F

LITERATURE

Familiar part 6

No AI

Literature Text

An original story by me

They made a somewhat un-legal stop at a store that may or may not have been technically open. Calie kept watch while they found clothing. That is after she had to get them to stop bickering over who would pick out Sweety's clothes. Calie managed to end it with, "Alex, do you really feel qualified to choose girl's clothes?"

"Just please, stop sexing her up just to get to me." He conceded, before jogging to the guys section.

Alex was half relieved when he saw his sister, much like himself, made due with jeans and a t-shirt with athletic shoes. This was dashed however, when Sweety appeared also in little pink gym shoes but also knee high white socks, a short plaid schoolgirl skirt and pink midriff tee that proclaimed 'SWEET' in big silk screened letters.

"Lucy." He said, exasperated.

"What? She is decent but still cute." Her smile got even more mischievous, "besides, she picked that out herself."

"How do I look, Master?"

"Adorable, Sweety." He said softly to her. He turned to Lucy, "great, you're rubbing off on her," and took Sweety by the hand.

"People, we have to go." Said the large blonde, "At least she's not in a fetish outfit anymore."

They drove outside the city from there, Alex felt lost as the highway twisted higher and higher through peaks covered dense trees. Eventually the road bore signs proclaiming 'Private Drive'. Ahead loomed the spires and turrets of an old manor house built of pure marble. The house was built into the side of the rock hinting it went deeper than the building suggested. The sign on the gate simply said 'Library'.

The Mustang pulled up into one of only a dozen spots meant to park in. "Not big on visitors?" Asked Alex.

"This is not a public library, only Arcanists are allowed to enter or even know about it." Said Calie as they walked up the marble steps. Calie opened the large doors that reminded Alex of a castle gate.

Yet another tall woman, a brunette this time, dressed in a conservative skirt and white button up blouse, and even half glasses on a cord around her neck, addressed them from behind a desk. "Members only are allowed… Oh, Calief." She cut herself off as she saw Calie.

The room was a large lobby supported by marble pillars with large metal double doors on either side and curved marble stairs wrapping the desk like wings. Behind the desk a marble statue of a roman-ish warrior holding a spear pointed at the spot in front of the desk like he was going to impale anyone returning books late. Behind him was an angel, wings spread wide so their tips touched the top of the stair rails.

"They're with me, Gabriella." She answered, taking a hard right and not stopping while she addressed the librarian. "They have a meeting with Master Balthazar." And she shoved open the two metal doors in front of her.

"G-good to see… you again." She said quietly to an already disappearing Calie.

The next room was filled with books. They lined the walls to the ceiling up four stories, with catwalks and those rolling ladders attached above the shelves. A maze of free standing shelves filled the center under the balconies. Daylight filtered down from a glass dome at the top of the tower through catwalks crossing from the five balconies above.

"I have never seen a library so big." Gasped Alex.

"This is just the modern wing. Everything newer than 1500 AD." Explained Calie as they began ascending the stairs to the next level. "Literature older than that is on the other side. And the Alexandria section is in the basement."

They reached the next level and crossed one of the catwalks back toward the main building.

"Alexandria, as in the Library of Alexandria?" Exclaimed Alex.

"Master Balthazar saved it while the city was burning." Smiled Calie "Arcanists have a lot of tricks up their sleeves."

Calie passed by the next set of stairs up to push open two doors back into the main building. It was a large room with tables and three college aged men scattered about on them, pouring over books.

"How did he manage that? That was thousands of years ago." Said Lucy.

"Because l was there." Said the man who stepped out from behind a set of shelves. He was old, but the kind of old that made it hard to place exactly how old. Could be fifty, could be a hundred, or as he just alluded could be thousands. His face was cragged with age but his hair still jet black. "Calief, tells me you are the Angelicos children. Your grandfather was a member of this order."

"We're not children." Snapped Lucy.

"Of course," came the baritone reply, "my mistake. At my age, my dear, everyone I meet seems like children." He turned to look at Sweety. "And the familiar. Excellent work my boy." He said to Alex. "I can count on one hand the arcanists who have been able to summon a humanoid familiar."

"Is it that rare?" Asked Alex.

"Indeed," said Balthazar.

"I have to report to Master Quan." Said Calie. "I'll find you guys when you're done." She took her leave. Alex and Balthazar began to walk down the aisles of shelves already engaged in conversation, Sweety in tow. Lucy watched Calie leave, turned to watch her brother walk off for a minute and turned to follow Calie.

Lucy hurried to catch the blonde as she reached the front desk and began to enter the door on its right side.

Again the librarian began to protest, "access to there is restricted I'm afraid."

Calie turned to look at the redhead almost as if she were working out a puzzle and finally said, "its ok, Gabriella. I think she will be fine." She waved Lucy through the door before her, "come on."

Marble stairs descended in a gentle curve to the right, the way lit by ancient looking sconces that Lucy noticed were actually lit by modern LED lights. On the stairs they passed yet another woman. She was just barely taller than Lucy, but she was jacked. Muscles coiled on her arms, wide shoulders, and thighs that strained the black fatigues she wore. Her whole outfit in fact screamed covert military. You might even be unsure she was a woman if it weren't for her breasts. She seemed to have found a way to work out her mammaries as well as the pecs underneath. Her raven black hair was cut short with shaved sides and the bulk of the top flipped over the left side hanging even with her ear. Calie and the woman exchanged only cold stares as they passed. The woman gave Lucy only a quick glance, as if she wasn't worth her time, and smirked.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Bitch," muttered Calie quietly.

The stairs ended in a large gymnasium type of room. The floor was padded in the center and racks of weapons, both wooden practice and frighteningly real metal lined the walls in racks. On a raised dais at the head of the room stood an asian woman with a falcon or some other bird of prey on her arm.

Calie approached and dropped to one knee, one hand on the knee the other in a fist on the mat and her head kept in a bowed position. Lucy, unsure of the protocol for her, did the same.

"Master Quan." Stated Calie respectfully.

"Calief," she replied stoically. The unusual pause after she spoke forced Calie to glance up and see that she was looking at Lucy.

"Oh, um…Luccia Angelicos, ma'am." Quickly added Calie.

"Ah, miss Angelicos. Your brother is the one who has the order in a tizzy over a neophyte managing to summon a familiar." She stroked the neck feathers of the bird and addressed it in that baby tone pet owners sometimes use on their pets. "Nothing special about that is there? Is there Tyrria?"

"HIS familiar is human." Interjected Lucy, immediately regretting speaking up for some reason. But she had insulted Alex's abilities and in some way insulted Sweety. And Lucy did like her. Alot. The small girl felt to Lucy like a little sister. "I understand that is a rarity in your world."

Master Quan sighed, "I never saw the point in a humanoid familiar. Seems like waste having to drag another human around with you. No flight or quadropedialspeed, no natural weapons or defenses, not really useful to an arcanist" She looked down at the still bowing Calie, "fine, report."

Calie stood, legs straight and hands behind her back and Lucy followed suit. "Whoever is snatching familiars is summoning demons to do it. I…" she glanced at Lucy when she paused, "we have already encountered hellhounds and golgotham. Whoever they are desperate to get to get their hands on Sweety."

The master raised an eyebrow, "Sweety?"

"He was apparently expecting a cat or bird?" Said Calie, with a confirming look at Lucy, who nodded and bit her lip nervously.

"No, I like it. It's kind of adorable." Master Quan actually smiled.

"Trust me, when you meet her you'll see that it's fitting." Replied Calie.

"Looking forward to it," said the asian woman. She turned to Lucy, "but I am also pleased to meet you Luccia." That same amused smile turned toward Lucy. "I understand you are somewhat of a prodigy in the… physical arts."

"I'm good at sports." She retorted.

"Oh, more than good I understand. Tell me, have you ever not been an allstar or MVP?" She kept a questioning eye on the nervous redhead.

"Not since I have been little."

"Wonderful," said master Quan, "I would be interested in seeing what you are really capable of." She ended that comment with a knowing glance at Calie. The tall blonde gave a quick nod and turned to stride towards a rack of the wooden weapons.

Lucy turned back to the lady arcanist, "so guess you are proof women CAN be arcanists too." She pictured herself doing magic like her brother.

"Yes," smiled Quan at the direction of her questioning. "You see yourself as a powerful spell caster?"

Lucy was already smiling at the thought. "Well if my brother can do it…"

"Yes I am an arcanist, but my duty in the order is as master of the nephilim."

"Nephilim?" Asked Lucy, "like, as in half angels?"

"Like Calief here." She replied. "When you are born with divine blood it can either manifest as arcanum," the woman twirled her hand by her head causing lights to swirl around her, "or nephilim." She then nodded to Calie standing behind her.

Calie held four short rattan staves, two in each hand and tossed two to Lucy. "Let's see what Luccia Angelicos is capable of."

Lucy caught the sticks and twirled them into a fighting grip.

"Is it all sports, or do you know how to fight too?" Asked the blonde, readying her staves. She swung one at Lucy's head only to meet one of Lucy's sticks. Lucy swung with her off hand catching Calie's other staff in a wooden clack just to spin and bring a foot up at the blonde to be parried on her forearm.

"Dad had me learning Krav Maga by the time I was in middle school." Grinned Lucy, wiggling her eyebrows at the other woman.

Back and forth the ladies traded blows. Strikes and parries echoed in the practice chamber, as the two danced with martial prowess.

"So, you're an angel?" Said Lucy panting, in what could have been an attempt to distract her.

"A nephilim," she replied, unnervingly less out of breath than Lucy. "Dad was an arcanist, mom was an angel." She swung at Lucy's legs but she leapt up and over the pole bringing hers down in retaliation that the blonde just blocked with her off hand staff. "Like it usually works out. Same old story. Guys and their… appetites." Calie pushed back, tossing Lucy to the side forcing her to roll up to her feet.

"No hunky guy angels in these stories?" Asked Lucy, squaring up again.

"All angels are feminine." Answered Calie. The two traded blows one after another, high, low, low, high, all ending in parries.

"Wait, really?" Questioned Lucy, hopping back from the blonde woman. "No guy angels. What about Michael, Lucifer, or Gabriel?"

Calie laughed, "I think you mean Michelle, and Gabriella. And Lucifer IS a female name, Luccia. You have to consider how things were translated. Languages are never perfect matches. Plus male scholars and misogyny." She closed the distance and set Lucy back on defense. "Angels are love personified, and love is feminine. So all angels are feminine, and all nephilim are female."

The spar continued for a few more minutes before a quick sweep of the legs brought the defiant redhead to the ground. Calie pounced and placed her sticks on either side of Lucy's neck. "Not bad. Some more formal training and you could be a force to be reckoned with."

"Aren't you charming," spat Lucy, as Calie stood up, offering her a hand. "You must have to beat the guys off with those sticks."

"I don't swing that way." Whispered Calie, as she pulled Lucy from the floor and pressed her lips to hers.

Lucy's eyes opened wide in shock. Lucy never really dated guys. She fooled around with a few, flirted with them to get something she wanted. She had even jokingly flirted with other girls, even danced with them for fun. She was never a 'relationship' kind of person. She hadn't been prepared for the feeling of another woman's lips on hers. She was even less prepared to realize she was kissing her back. A string of saliva momentarily stretched between their lips as they broke from a kiss that was way more hot and wet than Lucy had anticipated. Lucy was flush and struggling to catch her breath.

Calie casually turned and walked away toward a door in one of the side walls, "I'm going to take a shower." She stopped as she opened the door. "You're welcome to join me if you need one as well."

Lucy looked back at the master who was already exiting through a door behind the dias.

Alex walked through the library with master Balthazar, talking magic, the history of the order and finally about familiars. The order apparently started thousands of years ago when angels freely interbred with mortals, and down the bloodlines arcanists and nephilim still popped up when the mixing of blood was strong enough.

"So familiars are angels?" Asked Alex, after fully taking in the lecture he just received from Balthazar.

"While their progeny, the nephilim can walk the Earth easily, angels can only exist in our realm for a short time when summoned. The exception is if they agree to take mortal form. If the arcanist has a noble cause, a great destiny, or the angel believes in them enough they will become an animal companion and guide for the short time humans generally live. This is to serve and protect that arcanist in their goal or destiny." Spewed the old man, like a college professor giving a lecture.

"And why do they sometimes become human?" Alex asked with great trepidation. He was genuinely frightened of what the answer might be. Did he do something wrong? He looked at Sweety walking quietly behind them. She was an angel. He could certainly believe that. And now was she trapped in that form, forced to serve his every need?

"Truthfully, it happens so infrequently we have never really been sure why they sometimes manifest as humans." He said as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at Alex sternly now, almost like he just realized he was there this whole time. "Do you realize the power you are holding right now, my boy?" The way he emphasized boy, made Alex feel insignificant.

They had walked all the way up the first tower and crossed over somehow when talking. Now they were on the first floor of the other tower in the older section. Most of this library was scrolls and old stone tablets. Old, he thought. Sweety looked young, seemed sweet and innocent, but she was an ancient celestial being. Something that made him seem like an ant in comparison. Trapped as a slave, bound to his will. He had no right to own her. He had seen her individuality emerge last night. She was a person, she could think and make decisions for herself, and he held her captive now.

A knot grew in his stomach from the guilt, and on cue Sweety took his hand in hers. "Master, you are distraught. Let me help you."

"Damn it Sweety," he shouted, more forcefully than he had intended. He pulled his hand out of hers with a jerk. "I don't want to be your master! I never did! I should never have summoned you!"

He could see the impact of what he said in her face, her eyes streamed tears and he regretted it instantly. "I'm sorry, Master! I never meant to disappoint you!" She bawled. Sweety buried her face in her hands, turned and ran out through the doors to the lobby.

Alex immediately knew how horrible what he said was. She never ran away from him before. She always tried to be as close to him as possible. What he had said really hurt her badly. He didn't mean what he said as a rejection of her. Just ownership of her. "Sweety!" He cried as he ran after her. But she was fast, and she was already leaving him far behind.

Balthazar watched the two flee the library and a smile creaked across his withered face. "Now." He said to a figure hidden among the bookshelves.

"Alex?" Said Lucy confused, as she and Calie were exiting the training area into the lobby to see Alex dash by them and out the front doors.

"Sweety!" He screamed after her as she passed the parking lot and into a field beyond still crying uncontrollably.

The asphalt erupted into four hellhounds as he reached the end of the lot. He was blocked from her by the snarling beasts. Without needing to even think about it anymore, he cast the spell and shoved two of them out of the way. He was still forced to stop and raise his shield as the other two snapped and swiped at him. In the distance, the ground burst beneath the familiar, releasing a brass cage in the shape of a ball that closed around Sweety like a fist. A tall dark muscular woman strode onto the field toward the cage.

"No!" Screamed Alex as he launched bolts of plasma at her only to have the hounds move between them to block the shots. Bullets suddenly slammed against the hellhounds, driving them back as Lucy and Calie dashed across the parking lot to reach Alex. The woman in black reached the cage and raised an arm sporting a golden bracelet. She placed the opposite hand on the cage and the gem in the bangle flashed as the woman and the cage containing the captured familiar disappeared.

"Sweety!" Screamed Alex, long and drawn out till he was out of breath and his throat ached.

Lucy reached her brother and threw her arms around him. He buried his face in his sister's shoulder and wept in big gasping sobs.

"Damn it!" Screamed Calie. "That bitch!" She began pacing "I'm sorry Lucy, I'm so sorry Alex. I led you right to them. I was so stupid." The blonde, stoic and serious till now, was on the verge of tears herself.

"Wasn't that the bitch from the stairs?" Asked Lucy, her brother still crying in her arms.

"Azriel," she confirmed. "She's the right hand of Balthazar, the man I brought you here to see. The man who has obviously been behind this all along."

"Where does he live?" Came the muffled voice from Lucy's grasp. She let her brother go, tears gone and rage filling his eyes. "Do you know where to find him, Calie?"

"I do," she said, reflexively coming to attention.

"Good," he said, "then we are going to get her back."