I woke up propped against a mound of pillows under a red bed set, the walls and furniture were all darkly stained wood matched by black carpets which set off all sorts of alarms in my mind. My color schemes ran high on warm wood tones with white and pale blues. The only reassurance came from Khan being on the bed beside me albeit a bit exhausted looking, on the floor were my sister’s companions; a wolf and black panther of equally large proportions to him that had the same partially transparent look that said they were more spirit than body. My armor and sword were lying across the room on an old dresser. I winced at the gashes and the nicks in my gear, whatever had happened was pretty nasty I just wished I knew what it was.
Khan and I had taken to calling this “transition amnesia”. When I went to other planets or planes of existence, I became what I used to be, which was far above and beyond human. When I came back though I reverted to being human, it was the same problem I had with regaining the memories of my past lives; I was like a squirrel trying to comprehend the perceptions and memories of a human. Some of it clicked into place but most of it was so foreign and alien that my mind rejected it. It's why I had taken Khan with me in the first place, he was supposed to act as a note taker and tell me the highlights when we got back. I struggled to sit up and found that most of my upper body was swathed in bandages. A few tentative sniffs at the air told me that the white gauze was holding some sort of herbal concoction in place.
Melisande came in dressed in a blood red plush bathrobe and a pair of elbow length surgical gloves. She looked at me and the sleeping animals and typed out a quick text message on her phone and then started changing my bandages quietly. I noted that most of my injuries were from claws and teeth as she did. Well at least now I knew where I was, the black and red decor fit my sister's taste, granted I didn't spend a lot of time in my sister's bedroom, I just didn't know how I ended up in this shape. I tried to talk and had to suck my tongue for a few seconds before my throat was moist enough to work.
“Khan, report please.” He lifted his massive head and opened one sleep dulled eye and glared at me.
“Canine therianthropes ambushed us on way back. You held them off, me and Tyr did a rush on opening a 'path. Moron crushed phone. I contacted Khalea, the wolf got Melisande, she brought us here. Now leave me alone I'm tired.”
“You'd better listen to him, discounting the physical wounds you managed to drain your energy reserves fairly low. Khan told me how to invert the shields on the Kodiak to turn the storage space into a containment field so I could keep you from draining the life from everyone in Teller County. Hold on for a little bit. I can't do anything for Khan, he just needs rest. Opening a Starpath on the fly in unison with someone else like he did is fast but it’s exhausting and apparently you guys were on the move for the better part of four days without break. I managed to convince Cassandra to come out here and do some work on you though. I'm guessing your still at the stage where you don't have any memory left when you switch between here and other places?” She rolled me over to put more of some foul-smelling green ointment on my back and shoulder and wrapped it. I tried to limit my protests to as few half-heard whimpers of pain as possible.
“Yeah, we think in another four or five years my mind should have adjusted enough to remember stuff accurately. In the meantime, Khan goes with me for any trips to other planets or planes of existence as a kind of backup memory and personal assistant. So, Cassandra, your friend from Grand Junction I take it? She can actually heal this kind of damage?”
“Normally no, but with the condition of the seals it’s possible. She's a psychic battery so you can pull a lot of energy from her and she’s adapted Reiki and Healing Touch into something that actually works consistently. She landed in the Springs about ten minutes ago. So she should be getting here in another fifty if she sticks to the speed limits and takes the passes slow. I need to go look in on Tyr, he managed to get injured covering Khan when they pulled you back through the Starpath. You took the brunt of the damage so he’s better off than you but he’s still not in good shape. Now get some rest.” I was about to protest that I had things to take care of, people to contact, and a whole planet that was still on the verge of plunging into the dark ages when I saw one of her small dainty seeming fist smashing into my head out of the corner of my eye and the world went black again.
When I came around again someone was prying my eyes open and shining a penlight into them. The light shifted to the other eye as long gentle fingers pried it open, or at least I think it was supposed to feel gentle. Cassandra was tall, made of all long, lean willowy lines, and soft textures with honey yellow hair cut shoulder length and blue eyes that shone with compassion.
“You gave him a concussion and made my job harder. It looks like the compress I gave you helped speed up the healing though. I can feel signs that one of his lungs was compressed and possibly ruptured when the rib was shattered but if it was punctured, he sealed the hole with ice so I can’t say, the spare ribs were fractured and his whole rib cage was dislocated along with his jaw. I’m surprised he was even able to breathe at all when he arrived. Those stabs on his thighs punctured the arteries a couple times, and that slash across his wrist looks to have sliced open the artery before he froze both shut. And there is a web work of cracks on his scapula coming off what looks like a set of punctures from claws. Fortunately, whatever took that bite out of his side seems to have just missed hitting anything vital.” I felt the slight tingle of her probing at my body with energy as she ran her hands over my stomach and chest then down along my legs and back up over my arms.
“There is also some deep tissue bruising along his abdominal wall if it was anyone else he’d probably have frostbite on his insides with everything he froze shut. My compliments on the stitches you did by the way, they seem to be holding and good. Frankly if anyone else came to me in this condition I’d tell you to take them to a morgue but I realize this isn’t a normal set of circumstance. I tried doing a scan on his body to see if anything was still causing damage and he seems clean of that sort of working but,” There was a brief pause as she glanced at me before shaking her head. “I don’t know, something is different about his body. Either him or someone else has altered it, and it’s been recent, I would have noticed if he was like this just being in the room when I was out for your birthday. His entire body from his cells, his bones, even his organs are heartier and more resilient than even yours, Melisande and it seems better at repairing itself. Your brother may not be in perfect health but he's in better health than any other person I've worked with whose been through similar events. Normally without my help I’d say he’d need a year to recover from all the injuries and that’s accounting for the natural healing boost being psychic vampires gives you two, he can probably cut it down to about six months to repair everything without medical help as long as he rests and feeds on enough people with sufficient energy maybe even less it’s hard to say.”
I opened my eyes and turned to look at her. “I don’t have that much time I need to be out of this bed and back on my feet by the end of the day.” I paused as I realized how stupid that sounded. “It’s not a matter of pride Cassandra. I’m trying to avert a disaster, the fact that Tyr is sitting in the other room in his own body instead of possessing a stranger should tell you how dire the situation is.” She nodded and then turned to Melisande with a look of resignation.
“If you get me killed healing you, I’m going to haunt the both of you. Mel can you get my bag and pour two cups of that tea I brewed while you’re at it?” My sister walked out and Cassandra settled down on the bed beside me and took out a quartz pendant meticulously wrapping the chain around her hand. The crystal hung suspended from her hand by the delicate silver chain and was trapped in a casing of silver wire scroll work that formed a collection of Celtic knots I didn't recognize the meaning of.
“Do I have to worry about any figures from mythology that are tied to you, or are you just a normal person?” I wanted to make sure I didn’t end up owing anyone a favor down the line because of this.
Cassandra smiled and gave the crystal a spin holding it over my solar plexus. I dropped my shields enough to see the lime green healing energy flowing from her and being amplified by the crystal and surrounding my body. She smiled wryly and used her other hand to push a few of the energy flows towards different spots.
“I bar the way to death until the body has mended and provide the raw vitality for the body to set itself to rights. And what do you know of normal people Ice Father? You've been farther from human since birth than any other being to reincarnate on earth I've ever heard of. Unlike you and Melisande, I did not escape the chains of human mythology in the past though. I was, and I suppose to some degree, still am Persephone. Now hold still your body is still a mess despite your creative use of ice as a bandage and before I can even think about letting you feed off me, I need to start mending some of the damage. Whoever set your bones would make a field medic look like a surgeon. As soon as Mel gets back with the tea for us I want you to drink it, without complaints please, and we can move on to the easier part.” She moved the crystal farther down my body and the focus of the energy she was weaving around me moved while the bindings around my chest and arms stayed in place. A constant low level hum began to surround my body.
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“So your husband keeps the dead and you prevent souls from going to his realm? Doesn’t he get mad about that?” I focused and shifted some of the bindings that were encircling my back directing them away from the areas where vague memories told me that a set of wings could emerge when I traveled to other planes.
“Contrary to the myths, I do love my husband and he me. As long as I only interfere with his and the other death deities work on occasion, and only if they happen to have a lot of friends in high and low places, am I allowed free reign to stop people from dying. Let me know before you shift things again. Is there something about your back I should know about?” The pendant kept its steady spin as she moved it lower again, this time hanging over my gut as it spun out more lines of power.
“Vague memories and instincts mostly. I have a feeling that it would be a bad idea to do anything that could lock the muscles there in a fixed state.” Melisande came in with an old fashion tea pot and two cups and set them down, pouring the brown fluid out for both of us and then retreated to the far corner of the room. Cassandra finally moved the crystal down past my feet and then hung it back around her neck and tucked it under her shit before picking up the two tea cups. While she offered me one cup and drank the other with a bitter frown.
“Drink up. Once the tea takes effect it will boost our senses and lower our defenses. I suggest drinking it as fast as possible.” I nodded, took the tea cup, and tossed it back trying to ignore the horrendous gag inducing smell. Imagine taking mineral spring water, boiling jock straps in it and then straining the resulting mixture through old socks into raw sewage and you might get a close idea of what the stuff tasted like. The effect was instant though, the shields I usually kept in place without effort fell apart. I saw the deep nearly blazing verdant emerald of Cassandra's aura, the constant flickering red-orange flames of Melisande's, my own solid aura was the constant blue-white of glacial ice. Even the wards that shrouded Melisande's home had a shifting and pulsating life of their own that I could see. Whatever was in the tea had broken down even the subconscious shields and I could feel the effects of the Seals on Earth stifling my power without them like a thousand wet blankets draped over me. Cassandra snapped her fingers in front of my face.
“Focus Cathal, I know it can be distracting but I need you to focus. Now what makes feeding easiest for you?” I reached up with what felt like a drug numbed hand and grabbed Cassandra's wrist and closed my eyes focusing on the feel and texture of her energy and let myself sink into the sensations. She had so much power in her, I felt like I had bit down on an electrical line. I drew in more of her energy drawing deeper and deeper as the energy directed itself through my body finding the half aches and injuries I hadn’t even been aware of. As I drew deeper and the energy poured into me faster I exerted more of my will on Cassandra's energy. I kept pushing until I heard the faint audible thumping that told me I was drawing directly from the core of her power. It’s hard to explain the feeling of feeding off the energy of a goddess, each one is different and Persephone was a goddess of spring. Which meant Cassandra’s power was linked to life and growth almost as much as mine was to the cold. Imagine being drunk, while high with every drug known to man in your system and none of the downfalls. I heard a gasp from somewhere and a distant part of my brain reminded me that when I fed this deeply from a person it was a two-way street. I could feel her energy in a way only a vampire like me could, but she would feel me the same way.
After a few moments of floating in a deep purple void I began to see flashes of a great palace. Highly polished black marble was broken by arched glassless windows that looked out on lovingly tended gardens populated with the stubby shapes of pomegranate trees under a sky that was perpetually overcast. A man strode down a broad hallway, his strides echoing off the cathedral style ceilings. A warm jolt of love and joy shot through me at the sight of his sapphire blue eyes. The long wavy hair the color of a raven’s wing matched a neatly trimmed and manicured beard. Hades was far from the tallest of the Olympians but he had a quality of character that made him seem larger than his physical size. The myths portrayed him as cruel and callus but the personality that shone from those gem like eyes was one filled with passion and warmth. He picked me up in arms that made me feel safe and wanted and hugged me close as he kissed me.
“Cathal! Cassandra!” A bolt of searing agony shot through my brain and down my spine arching my back and tearing my hand away from Cassandra's as she let out a scream of pain severing both the physical and metaphysical connection between us. I pulled the world into focus again a little at a time. First getting control of my breathing and then slowing my pulse down from somewhere around the speed of light to something closer to my average forty beats a minute. I took a few more calming breaths and started piecing together the rest of the world. Melisande had a hand pressed against the center of both our chests her eyes closed and brow furrowed with a mixed look of intense concentration and anger on it. Cassandra was sitting on the chair she'd placed next to the bed and crying quietly and not the silent tears of joy and happiness I felt.
“What the hell happened?” Okay so my voice was a bit shaky and hoarse sounding despite the angry tone. But given that it felt like I’d just been hit with a bolt of lightning that should be expected.
“You were feeding too deep from her. You started exchanging emotions and memories; if I didn't step in when I did you could have killed her or caused permanent damage.” She let her hands drop and looked at Cassandra who was still weeping on the floor. “You still manage to do harm everywhere you go.”
“How. How can you live like that? So much pain, the hunger and emptiness should drive you mad. And you’re so lonely. And the pain, gods above and below. Cathal, the weight of your burdens alone should break you.” She heaved another sob and bent her head down again. I closed my eyes and ignored the emotions that pushed up from the back of my mind, some things were better left buried.
“I don't know what you saw or felt Cassandra. I saw Hades as you know him; I felt the love you have for him and the compassion you see in him. The fact that you still feel that way about him after millions of years is nothing short of miraculous. Think of that, just focus on what you two have and try to forget what you felt in me.”
“They do have their fights, Cathal.” Melisande pitched in, her posture showing her frustrations.
“So do you and I, but at the end of the day I still love you as my family. Every relationship has its tensions but to keep the kind of love going that they do…” I rolled my shoulders, I couldn’t say a lot about what made relationships function. I was in my late twenties and I’d only really fallen for two women and both times it had ended in disaster. “Never mind I need to get home and get my spare gear. Did any of my other weapons make it back with me?” I sat up wrapping the bed sheet around me as I got out of the bed still stiff and sore despite Cassandra’s obvious talent for healing. Even the greatest healers couldn’t just erase the sort of damage I’d suffered and if I hadn’t just had one of the most intense and potent feedings I could remember I’d probably have been sleeping sounder than the dead right then. I walked across the room wobbling a little drunkenly as I went. I put a hand on the two relics on the dresser and sent some of the excess energy into them.
“Take me to Tyr, I need know what we learned. Khan is too tired and it will take time for the bond between us to transfer enough energy to him for him to be functional. Cassandra, I don't know what you saw in me but I need to know if you can help me get Tyr back on his feet? I’d be in your debt. He should be able to tell me what we found out on our trip before things went sideways.” Cassandra looked up and nodded. A part of me couldn't help but notice that she was not a woman that stayed beautiful when she cried. Her eyes were puffy and red and the tears had left streaks down her face while her eyes still held glints of the pain and sorrow that had caused the break down, hopefully Hades didn’t decide to pick a fight over me accidentally causing emotional damage to his wife. She nodded and stood up hanging the crystal pendant back around her neck.
“Still as stubborn as ever I see. Well I suppose you're healed enough and I certainly have enough strength left to help him, his condition isn't as bad as yours, mostly bruising now aside from one major cut and some breaks from when he got thrown into something stubborner than him. Come on, I can handle piecing his humerus back together while you repair the tearing in his abdominal wall. Unlike you he didn’t exhaust himself throwing his power around.” She walked out of the room on legs that were only slightly shaky. I glanced down at the sword and armor making sure they had begun to repair themselves and looked around the room before looking at my sister.
“I need some pants. Think you can help me out?” She shook her head with a smile and walked over to the closet pulling out a pair of black leather pants. I pulled on the tight fit pants and tried not to think about who might have been in them last.