So, we made it back to Earth, after our totally and completely successful mission. Not that we could let everyone know the mission was successful. In fact, we had to pretend that we had failed as far as a big part of it went. And speaking of that big part, as soon as we were back near Earth, several of the adults pooled their power together to create a portal for Elisabet to take alongside Sachael. The latter had said he would get Elisabet set up in a private place so she could stay off the radar for awhile. And reiterated that he would not be informing his own people about what was going on just yet. At least not until he had a better idea of who he could trust, who hadn’t already been compromised by this Maestro or Godfather or whatever.
The point was, we sent them away before heading up to the Fusion school at the Starstation. Of course, we couldn’t exactly go through the sun, but there was a portal waiting for us near Earth. The portal took the ship up to the station itself, and we all got to give the best performances we could of a group that had failed to save Elisabet. The Oscar had to go to Jophiel, who managed to portray someone shocked by grief and outrage that had no outlet. She looked like a woman who wanted to kill everyone around her, yet was barely holding herself in check. It really looked like she was grieving, and I was pretty sure that no one who was watching could have guessed it was all fake. Especially since Sariel and Athena had worked up some kind of spell to mask and alter the emotions any of us were giving off just in case someone we encountered had that kind of power. Yeah, we were pulling out all the stops just to make this believable.
Having to hide the truth about all this really sucked, especially since it would mean lying to people I cared about. The one exception was my father, since everyone basically agreed that it was too dangerous to try lying to him for very long. He’d sniff out the truth and possibly accidentally cause problems. So an exception was created in the secrecy spell to allow Mom and I to tell him the truth. And I negotiated a second exception for Professor Dare, insisting that she was the closest connection we had to Gaia and that, given everything that had happened, if she was compromised by Godfather we would all have been screwed a long time ago.
I couldn’t tell them the real reason I needed to be able to tell Dare the truth about the Fomorian-Seosten hybrid monster. I really had to talk to her about that whole situation and find out how it related to her… to the spell. I would’ve liked to get Koren involved since she was the only other person who knew the truth about Dare, but there was no way in hell they’d agree to that.
But, if I couldn’t talk to Koren about it just yet, at least I had managed to give myself a way of keeping Dare in the loop. I was going to take her aside as soon as possible to have that full discussion. Meanwhile, we all played up the bittersweet victory of having at least brought Dexamene back, while claiming that Elisabet had sacrificed herself to save the girl, being poisoned in her place.
Mostly the other students and I left the adults to talk to Abigail (feeling bad about lying to her too, of course) and the other people who had stayed behind. The rest of us separated, making excuses about desperately needing to shower or just find our families and friends.
Shiori and Columbus moved off to call their own parents so they could check in from their ‘totally normal boarding school’, while Avalon stepped away to take Salten back to his favorite nature enclosure on the station itself. Everyone basically split up, leaving me standing there with my mother and Tabbris while Dad stood nearby, watching us with a curious look. Yeah, he looked curious rather than sympathetic or sad about our supposed failure. I had a feeling it was a good thing we’d all agreed to keep him in the loop. Otherwise this thing would’ve unraveled pretty fast. But seriously, what kind of superpower did he have? How could he possibly tell this wasn’t the truth already? I was starting to think he’d somehow permanently Chimera-Bonded himself to a polygraph or something, cuz what the hell?
Oh, and, of course, we’d left a loophole to tell Grandfather and his family. Including Aylen. Not that we told everyone about the extent of that particular bit, of course. They didn’t need to know about Aylen, Bastet, and Sonoma just yet. Sariel simply weaved them secretly into the spell herself while supposedly only leaving it open for Grandfather, and let me know about it through Tabbris.
Either way, once we were separated enough from the others, Dad murmured, “I think we all need to talk about a few things, right?” His voice was quiet, and yet there was something else behind it. More than just his suspicion or understanding about this situation. He had something he wanted to talk about, that much was for certain. Though I couldn’t imagine what had happened that would make him react like that.
On the other hand, knowing everything else that had happened in the past year and a half, I was gonna go ahead and guess that it was dramatic, shocking, and would end up driving all of us into a life-or-death battle with something that wanted to kill us. That seemed about right.
Mom, Tabbris, and I exchanged brief looks before nodding. Then the four of us headed out of the ship landing area, moving through some winding corridors before reaching some other room. I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be (it was a huge station and I hadn’t been in even ten percent of it), but right now it was just an empty room, aside from a few chairs and a glass table.
Once the door had automatically slid shut, Dad pivoted to face us. His voice was even. “I need to call a couple people up to talk about something else. But something tells me I better wait until we talk about what just happened in there.”
Right, yeah, something else was definitely going on. I had no idea what it was, or who Dad wanted to call in to talk about it with us. But for the moment, he was right, we had to focus on our part before getting involved with anything else.
So, between the three of us, Mom, Tabbris, and I told him the full story. Well, after Mom and Tabbris both put up some privacy spells just in case. We quickly but thoroughly explained everything about what really happened, about Godfather, about where Elisabet was, all of it. And about why we had to keep her survival a secret. It took awhile, but we managed to get the whole story out, including the part about Grandfather and his family. And that was when Tabs and I clarified things for Mom as well. We told her the truth about who Aylen really was, and about her mothers.
When we were done, both Mom and Dad looked a little taken aback for what I assumed were different reasons. First, Mom slowly murmured, “I suppose this Bastet having a golden aura explains a few things Ruthers and his people blamed on me while I was… imprisoned.” Head tilting curiously, she added, “I think I’d like to meet her.”
“Yeah, pretty sure she’d like to meet you too,” I agreed before glancing the other way. “Uh, Dad?”
He, in turn, shook his head in what looked like wonder. “Well, conveniently, Aylen is one of the people I need to call up to talk. She, Virginia, and Sean should be here shortly.”
Well, that was confusing. I blinked. “Sean? What–what does Sean have to do with… “ Frowning, I asked, “What happened while we were gone?”
Dad, however, insisted on waiting for the others. All he would say was that it had to do with my grandparents, and (once Mom and I both almost freaked out) that they were not dead or anything. He just said the situation was ‘complicated’, whatever that meant. He thought it would be better to get the whole story out together once the other three showed up. Which–yeah, that was confusing. What had my father gotten up to while we were gone? Didn’t he know he wasn’t supposed to go on random crazy adventures while I wasn’t around? There should’ve been some kind of law.
So, we just talked a bit more about the Godfather situation. Dad was absorbing that whole reveal pretty well, considering. I had a feeling it would take awhile for the full ramifications to really sink in. Especially when it came to just how big of a threat this monster really was. Actually, I was pretty sure that part hadn’t fully sunk in for me yet. Not that we were exactly strangers to horrifically powerful and malevolent people targeting us, but still. This was basically a combination of the Fomorian biotech genius mixed with the Seosten archangel wings. And I had seen how powerful Tabbris’s own just-developing wings were. The idea of this guy, a Fomorian-Seosten hybrid empowered by that same type of doom wings, but ones that had had thousands of years to develop? Yeah, we hadn’t exactly downgraded in enemies after getting rid of Fossor. To say the least.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
By that point, before any of us could really find the right words to say something, Mom abruptly nodded to the door. “They’re here.” And sure enough, as the door slid open, Aylen stepped through with Sovereign perched on one shoulder. They were accompanied by Dare and Sean, with Vulcan bringing up the rear.
First things first, I produced Jaq and Gus, letting the two mechanical mice head off to a corner of the room with Vulcan and Sovereign so the four cyberforms could confer. Or play, whatever they wanted to do. Either way, they were off on their own, along with some metal food Sean sent along in a bowl for all of them to share. Honestly, my two little friends there deserved a break just as much as I did. I hadn’t been able to do much for them, even get them decent metal to ingest to repair and energize themselves, since… for a long time. I didn’t know if cyberforms got spa days (or even really what a spa day was, given I’d never had one either), but they sure deserved it.
Obviously, with Sean here, we couldn’t exactly get into the Godfather situation with Aylen and Dare. And I certainly wasn’t about to say, ‘well thanks so much for stopping by, buddy, but would you mind waiting outside for about fifteen minutes while we talk about some secret stuff you’re not allowed to know about?’ Yeah, that seemed like a bad (not to mention incredibly rude) idea.
Still, that meant we could focus on whatever Dad’s news was. Which–well, straight off the bat he started by telling the three of us we should sit down in those chairs. Mom declined, but I decided to take his word for it and sat with Tabbris perched in my lap and my arms around her stomach. Watching my father briefly, I let my eyes drift over to Sean and Aylen, then to Dare before managing a confused, “Okay, what happened while we were gone? And who said you were allowed to go find more trouble? Don’t you know there’s a special form you have to fill out?”
Of course, Dad simply shot right back, “And where can I find the filed forms with your signatures from all the dangerous situations you got yourself into?” With a raised eyebrow, he interpreted my look correctly, adding a flat, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Still, despite the teasing words back and forth, I could tell there was something worse behind everything. Dad was trying to play things off, but he was really on edge. Which Mom clearly interpreted too, quietly asking, “Lincoln, what’s going on?”
So, with a bit of help from the others, he told us all about what had happened when they went to check on his parents, my grandparents. Grandpartie (for Grandpa Artie, like Grand Party) and Grandmaria, as I had often called them. Of course, I also called my grandfather Popser, since he’d told me to call him Pops or sir when I was little. Over time I drifted between calling him Grandpartie or Popser.
The point was, Dad told us about not having contact with his parents for a long time, then checking it out and finding half the cabin blasted away, and then about Calafia showing up there in Alaska.
As soon as she heard that, Mom was snarling, “If this was Ruthers and those bastards try–”
“It wasn’t them,” Dad immediately assured us. “Calafia says they–” He amended himself. “They did try something. Litonya sent that new member of theirs–” He looked to Dare.
“Antaeus,” she provided promptly before adding, “An old enemy of Alcaeus. Who also apparently has a connection to your family.”
“Yeah, dude.” That was Sean as he looked toward me, folding two muscular arms across his chest. “Your grandparents’ best friend is Hercules, Flick.”
Well that made me do a double-take. “Uncle Al? Wait, Al–what? What?” Now I was just staring at him, mouth open. I had spent time with Uncle Al. Not really my uncle, obviously, but still. He was just– he was Uncle Al, Grandpartie’s friend. “That doesn’t–why would… why…” Slowly, I slumped back in my seat while Tabbris held onto me. She seemed just as surprised. And a glance toward Mom showed that she was pretty stunned too. All three of us just stared at the rest of them.
“Yeah,” Dad murmured, “that was pretty much my reaction too. Apparently Dad’s old friend was Hercules. And if you’re wondering why I didn’t lead with that, it’s because that’s just a side-note of this whole situation. The real story…” He paused, breathing and letting it out, clearly taking a moment to get himself under control before he pushed on. “They sent that Antaeus guy, brand new member of their Committee, to take my parents. That was their goal. But apparently something interrupted before he could pack them up.”
Then he told us more of the story. According to Calafia, my grandparents and Al (who was apparently Hercules seriously what the fuck why would he and where did he and whaaaaaat?!) disappeared right in front of Antaeus. A teleportation spell that had somehow been triggered the moment they were all in danger, apparently. Someone outside that group had teleported them out of danger.
“Now…” Dad took a deep breath. “Now is when it gets… big.”
“Now? It wasn’t big before?” I stared at him, feeling a deep pit of uncertainty in my stomach. Which, after everything we’d been through, was not a fun experience, in the least. “Dad, where are Grandpartie and Grandmaria? What’s going on?”
In a voice that made it perfectly clear that he was freaking out on the inside and simply doing his best to hold it in and avoid making it worse, Dad informed us that Calafia and the Committee had apparently done a test on the remnants of the transportation spell to find out if they could track it. While they couldn’t do that (for what would quickly become obvious reasons), they were able to find out how far away the spell took my grandparents and Uncle Al. And the answer was… very, very, very fucking far. Into another galaxy sort of far. Whoever magicked them away from Antaeus (to save them?) had actually sent them clear to the other side of the universe. Which… which…
“Seosten,” Dare said immediately. “That’s the best we can figure out. Why? We have no idea. But it wasn’t the Fomorians, their magic is different.”
“Could it be Fossor?” I hesitantly put in before amending, “I mean, someone loyal to him. You know, pissed off that we killed his master so he takes my grandparents. Or just something Fossor set up just in case something happened to him. A last minute ‘fuck you, I still win.’”
“We thought about that,” Sean confirmed. “We sort of uhhh, called in an expert of our own.”
“My mother,” Aylen said, looking hesitantly toward my own mom before clearly looking like she should explain.
“It’s okay,” I informed her. “We sort of just had that conversation, since you were coming and all.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Aylen,” Mom offered with a small smile. “I’d like to meet your mother sometime as well. And while we’re at it…” With that, she turned to Sean, offering a hand to him. “I don’t believe we had the chance to officially meet with everything that’s been going on in the past day. We haven’t… had a lot of time for anything, really. But thank you for helping my husband. And for being there for my daughter last year.”
Sean suddenly seemed shy, flushing a little and mumbling something about it being no big deal. Then he quickly pressed on, explaining that they had brought Bastet in to check the teleportation remains and that she said the magic energy matched Seosten spells she had encountered. Specifically, it matched the energy given off by one Seosten in particular.
“Puriel?!” I blurted out loud when the answer came. “Puriel took my grandparents?! But–but why would–does that mean he violated the truce? But–no he–why would he save–what? The Committee was–what?”
“That’s the question I’ve been asking myself,” Dad murmured. “And it’s one we can get an answer to. But I wanted to wait for all of you to be back, because–”
Tabbris was the one who got it first. “You wanna bond to a Seosten and then default recall to your mom?!”
Quickly, Dad explained that yes, that was the idea. Except not fully recall. He could simply mentally contact my grandmother (the same way Vanessa had mentally contacted her own dad all the way out in Seosten space at first) to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, there was still some risk of ‘slipping’ and being fully pulled out there. So he had apparently been practicing the mental/partial recall with Mercury, of all people. He would bond to Mercury, possess Sean, then practice partially recalling to him. They had done that for a couple hours with only a few slips early on before Dad got the hang of it.
“But mistakes could still happen,” he reminded us. “So, I wanted to wait. Especially since ahh, apparently it’s easier to anchor yourself when there’s people you love nearby. So…” He reached out, touching Mom’s face with one hand and my shoulder with the other before allowing that hand to slip down my arm to brush Tabbris’s hair.
Right. We’d tell Dare and Aylen about the Godfather situation later. The last thing I wanted to do put more confusion and high emotions in the air right before Dad did something like this. He needed to focus.
Apparently I hadn’t had enough stress today, because now my dad was about to project his consciousness across the universe to peek in on what Puriel was doing with my grandparents.
It was a good thing I never bothered to think that our lives would go back to normal anymore.