All my emotions fled from me at once as an odd kind of calm took over. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but instead that I accepted it all, giving myself over to the moment. Brenin gripped his first tool and started to sketch something into the skin of my back, the shallow cuts bleeding freely as my friends screamed bloody murder at him and I stayed silent. The pain built pressure inside as my Wild Magic coiled, waiting for something I couldn’t think about. I screamed as skin was burned, sealing the cuts he’d just inflicted, my entire mind teetering on the edge of sanity as I tried to just hang on.
The Archive in my head was silent as the book on the altar started to radiate a terribly twisted darkness. A blackness that was hard to look at was vomited out of the pages, thankfully crawling away from the babies but somehow stretching into gate midair. The frame work for the Breach was being built, whatever it was that Brenin had carved and branded into my back drawing the Archive out of me and using its power to fuel the framework.
“Call the Chaos out Callahan.” Brenin commanded me and I actually laughed, feeling my sanity start to crumble as the Breach began solidifying into this reality. “I warned you that I would use you completely and own your soul before this was all over my pet. Now do as I command!” he struck out and hit me across the face.
Obscenely enough that strike helped to clear my head and settle something inside. “I am not yours to command Brenin, I never was. No one here has that kind of power over me, not even myself.” Because I finally realized that that was who the strange voice in my head was, me. Some version of myself from a future where I embraced Death, embraced the Reaper and was given a chance to come back to the moments I needed to alter, to give myself the advice and guidance I needed. But not once did I have the ability to command even myself to act. It has always been about choices. “Release me, release my family and I’ll finish summoning the Breach.” It needed to be done.
“I am King here!” Brenin spat at me and I let some of the rage in my gut curl through my skin. It presented in actual form, thorns that covered my flesh without wounding me, grasping vines that wrapped around the chains on my wrist and wrenching them open so that I freed myself.
“You are nothing. You are not even the ash and dust of ruination.” I stood to my feet and Brenin backed away from me. For the first time the power dynamic shifted in my favour; whatever he saw on my face must have been truly horrible indeed. “You are not the even the pus and rot of decay.” I stalked forwards and he scrambled backwards, unaware of where his footsteps led him; unable to look away from my advance. “You are nothing, and you will not even be remembered.” I warned with a terrible whisper as he stepped back once and hit the gate of the Breach.
Brenin screamed as the terrible blackness of the Breach sank into his body, wrapping around his limbs as he tried to pull away. As I watched, the darkness oozed into his screaming mouth and flowed down his throat, silencing the sounds but not yet killing him. It spread under his skin, the darkness radiating until it filled him completely and finally consumed his heart, with a last wrench Brenin’s body exploded into gore, all of it absorbed into the gate with no trace left behind of the one Demon King.
The Wild Magic inside me coiled and quivered, feeling the draw of the Breach like a magnetic pull. I had Chaos in front of my and a version of it inside me, and they were both very eager to be reunited, but I resisted. If I didn’t close that Breach, more of those monsters would come through, and they had been steadily fed on Power for too long for any of us to handle. Some version of me from the future had already failed at this, for her to know that this was the moment I could make a difference and yet I didn’t know what to do. The Wild Magic in me didn’t want to lash out and destroy it, it wanted to rip it open and spill it forth. I did my best to ignore the pull, going to my friends and freeing them of their bonds even as the gate swelled larger.
It was far too close to the babies now. Some part of me knew that the Chaos wanted to consume all life, and it would eagerly start with the newborns. As the gate swelled again Cassie sobbed, stumbling towards her children even if it meant being killed in the process. So I beat her to it; I always was the faster runner. As the Chaos reached out a tendril to wrap around the newly born Jasmine and Brandon, I threw myself in front of them and felt it almost gently caress my face instead; and then I felt my body drop to the floor as my soul ripped away.
I was on the couch in the twisting void once again. This time no specter of my failed future faced me, instead I sat with Death, both of us watching as the fabric of my soul unraveled. I wondered if I had finally gone mad when the words I had spoken to myself came back to me only this time I understood their meaning. “You’re not crazy yet but you will be; bad things are about to happen to you. You won’t have earned it, you certainly don’t deserve it, and unfortunately you will survive it. There are too many people watching you to let you go on the dead list permanently just yet. Focus; you’ve got very little time to figure things out and it’s already running out. You gift isn’t elements, its adapting and using energies. Your twin can tap into energy like you can but hers uses her as a channel, you can actually use yours as a tool.You need to fight this. It’s tough but you can push it back.Fight back!Just let the moment pass. You’re alive, keep fighting.Something major is happening and you are a part of it, without ever being given the choice on the matter. It’s unfortunate but necessary, and sadly nowhere near done yet. You have the ability to endure all of this and more without shattering; all of this has changed you and that change can never be undone, you need to adapt. The choice is yours; when you chose to stay alive it means that you chose to stay here as well. This is the something major, the reason you have had to endure and be here. The angels you’ve encountered, the demons you’ve fought, and the alliances you’ve forged, all of that has been leading you here. With the barriers properly joined and sealed, no more energy leaks through to the Place Between. The Time is coming.” Death watched me patiently, smiling at me in encouragement as I realized my task and the things that were still to come.
“Do you chose to accept?” Death asked me, holding out a hand for me to clasp.
“I will be a Tribute of Death. I will contain the Chaos. I will try and help reestablish the balance. I accept.” I finally chose, the Power word that Michael had given me so long ago finally coming to me.
I was lying on the cold stone floor and heard screaming. It was never a good sign when you start with a face full of blood and screams in the air. The last time I’d thought that, I’d been a much simpler person living a much easier life. I stuffed my scattered thoughts away as I pushed to my hands and knees, trying to look up. Everything looked slightly different to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on how it had changed. My arms shook with shock and weakness as I watched Demon fire try to consume the Breach. My allies were on the far side of the fire, unaware yet as to my resurrection. My face felt oddly stiff, my back screamed in agony from where I had been burned and I had the urge to go to sleep, which was patently ridiculous. I ignored all of that to focus on something that had escaped my notice at first; my friends were no longer alone. The Higher Powers I had met in Nikka’s Realm stood in support of my family, but even with their strength combined in they had no hope of holding the Breach back. The dark tendrils oozed and lashed, testing and tasting the Demon Fire as if it enjoyed the challenge of consuming that energy source first.
Cassie held her babies tight to her, both of them wailing their delight to be alive still. Nikka stood in front of my twin, shielding her with wings I had only ever seen twice before. Once when the Arc Angel had given me a sliver of her power to help keep me sane, and again when I had asked her to reveal them to try and free her. Zeke stood beside Cassie, arm curled over her shoulder protectively and despite his actions, the vampire had Barry at his side. Alex stood next to Nikka, the front line of defense for my family and I could clearly see tears had streaked his face.
“We need to get her body and get out of here!” Alex growled out, as if this were an argument already underway.
“Don’t be stupid! The idiot got herself killed going near that, we’ll just follow in her footsteps if we try to get her corpse. We need to find a way to seal the Breach!” The Arc Angel Raphael yelled back.
“The idiot’s not dead.” I interrupted as I finally staggered to my feet.
“Cal!” I heard Cassie cry out in relief.
“Impossible.” Uriel sounded like someone had hit him, voice strained.
“Apparently not, remember that I’m a good old fashioned abomination remember?” I spat out as my body swayed. I no longer felt drawn to the Breach, no magnetic pull from my Wild Magic to go dancing into the Chaos; instead it was plain blood loss that had me teetering. I used the sway to start staggering around the Demon fire towards my family, and the tendrils of the Breach tracked my movements so I stopped.
“Callahan, if you don’t get your ass over here I’ll come to you.” Alex warned with a growl.
“Not entirely sure if that’s supposed to make me move faster or stay put.” I replied as I fought not to fall over again.
“Would you two save your flirting until later? This is a serious situation!” Sebastien hissed at us nervously, standing with Aerona.
“The Breach is trying to come in all the broken places, not just here. It is the Place Between and Beyond, and we have to find a way to seal all of the Realms from it. Not just here, not just now.” I pointed out, for once the one with the answers. “It consumes, sucks dry whatever Power it gets a hold of, and it will never stop. Not until this side of reality resembles the Void of Chaos. Everywhere those things have come through needs to be cauterized, all trace of it banished back somehow.”
“And how exactly are we supposed to do that when the merest brush of it is death or worse?” I wasn’t even sure who asked me that question because I was staring at the Breach as something occurred to me.
“Aerona, how long have your people had the Archive?” I asked, sounding far too casual as all the tendrils of the Breach reached towards me, pressing against the suddenly weakening Demon Fire.
“Always. It’s been inherited and protected by every Demon King since we have recorded history.” Aerona replied, sounding confused.
That was the trick, at least for this Breach. The Archive had been the bridge, the place where this piece of Chaos had hidden since the Source shattered. Some of Order fell into Chaos that day and some Chaos remained buried in Order. It was time everyone got to go home, and that meant putting this Chaos back where it came from. I stepped away from my family and went back to the altar where the Archive lay abandoned.
Right now it was just a book, just an empty container that someone has so cleverly created eons ago. “Cassie, I need you for this.” I called out to my twin, wishing that I had a chance to explain this to her before now.
I could hear an argument from Zeke and the others but I knew my twin would come to my side, even if it meant leaving her infants with the others. “What do you need me to do Callie?” Cass asked, terror written in every line of her face.
“I just need you to trust me love. This is what we were built for, why you were able to carry a vampire’s children. You channel energy, all energy. I can use all energy. Right now I need to pull that Breach to me, and you just focus on pushing it into the book. We do this right, and when that cover is closed, so is this Breach.” I sounded like the voice in my head used to, cryptic and failing at being soothing. But Cassie nodded even if she didn’t fully understand, because she loved me enough to trust me.
I reached a hand out to the Breach and it easily broke through the Demon Fire containing it now. The tendril that had killed me earlier now wrapped around my arm, gentle as a lover would be. And I pulled that Power into me. Hot, sulphurous vapors filled me as the Breach raced to consume everything I had to offer. It wanted to reach through me to all those people I’d connected to; Nikka with her sliver of power hidden as branded feathers on my side, Alex and his bond to me maintained because of our love. I took all of the energy of the Breach inside and instead of trying to contain it, I simply adapted it, turning the Chaos back into writing for the Archive to absorb. And Cassie, dear sweet Cassie, did exactly what I needed her to do. She felt the Chaos touch her and sent it flying into the Archive. With that Power Word the Arc Angel Michael had given to me now mine to use, I let go the last of the Chaos and together Cassie and I slammed the cover of the Archive closed. The Breach was no more but the energy still slammed out in a shock wave of pressure, knocking everyone from their feet.
In a detached state I vaguely hoped that the babies took the fall well; I had their mother wrapped in my arms so that Cassie had a safe fall, on top of me. I helped her to her feet and saw Nikka cradling the babies, her wings offering whatever protection they could while the infants were in Zeke’s arms. I didn’t understand how she and I were connected yet, but even if she hated Zeke as much as I did, she’d known to protect the children. I looked past the Angel, desperate to see Alex. He was on his knees, starting at me and I didn’t know how to react to him. Things were different now; I’d died and been reborn, and he could feel the change in me even if our bond remained. Barry was only just starting to sit up, clearly dazed by what had happened. Sebastien crouched near Aerona, both staring at me in caution and awe as I lifted the Archive into my trembling hands. She was now the High King of Hell and it would be her burden to keep the Archive away from any and all that would come looking for that kind of Power.
Cassie walked beside me as we escorted the Archive to the King of Hell. Aerona’s body no longer looked like a twelve year old child, whatever power Brenin had over her was gone and she was free to be the adult woman she presented herself as now. “It’s not an easy task you have. This was only one Breach, but if we had failed to close it there would be no tomorrow for anyone. Use your histories, speak to your people, all of the places those things came through are the weak points. Create a grid and get it to me as soon as possible. Survive, and guard this like nothing else alive.” I warned as I handed her the Archive.
“It’s a tempting thing, all that Power, and there will be those drawn to it more now than ever before. A fate worse than Death waits if it is set free.” Cassie warned, having understood more of it than I thought she’d have time to realize.
“I’ll guard it and keep it sealed.” Aerona promised and I knew she would keep her word. We left her standing with Sebastien and walked to the Arc Angels.
They stood in a horseshoe around my twin and I, having already condemned us as abominations for the accident of our birth. Something I still didn’t have the details on yet, which was frustrating. “You don’t get to judge us. Not Cassie for bearing a vampire’s children, and not me for what I am now. You have your own battles to face with the breaches in your Realm. But the solution is not to withdraw as you have been; all the Realms must combine so we can seal off the Place Beyond. If there is only one Realm, there are no bridges Between that can be attacked and weakened. Your tasks now are the same as Aerona’s, create a grid of all the gateways for Chaos spilling in. This is going to be our template. And prepare your people.” The more I spoke, the less exhausted I felt. It was as if finally having a purpose and a path to follow bolstered me. I wasn’t so lost anymore, and that took away some of the constant fear.
“We’ll stay in contact through Nikka. You’ll have the information as soon as we’ve collected it.” Michael agreed without argument which was just downright weird. “From what we’ve heard your allies in Underhill will be relaying information to you as well as those you’ve stationed here, and a system has been arranged to get what resources are available to where they need to be as soon as the need arises. You humans are quite efficient about this sort of thing.”
“One of the only benefits of a history filled of going to war with ourselves; we’ve learned how to hit the ground running.” Cassie chirped in helpfully.
“We’ll follow your lead on this then.” Michael conceded much to the surprise of everyone present. She gave Cassie a respectful nod and looked me straight in the eye as she stepped closer, the lock of my long ago cut hair in her grip. “Allies don’t hold blackmail on each other. I am sorry for all that has been done to you, and I hope that someday you’ll forgive me and mine for whatever role we had to play in all of this.”
I took the hair in my hand and it felt almost alien to me now. “Time and patience Michael; all things are easier to deal with once you have time and patience.” I replied as the Angels simply vanished, all except Nikka.
Everyone looked at me expectantly now that it seemed things were settling. It was turning into one of those awkward ‘no one knows what to say’ moments when little Brandon pissed all over Zeke. “The glamorous of parenthood.” Barry quipped and everyone gave some uncomfortable sounding laughter.
I was still topless but it didn’t matter, my body covered in blood and grime, hidden from nudity by all the detritus of my day. The distance everyone kept from me had nothing to do with the filth I was covered in, nor the bared state of my breasts. They were all unsure of me now, all except for Cassie, and I didn’t blame anyone for it. I was unsure of me, and actually wondering why it was that Cassie wasn’t as freaked out as I was. Even if no one was getting too close, I could feel their attention on me, every one of them trying to adjust to whatever changes they could see on me. And then I started to shake. No Wild Magic swarmed up at least, all of it had been purged when I helped seal the Breach, but I also didn’t have proper control of my own regular Magics any longer. Air started tearing, spurred on by the memories of fear and pain I tried to block away, my keepsakes from the time in Brenin’s care.
“Callahan!” I head yelled through the rushing sound in my ears and the unexpected sensation of fur under my fingertips helped anchor me in the moment and out of my phobic reaction. I blinked in shock and saw Alex in his tiger form, curled around me protectively. Small whirlwinds still eddied in the air but they were dying whispers compared to what I had inadvertently called.
“Did I hurt anyone this time?” I asked, voice hoarse.
“No, you controlled it just fine.” Alex’s voice rumbled out of the tiger’s mouth before he Changed back into his human shape, still crouched at my knees so that my fingers were in his hair.
“Oh good, I’d really like for there to be no more dying today.” My voice was whistful.
“Cal…” Nikka started but I shook my head and she fell quiet.
“I died. You all saw it. I died. And then I was given a chance to come back so I could make a difference. But I’m not the same as I was. I’m not sure what I am now, but I am dangerous. That is for sure. I’m dangerous to each and every one of you and to everyone else out there. Whatever I am now, the Chaos is drawn to me, even without Wild Magic inside me like a beacon.” I swallowed and shrugged. “I became what I had to be to face what is coming at us next.”
“What’s coming next?” Barry asked as everyone else seemed to hold their breath as I looked at my best friend sadly.
“If we want to keep the Chaos out, all of the Realms are going to come together in a very literal way. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to all live on the same Plane.” My announcement was met with some rather shocked expressions. Great way to start an inter species reunification.
END
Author's Note: I never wrote the next story for this, and even typing this one up I GREATLY changed a lot of the ending. Because now that I'm more experienced I can see where I killed my own plot in the original version. I'd made things needlessly complicated and confusing and ended up hating the end result so I'd abandoned the whole thing for years. Does that mean this is the end of the line for Callahan and the rest? Not likely now that I fixed things up but I haven't written that story yet. So it's getting added to the never ending list of stories I get to write sometime in the future. I hope you enjoyed this look into my story telling past, I'm as interested as you are in how I take it from here.