well,” Kaine said, resting his hand on the doorknob of the science lab, “Here goes nothing.”
“Wait, just one more moment to savor peace,” Sam pleaded, again addressing a space of air. He needed a CAT scan. They all paused and inhaled the air deeply.
“All right,” Amanda said, “Let’s face this together before I loose my nerve.”
“Right,” Kaine said, giving the door a tug. Nothing happened. Kaine pulled the doorknob again but still the door did not budge.
“Here,” Austin said, helping him pull.
“No, no, no, you’re doing it wrong,” Troy said, joining in.
“Guys, you have to turn the knob,” Sam said, reaching for it, but grabbing thin air. He leaned forward, squinting, looking for the door, and wound up losing his balance and falling on Troy. He probably needed his inner ear checked, too.
Crystal and Amanda traded looks of exasperation before Amanda said, “You idiots, you have to push.”
“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up!” Ms. Hoffmann had that look in her eye, the one that suggested total degradation at the hands of the American Education System. “And just in time for our discussion on the reproductive process of mollusks!
“Sit the hell down.”
“Lord Almighty,” Amanda muttered. This was really turning into one of those days.
Amanda stared at herself in the darkened mirror. It was three in the morning and she couldn’t sleep. Her eyes burned when she closed them. Her chest stabbed with every breath, and damn it, she just couldn’t deal with all of the screaming in her ears when she tried to quiet her mind for sleep. It grated on her mind like fingernails on concrete. She stood in her little sink room that she shared with her brother, grateful that he was away at college. How could she explain her sudden insomnia to him?
Sorry, Toby, this long dead superhuman possessed me and now all of her emotional baggage has come back to haunt me at the most ungodly hours of the morning. She could almost hear her brother say “Sorry love, care for a drag?”
Amanda leaned forward across the cold marble sink, pulling down her sleep shirt so she could get a good look at her chest. Crinkled cicatrix, her mother would call it--more precisely, a big ass scar right in the middle of her cleavage zone. Oh, well, Amanda thought, it’s not like I had that much to boast of to begin with. It wasn’t hideous and it wasn’t exactly gorgeous; it was just raised patch of skin that looked like a six-pointed asterisk. It was an incredibly defined white against her already-pale skin. It looked interesting, and thank God there was no ugly red scar tissue or open wound, but still, when summer rolled around, what would she say to her grandmother when she took her bathing suit shopping? Well, Grandma, I was going to get a Star of David tattooed right there in the spirit of Jewish patriotism, but then I remembered it’s against my religion so I got it surgically removed.
Amanda’s smile barely stretched past her teeth. Somehow, she felt like she was getting herself into something she couldn’t even begin to understand. She had already agreed with Kaine and Crystal that she would do what was required of her to “end the cycle of Chaos,” or whatever Kaine had said; Amanda hadn’t been paying attention, she was trying to sleep through History class. But after Amanda did what Kaine wanted and there were no more teachers turning into demons, Astrea was going to stay dead and buried and the Crystal Sword forgotten. Somehow, Amanda knew it wasn’t that simple.
Terror froze Amanda where she was. Astrea was watching her in the mirror, standing right behind Amanda and a little to the left, with her black fatigues and long braid. She had a slight smirk to her thin lips. Seconds ticked by, Amanda made no move. Amanda’s scar tingled with heat beneath her fingers. The sensation rose to borderline on unbearable pain, forcing Amanda to take her eyes off of the mirror as she buckled beneath the pain, hunching over the sink. When the pain subsided slightly, she spun around but no one was there.
Amanda stared at the darkness of the room, clutching the burning scar that snatched at her breath. Quickly she glanced back to the mirror, but it was dark and quite normal for a mirror at three o’clock in the morning. But she had been there; Astrea had been in the room. The heat and pain in her chest faded.
Had Amanda lost her mind? Or was she losing more than that in this deal?