Silencing The Siren

17. Family Affairs

"¡Dios mío! That looks awful, mi amor. Why have you not started healing yet?" Asmodeus questioned. Calliope could feel how concerned he was, but she didn't want to worry him more.

"Oh, you worry too much, 'Deus," Calliope replied. "I'll be fine. Don't fuss over me, my love." She quickly pulled her shirt down to cover the wound again, trying to avoid the concerned looks that were coming from her friends. She attempted to stand, but the pain quickly became too much for her, and she stumbled backward.

Asmodeus caught Calliope in his arms, steadying her before helping her sit down. "Calli, it's bleeding worse now," he mentioned, pointing at the blood that was seeping between her fingers, which were once again pressed against her abdomen. "What did she get stabbed with?" he asked, looking at Dysnomi and Amarok.

"A silver knife," Amarok answered.

"But silver shouldn't be bad for Calli. She probably just needs some rest," Dysnomi suggested.

"No," Asmodeus stated, his eyes watery. "No, I'm telling you, something's wrong."

"Maybe it just needs more time?" Nagaveni asked sweetly. "It is a pretty big wound, after all."

"No, dammit!" Asmodeus yelled as he slapped the top of the bar. "You're not fucking listening to me! I've seen her get big wounds before. They always start healing immediately. Something. Is. Wrong," he insisted.

"We really don't have time for this arguing shit," Calliope announced, forcing herself to stand on her own. "I'm assuming you figured out how to summon my father?" she asked, looking at Xena.

"Sho did," Xena answered, holding up the armful of tobacco proudly. With a smile on her face, she said, "We're gonna take dis tobacco. Den, we're gonna take some rum. And den... We're gonna set dis shit on fire! ...Outside, of course." Xena added her last sentence when she noticed Zephyr's wide eyes. She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and held it up, saying, "Dis should be da incantation I'll need to chant to summon him."

"Awesome. Let's go do that now," Calliope replied, stepping forward on shaky legs. She almost fell with every step that she took until she felt strong arms wrap around her. She looked up to see Amarok steadying her. He helped her over to the side door of the building.

Amarok looked down at Calliope and smiled, saying, "I figure if you're stubborn enough to do this right now, I might as well help you."

They finally made it outside, and Xena set the tobacco on the ground in the alleyway. Amarok helped Calliope lean against the building, while Zephyr walked out with a bottle of rum and poured it over the tobacco pile.

"Thank you," Calliope expressed to Zephyr with a small smile.

"Of course, cher. It's the least I can do. After all, you did get stabbed in my establishment," Zephyr joked.

Calliope laughed, then coughed as the pain hit her. She looked at Xena and asked, "So, um... I'm assuming you were told... How this works?"

"Well, yeah," Xena answered. "First... We gotta light it."

"I got it," said Asmodeus, stepping forward. He held his hands out toward the pile. Calliope could feel anger rise inside of him as flames formed in his palms. He focused his anger, strengthening it until the flames shot out from his hands. The pile of tobacco and rum ignited dangerously, shooting flames high up toward the sky.

"Now, I'll summon him... I guess..." Xena said, unsure. She took out the paper and read off a few words in Latin, then stepped back.

Everyone stood around for a few minutes, waiting impatiently. Then, Nagaveni asked, "So, um... Did it work? Did we do something wrong?"