 
An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed

Book 5 of The Gods' Executioner Series

An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed

By A.L. Bridges

Copyright 2013 A.L. Bridges

Smashwords Edition v.3

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this eBook, please purchase another copy for each person. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this and other indie authors.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means; whether it is electronic, mechanical, or otherwise; without prior written consent from the author.

This novel is a work of fiction. All likenesses of people, organizations, or events are purely coincidental. All characters, organizations, events, and places are used in a fictitious manner.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

References

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter 1: And the answer is...

[December 18th]

"Thanks for offering to watch her for the weekend," Reyna says appreciatively.

"Yeah, thanks. Alice has been a bit of a handful since her fangs started coming in," Jason agrees.

"Of course! How could I say no to watching my niece?" and the girl who is possibly my daughter.

"Where is she?" I ask.

"In her room playing. ALICE!" Reyna calls out.

I hear bare feet slap against the obsidian flooring on the second floor of Jason and Reyna's house. When they decided that they needed their own space, Hel built them a two story house... on the palace grounds so they wouldn't be too far away.

"UNCLE COLE!" Alice squeals as she runs at me, stuffed white rabbit in hand. I pick her up and spin around as she squeals louder. I pull her in and give her a hug before simply supporting her up so Reyna can talk.

"Alright, Alice. Daddy and I are going to be gone for a day so I want you to be a good girl for Uncle Cole, okay?" Reyna asks. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Jason wink at Alice and she gives an understanding nod in response.

"Okay lady!" Alice replies and a smile crosses my face.

"Don't call me lady, Alice. I'm your mother," Reyna says.

"Okay lady! I love you, buh-bye!" Alice exclaims and I start laughing as Jason and Reyna grab their bags.

"You can pay me whenever," Jason whispers as he passes by me.

And here I thought that he couldn't do it. Jason snaps his fingers and disappears in a swirl of black mist with Reyna.

"So what do you want to do, Alice?" I ask.

"Let's watch TV," Alice replies and squirms in my arms to be put down.

I set her on the ground and she runs off towards the living room while carrying the fluffy stuffed white rabbit that I gave her on the day of her birth. I follow her and sit on the black leather couch before picking her up and setting her next to me after she tries and fails to climb onto it. After turning the TV on and changing the channel to cartoons, I settle in for some quality time with my goddaughter/ niece/ possibly actual daughter.

"Where's Auntie Rei?" Alice asks about ten minutes later.

"She had to work so it'll just be you and me," I tell her with a smile while looking into her piercing silver eyes.

Since Cheza graduated from Northern Arizona University last May, she's been working as an operator for The Agency. Naturally, I didn't approve.

****

"No, Cheza. I can't let you do this," I said after she informed me of her plans.

"Let me do this?" Cheza repeated with an angry tone.

"Sorry, I meant I don't want you to do this," I replied.

"It's not your choice to make, Cole. It's mine and I want to be an operator. I can handle myself and nothing is going to happen when I have a bulletproof suit," Cheza said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't cover your head!" I pointed out.

"Then I'll wear a helmet!" Cheza replied.

"All helmets have vulnerabilities. One shot to the eyes and you're dead," I said.

"Except with your helmet," Cheza said with a smug smile.

"Except with my helmet..." I saw where she was going with this.

"Please, Cole?" Cheza asked with the pouty look that she knows I can't say no to.

"*Sigh* I guess we're making a trip to Mount Kailash," I answered.

Cheza smiled at me and grabbed my hand. I touched my triskele to port us to Mount Kailash from our apartment in Flagstaff, Arizona. Once we arrived, I snapped my fingers and ported us to my parents' underwater house.

"Cole! Chezarei! What a nice surprise! Can I get you two anything to drink?" my mother, Parvati, asked when we appeared in the kitchen.

"Actually, I have a favor I need to ask of you," I replied.

"What is it?" Parvati inquired.

"Cheza wants to be an operator so she will be getting involved in more fights and she doesn't have anything that will protect her head. Can you set her up with a helmet like mine?" I requested.

"I think I can manage that for my daughter-in-law," my mother replied with a smile.

Parvati walked around behind Cheza and moved Cheza's short hair, which she had kept in the same style since Parvati cut it a few years ago, to the side. Parvati touched the back of Cheza's neck and closed her eyes. Cheza grimaced as a lotus pattern appeared to be burned into her skin. I felt the need to take her pain away, but there was a decent chance that it would mess with whatever Parvati was doing.

"All done!" Parvati announced about a minute later as the lotus turned silver. "Try it out. Just think about the helmet coming out of your neck and enveloping your head."

Cheza touched the back of her neck and closed her eyes, but nothing happened.

"It's not working..." Cheza replied.

"Just keep trying. You'll get the hang of it eventually," Parvati responded. I wondered if my memories of how my helmet works would help, so I sent them, but to no avail.

"Airi? A little help for Cheza, please?" I thought, but no answer came.

However, a few moments later, a silver liquid flowed from the back of Cheza's neck and enveloped her head. Her helmet resembled mine, except that it had what appeared to be a five point crown on top.

"Whoa... this is going to take some getting used to," Cheza said as the eye holes turned red.

I found it interesting that her voice wasn't modulated like mine does when my helmet is engaged. Cheza touched the back of her neck and the helmet retracted, leaving a silver lotus on the back of her neck.

"So this settles it, right? Your fine with me becoming an operator now?" Cheza asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I was fine with it, but I do feel better about it..." I replied.

****

"So what do you want for dinner?" I ask Alice.

"Mac and cheese!" Alice exclaims.

"Alright, I'll go make some mac and cheese then," I reply and head to the kitchen.

After boiling some noodles, I pull Velveeta out of the fridge and mix it all together.

"Alice! Dinner's ready!" I call out.

Alice runs into the kitchen as I set her bowl of mac and cheese on the table.

"Where's White Rabbit?" I ask as I lift her up and place her in her pink booster seat.

"He's late... like always," Alice replies while I'm sliding the booster seat tray in and placing her dinner on it.

"Can you handle this yourself or do I need to feed you?" I ask her.

"I can do it!" Alice replies and digs into her bowl with her Disney Princess spoon.

Unwanted memories start to resurface before I ruthlessly beat them back down. It's been nearly four years and I've accepted that she's not coming back.

" _If you help me take that bitch down... I can bring the girl back,"_ Loki's voice echoes through my mind.

"Alice, I need to run to the bathroom. Will you be alright?" I ask while fighting through my nausea. Alice nods and I head to the bathroom.

I cup my hands under the running water in the sink and splash water in my face to calm myself down. The bathroom lights flicker as I bring my head up and look at my reflection in the mirror.

"Have you given any thought as to my proposal?" Loki inquires while wearing an all-black suit and maroon tie as he stands behind me in the mirror. I quickly spin around, only to find that no one is there; however, when I turn back towards the mirror, Loki stands behind me in my reflection.

"Did you think I'd be foolish enough to handle this in person? So tell me, what is your answer?" Loki asks.

"It's the same as it was four years ago: I'm going to kill you and send you back to the Void," I reply and Loki smiles in the mirror.

"I was hoping you'd say that! This will make things so much more interesting! In the coming weeks, you will experience levels of anguish that you've never known before," Loki informs me with a smile that drips malevolence.

"We'll see about that. I haven't just been sitting on my ass for the last four years," I tell him.

"I can see that! Your aura is almost as black as the Void itself... I'm excited to find out what will happen once it devours you!" Loki exclaims.

"The events aren't quite prepared yet, but I have scheduled something to tide you over. I'll give you a hint: it has something to do with Alice," Loki says.

"Loki, I swear to the Void, if you hurt her—" I start.

"Please, I would never dream of hurting my sweet great granddaughter! But then again, is she actually related to me at all?" Loki replies with a mischievous grin as I hear a window break in the kitchen.

I race out of the bathroom and down the hall as Alice starts screaming and is quickly cut off. After rounding the corner into the kitchen, I see a slender woman that is about five and a half feet tall, clad in a black leather suit and a black street bike helmet that encompasses her head. I notice that her gloved hand is holding a knife to Alice's throat while she covers Alice's mouth with her free hand.

"Let her go," I demand as my arm flushes black with the Void.

The woman removes the knife from Alice's throat. It's around now that I notice that she has a silver outline and her inner aura looks completely black...

"Omnus-say," the woman whispers as her silver outer aura flares and Alice falls asleep, but the woman keeps Alice positioned between us.

"Thank you. Who are you? What do you want?" I question with a stern tone.

"I'm simply following my orders to come here and say hello to you. As for whom I am? You can call me Sydney," the woman replies with a modulated voice, but unlike with my helmet, the modulation sounds electronic.

"So breaking and entering, followed by holding a knife to a three year old girl's throat is how you say hello?" I ask.

"A bit unorthodox, I admit, but I had to get your attention. After all, we will be seeing a lot more of each other in the near future," Sydney says as I hear some of Hel's security forces approaching.

"Looks like my time is up. It was nice to see you again. Tell the Night Ice Queen that I said hi and that I'll be seeing her again soon as well," Sydney calls out as she jumps back out the window.

She runs across the palace grounds at a speed that would be difficult for even me to follow. I hear the bark of the hellhounds in the distance as they give pursuit. Garmr, Hel's constantly bloodstained watchdog and Norse equivalent of a one-headed Cerberus, might even be with them, but they won't catch Sydney.

"Feros! Is Princess Alice alright!?" the security force calls out as they pound on the front door. I pick up the sleeping Alice and walk over to answer the door.

"We're fine. The intruder used a spell to put Alice to sleep, but we are both unharmed. I'm going to put Alice to bed now and stay with her through the night," I tell the three heavily armed men.

"Alright. I'll post a security detail around the house," the head guard replies.

"There is no need for that. I can protect Alice in the event that anyone comes back. The only reason she got hit with a sleeping spell to begin with is because the intruder broke in while I was in the bathroom. Instead of the security detail, you should focus on discovering how the intruder managed to infiltrate the palace undetected," I tell them.

"Yes, Feros. I'll have a report by morning. Goodnight," the head guard says and the three leave.

I grab Alice's rabbit from the living room before carrying them both upstairs to the guest bedroom. Upon seeing that she is wearing relatively comfortable clothing and with no way to cram an unconscious three year old into her footy pajamas, I tuck her into bed before stripping down to my usual sleeping attire and sliding in next to her. It takes a few hours for my mind to settle down with all the questions about Loki and Sydney, but I'm finally able to fall asleep.

****

Chapter 2: First Meal

[July 9th, five months prior]

"Wait a minute, so let me get this straight... Cheza is worse than I am?" I ask Natasha as she nurses her drink at the bar of the restaurant in Hades, which is the location of Alice's third birthday party. This is the first time we've had a real conversation in years. Ever since the wedding, Natasha and I have distanced ourselves from each other. We've seen each other and hung out with our group of friends, but we haven't really talked with just the two of us.

"Yeah. In the month she has been at The Agency, she has been sent on three missions. The first mission was to investigate a pack of were-cougars in the Cascade Mountains. She killed everyone with ice spikes. Her second mission, a simple observe and report, ended with her encasing the target in ice when he stopped her to ask what time it was. That one can be chalked up to a rookie mistake because she thought she had been made," Natasha says and finishes her drink.

"Well, what about the latest mission? The one in North Dakota? I went with her to North Dakota and she didn't look too pleased with the results of the mission, but she wouldn't tell me about it when I asked," I inquire.

"Everyone died—giant ice spikes. While this was an elimination mission and she technically succeeded, she leveled the entire building with her black ice spikes. People have started calling her the Night Ice Queen," Natasha bluntly replies.

"Night Ice Queen?" I inquire.

"Because the ice she makes is as black as night, her helmet makes it look like she's wearing a crown, and she's the last thing her enemies see before they shut their eyes. Kind of like a 'nighty-night' or 'say goodnight' type of thing, I guess..." Natasha explains and an awkward silence hangs in the air.

"Let's head back to the private room," Natasha suggests and we start walking back towards the party.

"Void Ice Queen would be a better name," I mention.

"Yeah, but except for our circle and the gods, very few people even know about the Void," Natasha replies before I overhear Hel.

"There's a situation in Niflheim so I need to head back. Happy birthday, Alice," Hel says and gives her granddaughter a kiss on the cheek before porting away.

"Yeah, I suppose. Still, what Cheza did wasn't nearly as bad as the shit I've done," I say.

"You sound kind of proud about that," Natasha responds.

"What? Of course I'm not proud of it!" I reply, completely unconvincingly. "Anyway, what's been going on with the whole Feros thing?"

"Well, in the past few years that you've been keeping things quiet, you've sort of faded into obscurity, much like the b-list celebrity who finally grows up and stops driving with an alcohol level high enough to kill a bear while snorting lines of coke off of the dashboard before flashing her vag as she gets out of the car when the cops arrest her. Once you stop making waves, you fade to the backs of people's minds," Natasha replies.

"So I've been replaced by the Night Ice Queen, eh?" I ask.

"It seems so... Honestly, I'm thankful for it. Having your ass in the spotlight was too much trouble!" Natasha jokingly exclaims.

I hear a scream as roughly fifty vampires storm into the restaurant, armed with P90 submachine guns and/ or swords.

"Nobody move!" a vampire orders as I check out his bronze colored aura. Mix red and silver and what do you get? He must be enhanced with a new version of Loki's serum.

"Feros! I know you're in here! Come out, or we kill everyone in the restaurant," the leader shouts.

There are probably two hundred people in this restaurant. That's too many deaths if I handle this recklessly. I feel Cheza start to get frosty so I open up our connection.

"No, things will go badly if you act now. Too much collateral damage," I think to her as I engage my helmet.

I take several deep, oxygenating breaths, and walk out of the room with my hands held over my head. The moment I step out into the open, I get shot in the chest about fifteen times, puncturing both lungs, shattering a few ribs, and severing a few arteries.

(The rounds have been loaded with chlorotoxin and an electrical impulse, which are completely ineffective now that you hold Jupiter's power over electricity. Smart move oxygenating your blood in case both lungs were punctured doing this, Master)

"Thanks, Genie. I guess Sara is going to be busy pretty soon, huh? Now let's show these guys what we can do."

The Void fills my eyes as my left arm flushes black and I throw it in the air. Five black tendrils shoot out of each of the holes in my forearm and connect with the faces of each of the vampires faster than they can comprehend. In the past three years, I've been working on speeding up the tendrils and I've been able to decrease the size of the tendrils to create more of them for less cost. Once I got the accuracy up, the smaller tendrils became much more effective. Who needs a three foot crater when one foot is more than enough to take out a head?

I hit the ground as all of the headless vampires rain blood down upon the restaurant's patrons and the majority of them start screaming. A stampede towards the exits ensues as everyone freaks out over my act.

"COLE!" I hear Cheza scream as she rushes to my side.

"I'll be fine, Cheza. However, I do need to get to Sara and I'm running low on oxygen," I think.

Cheza nods and runs to grab Natasha before returning to my position as I start to see stars. I feel her cold hand entwine in mine, but before I touch my Haglaz rune on my right shoulder, I turn my head towards Natasha and contact her. The connection opens up with some difficulty, like a steel door that is close to being rusted shut.

"Think I've still been replaced?" I think.

"Cole... I'm pretty sure it is impossible for anyone to replace you," Natasha thinks with a tender smile and I touch my Haglaz. I lose consciousness as my body hits the tile floor of the house in Arizona.

****

[December 19th]

I wake up in the middle of the night to the feeling of someone biting into my neck. My eye's shoot open and I see my goddaughter straddling my chest whilst gnawing on my jugular.

"Alice? What are you doing?" I ask, surprise flooding my tone as I sit up in bed.

"I don't know... I woke up and I was hungry and you smelled so good, Uncle Cole," Alice starts crying as she explains, barely intelligible when muffled by my neck.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Cole! I can't stop!" Alice cries. I gently embrace her and start stroking the back of her head.

"It's okay, sweetie. You take as much as you need," I tell her as I allow the blood to slowly flow from my neck.

"But mommy said that I shouldn't bite people! That I might accidentally kill them! I don't want to kill you, Uncle Cole, but I can't stop!" Alice cries harder.

"Don't worry about that. Your Uncle Cole is special. Unlike most people, he won't be easily killed if you're hungry. So with me, it's okay to drink as much as you want. I promise that I won't die," I reassure her.

Alice's crying lessens as she continues drinking from my neck. She finally detaches herself a few minutes later.

"Uncle Cole...?" Alice asks. I really do not like the tone she's using.

"I don't feel so good..." Alice says as I pick her up and race to the bathroom, knocking Alice's rabbit to the floor in the process.

I throw open the bedroom door, cross the hall, and enter the bathroom. I'm able to get the toilet seat up and hold Alice over it before she blows, but the blood vomit ricochets back and covers both of us. As I stand there, dripping with blood vomit, holding my three year old goddaughter who is also dripping with blood vomit, I notice that saran wrap is over the toilet just before I notice a yellow post-it note on the wall to the left of the toilet. I set Alice down, bend down, and pull the note off of the wall.

Cole,

By now, you have noticed the saran wrap. Ha ha.

Love, Jason

"Well, I guess we both could use a bath right about now," I tell Alice as I set her down.

"Sorry, Uncle Cole..." Alice quietly replies.

"I don't blame you, sweetie. I'll get the bath started," I say as I walk over to the bathtub.

"I'll go get the bath time candles!" Alice exclaims and runs out of the bathroom.

"Okay?" I reply, confused.

I get the bath to a suitable temperature and grab towels before noticing that Alice and I are tracking blood everywhere. I'll just have to take care of that later I guess... or call for the maids to do it. Alice walks back into the bathroom with an armful of candles. She reaches up and places six candles on the bathroom counter.

"Uncle Cole? Can you light these?" Alice asks.

"Sure, just stand back," I tell Alice and she moves to stand behind me.

My left arm flushes black and a purple lightning bolt appears on the back of my hand as I point my index finger at the candles. Six tiny arcs of lightning shoot out of my index finger and light the wicks on fire.

Should I be using my Void powers so frivolously when they could lead to my death in one form or another? Probably not, but I discovered that utilizing the powers that I've gained from the fallen gods doesn't turn my eyes black, which Airi tells me is the sign that the Void is a step closer to taking over my aura. So lightning and water manipulation: good. Void tendrils and breaking things down into smoke: not so much.

"Ooh! Pretty!" Alice exclaims with excitement.

"Alright, let's get this blood off of us," I say.

"Wait, Uncle Cole! There's no bath time music!" Alice pouts.

I think Alice might've walked in on something that she shouldn't have and got the wrong idea, but hell if I'm going to be the one to explain things. What am I, her dad? ...I'm still not explaining things.

"I'll go grab my phone, I guess. I'll be right back," I tell her and run back to the room, grab my phone off of the night stand, and return to the bathroom.

I shuffle my music list with the first song being by the Arctic Monkeys, turn the volume all the way up, and set my phone next to the candles. I pull off my t-shirt and leave my boxers on to avoid awkward questions before Alice runs over and turns off the bathroom light. I help her out of her clothes, pick her up, step into the bath tub, and sit us down. After we dye the water a light shade of red, I wash the blood puke out of Alice's long black hair. I'm able to accomplish the hair washing without getting soap in her silver eyes as I'm reminded of Addie.

"Uncle Cole? I'm hungry again..." Alice sheepishly informs me.

"Already? Well, I suppose that's to be expected since it didn't stay in you for very long the first time around. Work on restraining yourself so you don't puke again, okay?" I reply as I sit back against the wall of the bathtub.

"Okay," Alice quietly says.

Alice climbs into my lap and bites into my neck as a few tears slip down her cheeks.

"It's okay, sweetie. It's not your fault, it's just who you are," I tell Alice as I hug her to let her know that she isn't doing anything wrong.

My shuffled music list of over eight hundred songs decides that now is the time for some Barry White, just to make things awkward for me. Damn you, uPhone! Learn to read a mood and leave that shit out! I am really glad that Cheza blocks our connection when she's on a mission or she might've gotten the wrong idea, like she always does. The bathroom light suddenly turns on.

"Cole!? What are you doing!?" Reyna asks in a state of panic from the open door before Jason walks up behind her.

Why does she look so panicked? She and Jason must've come home early when they heard about the intruder... is this about the blood we tracked through the hallway? Is she worried that we were injured?

Then I take in the full force of this picture: bathtub, candles, Barry White, their three year old daughter straddling a perceivably naked man in the tub while kissing his neck as he holds her close to him... all this is missing is a smattering of rose petals and an empty bottle of wine to become a pedophile's idea of the perfect evening! It's only topped by the fact that the water is bloody and Alice has been crying recently to make this look like the perfect storm of 'holy shit I'm going to get arrested for child molestation.'

"Aw—Awwwww!" is all I can manage to say with my downtrodden tone as I look around at the situation. Why does this shit always happen to me!? Jason starts cracking up and alleviates some of my stress.

"WHAT IS SO FUNNY ABOUT THIS!?" Reyna shrieks. It looks like misunderstandings of this situation aren't solely Cheza's department.

"Haha! The saran wrap! Hahahaha! The saran wrap!" Jason replies while in stitches. So it seems he's figured everything out.

"I'm sorry, Mommy! I was just so hungry and Uncle Cole smells so good and he said it was okay..." Alice starts to cry.

"Oh mija, I'm not angry at you. I just misunderstood. It's okay," Reyna gently says as she helps Alice out of the tub.

"I'll go grab you some clean jammies," Reyna adds and heads out of the bathroom and down the hall towards Alice's room.

"So, Cole... are you attracted to young girls?" Jason asks me in a serious sounding tone, but with a smile that says he's fucking with me as he dries Alice off and I step out of the tub.

"Well, that depends... do you want me to go the R. Kelly route and say define 'young,' or the Sandusky route and say that I 'like young people and enjoy being around them'?" I ask while drying off, wrapping my towel around my waist, and slipping off my soaked boxers underneath the towel. Jason and I both start laughing as Reyna comes in with a pair of Alice's footie pajamas and helps her into them.

"Come on. It's been a long night so I think we should all get some sleep. Cole, is it alright if Alice sleeps with you?" Reyna asks and I realize that it must have something to do with a bloodlust that comes with the fangs.

"Sure. We can talk about what happened tomorrow at breakfast," I reply before realizing that, with the exception of the towel, I'm completely naked and my clothes are all in the bedroom. Jason smirks at me and snaps his fingers, applying a clean pair of boxers and flannel pajama bottoms.

"Right. Let's go get some sleep," I tell Alice.

"Okay. Goodnight, Mommy. Goodnight, Daddy," Alice says and follows me into the guest bedroom. I lift her into bed and slide in next to her before shutting off the light.

"If you get hungry in the middle of the night, just go ahead and take a bite. You don't need to wake me up," I tell Alice.

"Okay... thanks, Uncle Cole," Alice softly replies and I kiss her forehead.

"Goodnight, Alice," I say and drift off to sleep.

...

"So walk us through what happened," Reyna says after breakfast, once Alice has been put down for her nap.

"Well, Alice was eating dinner and I felt nauseated so I went to the bathroom and splashed some water in my face. Then shit got weird. As I brought my head up, I saw Loki standing behind me in the mirror, but he wasn't behind me when I turned around. Loki asked me what my answer was in response to helping him in return for bringing Addie back. I told him that my answer is the same as it was four years ago: that I'm going to kill him. He said he was happy that was my answer and that he had several things planned for me before I heard the window break in the kitchen. I rushed out there and found a woman in a black leather riding suit with a black street bike helmet holding a knife to Alice's throat," I recant while looking away.

"I'm sorry... that never should have happened and it's my fault..." I quietly admit.

"It's alright, bro. Alice is safe so it's fine. What happened next?" Jason asks.

"I told the woman to let Alice go. She responded by doing just that after using a spell to put Alice to sleep. She told me that she was following orders to come and say hello, meaning that she must work for Loki. She also told me that it was nice to see me again and that she'll be seeing the Night Ice Queen again soon as well," I recap.

"Did you recognize anything about her?" Reyna inquires.

"Nothing. I couldn't even tell what ethnicity she was because her skin was completely covered. As far as I know, I've never met her. All I know is that she calls herself Sydney and is about five and half feet tall with a very slender figure," I reply.

"Plank like?" Jason asks.

"Close to flat as a board... Hmm, I think I may have a lead," I say as I think of Charlotte.

Same height, body type, and knife proficiency... I wonder where she was last night. There's a knock at the door and Jason goes over to answer it.

"Prince Jason, I'm here to make my report," the head security guard from last night says from the doorway. I leave the kitchen and stand behind Jason to hear the report.

"I apologize, but we weren't able to catch the intruder," the guard says.

"Don't worry, I didn't expect you to. The speed with which they were retreating would've made it incredibly difficult to catch them, even for me. What about how they got in?" I ask.

"We weren't able to discover that either... we had no idea they were on the grounds until the window broke," the guard reports while looking at the ground with shame.

Sydney must've known about the security system in place since she most likely works for Loki, knowing that the security force would arrive promptly, cutting our meeting short. That amount of time is really only enough for introductions, which is exactly why she said she was here. Knowing that security was on their way and that I had to take care of Alice deterred me from following, which all but assured her escape. This had been well planned indeed, which seems to be something of Loki's forte. The only question that remains is how she was able to exit undetected.

"I assume the gates were locked down once the intruder was detected?" I question.

"Uh, yes sir. All of Niflheim was locked down within five minutes of detection," the guard answers.

That doesn't restrict porting, but Hel would have been able to sense any porting within all of Niflheim. Thinking back to when Loki showed up at the wedding, Hel seemed pretty surprised... Was that just because she didn't expect to see him, or was it because she didn't sense him come in? I should go speak with her.

"I need you to go inform Hel that I need to speak with her immediately. I'll meet her in the front sitting room of the palace in ten minutes," I tell the guard.

"Yes, Feros," the guard replies, bows to Jason, and runs off across the grounds.

I head upstairs, take a quick shower, dress in my normal jeans/ white t-shirt/ jacket combo, and touch my Haglaz to port to the sitting room in Hel's palace.

"Hello, Cole. What do you need?" Hel asks from her place on the black leather couch. I take a seat across from her.

"When Loki appeared at the wedding reception, were you able to sense him port in?" I ask.

"No, I didn't. Does my father have something to do with last night?" Hel questions.

"Yeah, he appeared to me in the bathroom mirror just before the break-in and the woman who broke in was sent by Loki for a meet and greet. I believe that Loki ported in with the woman and ported the two of them out. It's the only way that the woman could have slipped in and out undetected. The woman gave indications that we had met before so I'm going to look into it," I reply.

"I'll see you later," I add and port back to Jason and Reyna's house.

"Hey CT, how did things go with my mom?" Jason asks.

"Well, I figured out that Loki can't be detected when he ports, so he most likely brought the intruder in last night. I'm going to look into a few things since Sydney said we had met before," I respond.

Still, something doesn't seem right. While Loki physically porting Sydney out seems plausible, it is slightly too hands-on for his style...

"Cole, would you mind hanging around here for a few days? With Alice's bloodlust due to her fangs coming in, it would be a big help if you could stay around," Reyna requests.

"Yeah, I suppose I can do that," I reply.

"So what exactly happened last night?" Reyna asks.

"Well, I woke up and found Alice attached to my neck. She started crying and saying that she didn't want to kill me, but she couldn't stop. I gave her the go ahead to drink as much as she needed and reassured her that I wouldn't die. Then she felt like she was going to puke so I rushed her to the bathroom and got the seat up before she threw up, but it hit the saran wrap and drenched both of us," I explain.

"Yeah, I figured as much. What about the candles and Barry White though?" Jason asks.

"I'm blaming that one on you two. When I told Alice that we needed to take a bath, she went to grab the 'bath time candles' and when we were about to get in the tub, she said we needed 'bath time music,' so I grabbed my phone and put it on shuffle," I recant as Reyna and Jason look away with slight embarrassment.

"You should probably correct that misconception about bath time before it gets even worse," I tell them and my phone starts ringing so I answer it.

"Cole, I need your assistance," Maria informs me.

Chapter 3: Maria's Mission

"What's going on?" I ask.

"The vampires have grown restless under an azeman's rule," Maria replies.

"Why? What difference does it make who is ruling as long as it's essentially a vampire?" I inquire.

"Vampires and azeman have never gotten along very well because vampires see themselves as superior," Maria answers.

"So it's a race thing?" I question.

"Essentially, yes. A large rebellion of vampires has formed since the events during Alice's birthday party five months ago and they have started attacking the azeman embassies on earth. I could use your help," Maria replies. I wonder how much influence Loki has in this event...

"Alright, what do you need me to do?" I ask.

"The embassies in the southern hemisphere need assistance. The vampires have already hit all the large embassies in Panama and Mexico, cutting off support to the azeman embassies in the US. Half of those have already been taken out due to their smaller size and I've ordered the rest to retreat to the Underworld. The vampires aren't being subtle about this either. Some of the murders have taken place in broad daylight. The media hasn't reported a connection between all of the murders, but it's only a matter of time before it gets out," Maria informs me.

"Where do you need me?" I question.

"I need you by Reyna's side and to hand her your phone," Maria says.

"Reyna, your mother needs to speak with you," I tell Reyna and give her my phone.

"Hey mom, what's up?" Reyna answers and I listen in.

"I need you to contact The Agency's director and ask for assistance in guarding the paths leading to the gates to the Underworld in San Francisco and in Texas. All of the azeman in North America have become targets so I've ordered them all to come to the Underworld until we can get this rebellion settled. I was able to clear access for the North American gates to Niflheim and Mictlan. The murders of what are essentially refugees have gained media attention so I don't think the director will mind assisting," Maria says.

"What about the gate to Mictlan in Mexico Valley?" Reyna asks.

"That one has been opened to azeman as well, but Mexico has been lost and I'm not hopeful for many making it through that gate. Most azeman have already fled Mexico for either South America or the US," Maria replies.

"Alright, I'm sure Carla will help," Reyna replies.

"Good. I also need you to take a family trip down to Suriname. The Duchess needs to make an appearance at the embassy in our people's homeland," Maria adds.

"*Sigh* Fine... I understand that my presence will add some hope to the situation so I'll go, but only for a few days. It's too damn hot there," Reyna responds.

"Thank you. Cole will be accompanying you, Jason, and Alice as protection," Maria replies.

"Alright, we'll leave later today. Bye mom," Reyna says and hangs up.

"Did you get all that?" Reyna asks me.

"Yep. It sounds like we're all taking a trip to the little country north of Brazil," I reply, garnering stunned looks from Reyna and Jason.

"What? I figured I should get a handle on geography so I sat down with a globe and memorized the locations of every country about a year ago," I respond.

"Anyway, Reyna needs to call Carla and I'm pretty sure I just felt Alice waking up. Feel free to use my phone. Carla's private number is already in there," I tell Reyna and hustle upstairs to Alice's room.

I find Alice in a state of half sleep so I lift her over the guard rail of her bed and hold her. Alice sniffs twice and sinks her teeth into my neck; she doesn't have the hang of getting her fangs to stick out yet so she ends up gnawing at the left side of my neck with her normal teeth. Her gnawing tickles slightly and makes me chuckle before she finally breaks through the skin a bit, just enough for a drop of blood to drip through. Alice's fangs automatically jettison out of the roof of her mouth, just behind her canines, once her tongue tastes my blood. She drinks for about twenty seconds before startling awake.

"Uncle Cole! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Alice exclaims in a panic.

"Don't worry, sweetie. Just go ahead and drink. I want you to work on your control, okay? No more drinking to capacity," I gently tell her while stroking the back of her head with my right hand and supporting her up against my chest with my left.

"Okay..." Alice softly replies and starts lapping at my neck like a cat, which I imagine looks pretty damn cute, but I can't see it from this angle.

"So you, me, Mommy, and Daddy are going to be taking a trip," I inform her as she continues to lap up my blood.

"What kind of trip?" Alice asks as she stops licking my neck.

"Kind of like a vacation. We're going to the azeman homeland—where your ancestors came from," I explain.

"Where grandma came from?" Alice questions and starts suckling at my throat.

"Yes, and where her mother came from," I reply, realizing that her grasp of the word ancestor is tentative at best. I stop talking and let Alice continue drinking for a few minutes.

(Alice just reached 0.5 liters. She was at one liter when she vomited last night)

"Alright, let's cut her off."

I seal off the wounds in my neck as Alice continues to suckle at my neck with no results.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" I gently ask.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Alice quietly replies while struggling to pull away.

"Thanks, Cole," Reyna says, announcing her presence from the doorway.

"Did Uncle Cole explain that we're going on a trip?" Reyna asks and Alice nods as Reyna hands my phone back to me.

"When we get there, there are going to be a lot of other azeman there. They will most likely give you things and be really nice to you, but I want you to be careful. Don't accept any of the gifts, okay? No matter how nice they may seem, the people that might be giving these gifts are not doing it out of generosity. I was hoping to keep you out of situations like this until you were older, but circumstances have changed," Reyna explains.

"Okay, Mommy," Alice replies.

"Now, let's pack your clothes," Reyna says with a pleasant smile as I set Alice down.

"Cole, I'm done with my mission. Can you come and pick me up?" Cheza thinks once she establishes our connection.

"Sure, I needed to drop by the house anyway," I reply and Cheza sends me an image of where she is.

"I need to pick up Cheza and get my equipment from our house. How long are we staying in Suriname?" I ask Reyna.

"Probably for less than three days," Reyna replies.

"Alright, I'll go pack and be back in about an hour or so," I respond and touch my Haglaz rune to port Cheza's location.

I arrive in the hotel room in Minneapolis and Cheza jumps me, knocking me onto the bed before I realize that she's naked. Cheza unbuttons my jeans, pulls them off along with my boxers, rips my white t-shirt in half, and mounts me. She always gets like this after a mission.

...

About an hour later, Cheza lies nestled into my right side as we both try to get our wind back.

"So, I take it the mission went well?" I ask.

"Yeah... let's head home," Cheza replies, still breathing rather heavily.

We both gather our clothes, as well as Cheza's suitcase, and I port us to our house in Bellevue, Washington. Tia and Sara bought the house for us when Cheza learned that she had been assigned to the Seattle office of The Agency. We make our way into the master bathroom and hop into the shower together.

"I'm going to be gone for the next three days or so. Jason and Reyna need to take a trip to Suriname so I'm going to be accompanying them," I inform her.

"Alright, I actually have another mission anyway," Cheza tells me.

Since operators almost never go on back to back missions without at least a week of down time, I think I know what her mission is.

"Are you being assigned to San Francisco or Texas?" I ask.

"What? How did you know about that? I haven't even gotten the details yet," Cheza replies.

"There's some kind of vampire rebellion going on. Maria called me and asked for help. She has already given up on the US and Mexico and has ordered a full retreat. You'll be guarding the paths to the gates to help the refugees," I explain.

"Why are you going to Suriname, then?" Cheza inquires.

"Bodyguard duty. The Duchess is visiting the azeman homeland as a morale boost. I'm not sure where I'll be going from there, but I plan on helping Maria through this," I reply.

It is most likely my fault, after all. Either Loki is behind this and the vampire rebellion is an 'event' he planned for me, or this is the result of me having Maria kill King Byron. In both cases, I'm the root cause. Cheza and I step out of the shower, and start drying off.

"What are you hiding, Cole?" Cheza asks.

"What?" I reply.

"You feel like you want to tell me something," Cheza says and I sigh in response.

"Loki contacted me through a bathroom mirror last night. Then a mysterious woman showed up and indicated that we'd met, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen her before. She also mentioned that she'd met you, too," I recant. That reminds me...

"What happened?" Cheza questions.

"Nothing. A window was broken, but there wasn't any confrontation," I reply as I pull on a pair of armored jeans, wrap a cloth bandage around my left arm, and pull a t-shirt over my head. Cheza's phone rings so I grab my phone to send a quick text to Lila while Cheza walks into the other room to answer hers.

Hey, do you know where Charlotte was last night?

I get a reply as I pack a couple changes of clothes into my duffel bag, before unclipping the upper portion of my holster and sliding the Diamond swords into my bag. I stick the pouch of my holster with both of my guns and my Sic dagger to my lumbar while I look at the text.

Hey Cole! Haven't heard from u in a while! Ya, Charlotte was with me last night. Y?

I just thought I might've seen her. Do me a favor and be extra careful for the next few weeks, okay?

Well we r at my mom's house so I don't think u saw her... K but we need to catch up soon!

So I guess that clears Charlotte of being Sydney. Thinking back, I don't think Charlotte ever met Cheza anyway. I still have no clue as to Sydney's identity and I think that an all-black aura like hers would have made more of an impression on me. Maybe I've never actually met her before, unless her aura has changed recently... Maybe Loki ordered her to say that she knew me just to fuck with my head... That actually seems pretty likely. Occam's Razor and all that.

"So that was Carla. Looks like I'm going to Texas to defend the gate to Mictlan. Can you give me a lift to the office?" Cheza asks as she re-enters our bedroom while I'm putting my armored jacket on.

"Sure," I reply and hoist my bag over my shoulder. Cheza grabs my hand and I reach back to touch the triskele on my left shoulder, but I stop.

"What's up?" Cheza softly inquires. I quickly pull her into a hug.

"I want you to be careful, okay?" I whisper as Cheza hugs me back.

"I always am," Cheza whispers back.

"I know... it's just with what Loki said... I can't lose you..." I reply. Cheza pulls away and takes my face in both of her hands.

"I'm going to be fine. I'm not going to let Loki or anyone else take me away from you..." Cheza gently reassures me before pulling my head down and brushing her lips against mine.

"Now I'm more worried than ever that something is going to happen to you..." I say.

"Why?" Cheza asks.

"Because, that's what every character in any form of media says when the writer is trying to cheaply foreshadow something that usually ends with the character dying..." I reply.

"Would it make you feel better if I kept the connection open for this mission? That way if something starts to happen, you get an image and can port to my location," Cheza suggests.

"I can work with that," I compromise.

"Great. Can you take me to the office now?" Cheza asks and I touch my triskele.

I port the both of us to the tech lab of The Agency's Seattle office.

"Thanks!" Cheza says and gives me a kiss. "I'll send an image if I feel like I'm in over my head."

Cheza makes her way to the elevators while I search around for Ryuji or Naia's desk. I find Ryuji's first. Ryuji and Naia are the only ones that I've seen on a regular basis lately. Since they work with Cheza, we regularly have dinner together and occasional movie or game nights.

"Hey Ryuji, how are you?" I greet as I approach his desk.

"Hey Cole, I'm doing pretty well. You?" Ryuji asks.

"Same old. On my way to do some bodyguard business for Jason, Reyna, and Alice. This whole vampire rebellion has got everyone running around, huh?" I answer.

"Yeah, pretty much. Carla told us a couple hours ago and has had a large portion of operators throughout the country dispatched to cover the gates in San Francisco and Houston," Ryuji replies.

"Yeah, Cheza is getting sent to Houston... Isn't your birthday coming up soon?" I ask.

"Yup, twenty-seven on the twenty-seventh," Ryuji says.

"Golden birthday, then. Got any plans?" I question.

"I think Naia has something planned, but she won't tell me what," Ryuji replies with uncertainty.

"Well, it will most likely be a nice surprise, knowing her. Anyway, I need to get going. See you later!" I reply and touch my Haglaz rune after moving my duffel bag's strap to the side.

"Hey, where have you been?" Jason asks as I port into the kitchen and notice that the broken window has been repaired.

"Cheza needed some 'tending' to after her mission, wanting to get 'full use' out of her hotel room, and then she needed a ride to the office," I explain while using air quotes as needed.

"A 'ride' to the office?" Jason inquires while using air quotes.

"No, just a normal ride," I answer.

"Well, alright then! So, are we ready to go?" Jason asks Reyna.

"Yeah, we're all set. Here's a picture of the embassy, Cole. It's already 6pm in Paramaribo so we need to get going," Reyna says while showing me a picture of the front of the embassy on her phone.

The embassy looks like an old style colonial plantation house with four white pillars at the entrance, dark green shuttered windows, and what appears to be a wrought iron fence at the base of the picture.

"Alright, grab your bags," I tell Jason and Reyna while picking up Alice and her rabbit. I support Alice up with my left arm before Reyna grabs my left hand while holding Jason's with her right.

"And off we go," I say as I touch my Haglaz rune.

Chapter 4: Ostriches Aren't Cute

We arrive on the grassy front lawn of the azeman embassy in Paramaribo. The salty smell of the ocean wafts in from somewhere nearby as the sun starts to set. The white rabbit falls from Alice's grasp as I feel her go limp in my arms and immediately panic.

"Alice! Alice, what's wrong!?" I frantically ask while gently shaking her.

"Damn, I forgot all about that!" Reyna exclaims, looking rather sleepy.

"Forgot what!?" I inquire.

"Azeman, as well as vampires, don't have the ability to stay awake during the day until their tenth year after turning or being born. Even then, we still feel tired while the sun is up, but that can usually be offset with caffeine... or cocaine haha! I bet we could totally find some considering where we are!" Reyna exclaims in a giddy fashion.

"I've got some in the medical kit," Jason replies.

"Why do you have cocaine in the medical kit? You naughty boy, you!" Reyna exclaims while poking Jason in the chest.

"In case we need to perform emergency surgery," Jason explains.

"Well, cocaine was used as anesthesia for years..." I point out.

"I mean, how else am I supposed to stay focused enough to perform surgery!?" Jason asks while I stare at him incredulously and Reyna laughs.

"Are you feeling alright, Reyna?" I ask.

"I'm good! This will pass once the sun goes down and I'll get acclimated quickly enough. Too much time spent in the Underworld with artificial daylight. Alice will wake up a little while after the sun sets and will be wired throughout the night," Reyna explains.

"Well, let's get going!" Reyna exclaims and heads across the lawn towards the embassy.

After bending down to pick up Alice's rabbit, I follow after her. We walk up the three steps onto the porch of the embassy with four white stone pillars on each side of us. Reyna rings the doorbell and we wait for a moment before a slightly tired looking azeman with curly brown hair answers the door wearing an apron.

"Duchess Reyna! I wasn't aware that you had arrived!" the azeman exclaims, perking up at the sight of royalty. She's got an accent that I can't quite identify, but it doesn't sound Spanish or Portuguese.

"We ported in so any guards wouldn't have noticed us," I explain and the azeman gives me a cross look that implies that 'the human' shouldn't speak unless spoken to.

"And I see you've brought Princess Alice with you as well! Would you like to lay her down in a room for her slumber until the sun sets?" the azeman asks.

"That would be excellent, Miss..." Reyna says.

"My apologies! My name is Pavithra. I'm the head maid here at the embassy. Come, I'll show you to your rooms," Pavithra replies and walks in to the house.

We follow her straight in past the foyer, and up a grand staircase to the second floor. Judging by the wood flooring and style of the staircase, my earlier assessment of the embassy being built in the 17th or 18th century seems correct.

"We will only need two rooms," I inform Pavithra.

I'm not letting Alice out of my sight for even a second in this place. My statement garners a discontented look from Pavithra.

"And whom might you be?" Pavithra questions with a fake smile and ill-disguised glare as she stops and turns around to face me at the top of the staircase.

"I'm Cole: bodyguard and personal blood bag to Princess Alice," I explain, meeting her glare.

"He is also correct. We require two rooms: one for Jason and myself, and another for Cole and Alice," Reyna intercedes.

"Yes, Duchess," Pavithra cordially replies and continues down a hall to the right. She stops and opens a door on the right.

"If you find this to be acceptable, this will be your room, Duchess Reyna," Pavithra says while gesturing to the room before going across the hall and opening a door on the left. "And this will be Princess Alice's."

I walk into the simple room that holds a four poster queen-sized bed, a desk, and a dresser. I notice blackout curtains on the windows, which will be useful since Alice will now be sleeping during the day.

"This will do fine," I say as I set my bag down. "Where is the bathroom?"

"Three doors down the hall, on the left," Pavithra answers while Jason and Reyna walk into their room and set their bags down.

"I've been instructed to take you to the Lady of the house once you arrived," Pavithra informs Jason and Reyna.

"Of course. Cole, stay with Alice," Reyna instructs.

"I will have a maid come by to escort the princess to the dining hall once dinner is served," Pavithra says and shuts the door.

I listen as the footsteps fade down the hall while I put Alice to bed before sliding in beside her because of the lack of places to sit. For the next thirty minutes or so, I lie in the darkness beside Alice, thinking about Loki and Sydney and what part they might be playing in this vampire rebellion. I feel Alice stir as she sniffs around and crawls on top of my chest before biting into my neck.

"Uncle Cole? Where are we?" Alice asks, muffled by my neck and panicking slightly through her drowsiness. I gently hold her to calm her down.

"It's alright, sweetie. We're at the house of the azeman. Your mom and dad are at a meeting right now," I tell her as I turn over and pull the cord to turn the bedside lamp on.

"You fell asleep because of the effects of the sun on young azeman. I carried you here so you could sleep until the sun went down," I explain as Alice reaches half a liter and I cut her off. Alice realizes that she isn't getting any more blood so she works to pull herself away.

"Uncle Cole? I need to go potty," Alice informs me. I'm glad that I asked where the bathroom was earlier.

"Alright," I say as I move out of bed, pick Alice up, and set her on the ground. "Let's go."

I escort Alice down the hall to the third door on the left as she drags her rabbit by its front paw. I open the door to the bathroom and Alice walks in before I notice that the toilet is too high for her to be able to sit onto by herself. After shutting the door behind me, Alice pulls her skirt down and I lift her onto the toilet. I find myself torn between guarding her and giving her privacy.

"Can you turn around?" Alice sheepishly asks.

"Um, yeah, sure. Actually, I'll wait in the hall. Just shout for me when you're finished," I reply with slight embarrassment before heading out the door, realizing that I can guard her just as effectively if I guard the only way into the bathroom.

I stand guard in front of the door as the embassy becomes busier. Servants and other azeman pass by me with curious, discontented, or hungry gazes. I notice several male azeman with the black spot at the center of their color-swirl auras, most of them servants, and it dawns on me that the azeman have a very matriarchal society, whereas the vampire society seemed more patriarchal.

"I'm done..." Alice quietly says a minute later as I hear the toilet flush.

I re-enter the bathroom and help her off of the toilet. She pulls up her skirt and I hold her up to the sink so she can wash her hands. We return to our room, passing by several azeman that either stare in curiosity at Alice, or bow. Alice responds by hugging her rabbit to her chest and hiding behind my leg as much as possible until we get into the room.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I don't like how they all look at me..." Alice quietly tells me, her mouth barely visible behind the rabbit's ears.

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'm not going to let anything happen to you and I'll be with you the whole time," I reassure her, bringing up echoes of memories before I beat them back with a metaphorical stick.

"So have you thought about naming your rabbit?" I ask.

"I was going to name him Rabbi, but Daddy said I couldn't so I named him Whitey, but then Mommy said no..." Alice replies and I shake my head, knowing their thought processes when they said no to those names.

Jason: "Is it anti-Semitic to name a stuffed animal after a Jewish religious leader? I'm pretty sure it is... I'm not going to let my daughter grow up to be the next Mel Gibson so that name is out!"

Reyna: "Whitey seems a little racist... only towards white people so it doesn't really matter, but still."

"What about naming him Dynamite?" I suggest. Alice doesn't say anything and just cocks her head to the side with confusion.

"I promise that your mommy and daddy will approve of the name and will think it's funny," I tell her.

"Okay!" Alice agrees. A short rapt at the door interrupts our conversation.

"Come in," I reply.

"Hello. I have been ordered to escort you to the dining hall," an azeman maid informs us while Alice hides.

"Okay. Let's go, Alice," I say while turning towards her.

"Do I have to?" Alice quietly asks and I bend down to her level.

"I'll be with you the whole time," I softly reply and pick her up, holding her to my chest as Dynamite gets wedged between us.

I follow the maid out of the room and Alice buries her face in my left shoulder, just as I expected. Alice would be really cute as a baby penguin... why did I think of penguins and not ostriches to go with the face burying analogy? Well, ignoring the fact that an ostrich burying its head when in danger is a myth, it's because ostriches aren't cute. Even baby ostriches have a look on their face that constantly implies that they're considering whether or not they are going to fuck you up. Since Alice won't have anything to do with fucking for a long time—a very, very long time—I'm going to imagine her as a cuddly little penguin with an orca whale (me) for a bodyguard that brutally kills any seals that try to pick on her.

(Wouldn't that mean that you're going to try to eat her eventually?)

"Stop ruining my analogy, Airi."

I follow the maid down the staircase and to the left. After heading into the right wing of the house, we walk down a hallway and through an archway on the left, into a room with a sixteen person dining table. At the head of the table is a slender azeman woman with long black hair. Reyna and Jason are sitting to the right of the head, across from an empty seat... singular. Pavithra smirks at me as I walk into the hall. She must have planned this. I smile pleasantly back at her as I walk over to the head of the table.

"Alice is feeling a bit shy with all of the new people so I'm just going to feed her to make her more comfortable. I hope you don't mind," I say to the woman at the head of the table, whom I assume is the Lady of the house.

"Of course not! Please, take a seat," the Lady says and gestures towards the chair.

"Thank you, Lady..." I trail as I sit down, setting Alice on my lap.

"Demi, Lady Demi. You must be Cole, Princess Alice's valet," Demi says.

I'm about to correct her and say that Alice doesn't have a car yet when I remember that the valet I'm thinking of rhymes with fillet, while the valet she is talking about is akin to a manservant. Since I take care of Alice's 'meals,' describing me as a valet is not inaccurate.

"I'm also her bodyguard, Lady Demi," I reply.

"Is that so? I can understand having him as a valet for Princess Alice—he smells delicious—but having a human as a bodyguard?" Demi questions Reyna.

"The decision to have Cole as a bodyguard was actually my mother's," Reyna replies.

"Really? Do you like your bodyguard, Princess Alice?" Demi asks. Alice turns her head away from my shoulder just enough to uncover her right eye to look at Lady Demi.

"I love my Uncle Cole... he lets me drink his blood without getting mad and he keeps me safe," Alice softly answers.

My goddaughter/ niece working through her shyness to defend me requires all of my concentration to not squeeze her tightly and nuzzle her while telling her that I love her too... That will have to wait until we are back in the room.

"Heh, we'll see about that," a male azeman mutters from down the table on the opposite side at a volume that is too quiet for even the people beside him to hear.

"Would you care to repeat that?" I ask down the table, making eye contact with the azeman that said it.

"What?" he asks.

"Would you care to repeat what you just said about how you'll be seeing whether or not I can keep Alice safe?" I reiterate.

"What, are you looking to prove yourself so you're pretending I said something!?" he angrily asks.

"I have no need to prove myself. I simply have better hearing than most so I can hear your mutterings from across the table," I reply.

"I don't need this!" the man exclaims, stands from the table, and leaves the room.

Whatever he's planning will have to wait, I guess. It's not like he'll be able to get the jump on me anyway. Servers bring dinner out and lay two covered silver plates down in front of me. I lift off one cover and see that Alice is having homemade macaroni and cheese that has some sort of crumb garnish on top of it. I lift the other cover and see a ceramic dog food dish that has been embroidered with the words 'Good Human,' with a hamburger and fries in it.

"This is cute! Can I keep the bowl when I'm done?" I ask Demi, taking satisfaction in the fall of Pavithra's face out of the corner of my eye.

"Um, sure..." Demi replies while staring at the bowl in curiosity, her face clearly conveying that she isn't sure what's going on.

I take a bite of the hamburger and find it to be quite delectable. Alice sniffs a few times before turning around to look at the mac and cheese.

"Do you want some dinner?" I ask Alice and she nods.

I pick up a spoon, scoop it into Alice's dinner, and bring it to her face. She quickly moves her head forward and bites down on the spoon in a very bird-like motion.

"Mmm!" Alice exclaims and I bring another spoonful to her.

She repeats the same motion before noticing that people are watching her and, becoming shy again, turns back to hide her face in my shoulder while she chews. I come up with a solution to this problem and quickly eat my hamburger.

"Do you want to go back to the room?" I ask Alice and she nods against my shoulder.

"Okay. I'm going to take Alice's dinner with us. Is that alright, Lady Demi?" I inquire.

"Of course. I'll have a servant drop by to pick up the dishes later on," Demi replies.

"Thank you," I respond.

I stand up from the table, holding onto Alice with my left arm while balancing the plate on my right. I carry both up to the room, set Alice on the bed, and proceed to feed her.

"By the way, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to say this earlier, but I love you, sweetie," I tell Alice as I set the plate on the desk.

"I love you too, Daddy—oops, I mean Uncle Cole!" Alice corrects herself, but the damage has already been done. I smile at her and embrace her so I don't give anything away.

I'll protect this one. Loki isn't taking this one away from me. No one is taking this one away while I'm around. There's a knock at the door so I go over to answer it.

"Hello. I've been ordered to retrieve your dishes and ask if you would like to go swimming. The embassy has access to a private beach and the water stays at a nice twenty-five degrees year round," a maid says. Twenty-five, divided by five and then times nine equals forty-five, and then you add thirty-two to get a water temperature of seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit.

"That sounds nice. Do you want to go play in the ocean, Alice?" I ask as I grab the dishes and hand them to the maid.

"Yeah!" Alice exclaims.

"Alright, did you bring a swim suit?" I inquire.

"I don't know," Alice replies. I walk over and open up Alice's bag, finding a red, one-piece, swim suit.

"Looks like we're good to go!" I exclaim while holding up her swim suit.

"Yay!" Alice says excitedly.

"I'll return the dishes to the kitchen while you get dressed," the maid says and closes the door.

I help Alice into her swim suit and pick her up. I consider telling her to leave Dynamite here, but that may make her change her mind about going so I don't say anything. We exit the room to find the maid waiting for us. Alice hides her face and the maid escorts us down the stairs and out the rear door of the embassy. Alice let's out an excited gasp when she sees the ocean as we are led down to the sandy beach. The maid heads over to a four-stall cabana with a covered area that holds several loungers and a picnic table. Once there, the maid opens a cupboard, showing us where the towels are before heading back to the house.

"Dynamite is going to have to wait on the beach," I tell Alice and she looks concerned for a moment.

"Okay... Are you going to come in with me, Uncle Cole?" Alice asks as she sets her rabbit on the bench of the picnic table.

"Of course! Just give me a second," I tell her and strip down to my boxers, leaving my boots, jeans, shirt, bandage, jacket, and holster pouch on the table after covering the pouch with my jacket.

Alice runs ahead of me towards the water as the sound of the waves relaxes me. The moonlight offers a good deal of visibility, but I engage my helmet so that I can see everything clearly.

"This is so cool, Uncle Cole!" Alice shouts as she jumps in the small waves.

"Having fun?" I ask.

"Yeah!" Alice exclaims as I hear the whir of motors... at night... the whir of a dozen boat propellers isn't that weird for it being 10pm, right...? Shit, this isn't going to be good.

"Alice, get out of the water," I tell her with a stern tone.

"What? Why?" Alice asks, sounding concerned that she might've done something wrong.

"I need you to not ask questions right now, sweetie. Please, just get out of the water, go back to the huts, and hide in one of the stalls until I come and get you, okay?" I say gently, but urgently.

Alice trots out of the water and makes her way towards the cabana with a glance back as the boats get closer. My arm and leg flush black as I focus on moving the ocean's currents about one hundred yards from my position. I'm really glad that I decided to keep Neptune's control over water. The water starts to churn as a whirlpool forms while the twelve boats continue their fast approach. I see that they are small, tactical, rubber dinghies that each hold five bronze-outlined vampire auras. I knew Loki had some hand in all of this! Now he's trying to take Alice from me, just like Addie...

(Calm down or entering a Void state will be unavoidable)

"Thanks, Airi," I reply as the water churns faster with my anger until it encompasses the width of the group of dinghies. The vampires in the boats start taking shots at me, as I expected them to, but become panicked when they accelerate straight into the whirlpool that they can't see until it's too late. The torrent of water smashes the boats full of vampires against the ocean floor until there's nothing left and I let the whirlpool fade. I return to the cabana and hear Alice quietly crying in one of the stalls.

"Don't be scared, Dynamite... Uncle Cole will keep us safe," Alice confidently whispers with her crying distorting her voice.

"It's alright now, Alice. I've taken care of everything," I softly tell her as I take a knee. Alice peeks her head around the curtain of the changing stall to look at me.

"Uncle Cole!" Alice wails as she runs out with Dynamite in hand and grabs onto me. I hold onto her until she calms down.

"Let's head back to the house," I whisper to her and she nods.

I stand up and get completely dressed before lifting Alice up, supporting her with my right arm as we head back to the house.

"COLE! Are you and Alice alright? We heard gunfire!" Reyna urgently asks as I walk in the back door.

"Yeah, we're both fine and the assault has been quelled," I reply.

"What happened?" Lady Demi inquires.

"A group of sixty enhanced vampires was trying to assault the embassy by sea. I created a giant whirlpool and took care of them. Now, I need to see the gentleman I got into the argument with at dinner," I report.

"A whirlpool? How did you manage that?" Demi questions.

"Magic! Anyway, time is crucial at the moment so I need to see that man," I reply.

"Pavithra, take Cole to Ravindu's room," Demi orders.

"Yes, Lady Demi," Pavithra replies and walks out of the room as I hand Alice to Reyna.

I follow Pavithra upstairs and down the left hallway. She stops in front of a door and knocks, but there is no reply. Pavithra opens the door and we find it to be empty with indications that Ravindu left in a hurry.

"Shit, he bolted!" I exclaim.

"The gate guards might've seen something," Pavithra says and takes off down the stairs.

I ditch the 'human act' and catch up to her as she runs out the front door. We head across the lawn and Pavithra questions the guards in a language that sounds European.

"Ravindu left about two minutes ago. We just missed him," Pavithra reports.

Damn... What now?

(He will still be around. His contact was most likely staying nearby)

"Pavithra, how many hotels are in the area?" I ask.

"A dozen or so, why?" Pavithra questions.

"That's too many... what's the biggest one? Someplace where visiting without staying there wouldn't arouse suspicions?" I inquire.

"Ravindu went to the Torarica Resort and Casino a few nights ago. I found a chip from the casino shortly after he returned," one of the guards says. I was not aware they could speak English.

"How long would it take to get there by foot?" I ask as I pull out my phone.

"Walking? About thirty minutes. Running? About ten minutes. Vampire sprinting? Two minutes, but it is very conspicuous," Pavithra replies as I find the address of the Torarica and enter it into satellite maps.

"Well, let's hope he's trying to be inconspicuous. Here, take these to my room. I'll go catch Ravindu," I say while pulling off my jacket and pouch before handing them to her. Wearing a leather jacket when it's this fucking hot will definitely stand out and I can't conceal my guns without it.

"You won't be able to catch up to him before he enters the hotel," Pavithra responds while taking my jacket and holster.

"We'll see about that," I reply with a smirk and touch my left shoulder blade.

Chapter 5: Bond... Feros Bond

[December 20th]

I port to the alleyway across from the entrance of the Torarica and scope the place out. I see quite a few people coming and going, but no one that looks like Ravindu. Did he already get here? Ten minutes pass by and I'm about to give up when I spot Ravindu stepping out of a taxi. If you think you might be pursued, getting into a taxi away from the place that you're fleeing is a smart choice.

I walk across the street and follow him into the lobby before taking a seat as he approaches the desk. I sit in a chair that faces away from the desk and listen in.

"Welke ruimte is Damien Reynolds een verblijf in?" Ravindu asks. Fuck me, they aren't speaking English.

"Slechts een ogenblik," the receptionist responds and I hear typing. "Hij is in de kamer twee nul negen."

"Dank u," Ravindu replies and I hear him walking away.

I'm pretty sure dank u is Dutch for thank you, but I got nothing else out of that conversation besides the name Damien Reynolds. Ravindu was most likely asking for Damien Reynolds's room number and I know that nul is zero in quite a few languages, like French, making twee and negen the other two numbers... I've still got nothing so I should probably just follow him. I stand up and turn around in time to see him boarding the elevator. Shit! It's not like I can follow him on board. If I watch for what floor the elevator stops on, I might get lucky... The elevator stops on three and I head for the stairs.

(It's a feint)

"What?"

(Twee nul negen is two zero nine in Dutch. Damien Reynolds is in room 209 and Ravindu is trying to throw anyone off his trail by riding the elevator past the floor)

"If he was trying to throw people off of his trail, wouldn't it make more sense to ask for the room number of a person who isn't his contact? Anyone who knows Dutch would know where the room is."

(Yes, but the majority of people wouldn't have been able to hear him... Go to the third floor and search for him. If he's not there, then we know where he'll be)

I enter the stairwell and sprint up to the third floor when the coast is clear. After peering through the window of the third floor stairwell door and seeing that no one is in the hallway, I head to the second floor. I see Ravindu knocking on a door from the window in the stairwell. I wait until Ravindu enters the room before leaving the stairwell and heading down the hall.

"What happened!?" a man angrily asks from room 209—Damien, I'm guessing.

"I don't know! I heard gunfire coming from the beach, looked out the window, saw them coming, and looked away for a second. When I looked back, they were all gone!" Ravindu exclaims.

"Shit... my superior is running the campaign in Australia. They are not going to be happy about requesting reinforcements to take out this embassy. Dammit! This was supposed to be a simple plan! Snatch up the Duchess or the Princess and ransom the Queen into submission. Now it's all fucked up!" Damien exclaims angrily. I walk up and knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Damien asks.

"Mr. Reynolds? The front desk received a complaint about noise coming from this room, saying that it sounded like someone was being beaten. Can you open the door please? I'm required to verify your safety before I'm allowed to leave," I reply as I unwrap the bandage from my left hand.

"You weren't followed, right?" Damien whispers.

"No, I took precautions," Ravindu replies.

I step closer to the door so that the peephole should only have a view of my face as my arm flushes black and the purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my hand. I listen as Damien walks across the room to answer the door. A change in the amount of light through the peephole occurs.

"Well, he looks and smells human," Damien mutters to himself and opens the door.

I quickly bring my left hand up to his neck and zap him while continuing into the room, closing the door behind me with my foot.

"Why, hello Ravindu! What are you doing here!?" I ask as I drag Damien's unconscious body across the room and toss him on the bed.

"So it sounds like you betrayed the azeman and were trying to take Alice from me..." I say with a malicious smile while slowly walking towards him.

"I'm not giving you shit," Ravindu replies. I engage my helmet and start chuckling at him as horror and recognition mark his face.

"You realize who I am now, don't you? I don't need you to _give_ me anything. I'll simply take it," I respond and cover his mouth with my left hand, siphoning my blood down his throat.

"Airi, can you handle this one without me?"

(Yes, Master. I'll search for any relevant information)

Ravindu slumps in the chair as I move over and funnel some of my blood down Damien throat. Damien wakes up partway through, most likely due to his bronze aura, and I knock him out with my blood.

(Scan complete. There are no other traitors at the embassy. No other relevant information discovered)

"Thanks, Airi. Now for Damien."

(I'm already in the process of scanning him, Mr. Treyfair)

"Way to show initiative, Airi! I see a promotion in your future! Perhaps to mistress instead of sexy secretary?"

(It sounds like I'd still be having sex with you behind your wife's back so how would that be a promotion?)

"Well, as my mistress I'd buy you jewelry or a car or a house or whatever is required for a man to buy his mistress to keep her from telling his wife."

(I would never tell your wife! I actually find the sex to be quite enjoyable, even if I am twenty years younger than you)

"Wait, so I've been banging a five year old this whole time? How did you even get this job?"

(I've always assumed that you were in your forties or fifties in this scenario, tired of your haggard wife and looking for satisfaction in my hot, nubile, young body)

"Um, sure... let's go with that... wait, why would a twenty year old be banging a guy in his forties if not for money?"

(Because you remind me of my dad)

"...You just had to go and ruin this for me, didn't you?"

(Scan complete. Damien seems to only know about this operation. It seems that the whole thing was originally a stealth assault on the embassy, but then Ravindu heard about your visit and plans changed. The whole campaign seems like it might be sub-managed to prevent the leaking of information. That is a highly suspect stance to take unless the one leading the operation knows about your aptitude for gaining information from unwilling parties, and I need not remind you how few the number is that know)

"Yeah, this has Loki's name written all over it. Let's get them back to the embassy."

I grab Damien and drag him off the bed before I realize that I have a dilemma: I can't port two unconscious people at the same time because I need to touch the triskele and I only have two hands.

(You realize that you don't have to touch the triskele to port, right?)

"What? I've always had to touch the triskele or the Haglaz rune."

(Those are more like keys to a car: you don't need to touch the keys after the car is on, do you?)

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

(It wasn't necessary information before. You also wouldn't have been able to port without touching the triskele when you first got it, as it provided the focus you needed)

I grab Damien and Ravindu, and focus on being in the foyer of the embassy. We appear in the foyer and I'm slightly surprised that it worked.

"Cole, how did things go?" Jason asks as he, Reyna, Alice, Pavithra, and Demi walk into the foyer.

"Well, Ravindu is a traitor and made a plan with this guy, Damien Reynolds, to kidnap Reyna and/ or Alice to ransom Maria into submission, presumably killing the rest of us in the process. You guys should go pack because I have a report that I need to make to Maria. Lady Demi, feel free to do what you wish with these two. Part of me is for keeping Damien as a prisoner of war for trading, and the other part is telling me to brutally kill them both as an example to everyone, so I leave it up to you. Oh, and from the information I got out of these two, there aren't any other traitors at this embassy," I inform them.

Jason, Reyna, Alice, and I head upstairs to our rooms, pack our things, and bring our bags downstairs to the foyer.

"Thank you for accommodating us, Lady Demi," Reyna says.

"It was my pleasure, Duchess Reyna, and I apologize for the transgressions of one of the members of this embassy," Lady Demi replies.

"Don't worry about it. I don't hold you responsible in this matter," Reyna responds as she grabs my hand after picking Alice up.

"Goodbye," I say and focus on the four of us being in Jason and Reyna's house.

We appear in the house and I realize that it's so much easier to just touch my Haglaz rune or triskele when I have a free hand.

"Alright, I'm going to make my report to Maria," I announce.

"I want to go see grandma..." Alice quietly mentions.

"Do you want to come with me to visit Grandma Maria, sweetie?" I ask and Alice nods. I look to Reyna and Jason for confirmation.

"Okay... but I want her home by ten... And no drinking! And Honey, if you're going to put out, make sure to use protection," Jason says and I stifle my laughter as Alice looks at her father with a confused expression.

Reyna lightly smacks Jason and says, "It's fine if you take Alice to visit my mother, Cole."

"Alright, we'll be back soon," I reply while picking up Alice and Dynamite.

I touch my Haglaz rune and port us to the front door of Maria's Tuscan-styled mansion in Mictlan, where I ring the doorbell.

"Hello Cole and Princess Alice," Babette greets.

"Hello Babette. I have some information for Maria and Alice wants to see her grandmother," I reply.

"I assumed that was why you are here. This way," Babette says and walks into the house.

I carry Alice down the hall, following Babette as she walks past the sitting room and exits out into the central courtyard with its garden/ pool. She continues around the right side of the patio to the rear wing of the house. Babette takes a right and knocks on the double doors that lead to the room where Cheza and I rescued Maria from an assassination attempt four years ago.

"Come in," Maria answers to the knock and Babette opens the door. Maria is sitting at a desk that is covered in documents and has two servants assisting her.

"Grandma!" Alice exclaims and squirms as I set her down. She runs over to Maria as I follow behind her.

"Hello nieta. Did you have fun on your trip, even if it was shorter than expected?" Maria asks.

"I got to play in the ocean with Uncle Cole for a little while and that was fun, but I didn't like all the people..." Alice quietly replies.

"She was a little shy," I add.

"Why was the trip cut so short?" Maria inquires.

"There was an attack and I discovered a traitor that was in the embassy so I took care of that. It seemed their original plan was a stealth attack by boat, but the plan changed to a kidnapping of Reyna and/ or Alice to ransom you into submitting. I wasn't able to get much from the two guys I scanned so I left them with Lady Demi at the embassy. I was able to discern that Loki is involved in all of this because one of the guys that I scanned had a bronze aura. They only seemed to be given information that was absolutely necessary to their part of the operation so the only thing I learned, past the information about the plot I'd already thwarted, was that the traitor's vampire contact has a superior who is running the Australian campaign," I inform Maria.

"Hmm..." Maria says while mulling the information over, then she looks at me and smiles.

"No," I answer before she asks.

"I need you to go there, Cole," Maria replies.

"No, I'm not going to Australia!" I reiterate.

"You're the best person for the job," Maria says.

"No one is ever getting me to go to Australia!" I exclaim.

"Cole, I was just reassigned. Apparently the vampire rebellion has affected Australia and the Australian United Supernatural Special Investigations and Enforcement, or AUSSIE, has requested help from The Agency so Carla is sending me and Natasha," Cheza informs me through our connection.

My expression must be giving something away because Maria just smiles satisfactorily at me.

Dammit...

Chapter 6: The Place of Nightmares

"AHHH!" I scream as I pull my 10mm auto from the holster behind my back and fire.

"Cole, are you feeling alright? That's the third time you've discharged your weapon and we've been here for less than thirty minutes," Natasha says.

"He's terrified of Australia and is convinced everything is trying to kill him," Cheza explains with a tone of tired disbelief, like the family member of someone who constantly claims they were abducted by aliens.

"Oh, right!" Natasha exclaims while I'm in the process of replying to Cheza.

"Because everything _is_ trying to kill me! Especially now that the sun has set and all the critters are out looking for food!" I exclaim.

"Of course it is," Cheza says like she's talking to a child while rubbing my back.

"So why are we meeting this contact of yours in the middle of nowhere?" I ask Natasha once I've calmed down thanks to Cheza, as the wind picks up and whips dust around us.

After returning Alice to her home, I ported to Houston to pick up Cheza, and then I ported us to Arizona to pick up Natasha. Natasha showed me a satellite image of the coordinates where we needed to be, so I ported the three of us here: to the fringe of the desert/ Outback part of Australia.

"Because all of the Australian United Supernatural Special Investigations and Enforcement... wow that is really a mouthful... I'm just going to say AUSSIE. Anyway, all of AUSSIE has retreated to a secret location," Natasha replies.

"Why?" I inquire.

"It seems the vampires are trying to take over Australia, and I don't mean just from the azeman," Natasha answers.

"That's insane! It will reveal the existence of the supernatural to humans!" which is something that would be beneficial for Loki. If you were trying to destroy a world, wouldn't it be easiest to start a war and have the citizens of that world destroy each other before you come in to clean up whoever survives?

"They're late," Natasha comments.

"And I'm thirsty. Did you two bring anything to drink?" I ask, feeling that it's a bit hot to be wearing my armored jacket and jeans, though I suppose it is summertime in Australia. Both of the girls shake their heads in response.

"I know! I'll just use Neptune's power over water," I say and move the bandages on my left hand until I can see my silver palm.

My left hand turns black and I hold my palm up to my mouth. After invoking my control over water, I not only blast about a liter of water into my mouth, but salt water at that. Cheza and Natasha laugh at me as I sputter the sea water back up. I really should have thought that through.

"Here," Cheza says, grabs my left hand, and holds it out with the palm up. About ten seconds later, three ice cubes form in my hand, the salt having been stripped from the water due to the freezing process.

"Thanks, Cheza," I reply with a smile and pop the ice cubes into my mouth as I see a red Jeep Wrangler approaching in the distance. The Jeep pulls to a stop in a cloud of dust as the driver's window rolls down.

"Sorry I'm late. Getting the fourby here took a bit longer than expected," a bulky blonde man in his thirties says with an Australian accent as he pats the exterior of the door through the open window.

"No problem. I'm Natasha Holmstrom; this is Chezarei Vaele, top class operator; and this is Cole Vaele, consultant for The Agency and the Azeman Queen, as well as Chezarei's husband," Natasha introduces.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Agent Simmons. We have quite the drive ahead of us," Simmons says and we pile into the Jeep with me sitting shotgun.

After buckling in and noting that he is a few inches taller than me, I scan Simmons and see an unfamiliar aura that looks like a pile of tan scales.

"So, Simmons... What are you?" I blatantly inquire.

"What do you mean?" Simmons asks.

"I'm pretty sure you're a Were of some sort with your transformation having something to do with tan scales," I reply.

"How do you know that?" Simmons questions.

"I can see things that most people can't," I tell him.

"I'm a werecroc. Saltwater croc if you want to get specific," Simmons answers.

"Nice. So where are we headed?" I inquire as we pull onto a dirt road that is only slightly smoother terrain than before.

"A secure facility just outside of Adelaide," Simmons replies.

"I'm not familiar with the geography of Australia," I respond.

"Well, we're right on the border of the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is. We're about to cross into the state of Southern Australia, where Adelaide is," Simmons says.

"I see," I reply, even though I still have no conception of the distance.

"It's about four hours once we reach Wentworth, which will be in twenty minutes," Simmons adds as we turn right onto a paved road.

"Okay, now I got it," I say.

"So you guys have probably been pretty busy with vampires and everything, huh?" I ask.

"AUSSIE has been flat out like a lizard drinking since the vamps showed up," Simmons replies and I shut up because I have no fucking idea what he just said.

What do drunk lizards have to do with this? Does this have anything to do with that insurance company's mascot? Did that gecko get pulled over for speeding and get a DUI? With hookers and blow in the car? He seems like that kind of guy... I get lost in thought for a time while trying to decipher this Australian idiom based on his tone and context clues. About fifteen minutes later, I realize that he was confirming that they've been busy, but too much time has passed for me to say anything now.

I look into the back seat and find that both of the girls are resting against each other, out cold... funny, because they're both snow elves... never mind.

"The two sheilas are a bit bushed, eh?" Simmons quietly says while glancing at the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, they just came from another assignment and this is Chezarei's third assignment in a row. I'm not sure if she's had much time for sleep," I reply.

"What about you? You're looking a bit knackered there, mate," Simmons points out.

"Now that I think about it, I guess I haven't slept in two days," I admit.

"Feel free to get some rest. I can handle the drive," Simmons says as we drive through a small town that must be Wentworth.

"I think I'll give that a shot," I reply, lean back in the seat, and close my eyes as I try to relax.

...

[December 21st]

I awaken as the Jeep pulls to a stop in a concrete parking garage.

"I take it we've arrived?" I groggily ask.

"Correct," Natasha says as she opens up the rear passenger door and exits the Jeep before I follow suit. I notice that Cheza isn't exiting the car so I go around to the driver's side and open up her door.

"Cheza... Wake up, Cheza. We're here," I softly say while gently shaking her, but she remains dead to the world.

I reach around her, unbuckle the seatbelt, scoop her up, and carry her. Simmons walks toward the elevator as Natasha and I follow him.

"A room has been prepared for you, but since we are short on space, the three of you will have to share a room. We can drop Operator Vaele off before I take you to meet the director," Simmons comments as we step into the elevator and he presses a button marked G.

The elevator ascends one floor and dings to the hot, moist, night air. We walk thirty feet to the entrance of the large, white, three-story building, one of four on the compound that are connected via sky bridges. The compound is surrounded by a twenty-foot tall fence made of large steel posts and steel cables that seems to be electrified, if the hum is anything to go by. The fence reminds me of something from _Jurassic Park_. We enter the industrial white lobby and head to a bank of elevators, where we head up one floor and walk across a sky bridge to get to what must be the residential building since it has slightly more color than the other building. Simmons walks down a hallway, stops in front of a door marked 35, swipes a cardkey through a black sensor to the right of the doorknob, and opens the door once a click signifies that it's unlocked.

"Here we are. Sorry about there being only one bed," Simmons says to me as we walk into the room that is set up like a studio apartment with a single king-sized bed. I think what he really means is 'sorry one of you'll be sleeping on the floor.'

"Just like old times, eh Cole?" Natasha asks with a sly grin as I set Cheza on the bed.

"Yeah," I halfheartedly reply as I think about how things between us might've been had I just kept my mouth shut at the wedding and pretended like I didn't know anything. Would the last four years have played out any differently? Would we have stayed close friends like we were, or would we have drifted apart like we did?

(If it makes you feel any better, had you not addressed the situation and remained close to Natasha, she would have snapped and sawed your head off while giggling psychotically to herself, followed by having sex with your body while cradling your decapitated head to her chest)

"Shit! Seriously!?"

(No, not seriously, but you were getting all moody so I had to say something)

"I can understand why you did it, but that is pretty fucking psychotic, Airi."

(Thanks, Master!)

"Not a compliment!"

"Shall we go?" I ask as I turn from the bed.

"Before I forget, here," Simmons says and hands a card key to Natasha and another one to me.

"Thanks," we reply.

Natasha and I follow Simmons out the door, down the hall, across a different sky bridge, and into another industrial white building. We take an elevator up to the third floor and walk over to a reception desk.

"Director, Agent Simmons has returned. Shall I send them in?" the female werewolf receptionist asks into an intercom with a British accent and the door automatically opens.

"He will see you now," the receptionist says with a pleasant smile and waves toward the door.

Natasha and I follow Simmons into the office of the AUSSIE director. Sitting behind the ornate maple desk is a short, blocky, man with cropped salt and pepper hair. The most surprising thing to me is the fact that he's human.

"Director Gracie, this is Natasha Holmstrom and Agency consultant, Cole Vaele," Simmons introduces.

"I was informed of a Chezarei Vaele, but not of a Cole Vaele," Director Gracie says with an Australian accent as he eyes me suspiciously.

"I'm a bit surprised that Carla didn't anticipate that I would be coming too. Chezarei is my wife. She fell asleep on the drive here and wouldn't wake up so we dropped her off in the room before coming here," I explain.

"I see... so what kind of consulting do you do, Mr. Vaele?" Director Gracie asks.

"Well I've done some interrogation work, some undercover work, and some general operator type work for The Agency. I also consult for the Queen of the Azeman, but that is more of bodyguard work," I reply.

"So are you here at the request of The Agency, or the Azeman Queen?" Director Gracie inquires.

"The Azeman Queen, but I wouldn't have come if Chezarei hadn't also been assigned here. Speaking of, what's the situation?" I ask.

"The vampires have been running amok across the country. I'm told that they captured the azeman embassy in Adelaide a few hours ago, so they will most likely be coming here next," Director Gracie replies.

"Damn... well, I may have made it too late to protect the embassy, but at least the AUSSIE headquarters won't fall as long as Chezarei and I are here," I confidently say.

"How can you be so sure?" Director Gracie asks.

"Chezarei is The Agency's top operator and excels in execution tactics. There is no one at The Agency that is better suited for attacking an enemy," Natasha says and a siren goes off.

"What about defense?" Director Gracie questions as he turns toward his computer monitor.

"Director! The vampires are attacking the base!" I hear a frantic male voice say from the monitor.

"Damn, I thought they would take at least a day to regroup. How many are there?" the director asks rather calmly.

"Before the sensors went offline, the number reported was in the low thousands. We are currently accessing the satellite images... okay, they're up. What!? The vampires are attacking from all sides! At the rates they're traveling, they'll be here in less than thirty minutes!" the frantic voice reports.

"Planning to siege us, eh? Mobilize the diggers, turn the fences up to maximum power, and get the 50 caliber automated turrets online," Director Gracie orders.

"The targeting software still isn't running efficiently enough to use the turrets, sir!" the frantic voice replies.

"Cole, what's going on?" Cheza thinks.

"The base is about to come under siege by vampires. Exit the room, cross any sky bridge you can find, ride an elevator down to the ground floor, and go outside. I'll meet you there," I reply.

"I guess that's my cue," I announce and start to head out the door.

"I'll stay here and relay information to you," Natasha calls out after me.

"Thanks!" I reply and sprint for the elevator.

I head down to the ground floor and run around the outside of the building, past the armed soldiers setting up sand bags for cover in certain locations. I find Cheza standing near the front gate, dressed in her armored suit with the Synergistic blades on her right hip.

"So what're the specifics?" Cheza asks.

"About a thousand vampires are moving in from all directions," I reply.

"Is that all?" Cheza lightheartedly inquires.

"I know, right? What are they getting so worked up over?" I chuckle.

"Cole, where do you and Cheza want to be?" Natasha thinks.

"Wherever the most enemies will be, I suppose," I reply.

"Okay, I'll let you know," Natasha says and the connection closes.

I look at the geography around the compound and notice a large number of green hills, indicating that we are in a small valley. We stand around waiting for twenty minutes until a wave of bronze auras appears on the tops of some of the hills and the wave continues to flood in until a bronze ring is around the compound. Three lone auras slowly approach the compound and stop about a hundred feet from the front gate.

"The director is requesting that you and Chezarei accompany Agent Simmons to meet the vampires," Natasha thinks.

"Can do," I reply.

"We're going to meet the vampires with Agent Simmons," I relay to Cheza while pulling the bandages off of my left arm and stuffing them into my jacket pocket. I consider unzipping my sleeve, but it will probably be better to not advertise my identity with my noticeable silver arm.

Cheza nods as I notice Simmons approaching the gate in the same clothing he was wearing a moment ago i.e. not combat attire. Simmons nods at us in greeting and takes point as we head through the gate, Cheza on his left while I take the right. The vampires stand at attention with their hands behind their backs as we approach.

"Our commander wanted us to relay a message before the engagement. Ahem... surrender and we won't kill all of you. If you choose to fight, we will kill every last one of you," the lead vampire says.

"Did you really think we'd surrender?" Simmons asks, his Aussie accent quite noticeable.

"I was actually hoping you wouldn't," the vampire replies, the moonlight gleaming off his eyes and the white fangs he displays with his smile.

The vampire on the right pulls a short sword from behind his back and starts to move towards Simmons until I throw a left punch into his face. The other two vampires start to move as their friend's head explodes. My left arm flushes black as I turn and blast the last two with a torrent of water strong enough to knock them over.

"It's salt water so you're going to have to dip the temp below negative two degrees Celsius," I report to Cheza as I hear several sickening pops behind me and to my left.

"I know," Cheza replies and encases both of the vampires in ice that has spikes along the interior in a move that I've aptly named 'the _ice_ ron maiden'... I said aptly named, not well named.

"Nice!" I tell her as the sound of a sniper rifle rings out.

Since the round didn't hit me or Cheza, I look to my left and see that it did hit Simmons right in the heart, or at least it would have if the bullet had been able to penetrate the scaly hide of his now seven foot form with crocodile head and tail as his clothes lie in tatters at his feet.

"Fall back," Simmons orders with a gravelly tone and heads back to the gate.

We run back through the gate and take cover behind one of the sandbag mounds as the vampires open fire on the compound while advancing forward. The 'diggers' start returning fire on the vampires, but the bullets do little to halt their advance because of the vampires' bronze aura enhancements. A few vampires try to climb the electrified fence, only to get zapped and fall down, but they manage to get back up a few seconds later. The way the vampires have packed around the fenced compound reminds me of something out of a zombie movie. I pull my silver, .460 S&W handgun from my back and fire through the fence from behind the sandbags. My gun packs enough of a punch to kill the vampires with every shot, but I only have about forty rounds, so it's not going to be much help.

An explosion to my left attracts my attention, followed by a scattering of explosions around the compound as I realize that they're launching mortars at us. Shit, that's going to be trouble. I hear the faint sound of a suppressed sniper rifle ring out from the roof of the building behind me. Fifteen rounds later and the sounds of the mortars stops.

"I'll take care of the mortars and other snipers," Natasha thinks to me and I feel that something is off about her.

"Tasha, you didn't..." I sadly reply when I realize what she's done.

"Don't worry. It's just the normal injection, not the special one that utilizes your blood," Natasha replies.

"Good," I think with a sigh of relief. Now after her adrenaline runs out, she won't slip into a coma like she did four years ago.

"You and Chezarei focus on the infantry. The force has centralized at the front gate since they've apparently realized that the entire fence is electrified, so give them all you've got!" Natasha responds.

I'm about to follow Natasha's advice when I look towards the fence and see what appears to be a severed torso with giant bat wings flying over the fence.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?" I shout over the sound of the gunfire.

"That's a Manananggal, mate! A Filipino vampire that can sever its torso to fly! Watch the tongue! It's got a proboscis like a cone snail that's capable of puncturing sheet rock!" Simmons warns me as I see a dozen more flying over the fence.

They all seem to be wearing modified combat vests that remind me of the ones that the ifrits wore in Shehar. The vests are useful from stopping lethal shots, but they don't do shit for the manananggals' wings, which are torn apart by gunfire, causing them to drop out of the sky. The manananggals hit the ground with their wings torn to shreds and without legs, I think this threat is neutralized... until the manananggals get up and continue their advance by hopping around with their severed torsos, which is infinitely more terrifying, even if they are moving rather slowly.

"They're all like the dad in that show _The Oblongs!_ " Cheza giggles and I start laughing loudly, no longer seeing them as threatening. Two manananggals stop hopping and look at each other.

"Are they laughing at us?" one manananggal asks the other (although this is just speculation because I can't really hear them) so I start pointing at them while laughing.

Then they both get shot in the head... which only makes me laugh even harder. The snipers on the roof quickly drop all of the other manananggals with headshots.

"Focus on the brunt of the force! We can take care of any minor threats like that!" Natasha thinks. Looks like Cheza and I should get to work.

"Place your right hand on the back of my left and get frosty," I tell Cheza while engaging my helmet.

Cheza engages her helmet too and grabs my left hand as it flushes black. We stand up and I raise my hand (and thus, Cheza's) towards the sky over the vampires. Several rounds hit my jacket, but nothing gets through as a torrent of water explodes out from my left palm and shoots into the air over the vampires. The water starts freezing as I concentrate it into a large mass in the air. The blood in my left arm starts turning to slush due to Cheza's power as the giant mass in the sky grows to the right size.

"Go for it," I tell Cheza once I stop the flow of water.

Cheza raises her left hand into the air, pointing it towards the mass of ice, and quickly closes her fist. The mass of ice explodes and rains six foot shards of ice down on the vampires. Once the shards make their impact with the ground and a few unlucky vampires, Cheza points her fist forward and flicks all of her fingers outward. The six foot shards explode into hundreds of daggers all over the battlefield. Cheza's legs buckle as she sits down to rest behind the sandbags.

"Are you alright?" I ask with concern as I kneel down beside her while listening to the screams and gurgles of agony from the vampires.

"Yeah, I'll be fine... just a bit tired after manipulating that much ice," Cheza replies.

"Go ahead and rest. I'll take care of the remnants," I tell her.

I peek over the sandbags and see that the remaining vampires are retreating while the AUSSIE diggers continue firing at them. It looks like we're done for the day.

"The vampire forces are in a full retreat, for now," Natasha reports.

"We're going to go get some rest before they regroup," I tell Simmons and he nods his large head.

I scoop Cheza up so she doesn't have to walk, and head inside the building. I carry her into the elevator, across the sky bridge, and to the door marked 35. The card key is pulled from my pocket and swiped through the reader before the door clicks open. I carry Cheza to the bed and set her down as Natasha walks through the door, looking absolutely exhausted as a side-effect from the enhancement injection. We all strip down to our underwear and pile into the bed before passing out in mere minutes.

...

Chapter 7: Mappa Tassie

I awaken the next morning to a pounding at the door. I notice that the girls haven't woken up yet so I quickly jump up and grab the door.

"We've got a couple of predator drones inbound and we need help," Simmons reports. I look over my shoulder at the girls and there state of peaceful sleep.

"I can handle it. Get a vehicle and meet me at the gate," I tell him.

Simmons nods and runs off while I quickly put on my armored jeans and jacket, forgoing my t-shirt. I stick my pouch on and run out the door, across the sky bridge, down the elevator, and over to the front gate. After waiting for just under a minute, Simmons pulls up in the red Jeep Wrangler. I hop in the passenger seat and Simmons takes off down the road.

"I need a place in the drones' flight path, preferably on a hill top," I tell Simmons.

"Right. They're coming in from the north-east and they're about ten minutes out," Simmons replies.

"Why isn't the air force doing anything about this? Shouldn't they be doing something when they've got drones flying over the mainland?" I question.

"The drones somehow got clearance. We'd have no idea if it weren't for a friend of the director who found the drones headed towards Adelaide to be bizarre," Simmons answers.

We drive down the bumpy dirt road for five minutes before the two predator drones come into view. Simmons pulls over and I hop out before running to the top of the nearest hill. I hold my left arm out as it flushes black and a purple lightning bolt appears on the back of my palm. I lock onto one of the drones as it approaches and I wave my hand downward. A bolt of lightning strikes the drone, but instead of taking a rapid descent towards the ground, it doesn't really do anything at all.

Shit! I was not expecting that! Maybe the electrical water torrent will do it? The only problem is that since lightning didn't do anything, the water would be the only thing doing damage and I doubt I could even hit the plane from here... fuck!

(Relax, Master. Just shoot them down using your gun)

"Even with a velocity of 2,300 ft/s, the weight of the bullets will slow them down too much for me to do any real damage, or even hit the drones to begin with!"

(Trust me. Use Jupiter's lightning bolt to pump electricity into the gun, and then fire at the drone)

I do as Airi says and pull my .460 S&W from its holster. The black in my arm floods into the silver gun as the purple lightning bolt resurfaces on the back of my left hand. I take aim at the first drone and fire. Lightning flies out of the barrel of the gun and hits the drone, causing it to explode in midair.

(I was able to coil the electricity around the barrel of the gun, enhancing the speed of the bullet in the same manner as a coil gun/ Gauss gun: using electromagnetism that pulls the copper bullet towards all sides of the barrel, accelerating it forward. The bullet penetrated the hull, allowing the lightning to affect the electronics. You got lucky and hit the fuel tank before the lightning ignited the fuel, causing the resulting explosion. Do not expect this to be the case every time)

"Thanks, Airi."

I take aim and fire three rounds at the second drone as it's in the process of turning away after seeing the first drone get taken out. I must hit something important because the drone starts a quick descent towards the ground for a crash landing.

"I think we're done here!" I announce to Simmons.

"I think you're right, mate," Simmons replies with a fair degree of astonishment from the base of the hill as I walk back to the Jeep.

I get in the car with Simmons and we head back to the AUSSIE compound.

"I've gotta ask, mate. Does your Cook's hair match her mappa tassie or what?" Simmons asks on the drive back.

"That seems a little personal... but yeah, it does. Just don't tell my... uh, Cook, that I said anything," I reply, catching his meaning from the context. After all, anyone who talks to me about hair is usually talking about Cheza, which is usually followed by a guy asking about her hair matching something.

"Secret's safe with me, mate," Simmons replies with a grin.

We get stopped at the gate before it automatically opens for us. Simmons drives down the ramp, parks underground, and we take the elevator to the grounds where crews of people are fortifying areas for cover. There are even a few witches and wizards casting spells, which I assume have something to do with protection. I look beyond the fence, noticing the piles of ash and blackened skin flakes where the bodies of the vampires used to be. Simmons and I take the same elevator up to the second floor before giving each other a brief nod and heading our separate ways. I take the sky bridge back to the room, slip in quietly, and strip off my clothes before climbing back into bed beside Cheza and Natasha.

****

I find myself lying on the floor of a black space, a cone of light shining towards me from a large hole in the space as a figure walks towards it. The figure passes through the hole and stops. The figure gives a last look over its shoulder as the hole starts to close and I recognize the figure:

It's me.

I try to call out and move towards the light, but my body is frozen. The hole closes, leaving me alone in complete darkness as it surrounds me, travels down my throat, and chokes me.

****

[December 22nd]

I jolt awake to find Cheza at my side, hugging my head to her chest. My frantic breathing slows as I calm down.

"Are you alright?" Cheza whispers.

"Yeah, I'll be okay..." I reply.

"I couldn't see your dream, but it certainly didn't feel pleasant," Cheza says.

"Yeah, it really wasn't... so where's the cafeteria? I could use some food right about now," I say.

"Alright, let's take a shower and go look for it," Cheza replies and softly kisses me before standing up and walking into the bathroom.

I follow after her as the shower turns on. I slip off my boxers and step in the shower behind Cheza. We start scrubbing up when a question dawns on me.

"By the way, where's Natasha?" I ask.

"I don't know. She was gone when I woke up," Cheza answers and we finish our shower. We step out of the shower and dry off before I realize something.

"Did you also just realize that we didn't bring any other clothes?" Cheza asks.

"That I did," I reply.

I grab my phone and Cheza's hand before touching my triskele. I port the two of us to our house in Washington where we grab clean underwear and my armored, black leather suit from the closet.

"Want to just grab a bite to eat while we're here?" I ask as I get completely dressed while Cheza puts on her bra and panties.

"Sure," Cheza says with a shrug and we head downstairs to the kitchen.

"So are you cooking, or am I?" I inquire.

"Hmm... I think it's your turn," Cheza replies.

"I was thinking ham and cheese omelets?" I suggest.

"Perfect," Cheza responds with a satisfactory smile while I get to work.

Ten minutes later, I set two plates down on the bar table and sit beside Cheza before admiring my handiwork. I notice Cheza blush slightly out of the corner of my eye before turning to look at me and sighing heavily.

"What's up?" I ask.

"It's nothing..." Cheza replies and sighs again. That's not a good sign.

"No really, what's wrong?" I inquire as I set my fork down and turn towards her.

"Well, I'm sitting here half naked and I thought you were checking me out only to realize that you were checking out your omelet. That's very demoralizing... Cole, are you still attracted to me? I mean, we've been married for four years and we just don't have sex like we used to... is this because I've gotten older?" Cheza asks in a timid manner.

"Cheza, what are you talking about? You haven't aged a day!" I reply as I realize that she really hasn't aged a day and neither have I, now that I think about it. While it may be the result of living in close proximity, I haven't noticed any actual aging in Cheza in the four years that we've been married.

"Really?" Cheza asks uncertainly.

"Really. Now, we should eat our omelets before they get cold," I respond.

We finish our meal and Cheza takes the dishes to rinse them off before bending over to place them in the dishwasher. As she's bent over, I move behind her and swiftly pull her panties to her ankles while I kneel down and get to work. What's a better way to show that I'm still attracted to the tree than by sampling the fruit...? Wait, how about: what's a better way to show that I still appreciate the house than by sticking my tongue in the garden...? Why am I having so much trouble coming up with an analogy that makes any sense?

Cheza's muscles quiver a few minutes later and she straightens up. She turns around and kisses me deeply before hopping up on the granite countertop and spreading her legs while pulling me closer. She unzips my suit and pulls it down below my waist before I realize that it's not going to work if I keep it on, so I take it all of the way off.

Taking off a skin tight leather suit in a sexy manner is practically impossible for a man. It's quite a similar situation to having to remove your socks before sex, but with fewer options as to how you do it. By the time I finally free both of my ankles, I'm surprised to find that Cheza is still turned on enough to have sex with me. She smiles at me seductively and pats the insides of her thighs, beckoning me towards her. I enter the gate, and the race begins!

"This is Cap."

"And this is Bill. We will be your announcers for this race. The gates open and the horses are off."

"The horses are down the first stretch with A Horse Named Slickback  in the lead. A Jamaican thoroughbred, he's favored to win this race, Bill. Portland Murdered is on his tail as Luckysumbitch is in third. Oceancracker is trailing behind in fourth as the horses hit the first turn. Luckysumbitch takes the inside on the first turn, passing by A Horse Named Slickback and Portland Murdered. As they hit the second stretch, A Horse Named Slickback catches up to Luckysumbitch. They're neck and neck as Portland Murdered starts to fall behind. The horses round the second corner and are on the home stretch as A Horse Named Slickback regains the lead!"

"What's this!? Oceancracker has started turning purple and six inch fangs are jutting out of his mouth, Cap! Ooh! Oceancracker sprinted forward in a burst of speed before jumping and kicking at Portland Murdered, decapitating the jockey! The out of control horse flew into the stands before exploding and killing dozens of patrons! Oh, the humanity!"

"Oh, the entertainment, Bill! This is the most excitement I've seen at a horse race since the commissioner banned juicing and ride-by-shootings in 1913!"

"I can't believe my eyes, Cap! Oceancracker just shot a beam of light out of his mouth towards Luckysumbitch, narrowly missing and hitting A Horse Named Slickback instead!"

"I guess that's one horse that really lives up to his name, eh Bill!? Ha ha!"

"A Horse Named Slickback and his jockey have both been turned into a grouping of about two dozen chickens. Oh my stars, Cap! The two dozen chickens have apparently acquired a thirst for blood and have started going for the jugulars of the spectators! Blood is filling the stands as Luckysumbitch bobs and weaves to dodge the bolts of lightning and the flames that are erupting from the mouth of Oceancracker!"

"Luckysumbitch crosses the finish line in a blaze of glory and makes his way to the winner's circle as Oceancracker roars in frustration and disagreement. He just bit through the neck of Luckysumbitch! Ooh, he just tore the head off and tossed it into the stands! Looks like one lucky fan is going home with a souvenir, isn't that right, Bill?"

"They got me, Cap! The chickens are drinking my blood! AH! THEY'RE EATING MY FACE! THEY'RE EATING MY FACE! *Gurgle Gurgle*"

"Well, I have to go save my partner. This is Cap, signing off. COME AND GET SOME YOU FEATHERED SONS OF BITCHES!" *Blasts from a shotgun*

*Feathers flapping*

*Blasts from a shotgun*

*Demonic bu-caws*

*Blasts from a shotgun followed by shotgun clattering onto the floor*

*Cough* "They're dead... but not without sacrifice. I've sustained heavy injuries and I'm slowly bleeding out. Don't tell my mother I was killed by a chicken... tell her I died at the hands of a rabbit!"

"Cole... what are you... doing?" Cheza asks while breathing heavily as I snap out of my inner monologue to find that we've both finished.

"Uh... I don't really know... let's go take a shower," I say and withdraw my deposit from the bank.

We head upstairs and take another shower to wash the sweat off of us. Cheza and I are drying off when I hear my phone ring so I rush downstairs and grab my suit to answer my phone.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey bro, do you have the time to stop by? Alice is hungry and it seems she's a picky eater," Jason requests.

"Sure. Cheza and I will be there in a few," I reply.

"Thanks, CT!" Jason says and hangs up.

I head back upstairs and inform Cheza of our side trip while pulling on my suit. Cheza quickly pulls on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before grabbing my hand. I touch my Haglaz rune and port us to the kitchen of Jason and Reyna's house.

"Thanks for coming, Cole. Alice just woke up from her nap and she's really cranky," Reyna informs us.

"No problem, anything for my niece!" I reply with a smile and head upstairs to Alice's room. I knock softly before entering the room.

"Uncle Cole?" Alice timidly asks, but with a ravenous look in her eyes.

"Hey sweetie. Are you hungry?" I inquire.

Alice launches herself across the room and latches onto my neck. I guess her azeman strength is only guided by instinct at this stage because this girl normally can't climb onto a couch by herself, let alone launch herself ten feet through the air. I can't believe things got this bad when she's only gone without feeding for a day. I let her drink 0.75 liters to make up for yesterday before cutting her off.

Alice's instincts tell her to keep feeding and when she realizes she's not getting any more blood, she reels back and bites into the opposite side of my neck. I let another 0.05 liters trickle out in an effort to wean her off. Alice bites into my neck again and I repeat the trickle of blood. I don't let any out on the next bite and Alice starts frantically biting at my neck, tearing it apart.

"Sweetie..." I sadly say as I hug Alice close to me. Alice seems to snap out of it and starts crying.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Cole! I'm so sorry!" Alice wails.

"No, I'm the one that's sorry, sweetie. You wouldn't be in this state if I had just dropped by yesterday," I softly reply and tenderly pet the back of her head.

"But your neck!" Alice exclaims through her tears.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. See?" I say as I feel the skin of my neck knitting itself back together.

"CANDLES AND BARRY WHITE!?" I hear Cheza shout from downstairs.

That is really not good. I listen as Cheza storms upstairs and I prepare for the worst. Alice sniffles as she stops crying.

"Cole... would you care to explain what occurred here a few nights ago?" Cheza asks through gritted teeth.

"Alice drank too much of my blood and vomited into the toilet without knowing that Jason had put saran wrap over it so the blood bounced back and soaked us, causing us to need a bath. Alice said we needed 'bath time candles' and 'bath time music,' so she got those while I prepared the bath, thinking that it was best if Jason and Reyna fixed that misconception. I shuffled my song list and it happened to land on Barry White as Alice got hungry and bit into my neck again. Then Reyna and Jason came in, Reyna thinking the worst while Jason understood immediately," I quickly explain while glossing over the details so I don't get stabbed.

"Chezarei, nothing was going on between them. You really should've let me finish. While the situation looked really bad, the explanation was perfectly reasonable," Reyna explains from the doorway and my phone starts ringing.

"Hey Cole, we need you and Rei back here ASAP," Natasha tells me.

"We're on our way," I respond and hang up.

"Let's go," I tell Cheza and set Alice down.

"We'll see you guys later!" I announce as I grab Cheza's hand and touch my Haglaz rune.

Chapter 8: Tanks... Why did it have to be tanks? ****

We arrive in the reception area, startling the director's werewolf receptionist. Before she has the chance to use the intercom, Natasha opens the door and ushers us into the office.

"When I requested assistance from The Agency, I never expected that Feros and the Night Ice Queen would show up. We just received word that the vampires are coming in with about ten, Japanese model Type 10 tanks. The buildings are resistant to explosive bombardment, but they won't hold up forever," Director Gracie says.

"The vampires don't see the obvious problem with bringing slow ass tanks into a battle that involves beings with supernatural speed?" I ask.

"From what we've seen on the satellite images, each tank has roughly fifty vampires accompanying it, so getting in close to destroy the tanks will be a challenge since we are lacking in long range weaponry with enough firepower to destroy a tank," Director Gracie explains.

"That shouldn't be a problem, I have a plan. When's the ETA on the tanks?" I inquire.

"Twenty minutes. They're rolling down the main road as we speak. I already have all of the witches and wizards working on fortifications for the buildings and the fence," Director Gracie answers.

"Alright, Cheza and I will go get ready. Just let us know when they arrive and keep the troops inside for this one. We don't need to accidentally get shot while we're running around out there," I reply.

"I'll keep you updated," Natasha says as I grab Cheza's hand and port us to the room. Cheza strips off her jeans and t-shirt before slipping into her suit. I unzip the left sleeve of my suit and toss it on the bed.

"So the plan is for you to hose them down while I use the water to freeze them?" Cheza asks.

"Pretty much. The top armor and treads of any tank are the most vulnerable so aim for those. I'll also be hosing down the barrel of the tank, so make sure to freeze that as well. There will also most likely be a mounted .50 caliber turret on the top which we should definitely avoid. Our suits don't provide all that much protection against .50 caliber bullets," I inform her.

"Got it," Cheza replies.

"They're almost within range. You two should get out there," Natasha thinks.

"Well, it's show time," I tell Cheza and we make our way down to the grounds of the compound.

By the time we pass through the front gate, the tanks have already started fanning out into firing positions. There are large groups of vampires with bronze auras around each tank, along with three more that are faintly visible inside of the tanks.

Cheza and I engage our helmets and sprint forward while we still have the element of surprise. Once I'm within range, I hold my blackened left arm in front of me and blast the leftmost tank with water, as well as the surrounding vampires. The water on the tank and nearby vampires flash freeze as Cheza passes by, roughly fifteen feet behind me. The tanks' turrets open fire on me and Cheza while the vampires finally notice us as I'm spraying down another tank.

"Don't worry about the smaller arms fire and focus on dodging the .50 cals!" I think to Cheza as the vampires start shooting at us with rifles of various models.

"Easier said than done!" Cheza responds while freezing another tank.

I focus on hosing down the third tank while trying to ignore the bullets that keep hitting my suit, which isn't too difficult seeing as I can barely feel them. Cheza freezes the third tank while I hose down the fourth, quickly followed by the fifth. Cheza manages to freeze them both while I'm hosing down three more as I feel her fatigue.

"Are you alright?" I think.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just keep going," Cheza replies while freezing the sixth tank and I hose down the ninth.

I suddenly feel a pain in my right thigh as Cheza yelps and her leg collapses from underneath her. I feel a pain in my lower back as Cheza gets hit two more times with .50 caliber bullets and a dozen times with smaller rounds. After quickly changing directions, I launch myself on top of Cheza, but I'm not quick enough to block the bullet that pierces the collar of her suit and sinks into the back of her neck.

Rage fills me as Cheza stops breathing due to her wound while my back gets continuously punctured by .50 caliber rounds. Cheza loses consciousness from a combination of fatigue and lack of oxygen as the firing lets up from all infantry and the other tanks with the exception of the one directly in front of us. I take a peek over my shoulder and see an infantry vampire rushing forward with something on his back... Oh fuck!

The flames of the flamethrower engulf me for a brief second before being extinguished by the bubble of water around me. Even napalm needs oxygen to remain alight. I notice that the water is swirling around Cheza's head as the water is set on fire. While in the bubble of fire, I realize that now is a good time to port out of here. I arrive on the floor of Director Gracie's office with Cheza beneath me. I pull the bullet out of Cheza's neck, two out of her lower back, and the one from her right thigh as she begins healing herself. The continued gunfire coming from outside tells me that I've been able to keep up the bubble, creating the illusion that Cheza and I are still there.

"Cole! What happened!?" Natasha frantically asks.

"They hurt Cheza... they're going to pay," I maliciously say as I form my Mu-cutter.

(Relax, Master. You don't want to channel the Void at this stage)

"If I need it to kill those bastards, I will channel the Void with no qualms."

(Utilize the powers of the fallen gods, and the Void will not be necessary)

"I can't see how lightning will help in this situation, or water beyond the whole flamethrower business."

(Those are not the only fallen gods you have at your disposal. You have yet to use any powers from the first fallen god that you 'collected.' Might I suggest using the powers of a War God?)

"What good can that do?"

(Enhanced speed and strength)

"Do it," I reply.

My Mu-cutter connects and I think about the stretch of road behind the tanks before porting there without touching my triskele. I flash forward and hack the vampires surrounding the seventh tank to pieces at a speed that has been previously unknown to me. The majority of them are dead before they even realize they're being attacked. After six quick slices to cut a hole through the side of the tank, I dispatch the remaining two vampires that were lucky enough to not be in the path of my Mu-cutter while I was cutting open the tank. I set my sights on tank number eight while the infantry around it set their sights on me and open fire. Thankfully, it seems that I'm at an angle that the tank turrets can't reach.

As I notice the flamethrower wielding vampire in this group, I recall the explosion of the predator drone this morning when I luckily hit its fuel tank. Isn't the backpack part of a flamethrower all fuel tank? I pull my .460 S&W from behind my back and fire at the vampire's heart after the purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my left hand. The bullet pierces the vampire's chest and travels through the fuel tank. The resulting explosion from the lightning igniting the fuel is rather terrific and gives me the distraction needed to race forward and slice the infantry to pieces. I cut a hole in the eighth tank before dicing the three vampires inside the tank. Only two to go.

I launch myself over the seven foot height of the ruined tank, moving onto the ninth. The area around me gets lit up by .50 caliber gunfire as I notice that the tenth tank has rolled forward and turned towards my position. I do a retreating backflip over the tank and use it as cover. Since the turret can only fire on the front of the ruined tank because of the angle, I run around the backside of it, only to be met by all of the remaining infantrymen behind three flamethrowers that set me aflame. Water surrounds me as napalm mixes with the surface and turns into a swirling inferno around me. I get a crazy idea when I notice that I can barely make out the bronze auras of the infantry in front of me.

I stumble forward to make it appear as if they are actually harming me as the flamethrowers continue their efforts and increase the inferno. I feel the heat radiating off of it as I continue until the flamethrowers run out of fuel. I imagine that my ball of fire is quite huge by now so I sprint into the middle of the infantry as they open fire. While I'm getting berated by bullets, I throw both of my arms down and the water bubble pops, sending the swirling napalm flying in all directions around me. The vampires are covered in the flames that were previously surrounding me. Glorious screams of agony erupt around me as the vampires burn. Several vampires hit the ground and try rolling around to extinguish the flames, but to no avail. That's the thing that sucks the most about napalm: it sticks.

With the whole 'AH I'M ON FIRE!' thing, the vampires are a little too preoccupied to offer any resistance as I hack my way through them. I laugh as the tenth tank tries to retreat at its top speed of 40mph while I destroy the ninth tank in the same fashion as the other two. I quickly catch up to the final tank and cut a hole in the side, slicing through the right treads. The remaining tread goes flying along with a few wheels before the right side drops, the weight stopping the tank's movement. The vampires inside regard me with wide-eyed terror as I stick my torso into the new opening of the tank.

"Alright, so here's the deal. The first person who tells me where I can find the head of the Australian campaign, doesn't die," I explain.

"The captured azeman embassy!" one vampire shouts immediately. I decapitate the other two vampires in the tank and turn to my informant.

"Thank you. You may leave," I reply and port back to Director Gracie's office.

"Get me a picture of the azeman embassy in Adelaide. Now!" I demand.

"Cole? What's going on?" Natasha asks as Director Gracie types on his computer.

"I'm going to end all of this by eliminating the vampire leading the Australian campaign," I reply.

"How do you know they're at the azeman embassy?" Natasha questions.

"A vampire told me in exchange for not killing him," I respond.

"Shouldn't you do something about the couple dozen bullets sticking out of your back?" Natasha sarcastically asks.

"I can take care of those later," I say.

"Cole, I'm pretty sure they're bleeding..." Natasha says with concern.

"I said leave it! It's simply the price I'm paying for not getting to her in time... I should have gotten us out of there the moment I felt her getting tired... I knew that she was slowing down, but I just kept going..." I softly reply as I walk over and observe Cheza's prone form. The rise and fall of her chest indicates her breathing has restarted, so at least there's that.

"Here," Director Gracie says while handing me a printed photograph of the embassy.

"Thanks. I'll have this Australian vampire situation wrapped up momentarily," I say and touch my triskele.

I port to the courtyard of the embassy in Adelaide with a large marble fountain to my left. While I'm prepared for a fight, it seems entirely unnecessary as there isn't a single enemy in the entire courtyard or anywhere in sight. That's weird, isn't it? It seems entirely possible that I might've already killed all of the vampire forces, but it seems like common sense to keep a few people back to guard the base and the commander.

I slice through the double doors at the entrance with my Mu-cutter and I'm surprised by what I see: there's blood, pretty much everywhere. There are dozens of bodies that are all in pieces on the floor. The lack of damage to the surrounding areas and the non-tattered chunks of bodies indicate a lack of explosions. Something of a bladed nature was responsible for this.

"Please! Just give me more time and I know I can do this!" I hear a woman's voice beg from the second floor and I look for the stairs.

"It's too late. You have failed us too many times," a modulated female voice replies as I find the stairs at the back of the building and race up the steps.

"We're pulling the plug on the Australian operation, and your services..." the modulated female voice adds as I sprint down the hall.

"Are no longer required," Sydney finishes as I reach the room just in time to see her decapitate the vampire commander before slicing her severed head into six pieces with red twin swords that don't appear to be made of metal.

"Why, hello Cole! What a totally unexpected surprise!" Sydney exclaims as the blood rains down around her. I'm pretty sure she was being sarcastic.

"So Loki really is behind all of this," I comment.

"This is just the first in a series of events we have planned for you. In fact, another one should be starting soon. I wonder if you'll have this wrapped up before it starts... I guess we'll just have to see. Until next time!" Sydney replies and waves as she disappears.

So she can port too? Who in the hell is she? Well, since she didn't turn into smoke like Loki, I doubt she can port without being detected, which only raises more questions about how she managed to get in and out of Niflheim. And what's this next event she referred to?

All of these thoughts wander through my mind as I disengage my Mu-cutter and port back to Director Gracie's office.

"Alright, well I'm pretty sure the vampire invasion of Australia is over," I report.

"How can you be so sure?" the director asks.

"Well, I overheard the superior of the vampire leading the Australian campaign say that they were abandoning it, just before the vampire was decapitated by her superior," I explain as I scoop Cheza up.

"I'm going to take Cheza home now so she can rest. Natasha, I'll meet you in the room. Cheza and I left some things in there that I'll need to get anyway," I inform them before porting to the house in Bellevue.

I set Cheza on the bed, pull her suit off of her, tuck her in, brush a strand of hair out of her face, and give her a quick kiss. I port to the room at the AUSSIE compound and gather up the clothing that Cheza and I have left around the room. I zip my left sleeve back on and fold the clothing into neat piles while waiting for Natasha, who walks into the room five minutes later.

"All done. Ready to go?" she asks.

"Yeah," I reply while gathering up the stacks of clothing.

I grab Natasha's hand and port us to the living room of the house.

"Hey Natasha? Could you do me a favor and help me pull these bullets out now?" I request.

"Of course," Natasha replies with a slight smirk.

I walk through the kitchen to the laundry room where I toss the bundle of clothes into the all-in-one washer dryer before adding some soap and turning the machine on. I grab a pair of pliers from our utility drawer in the kitchen and hand off the pliers to Natasha. After grabbing a metal dish for Natasha to put the bullets into, I hop up onto the dining room table and lie face down. Twenty-seven tinks of the metal dish later and I have a back free of bullets.

"Thanks, Natasha," I tell her.

"No problem. Alright, well I'm going to head back to the office," Natasha says while yawning.

"Are you sure? You could catch some sleep in the guest bedroom if you want," I offer.

"Hmm... I think I'll take you up on that," Natasha replies.

I lead her upstairs to the door that is across the hall from the master bedroom and show her in.

"Hold on, I'll go grab some of Cheza's pajamas," I say.

"That's alright, Cole. Thanks though," Natasha replies.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yeah," Natasha says and an awkward silence follows.

"Well, uh, goodnight!" I awkwardly reply.

"Goodnight, Cole," Natasha responds as I exit the room and close the door behind me.

I return to the master bedroom while trying to shake my slight feeling of awkward embarrassment, quietly rinse off my suit and myself in the shower, and get ready for bed. I slide in next to Cheza and spoon her as I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 9: Breakfast Innuendos

[December 23rd]

I wake up at 8am the next morning to find that Cheza is still unconscious. I start to worry before I check on her to find that she's fully recovered, and is only sleeping. I carefully leave the bed and exit the room before heading downstairs. Natasha is sitting at the bar that divides the kitchen and the living room, reading a newspaper while wearing only a blue lace bra and matching panties.

"Good morning, Cole!" Natasha exclaims from behind her newspaper.

"Uh, good morning, Tasha..." I reply while trying to keep myself staring.

"What do you feel like having for breakfast?" I ask.

"Hmm... I think I could go for some sausage right about now. It's been quite a while since I've had any _sausage_ and the thought of it is really making my _mouth water_. Can you fix that problem for me, Cole?" Natasha asks with a sultry gaze.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've got some sausage links in the fridge. What else do you want with the sausage?" I question.

"How about crepes? I think banana crepes with lots of whipped cream would be really good, don't you? But I don't want the banana to be sliced. I would rather have you _shove_ the whole _banana_ into the _hole_ of the rolled up crepe, before squirting a bunch of white _cream_ into it. Can you manage that, Cole?" Natasha inquires.

"I believe we have both whipped cream and bananas so I should be able to manage it. I doubt the crepes will be as good as Jason's. That man is a master at cooking crepes," I reply and get to work while Natasha quietly huffs.

I cook the crepes and sausage before dishing them out onto three plates: two that I set on the bar and one that I put in the microwave, setting it to the 'Keep Warm' function.

"Are you done with the front page stories?" I ask as I sit down beside Natasha and start eating. She hands me the front section of the newspaper and I can't help but notice the way her breasts move with her blue lace bra as she does so.

"See something that you like?" Natasha smiles surreptitiously.

"No," I plainly reply and turn my attention towards the newspaper.

"Am I really that unattractive to you, Cole?" Natasha asks, sounding hurt. I turn towards her and see tears in her eyes.

"No, that isn't it at all," I tell her.

"I mean, I know that I'm entering my late twenties and I'm not in your preferred age range... I'm over a decade past that already..." Natasha quietly adds.

"You know, I'm getting really sick of everyone thinking I'm a pedophile!" I exclaim.

"You have to admit, the evidence for it is pretty daunting," Natasha argues.

"I don't like little girls!" I expound.

"Prove it," Natasha states and stares at me.

I stare back into her green eyes for several moments before something comes over me. My mouth hungrily finds hers as my right hand slips underneath her bra. Natasha grabs my junk through my boxers and I get so wrapped up in the moment that the shutting of the microwave door comes as a surprise, causing me to jump.

"Don't stop on my account," Cheza says and takes a bite of her crepe before turning towards Natasha.

"It's the usual rate and make sure you're using jimmies. I can't have you getting my bottom bitch pregnant," Cheza tells Natasha.

"Got it," Natasha replies with a serious nod.

"So you're whoring me out to our friends now?" I ask with mock surprise.

"Whoring you out implies that I'm actually guiding the horse to the watering hole, when all I'm actually doing is profiting from the horse finding the water all on his own," Cheza replies with an uninflected tone.

"I'm sorry..." I say.

"If it were anyone besides Natasha, I'd already have your testicles in a vice grip. However, since it is Natasha, I don't really mind," Cheza responds, but something tells me that she's not being completely truthful. Natasha gets a mischievous look on her face and walks over to Cheza.

"Want to do a repeat of a few years ago?" Natasha whispers in Cheza's ear. Cheza stares at me as the mischievous look spreads to her face.

"That could be fun..." Cheza replies as they both inspect me and I start to feel like a piece of meat. I realize what they're referring to as I hear my phone ring.

"Just a second," I tell them and race upstairs to answer my phone.

"Cole, we need your help," Tia says, sounding rather distraught.

"Tia? What's wrong? Has something happened to you or Sara?" I frantically ask since Tia being distraught is a giant red flag.

"No, she's fine. By 'we,' I mean the Aztec pantheon," Tia corrects.

"What's going on?" I inquire.

"Tezcatlipoca, Xipe-Totec, and Huitzilopochtli were all killed last night in a manner that you know quite well," Tia explains and I start freaking out.

That's three out of four Category 3 pantheon heads killed in a single night. One more and Tia dies with him.

"Where's Queta... Quetzala... Que..." I try to say.

"Quetzalcoatl? He's here at the house. He goes by Quinn now by the way," Tia says.

"Alright, I'll be there in a little bit," I tell Tia and hang up.

I run downstairs and see that the girls have started the 'pre-game warm-up' on the couch. I struggle to ignore the sight as I head to the laundry room and pull out my armored jeans and jacket from the washer-dryer.

"Cole? What's going on?" Cheza asks from the living room.

"I need to go help the Aztec pantheon," I say while pulling my pants on.

"Is Tia alright!?" Cheza asks, sounding worried.

"She's alright at the moment, but three of the four heads of the Aztec pantheon were killed last night. One more and she won't be alright at all," I reply while pulling on my jacket and walking into the living room from the kitchen.

"Okay, I'll go grab my suit," Cheza says, standing from the couch and Natasha.

"No, Cheza. Your suit has too many vulnerabilities at the moment. I'm taking both of our suits with me so Sara can repair them," I tell her while grabbing my boots from the entryway closet and sitting on the stairs to strap them on.

"Cole—" Cheza starts to argue.

"Cheza, I can't allow you to come with me on this one... I can't risk losing you again with what happened yesterday... it's my fault you got hurt," I tell her while hanging my head. I hear Cheza pad across the floor to my position.

"Cole... you have to stop blaming yourself for these kinds of things," Cheza softly replies as she leans forward over the stairs and pulls me close to her.

"I'll let you do this one solo, but I want you to check in with me on occasion," Cheza adds.

"Yes ma'am," I reply.

"Alright... be safe, Cole. I love you," Cheza says.

"I love you too, and I will," I respond and give her a quick kiss.

After heading back to the master bedroom to grab my holster pouch and both armored leather suits, I touch my triskele and port to the house in Arizona where I grew up. I find Sara and Tia sitting at the kitchen table with a Hispanic man that is around six feet tall with a thin build and short black hair that has a metallic green sheen to it.

"Hello everyone. Sara, can you fix my and Cheza's suits?" I ask and hold the suits out to her.

"Sure... Holy shit, Cole! What happened!?" Sara inquires while holding up my suit and inspecting the back of it.

"Cheza and I had to take on ten tanks yesterday. She was getting shot so I jumped in the way and covered her," I recant.

"Well, your suit is toast. Cheza's shouldn't be too difficult to repair, but I'll need to make a new suit for you. I'll have to strip the inlay from this one, replace the broken discs, and insert it into a new leather suit," Sara explains.

"Take your time on mine, I still have my old one to use as a backup, but Cheza needs hers as soon as possible. Also, can you reinforce the collar?" I ask.

"If you made pure silicon carbide discs then I can," Sara replies. I walk over to the kitchen sink and hold my left hand over it.

"If I make them half an inch thick, would it limit her neck's mobility?" I inquire.

"Most likely," Sara answers.

Cheza being unable to turn her head would be even more of a liability so I guess that's out. I walk over to the sink and form pure silicon carbide discs that are a quarter of an inch thick and two inches in diameter. A liter of blood later, I hand the ten discs to Sara and she heads back to her room. I take a seat at the kitchen table next to Tia, who is wearing jeans and a burgundy camisole with a slight puffiness around her eyes.

"So what's the situation, Quinn?" I ask the man wearing the black suit across from me at the table.

"Well, as Tia already told you, the lords of the North, South, and East have all been killed," Quinn replies.

"How?" I inquire.

"There were holes from a blade in their shirts and underneath... their chests were melted and their cores were gone," Quinn answers. This sounds just like the incidents with the Greek pantheon four years ago.

"Where were they killed?" I question.

"In Mexico City. They were on their way to a meeting with the new vampire leader to negotiate their takeover of Mexico. I was supposed to be going to that meeting as well, but I was running late. When I felt my brothers die, I sent some gods to investigate, knowing that if I went and fell into a trap, the Aztec pantheon would be finished," Quinn explains.

"Were they together, or did they take separate routes?" I ask.

"Separate routes," Quinn answers.

"Alright, I think it's best if I go talk with the vampires in Mexico City and see if they know anything," I say.

"I'll accompany him. You should return to Aztlan, Lord Quetzalcoatl," Tia suggests.

"What's Aztlan?" I ask.

"Aztlan is the Aztec plane of the gods, like Mount Olympus or Tir na nOg. It's sometimes known as the birthplace of the Aztec people. The word Aztec is actually the Nahuatl word for the people from Aztlan," Tia informs me.

"I think that would probably be best... be careful and report back when you know something," Quinn says and disappears.

"So, shall we go?" Tia suggests.

"Yeah, but let's go speak with Maria first. I want to get as much information as I can so we know what we're walking into. I also need to feed Alice while we're in the Underworld," I reply.

"Alright, let's go," Tia says as she grabs my arm.

I touch my Haglaz rune and port to Jason's house first because I can't port directly to Mictlan anyway.

"Hey Cole. Here for Alice?" Reyna asks as Tia and I appear in the kitchen.

"Yeah, that and to see your mother," I answer.

"Well, Alice is down for her nap at the moment," Reyna informs me.

"Alright, I'll go see if she's hungry," I reply and head upstairs.

I enter Alice's room and find her peacefully sleeping. I lift her over the guard rail of her bed and hold her against my chest. Alice sniffs and moves to bite my neck without waking up. After she drinks half of a liter, I cut her off and tuck her back into her bed. I turn around and find Tia standing in the doorway, smiling at me.

"Have you considered that she might be your daughter?" Tia whispers.

"Why do you say that?" I ask at the same volume as Tia.

"Well, her silver eyes and silver aura are difficult to ignore," Tia replies.

"Airi... care to jump in and confirm or deny her, and my, suspicions?"

No response, like I expected.

"Wait, you can see auras?" I question.

"Of course. All gods can," Tia says.

"If you could see my aura then why didn't you, or Kira for that matter, suspect my origins?" I ask.

"Because all of the blood warriors had silver auras. As you know, silver auras are reserved for god-created beings like jinn. The blood warriors fall under that distinction as well. Cheza's silver aura only served to strengthen the lie that she had to be killed to start Ragnarok since she's doesn't have the blood of a god-created being. That sort of anomaly made sense," Tia explains.

"Huh... anyway, let's head to Maria's," I reply.

I grab Tia's wrist and port us to the front door of Maria's house where I ring the doorbell.

"Hello, Cole," Babette greets.

"Hello. I need to speak with Maria," I reply.

Babette motions for us to follow and leads us back to Maria's usual room before knocking on the double doors.

"Come in," Maria replies.

"Hey Maria," I say as I walk into the room.

"Hello, Cole. What can I do for you?" Maria asks.

"Well, I have to go meet with the vampires in Mexico City to ask about the murders of three of the heads of the Aztec pantheon last night, and I figured that you would most likely have some information on them. I need to know where the vampires are and who is leading them," I tell her.

"Well, I do know that the vampires are situated in the skyscraper that used to be the azeman embassy. I've been informed that they've bought out four blocks surrounding the building, blocked off the area, and rerouted traffic around it by claiming that they're doing construction. Essentially, they've created a fortress," Maria tells me.

"What about the leader?" I inquire.

"I'm afraid that I can't help you there because I have no information on who is leading them. However, I do know that they know that you are working for me so you most likely won't be getting anywhere near the leader," Maria replies.

"Great... so what now?" I ask.

"Well, we go to the vampire's fortress and I'll go in to get the information while you wait at someplace nearby," Tia suggests.

"Yeah, I suppose that will work. Mexico City, here we come."

Chapter 10: Tenochtitlan

I port us into an alleyway across from the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, a massive church that is just over a mile from the former azeman embassy. I step out of the alleyway and head into the square in front of the cathedral to look for the skyscraper of the former azeman embassy. I stand beneath a gigantic Mexican flag as I look around. Stretching along the square to my right is a wall that looks like it belongs on a British parliament building. I turn to the left and spot the skyscraper in the distance. I hear Tia sigh behind me and I turn around to find sorrow in her eyes.

"What wrong, Tia?" I ask.

"Nothing... I just don't like coming here... especially now," Tia solemnly replies.

"Why?" I inquire.

"This place just brings me a certain deal of sadness. I can still see Montezuma's palace where the National Palace now stands, which isn't too bad because a great deal of Montezuma's palace was used in the construction of the National Palace," Tia says while pointing at the parliament-esque wall to the right.

"The place that brings me the most sadness is the Metropolitan Cathedral," Tia tells me as her eyes glaze over slightly and a certain depth to them appears. For the first time since I've known her, Tia's true age is actually showing through.

"Why does the cathedral make you sad? Is this the site where the explosion occurred?" I ask, referring to the ultimate Aztec warrior that died in an explosion to save a Spanish missionary.

"No, that actually occurred at a different site. This is where the sacred precinct once stood. What the people of today call the Templo Mayor, the second largest location for sacrifice after the main temple that was destroyed in the explosion, sat right over there," Tia replies while pointing to the top right corner of the square.

"The cathedral is where Harry's main temple was before it was destroyed by Hernan Cortes. This entire city used to be Tenochtitlan, the city that Harry instructed the Aztecs to build. This all used to be his city... but now it's gone... and now he's gone..." Tia softly says as tears well up in her eyes.

It pains me to see the woman I consider to be my elder sister like this, so I quickly step forward and hold her as she works through it.

"Let's go find who murdered him," I quietly suggest.

"Yeah... thanks, Cole," Tia replies and wipes the tears from her eyes.

We head left out of the square and walk for about a mile. I notice several vampires with bronze auras wearing heavy clothing and hats, presumably to block out the sun and prevent burns. Construction signs start popping up as traffic starts thinning to follow the detour signs. With all of the sinking that goes on in Mexico City, saying that they needed to do construction to level off any tilting wouldn't bring any suspicion from the public eye and then it's just a matter of paying off the government.

Tia and I finally come to the construction area that has been cordoned off and is guarded by two vampires dressed in hoodies, reflective vests, and hard hats. Tia pulls me onto the patio of a café that is just before the construction area. I notice that I have a fairly clear view of the former azeman embassy skyscraper from this location.

"Alright, so you wait here, I'll go in and have a chat with the leader to find out what they know, come back here, and we'll proceed from there. I'll give you a call if anything goes wrong," Tia says on the patio.

"Okay, see you soon," I reply.

Tia turns to leave and then stops, turns back around, and gives me a hug.

"Thanks for helping, Cole," Tia whispers.

"Of course. How else was I supposed to respond to my big sister needing help?" I rhetorically ask as I return her embrace.

Tia smiles at me and leaves the café while I take a seat. I watch as she walks across the street and heads down to the 'construction' area. The 'construction workers' stop Tia and they talk for a moment before one takes out a radio.

"Hola, puedo tomar su orden?" a waitress asks. I assume that she wants to take my order.

"Uh... caramelo macchiato?" I reply, unsure if the caramel in caramel macchiato should be translated to caramelo... and also unsure if caramel in Spanish is caramelo because the only Spanish I know is what I've picked up from living in Arizona for the majority of my life.

The waitress smiles, nods, and leaves. I look back to see one of the vampires escorting Tia down the block towards the skyscraper. I wait for a few minutes and the waitress brings over my coffee.

"Um, check por favor?" I ask.

The waitress looks confused for a moment so I pull out my wallet and hand her a credit card. She nods in understanding and takes the card. A minute later she comes back with the bill, a pen, and my card. I sign off on the bill after entering an inconspicuous amount for a tip so that I won't be remembered. I slide my card back into my wallet and sip my coffee.

Five minutes pass by and I finish my coffee as I notice that the vampire that escorted Tia has returned. Ten minutes pass by as I watch the comings and goings of the vampires. Twenty minutes pass by with no word from Tia, but I suppose that isn't all too weird. The leader might be making her wait or something. I suddenly hear a crashing sound in the distance as shards of glass fall from the top floor of the skyscraper. I see someone fall out of the window... someone with a burgundy top and long black hair...

Shit! I have to save Tia, but how!? I can port up to catch her, but then I'd just be falling too... Wait, momentum carries when I port so if I get a running start and port midstride... That just might work, but it's going to take some careful timing. I jump out of my seat and start sprinting towards the skyscraper as fast as I can before porting into the air. I continue sailing through the air and pass underneath Tia, missing by about fifty feet. I hit the side of the skyscraper and kick off of it, catching a noticeably wet Tia on the return and aiming for the adjacent building as a landing point. We make it half way across before I realize that I'm not going to make it... fuck, this is going to hurt.

(*Sigh* What did I say about jumping off of tall buildings? Luckily, this time around you have enough control to utilize the power of a fallen god)

"What are you talking about?"

(Horus was a sky god)

My left arm flushes black as I comprehend Airi's meaning. I focus on willing my body to slow down and it starts to work. I hypothesize that Horus's power somehow changes the effects of the gravitational pull on my body as my decent speed slows until my feet gently touch onto the street in the middle of the empty intersection.

"That was pretty close, eh Tia?" I ask while cradling her in my arms. I look down and my face falls in horror.

There's a Void dagger sticking out of Tia's chest.

"Tia?" I ask as I fall to my knees in shock.

"I love you, little brother," Tia softly says with a sad smile.

"No Tia! Don't talk like that! I'm going to fix this!" I exclaim as my eyes are wide with shock. Tia weakly reaches up and places her hand on my cheek.

Tia closes her eyes and goes limp as a hole is burned through her chest and the dagger falls into her chest cavity.

She's gone...

(Master...)

"Airi! Please tell me that there's some way to fix this! That there's some way to save her!"

(I'm sorry, Cole...)

These bastards... these goddamn sons of bitches killed her... They're going to pay... ALL OF THEM ARE GOING TO DIE FOR THIS!

Something inside me breaks as I feel a prickling sensation on my left arm, starting at the line where my artificial arm meets what's left of my flesh. The sensation travels upward, over my left shoulder before branching out across my left shoulder blade and left pectoral. It continues moving up the left side of my neck, stretching across my cheek before it comes to my left eye. I feel my eyes flush with the Void as my body floats up until I'm about a foot off of the ground, still cradling Tia in my arms. An enhanced situational awareness comes to me and I become hyperaware of my surroundings.

Vampire soldiers in all of the surrounding buildings begin firing at me, but I don't bother to engage my helmet. Void tendrils shoot out of the holes in my left arm and right leg, shredding the sleeve of my jacket and legging of my jeans. Tendrils of several different sizes move around Tia and expand outward from my position until I can see strings of black in every direction.

The tendrils strike the weak points of the small surrounding buildings that the vampires are using for cover. Two fragmentation grenades land at my feet before the tendrils pick them up and throw them back. Explosions and resulting screams reach my ears as the small buildings collapse around me. Vampires flood out into the streets and start shooting for a moment before the tendrils find their heads. Blood and bodies cover the streets in all four directions as I turn my attention towards the skyscraper on the corner.

I float up to the doors and see twenty-five vampires with guns trained on the entrance. The tendrils spear forward and then move horizontally from left to right at chest level before moving in a circular pattern around me. The tendrils send a small width of everything they touch into the Void, cutting the vampires and the middle section of the wall in front of me. The vampires' arms fall off at mid-bicep level as their shoulders and above are stricken from their bodies. The center of the wall, including the doors, falls to pieces as I float through the circular opening.

I look upward and know that there are squads of vampires on each of the seventeen floors above me. I come up with a fun way to take them out, but I won't be able to kill the leader, or have confirmation of his death. I exit the building, look up at the window that Tia fell out of, and will myself to fly up there, feeling the gravitational pull reversing beneath my feet.

The vampires watching the elevators and the stairs on the seventeenth floor are surprised when they notice me floating outside the broken window. One vampire turns and fires a damn rocket launcher at me, but a tendril shoots into the room and strikes the rocket as it leaves the tube, causing it to explode and kill the surrounding vampires. I notice a door on the back wall behind the reception desk and move towards it. My tendrils 'open' it for me and I proceed through the large hole where the door once stood.

"Who is in charge here?" I ask the six vampires in the room from the entrance of the ornate office.

I somehow notice the lights above the elevator door, sixty feet to the rear of my position; reinforcements brought on by the explosion, no doubt. Tendrils shoot across the sixty feet of room to the elevator doors before puncturing them to sever the cables as the light for the fourteenth floor lights up. That's a long way down.

"I SAID WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE!?" I shout.

Five out of the six vampires immediately point to one at the back of the room. I float towards that one as tendrils spear into the heads of the other five. After all, snitches get stitches... or in this case, decapitation. I turn my attention back on the vampire in charge: the leader of the vampire rebellion. The white man with brown hair looks neither strong nor charismatic as I approach him.

"So, you are the one responsible for this... for killing my sister," I gravely announce.

"No! That was Venus! She's the one that has been leading us! She's the one that threw the dagger into that woman's chest and blasted her out of the window! She ported away right before the fighting started!" the vampire spills.

I know Venus hates me for killing her husband, Vulcan, and her lover, Mars, but would she really side with Loki for revenge? That, I'm not sure of. I send the tendrils over to pick up the vampire and bring him to me. I hold my left hand out while still cradling Tia and bring the vampire's mouth towards it with the tendrils. The vampire closes his mouth and keeps it tightly shut.

"Open your mouth," I order, but he doesn't obey.

I could force the blood in through his nose, but that seems too easy. Instead, I spear a tendril through the bottom of his chin and have it hook around his jaw before yanking down, breaking his jaw in the process. That process wasn't really necessary considering that he started screaming once the tendril punctured his chin, but it was already in there so I decided to follow through. I siphon the blood down his throat and move it into his brain where I start flipping through his memories in a rapid fashion.

I'm vaguely aware as my tendrils shoot out of the office, towards the door that leads to the stairwell that is located near the elevators, as I get to the recent memories.

"Venus, Tlazolteotl is here from the Aztec pantheon to discuss the murders of the pantheon heads that took place last night," the vampire says. I guess he's Venus's assistant, secretary, or receptionist.

"Haha! I can't believe my luck! Here I was thinking that the plan last night had failed since we weren't able to kill Quetzalcoatl, but now the true target is coming to me! I always thought that destroying the Aztec pantheon just to kill a single goddess to hurt Feros was overkill, but now I get the satisfaction of killing her in person! Where is she?" Venus asks.

"She's been waiting in the lobby for the past fifteen minutes," the vampire secretary replies.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Venus angrily demands.

"Because you ordered me not to interrupt you under any circumstances!" the vampire secretary quickly explains.

"Just send her up! And get away from the door when she steps up to the desk," Venus commands, her irritation blatant in her voice.

The vampire secretary leaves the back office and assumes his position at the front desk.

"Send her up," the vampire orders with his finger on an intercom.

Several minutes later, Tia exits the elevator and walks across the room to the front desk.

"Hello, I'm here from the Aztec pantheon," Tia says and the vampire secretary jumps out of the way as the door to Venus's office flies open.

I watch as Venus throws the Void dagger into Tia's chest, runs behind the secretary and his desk, breaks the window with a spell, and blasts Tia out of the window with a torrent of water.

"Now I just have to go collect the dagger—" Venus absentmindedly says before a worried look crosses her face and she ports away, most likely upon sensing me port in to catch Tia. Since Venus isn't a pantheon head, the only place she could have ported is Mount Olympus. I'm going to kill that bitch, but first...

I start moving all of the tendrils in a spherical gyroscopic pattern around me, causing the tendrils to cut into the walls, ceiling, and floor. I float down through the newly made hole in the floor, slicing apart the sixteenth floor as I had with the seventeenth. I continue traveling down through the floors of the building, slicing apart any vampires that happen to be under me until I reach the ground floor. Once on the first floor, I spear the tendrils out in all directions and spin in a circle, cutting through the walls of the building at a fifteen degree slant towards the blocks of city that the vampires are occupying.

I retract the majority of the tendrils into me before flying out of the building and heading skyward to take in the view. The screams of the vampires that are still alive in the collapsing skyscraper reach my ears. After the skyscraper starts sliding off of its foundation, the major structural damage from my trip down causes the building to collapse in on itself. As the plume of dust comes up towards my location, I port to Mount Olympus.

Chapter 11: Bittersweet Symphony of Revenge

Upon arriving at the marble gazebo that serves at the gate to Mount Olympus, I look down at Tia. If it weren't for the hole in her chest, I'd say she was sleeping peacefully... A renewed amount of anger fills me as I set Tia on the ground, take my jacket off, and cover her chest with it before picking her back up. I take to the sky and head over the cloud pathways toward the village, where I land beside the three tier fountain in the center of town.

"Iris, either open this gate before I count to three or I destroy your stupid fucking fountain and kill everyone. One, TWO, TH—" I shout before the rainbow gate beams down.

I carry Tia through it and arrive at the glittering palace of the Olympians. This place hasn't changed in the past four years with the exception that the courtyard now has giant pillars bordering along the right and left sides leading to the palace. Now the question has become, how do I get Venus out here?

(Remember how you kept the title of King of the Gods because of your asinine thinking that it would cause Vesta to grow a penis? While the reason is still asinine, the power will come in handy)

I remember what Airi is talking about so I set Tia down off to the side of the entrance and walk to the center of the courtyard. I think of Venus standing in the courtyard and snap my fingers. Venus appears fifteen feet in front of me, looking bewildered for a moment before she notices me and her eyes go wide in terror.

"Hi," I greet with a malicious smile.

Utilizing the war god aspect, I charge forward and throw a left jab straight into her face faster than the speed at which she could react. Venus sails back and smashes into a wall of the palace, nearly two hundred feet away. I follow after her and before she has time to recover, I grab her by the face with my left hand and throw her back into the courtyard. I'm sprinting back towards her when I stop, noticing a confused look on her face...or it might just be shock, but either way, I stop.

"No, you bitch... You don't get to look at me like that... You know exactly what you did..." I tell her with a grave tone as I slowly advance.

"Feros? What is going on here?" I hear Diana ask behind me and to my right.

"Hello, Diana. I'm about to brutally kill Venus, so just stay out of this and I'll explain later," I reply without turning towards her.

"Help me!" Venus pleads, reaching out toward her fellow gods with her left hand as she props herself up with her right.

I flash over to Venus's position and bring my right boot into her face, knocking her back to the ground and landing her on her back. I raise my right leg into the air and bring my heel down on her head. The tile beneath us cracks with my lack of restraint as her head sinks in a few inches.

"After what you've done, you no longer deserve to ask for help," I tell her.

Tendrils shoot out of my left arm and catch an arrow twenty feet back and to my left, which had been traveling towards the back of my left knee, before disintegrating the arrow. I turn towards the source and see Apollo holding his bow made of light.

"Oh Apollo... you just had to try to take my left leg at the worst possible time, didn't you?" I ask as I raise my left arm.

The tendrils spear forward to Apollo's position, roughly one hundred feet away. Normally they wouldn't be able to reach that far, but something tells me that the tendrils can do it. At that distance, Apollo sees them coming and tries to out run them, but he's not fast enough. The tendrils stab through Apollo's left knee at one hundred fifty feet away, wrap around it, and drag Apollo back to me before dangling him upside-down until we are face to face.

"You see, on any other day, I might've just zapped you and gone about my business. However, today I am in a truly terrible mood, and since I still haven't forgiven you for blowing off my right leg, I've decided to seriously fuck you up!" I exclaim.

My tendrils swing Apollo around through the air above my head. Once there is enough momentum, the tendrils extend out further and send Apollo crashing through a wall of columns on the left edge of the courtyard. He's smashed through seven of them when I sense Venus trying to make a run for it. My tendrils shoot behind me and sink into both of her legs multiple times, causing Venus to scream out in pain as she face-plants. Before Venus has the time to use any spells, I flick my arm forward and my tendrils slam her into the tile in front of me. I flick my arm back, causing my tendrils to slam both Venus and Apollo into the tile behind me. I laugh as I flick my arm to the right and the left. A certain rhythm gets started as Apollo and Venus repeatedly slam into the ground, cracking the tile to the front, left, right, and back of me as they let out pained exclamations over the sound of my laughter.

"Feros, drop Venus and my brother this instant," Diana says with a stern tone from behind me.

I turn around to see that the pantheon is armed and assembled. Diana even has an arrow knocked and aimed at me.

"Look... I really don't want to kill you guys to kill Venus, but I will. That's how serious I am," I tell her.

"And my brother?" Diana asks.

"He picked Venus's bed and now he has to lie in it with her... figuratively... also probably literally given the amount of dudes Venus is involved with," I reply.

"That isn't acceptable, Feros," Diana responds.

"Then you leave me with no choice," I say as my tendrils drop Apollo and Venus.

Suddenly four stone slabs shoot out of the ground and encompass me in a tepee-like rock cage while the ground beneath my feet opens up and swallows me. The earth fills in and restrains my arms and legs, leaving only my head above ground and inside the rock cage. Okay, how is this possible? Olympus is in the clouds so why is there dirt and stone? I suppose I can attribute the stone to the tile courtyard, but the dirt is still a conundrum.

"That was a lot easier than I expected," I hear Diana say.

"I know. Restraining his arms so he can't touch his triskele to port has effectively trapped him," Ceres says.

Ah, so she must've used Neptune's power over earthquakes to accomplish this. If I had known that power could do this, I would've kept it.

"So what was that all about?" Diana asks.

"I don't know! He's crazy! Feros summoned me out here and began beating me!" Venus exclaims, sounding like the epitome of innocence.

"Iris just reported that Feros threatened to destroy her fountain and kill everyone in town," Vesta says.

"See!? He's finally snapped! He's a threat to all of us!" Venus chimes in.

"He apparently was also carrying someone when he arrived," Vesta adds.

"Over here," an unfamiliar female voice says while walking towards the group.

"That's Tlazolteotl. She was captured by Vulcan, Mars, and Apollo to lure Feros into coming to them when he was accused of killing Zeus. She's practically Feros's sister," Diana recants.

"He must've killed her!" Venus exclaims and my rage reaches its boiling point.

"YOU DARE TO ACCUSE ME OF KILLING HER!?" I scream as my tendrils travel in the gyroscopic pattern, slicing through the dirt and my rock cage as I hover out of the newly made bowl in the ground while noticing that the sky has suddenly darkened.

"YOU LYING LITTLE BITCH! YOU KILLED HER AND YOU KNOW IT!" I boom as black lightning strikes down around the courtyard. The gods start dodging the lightning while trying to get closer to stop me, but it's not letting them.

"AND I'M GOING TO DESTROY YOU BECAUSE OF IT!" I shout as I send my tendrils through Venus's hands, feet, shoulders, and thighs, and pull her towards me.

Upon realizing that they can't get closer, Diana and Apollo start shooting arrows at me. More tendrils shoot out of my right leg and move in a gyroscopic formation to provide arrow coverage, slicing all arrows to bits before they can get within ten feet of me.

"I'm sorry!" Venus screams.

"You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY!? You apologizing won't fix this... YOU APOLOGIZING WON'T BRING HER BACK!" I yell.

"Please!" Venus begs.

"I'll give you one chance. Give me the information I want, and I won't kill you," I tell her and Venus looks hopeful.

"Tell me where Loki is," I say and Venus's face falls.

"But I don't know where he is!" Venus exclaims.

"I know, I didn't think you did," I reply with a malicious smile and hold my left hand up while enjoying Venus's plunge into the depths of despair. That's the funny thing about hope: it can bring you to the highest peaks, but having it taken away can bring you lower than the deepest trenches.

My fingertips turn into wicked-looking points that resemble claws as a bladed spike emerges from each knuckle and is swept back. The undersides of my fingers sharpen down to an edge on each segment, forming small blades. After the transformation is finished, I clench my hand several times to see that the blades on each segment are slightly restricting my ability to do so while Venus looks on in horror.

"You know... my only regret, is that I didn't let Chezarei kill you four years ago," I whisper into her ear.

I spear my pointed hand through Venus's stomach, underneath her ribcage, and move into her chest as Venus shrieks out in pain. I reach her core and drag my index finger across it, feeling it turn to smoke where I scratch. Judging by the sounds coming from Venus, this is causing her immeasurable amounts of pain, so I keep doing it. I bask in her agonized screaming, enjoying the shivers that course through my body. Venus tries to say something, so I stop scratching.

"Please! I beg of you! Just kill me! Just fucking kill me!" Venus pleads.

"Since you asked so nicely... I'll continue scratching. How about we go a little deeper?" I rhetorically ask and carve small trenches into her core as Venus screams even louder.

"Damn Venus! With the amount of pleasure you're giving me, I'm going to need a smoke after this! You are certainly living up to your reputation!" I exclaim over her screams.

"You usually like being penetrated, don't you?" I ask and laugh maniacally as I poke holes into her core with my index claw, causing the loudest screams yet.

"I think we should finish this with a bit of fisting!" I exclaim and slam my whole hand into her core.

Venus falls silent as I start absorbing the core while a hole is burned through her chest. When I've turned the golden mass in Venus's chest to smoke and absorbed it into my arm, I toss her husk away like the garbage it is. Venus's husk hits my gyroscopic wall of slicing tendrils and gets hacked to pieces, as though I'd thrown it into a garbage disposal, while I sink to ground-level. The lightning continues to strike around me and my tendrils swirl to provide protection against arrows.

"Now... what to do about all of you?" I ask with my malevolent grin as I turn towards the Greek pantheon.

Cheza is suddenly jumping through the air towards me and my tendrils. My heart nearly stops as she reaches them, but the tendrils open up at the last second and let her in. Cheza tackles me to the ground with her mouth slamming into mine, her tongue frantically probing the inside of my mouth as I notice the tears in her eyes. She pulls back, sits up, and studies my face while straddling me.

I watch through Cheza's eyes as my Void-black eyes start to fade and the silver iris in my right eye resurfaces. The five, black, tattoo-like spikes that are reaching into my left eye follow the black strip on my cheek as they retract down my neck while my left iris finally resurfaces. The strip flows down my neck to my shoulder, where it reconnects with the retracting black tattoo-like spikes that are on my left pectoral. They look a lot like my left hand does at the moment, which serves to send a chill down my spine. I assume that there is something similar on my left shoulder blade based on the prickling sensation I felt before and feel now.

The Void marks retract back across my shoulder, into my artificial arm, and up to my fingertips, where my hand sits beside my head. Silver replaces the black as my fingers return to normal, the claws warping back to round tips. My vision snaps back as Cheza starts crying and wraps her arms around me.

"Oh thank goodness! I thought I'd lost you!" Cheza sobs into my ear.

I get an image of Cheza freaking out and telling Natasha to call Pinga. Pinga shows up and ports the girls to Niflheim, where Cheza meets up with Jason. Jason ports Cheza to Persephone's palace in Hades. Persephone proceeds to port Cheza to Mount Olympus before they rush to the town, through Iris's gate, and to the palace. So that's how she got here. I lift my arms from the sides of my head and wrap them around her.

"She's gone, Cheza... Tia's dead..." I quietly say as I'm vaguely aware that the lightning has stopped and my tendrils have rescinded with the Void.

"I know, Cole... I saw..." Cheza replies as tears stream down her eyes harder than before. A few tears slip from the corners of my eyes as I cry with her.

"It's my fault she's dead... Loki wanted to hurt me so he did it by hurting Tia..." I tell her. Cheza stands up and gets off of me.

"Come on, Cole. Let's go home," Cheza quietly says and helps me up.

"Sorry for the trouble everyone... I wasn't myself," I announce.

"Don't worry about it. So Venus killed your sister?" Diana asks.

"Yeah... she was helping Loki with a vampire rebellion, partially in an effort to take out the entire Aztec pantheon to kill Tia, which was all to hurt me. Tia went to talk to the leader of the vampire rebellion about how three of the Aztecan heads were killed last night, and Venus killed her with a Void dagger," I reply.

"Where is the Void dagger now?" Diana inquires.

I walk over to Tia's body and reach under my jacket with my left hand. I reach into her chest cavity and pull out the dagger. My arm flushes black as I slam the dagger into the tile until it breaks.

"AUGH!" I scream through gritted teeth as the shards of the dagger sink into my hand and my nerves are set on fire.

"It's gone," I inform Diana while breathing heavily and without turning around.

I place my left hand on Tia's cheek. Knowing what I have to do next doesn't make it any easier... Cheza steps up behind me and places her hand on my shoulder.

"Goodbye, Tia," Cheza sadly whispers.

"Goodbye, my sister," I say.

I lean down and kiss Tia's forehead before her body loses substance, turning into black smoke as it disperses.

Chapter 12: Melancholic Aftermath and the Holidays

Cheza takes my hand and we walk through town, back to Mount Olympus's gate. My jacket loosely hangs over my shoulders, Tia's scent still clinging to it. Cheza and I port to the house in Arizona where I pause and take several deep breaths before opening the front door.

"Hey Cole, nice timing. I just finished patching up Cheza's suit. Oh, hey Cheza," Sara says as she comes around the corner from the kitchen.

"It looks like you're going to need another pair of armored jeans and a new sleeve for your jacket... too..." Sara comments before trailing off.

"Cole? What's wrong?" Sara inquires.

I swallow hard but I'm unable to stop a tear from falling. Concern becomes the most prominent expression on Sara's face.

"Cole... Where's Tia?" Sara asks with an inkling of realization. I few more tears fall down my face upon hearing her name.

"She's gone, Sara... We lost her..." I quietly say while trying to swallow the rock in my throat.

Sara goes into shock for a moment before quickly clearing the distance between us. She throws her arms around me a starts crying into my chest, the frames of her glasses leaving an imprint in my skin. I wrap my arms around her and hold her as a few more tears slip from my eyes. We stay like that for a several minutes before I pull back.

"Sara, go pack anything you need. You're going to stay with us for a while," I tell her. Sara sniffles and nods.

"Come on, Sara. I'll help you pack," Cheza says and leads Sara back to her room.

Now all I have to do is make a report to Quinn... but how do I even contact him?

(The simplest thing would be to port to Aztlan)

"Yeah, but that would require a picture of the place or me having been there before."

(You can port there now that you have Tia inside of you, but more than Tia's core was in that dagger)

"What? Who else?"

(Tezcatlipoca)

"One of the three heads of the Aztec pantheon that was killed? What about the other two?"

(They were not killed with that Void dagger)

"Damn... do you think that any of the vampires at the compound were responsible for it?"

(Doubtful. Loki wouldn't entrust such a thing to a normal being)

"So we've got at least one, most likely two, missing Void daggers... Can I get to Aztlan by just saying the name and touching my triskele?"

(That should work)

"Cheza, I'm going to go make my report to the Aztec pantheon," I think.

"Okay, I'll help Sara pack. Be careful, Cole..." Cheza replies with concern.

"I will be. See you guys in a little bit," I close the connection.

"Aztlan," I say aloud and touch my triskele.

I arrive at a stucco gazebo on the edge of a town that is surrounded by tropical forest. Stucco buildings line the stone street on both sides, leading up to a large staircase. I head down the street, avoiding the questioning looks from the demigod passersby. I climb the large stone staircase that seems to go on forever. About halfway up, I'm exhausted so I stop to rest when realize that I can just fly up the staircase. My left arm and right leg flush black, but it doesn't extend into my skin. I float up to the top of the staircase where I'm halted by two guards. They say something to me, but I have no idea what language they're speaking.

"QUINN!" I shout, hoping that he can hear me. I wait for a minute before he appears, says something to the guards, and turns his attention back to me.

"Where's Tlazolteotl?" Quinn asks and I turn my head towards the ground.

"She's fallen..." I report while trying to keep it together.

"...How?" Quinn asks, not looking all too surprised, but I guess he wouldn't be fit to be a leader if he fell apart over the death of one of his subordinates.

"In the same manner as the three heads. I obtained the dagger that killed her and Tezcat... something, and I destroyed it after killing its wielder," I reply.

"Only Tezcatlipoca? What about Xipe-Totec and Huitzilopochtli?" Quinn questions.

"They weren't killed by the same person. I'll keep investigating to find their killers, but you should be safe now," I inform him.

"How can you say that?" Quinn inquires.

"Because I discovered that the entire reason that the person pulling the strings wanted all of the pantheon heads killed, was all in an effort to kill Tia," I reply.

"But why? What purpose did all that effort to kill a minor goddess from a Category 3 pantheon serve?" Quinn asks.

"To hurt me... it was all in an effort to hurt me... and that bastard Loki succeeded. We should name the god that will be the new head of the pantheon now. Do you have anyone in mind?" I ask.

"To be Tezcatlipoca's replacement? Hmm... let's go to my quarters," Quinn says and snaps his fingers. We appear in a lounge area of what appears to be a library.

"I think Mictlantecuhtli would be the best fit as a replacement," Quinn tells me.

"Whatever you say, I just need him here to transfer power," I reply.

"Alright, I'll head down to Mictlan and bring him back momentarily. Feel free to make yourself a drink," Quinn says as he walks over to a large globe and opens the top half to reveal a variety of alcohol in crystal glassware before snapping his fingers.

I walk over to the globe and open several containers, sniffing their contents. I find some scotch and pour it into a crystal glass before sitting down. After finishing my drink, I look around to try and distract myself from thoughts of Tia. Quinn has an impressive collection of books. Quite a few are written in scripts that I don't even recognize.

"Cole, this is Mictlantecuhtli. Do you need anything to transfer the power?" Quinn asks from behind me. I turn around and seen a tan, bald man that is lethally skinny and has his eyes closed.

"No, I don't require anything else," I reply when I see that Mictlantecuhtli already isn't wearing a shirt. His torso looks like a mummified corpse...

I move around behind him and place my left hand on his back as my arm flushes black, glad that I have no sense of touch. I close my eyes and the panel opens up in my mind. I quickly drag over the Tezcatlipoca folder of Obsidian, Night, Divination, Sorcery, and Jaguars to Mictlantecuhtli's folder to join Death, Underworld, and Lord of Mictlan. My eyes shoot open and the old nerve-burning sensation that accompanies the transfer lasts for thirty seconds.

"All done. I need to get going," I tell Quinn and he snaps his fingers, porting us to Aztlan's gate.

"I'll let you know when I find out more about the killers. Bye," I say.

I step into Aztlan's gate and port back to the house in Arizona.

"Hey, we're going to be staying at Jason and Reyna's over the holidays," Cheza informs me when I arrive.

"Alright... are you two ready to go?" I solemnly ask.

"Yeah, we're going to need your help with the bags though," Cheza thinks.

I walk down the kitchen hallway, focusing on Sara's door on the left and avoiding the opposite side. I enter Sara's room and see three large suitcases on the floor.

"Okay Sara, grab those two suitcases and Cheza grab that one," I tell them.

They do so without asking questions, I grab both of them by their shoulders, and picture us standing in the living room of Cheza's and my house... the one that Tia bought for us...

"Okay, now pick out the stuff you actually need for a few days stay in Niflheim," I glumly say and walk into the kitchen.

I search the cabinets before realizing that we're out of alcohol. I return to the living room and see Sara holding a single bag while Cheza is holding two of her own.

"Oh, right... I'll go pack," I monotonously announce and start to head for the stairs.

"I already did," Cheza tells me.

"Alright, thanks," I reply and grab both of the girls before porting us to Niflheim.

Natasha, Reyna, and Jason are standing in the kitchen upon our arrival. No one says anything as I walk over to the liquor cabinet and take in the wares. I spot a jug of Captain Morgan so I grab that and head for the stairs. I carry my jug upstairs, into the guest bedroom that I had previously occupied, and slump down into the leather chair that rests in the front right corner, to the left of the bed. I crack open the 1.75 liters of rum and take a drink before I hear two gentle knocks at the door.

"Cole? Are you al—..." Cheza starts to ask before she realizes the answer to her question and can't think of anything else to say.

"I'll be fine... I just need some alone time," I tell her.

Cheza gives me a sad nod and softly closes the door. I screw open the jug and take another drink.

...

[December 24th]

"I think we should do something about Cole. He hasn't come out of the room in the past twenty-four hours," I hear Cheza say down in the kitchen.

"I know. He should've at least come down for a refill on the rum by now," Jason says.

"I thought he'd come down for a refill this morning! When I went to bed last night, I found him passed out in the chair and the bottle was empty," Cheza replies.

"He went through a jug of rum in less than three hours?" Natasha asks.

"Wait, then what has he been doing all day? If he's out of alcohol then he's not drinking," Reyna says.

"I don't know... I think he's just been sitting in the corner..." Cheza responds, concern apparent in her voice.

"So he's been in that room for the last twenty-four hours and he's not drunk? This is more serious than I thought," Jason says.

"I'm upset about Tia too, but it isn't good that Cole has just been up there fixating on it..." Sara chimes in and the door to the bedroom suddenly opens.

"Uncle Cole?" Alice asks while peeking her head around the door.

"What do you need, sweetie?" I reply as amicably as possible.

Alice walks into the room dragging Dynamite by his paw, closes the door behind her, and moves towards me. She stands in front of me and holds her arms up so I lean over, pick her up, and place her on my lap. Alice rises to her knees, which she thankfully puts on my thighs and not elsewhere, and wraps her arms around my neck, smacking Dynamite into my right ear.

"I love you, Uncle Cole," Alice softly says and I hug her back.

"I love you too, Alice," I whisper as I fight back my tears.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Cole... I know there's something wrong, but I can't hold back anymore," Alice tells me.

"It's alright, sweetie," I reply and feel a set of tiny fangs pierce my neck. I bring my right hand up and stroke the back of her head as she drinks. I suddenly feel tears hit my neck.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" I ask and Alice pulls back to look at me.

"I don't want you to go anywhere, Uncle Cole! I don't want you to leave!" Alice cries.

"I'm not going to leave you, Alice," I reassure her.

"Promise?" Alice sniffles.

"I promise," I say and hug her tighter.

"Uncle Cole? Can you wait up for Santa with me?" Alice sheepishly asks.

"Of course I can," I tell her and lift her up as I stand, only to have my legs give out. I'm able to react quickly enough to turn so I thump down onto my back instead of falling on Alice.

"Uncle Cole!" Alice exclaims.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine... do you have any owies?" Alice asks.

"I'm okay, sweetie," I reply.

"Cole, are you alright?" Cheza asks as she opens the door.

"Yeah, my legs just fell asleep. It seems like I've been sitting for too long. Now, I believe that Alice and I have to go wait up for Santa," I say as I stand up and walk past Cheza.

I carry Alice downstairs and sit us down on the couch. I turn on the TV and we start watching the movie about Dr. Seuss's green monster, played by the actor that used to be stupidly entertaining when he was playing a pet detective. About half way through, I scoot down the length of the long couch and lie down. Alice yawns and looks over at me before crawling across the couch. She positions herself on my torso, sets her head on my chest, and goes back to watching the movie.

"We're going to bed so here are some milk and cookies for—" Reyna starts to say as I look down and notice that Alice is asleep so I hold my finger to my lips.

"These are for _Santa_ ," Reyna whispers with a wink as she sets a plate of cookies and a glass of chocolate milk on the table.

"Why chocolate milk?" I ask at a whisper.

"We're out of the regular kind," Reyna whispers back.

"Well, _Santa_ would appreciate it if you could replace half of his chocolate milk with peppermint schnapps... or gin," I reply.

Reyna smiles at me and carries the glass back to the kitchen. I grab a cookie and take a bite while watching Alice's adorable sleeping face for any signs of her waking up as everyone quietly heads upstairs.

"Goodnight, Cole," Cheza thinks as she stops on the stairs.

"Night, Cheza. I love you," I reply and Cheza gives me a suspicious look before continuing up the steps. How like her... I spontaneously proclaim my love for her and she immediately thinks I'm up to something.

"Is Mrs. Claus getting jealous because Santa is sleeping with one of the elves?" Natasha thinks with a sly grin.

"I saw this one coming," I reply.

"Remember that daunting evidence I was referring to?" Natasha asks.

"Goodnight, Natasha," I think in response and Natasha walks upstairs to one of the other guest bedrooms. Reyna comes back and sets my drink on the table.

"Goodnight, Cole," Reyna whispers and heads upstairs.

I take a sip of my drink and see that Reyna went with the schnapps. I finish one and a half more cookies and drain the rest of my drink before seeing Jason come downstairs.

"Forgot about the stocking," Jason whispers.

"Right... wouldn't want Alice thinking that Santa is just some guy that breaks into people's houses to steal their milk and cookies," I whisper back as Jason snaps his fingers and candy appears in Alice's stocking.

"Want a top-off?" Jason asks while pointing at the empty glass.

"That depends... do cops ever pull over jolly old fat guys for flying a magical sleigh while intoxicated?" I question.

Jason smiles at me and snaps his fingers in response before giving a quick glance to Alice's rabbit on the other end of the couch.

"I heard you talked Alice into naming her rabbit Dynamite... awesome, just awesome. Night, bro!" Jason whispers and heads back to his room. I finish my drink as I watch the Grinch.

...

[December 25th]

I wake up a while after midnight with the TV on and I realize that I'm lying in a puddle. Crap... first I pass out and now I've pissed myself... I'm never drinking schnapps again.

"Uncle Cole? Why am I all wet?" Alice sleepily asks.

"Uh... because Santa peed on us," I reply and immediately regret it.

My go-to move to save face with my niece... is to forever crush her image of Santa. Alice immediately starts crying, making me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Cole!" Alice cries and I realize that there is significantly more moisture on my shirt than there is in my pants.

"It's alright, sweetie. I'm not mad," I gently tell her.

After all, statistically speaking, at least fifty percent of this is a byproduct from my blood anyway... or not, considering that I have no clue when it comes to azeman/vampire physiology and digestive systems.

"Come on. Let's go get cleaned up," I tell her and stand up.

I carry Alice upstairs to the bathroom and run a bath. I help her out of her soaked clothing before stripping out of everything but my boxers. After tossing the piss-soaked clothes into one of the two sinks in the bathroom, I grab some towels and washcloths from the hall closet. I pick Alice up and get in the tub. I scrub my chest and wash Alice, thankful for the lack of music and mood lighting this time around.

"There we go, all clean," I announce as I lift Alice up and step out of the tub.

No longer able to stand the feeling of wet cotton around my junk any longer, I wrap a towel around my waist. As I'm sliding off my wet boxers and freeing my ankles from them, my towel comes undone and slips down.

"Shit!" I say under my breath.

"Uncle Cole?" Alice asks as she starts to turn around.

"Don't turn around!" I exclaim and quickly stick my hand out to stop her, but I end up accidentally pushing her.

"Cole? What hap..." Reyna trails off as she opens the door.

"Oh, come on!" I practically shout as I view this situation from a third party perspective:

First there's me: a naked twenty-five year old man. Then there's Alice: a naked three year old girl who is on her hands and knees in front of me. To top it all off, I was just overheard telling her to not turn around.

"How!? How did you not wake up before now!? I mean, running a bath alone should've been loud enough to wake everyone up! But nooooo! You have to wait for the absolute worst possible moment!" I exclaim. My loud ranting brings Natasha, Cheza, and Jason to the doorway.

"Okay, this evidence goes beyond daunting to 'without a reasonable doubt.'" Natasha comments.

"Seriously!? Who in fuck's sake is out there, dishing out cosmic luck and deciding I deserved this shit!? 'Well, I know he's dealing with the whole "I got my sister killed" thing, but let's see if we can't fuck up his week a little more and make him look like he was in the process of trying to rape his three year old daughter in an act of incest and pedophilia! He's already batting a thousand in the shitty week Olympics, so let's help him go for the gold!'" I yell and then I turn my head towards the ceiling.

"Why Cosmic Luck deity that I just made up? Why are you doing this to me? Can't you take me out to dinner first? At least use some lube because I like the slide in to be squeak free when I'm being FUCKED! No? How about some spit? The least you can do is spit directly into my asshole if you're going to FUCK ME!" I scream skyward.

"Cole, what did you mean by incest?" Natasha asks.

"Oh yeah! Alice might be my daughter! Tia thought so too! The best part is that a paternity test would come back positive no matter what because of my blood's interference! And the only fucking person in the entire fucking world that can give me some fucking answers is the fucking voice in my fucking head that refuses to fucking talk to me about it! Merry fucking Christmas everyone!" I shout and storm out of the bathroom. Jason snaps his fingers as I pass by and flannel pajama bottoms cover my waist and legs.

"Thank you!" I yell, still sounding angry despite being thankful, and storm downstairs to the liquor cabinet.

I grab a fifth of Everclear and begin chugging it like it's water as I walk out the front door. My arm flushes black as I take to the sky. I fly as high and fast as I can go while downing the Everclear. Once the bottle is empty, I reach the apex of my ascent and decide to race the bottle towards the ground. As the wind roars past my ears, I find a strange sense of peace, free from my regrets about Tia and about teaching Alice a variety of new words... and possibly showing her what a penis looks like, but I'm not sure on that last one. Oh, Everclear. How I love thee and thy band named after thee... right until I start violently vomiting because I just rapidly consumed three quarters of a liter of 190 proof grain alcohol.

My puke follows me as I continue to fall so I move myself about ten feet to the left of it. I turn over and look down to find that I'm only about one hundred feet from the ground now so I start rapidly slowing my descent before turning back over. My back connects with the soft grass on the palace grounds and I close my eyes. Suddenly, I remember the bottle and open my eyes, just in time for it to connect with the center of my forehead and shatter.

Just my luck.

****

Chapter 13: Down with the Sickness

I find myself floating in the darkness of my mind. It's been quite some time since I've been here. A silver door appears and I float towards it, knowing what comes next.

(Master, I was able to recover something from Tia's core that I think you should see)

The elevator doors open and I walk across a familiar room to the reception desk.

"Hello, I'm here from the Aztec pantheon," Tia's voice says to a familiar vampire secretary behind the desk.

Things move quickly as the back door is thrown open and the secretary dives out of the way. The Void dagger hits me in the chest and I feel my body freeze up.

"Rango-fay Yalus-hay!" Venus says as she sprints to the right, behind the desk.

"Luminus-fay!" Venus calls out as the window to my left shatters. A jet of water hits me from the right and sends me sailing out of the seventeenth story window.

"So this is how it all ends... at least I know Cole will catch her," Tia thinks just before I'm hit from my right and my face appears above me. The descent of Tia's body, which I'm currently occupying, slows down.

"That was pretty close, eh Tia?" Cole from two days ago asks above me. I watch as Cole looks down and notices the Void dagger sticking out of Tia's/ my chest and his face falls in shock.

"Tia?" Cole asks as I feel him collapse to his knees.

"I don't have much time... Cole will find out about Venus so I shouldn't waste this on that... I want to tell him not to blame himself, like I know he is going to, but I don't have the strength to get that much out..." Tia rapidly thinks as the pain in my chest starts distorting my thought processes.

"I love you, little brother," Tia softly says while I feel my face put on a sad smile over what I wish to say, but don't have the strength to.

"No Tia! Don't talk like that! I'm going to fix this!" Cole exclaims as a few tears slip from his eyes. I feel my arm weakly reach up and place my hand on Cole's cheek. My eyelids become increasingly heavy as my arm falls.

Everything just fades away.

****

I wake up in the guest bed at 10am with tears in my eyes.

"Cole?" Cheza asks with concern from beside me.

"I'll be alright," I tell her and I know I will be. After all, if I continue to mope, all I'm doing is dishonoring Tia's memory. Instead, I should be focusing on finding and killing Loki for perpetrating this.

"How did I get here?" I ask.

"Jason brought you back here when he found you unconscious in the field you were in," Cheza replies.

Cheza opens her mouth to say something else, but jumps up and rushes out of the room instead. I hear the toilet seat clatter open in the bathroom as Cheza throws up. I get out of bed and stand in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Are you alright, Cheza?" I inquire.

"Yeah, I'll be... fine," Cheza says in between puking.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" I ask.

"No..." Cheza replies and she vomits again.

"I'd appreciate it if you left though," Cheza requests.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything," I reply.

I shut the bathroom door behind me and head downstairs. I use the single cup coffee maker in the kitchen, and sit down at the table to drink my coffee. Reyna comes in and sits down across from me.

"Cole, I'm pretty sure that you aren't Alice's father," Reyna says.

"How can you be so sure?" I ask.

"Because, I'm pretty sure that we didn't have sex that night four years ago. I was fairly drunk, but I wasn't nearly as drunk as you or Jason and while I do remember hooking up with Chezarei, I don't remember anything where you were directly involved with me," Reyna explains and I recall something Airi said when I asked her about that night the following morning. She mentioned how Jason and I had some sort of unspoken ground rules and neither of us had sex with each other's girlfriend.

"So she's just my adorable goddaughter/ niece and is in no way related to me? Well that's a relief!" I exclaim and Reyna gives me a suspecting look.

"Hey Cole? You aren't planning on taking Alice and running off somewhere, are you?" Reyna asks.

"Reyna, she's only three years old! I have to wait at least a decade, learn Spanish, and then move to Spain or Argentina before I'm not committing any felonies by being with her," I say.

"You're forgetting Algona. The age of consent there is twelve," Jason interjects as he walks into the kitchen.

"Yeah, but then I'd be taking Alice to Africa, which feels like child endangerment in and of itself," I reply.

"I decided that I would just stay away from Africa at a young age..." Reyna says.

"Because of the wildlife, pirates, wars, or disease?" Jason asks.

"No... well, there are those, but my reason is because of how homophobic the entire continent is. The only country that I knew that I could visit and have sex if I brought a girlfriend with me was Kenya," Reyna replies.

"Why Kenya?" I ask.

"Apparently the Kenyan penal code is okay with lesbians! Homosexual men: not so much. Twenty-five years in prison for homosexual men, which seems completely counterintuitive. Arresting men for homosexual sodomy and sending them to the places with the most homosexual sodomy per capita on earth seems like a terrible punishment," Reyna says.

"Yeah, I've never understood that. Why do you know so much about lesbian laws in Africa?" I inquire.

"I thought it would probably be a good idea to figure out where I can travel and not be arrested for being a lesbian... wait a second! Why do you know so much about age of consent laws!?" Reyna shrieks at me, the chair legs screeching against the flooring as she quickly stands up.

"Whoa, don't act like I specifically looked up those laws because I was planning on running away with Alice the moment she turned thirteen!" I exclaim and feel an ice dagger pressed to my throat.

Cheza knows that she should place the blade beneath my left ear if she was looking to get my jugular, but she also knows that slicing through my quick-healing jugular isn't much of a punishment while my larynx takes hours to heal.

"What were you planning on doing with our goddaughter when she turned thirteen?" Cheza asks from behind me. "That sounded like a confession to me. That was a confession, right Reyna? So this is the reason you spontaneously said you loved me last night..."

Of course... Cheza's selective hearing only caught the part of my statement after the 'Whoa, don't act like' part, automatically turning a denial into a confession.

"Relax ladies! I know the age of consent laws too!" Jason comes to my defense.

"Yeah, but that's obviously so you'd know where that lolicon had run off with your daughter. Narrowing down the country would be half of the battle with our Cole," Natasha chimes in with a smile from the entryway and I feel the ice dagger dig a little further into my neck.

"No, it's because Cole and I researched it together!" Jason replies, causing Reyna to draw a knife from the block on the kitchen counter.

"Reyna? Honey? Take it easy there!" Jason exclaims as Reyna stalks her prey.

"There is an innocent explanation for all of this!" I shout and Reyna turns towards me.

" _Prey_ tell," Cheza says while digging the blade in deeper.

"Ha, punny... anyway, Jason and I were watching the fourth season of _Archer_ a few years ago and one of the characters said Morocco has a repulsively low age of consent, so we looked it up and found a map that color coded all of the ages of consent in the world. It turned out that Morocco has an age of consent of 18, so the episode lied. It also continued that myth about not letting someone who has had a concussion go to sleep when that's actually recommended as long as they've stayed awake long enough to hold a conversation, and have the ability to hold one," I explain.

Reyna studies me for a moment before returning the knife to the block as Cheza removes her ice dagger from my neck.

"Cheza, are you feeling okay now?" I ask, ignoring the fact that she was just holding a knife to my throat because that's what makes me a good husband... or clinically insane.

"Yeah, I'm fine n—" Cheza starts to say before she runs out of the kitchen whilst covering her mouth.

"I think she's sick..." I announce.

"I'll go check on her," Reyna says and walks out of the kitchen with a sort of shifty smile.

"Is it just me or was Reyna acting suspiciously?" I ask.

"It was probably just you because you consider anyone over the age of fourteen to be suspicious, just like you are considered suspicious when around anyone under the age of fourteen," Natasha replies with a smile.

"JASON! CAN YOU COME IN HERE!?" Reyna shouts from the bathroom.

Jason heads out of the kitchen. I start to follow Jason back to the bathroom, concerned about Cheza's wellbeing.

"Cole, where are you going?" Natasha asks.

"I'm going to check on Cheza," I reply.

"Really? You're not going to kidnap Alice while everyone is distracted?" Natasha accuses.

"I AM NOT A PEDOPHILE! And while, yes, I do love Alice and find her irresistibly adorable to the point that I will most likely try to kill any man that touches her when she gets older... although, if any man tried to touch her now, that isn't Jason of course, he would be dead before he could get near her... I am not sexually attracted to her!" I exclaim as I hear the sound of a snap from the bathroom.

"Okay, wow Cole... you are soooo not helping your case," Natasha replies.

"Hey Cole, we're making a trip in to town to get some, uh... soup, for Rei," Jason tells me as he walks back into the kitchen.

"Why can't you just summon it here?" I ask.

"Uh... we're getting special soup that I can't just snap here," Jason says.

"Oh, so that's why you snapped in the bathroom," I determine.

"Uh... yeah! Alright so let's go already!" Jason exclaims.

Jason snaps me into jeans and a t-shirt before placing his hand on my shoulder as a swirl of black mist wraps around us. We land in front of a fancy restaurant that I recognize as the restaurant Jason took me to when he asked me to be his best man. We walk up the white stone steps and enter the restaurant.

"Prince Jason! It has been quite some time!" the maître de exclaims when he sees us walk in.

"Hello Benoit. It's good to see you again. My buddy's wife is sick and we could really use some of _that soup_ ," Jason says.

"What soup?" Benoit asks and Jason sighs.

"You know, _that soup_. The one that takes about fifteen minutes to prepare?" Jason explains.

"Ah, of course. _That soup_. I will notify the chef immediately," Benoit replies.

"Thank you, Benoit. And also have him whip up six salmon dishes to go," Jason adds.

"Of course. Why don't you have a seat right there? Your food will be out momentarily," Benoit says and leaves the Maître D' podium. Jason and I take a seat on the bench by the door.

"I don't think the sixth salmon dish was necessary. I doubt Cheza will be able to keep salmon down," I tell Jason.

"I think she'll be fine after some of this soup... but she might start throwing up again tomorrow morning," Jason mumbles.

"Why is that?" I ask.

"Because... uh... the soup only delays the symptoms of sickness, it doesn't eradicate them," Jason nervously replies, which I find odd.

"Wait a second, how is Cheza even sick? With my blood, she shouldn't even be able to get sick... and with her powers, she should be able to drop her blood temperature down to the point where the virus in her wouldn't be able to survive..." I think out loud.

"Maybe it's a food allergy!" Jason exclaims.

"Yeah, maybe... why is this restaurant open on Christmas?" I ask.

"Pierre loves to cook so he always keeps the restaurant open. He actually lives here," Jason replies.

"That is some serious dedication to the craft," I respond.

"Yeah, but it really shows in his cooking. This restaurant is booked solid for six months in advance at all times," Jason says.

"Yeah, his food is really good..." I reply.

We wait out the next ten minutes in relative silence before Benoit comes out with a large paper bag.

"Here you are, Prince Jason," Benoit says as he hands the bag over.

"Great, thanks," Jason replies as he hands over a black card.

Benoit goes behind the podium and runs the card through a machine. Jason signs off on the receipt and we exit the restaurant.

"By the way, how did you end up passed out in that field last night? I saw the broken bottle and the lump on your forehead," Jason inquires.

"Do you have a tight grip on that bag?" I ask with a smile.

"Um, yeah?" Jason warily replies. My arm flushes black and I move behind him before wrapping my arms around his stomach.

"No homo, bro," I whisper in his ear.

"CT... even if you say that... this seems a little gay," Jason responds.

"Shhh... just learn to like it. Are you ready?" I ask.

"But Cole... we're in public!" Jason exclaims with a feminine voice while covering his mouth and coyly looking down, just to fuck with me. I take to the sky in response.

"Whoa! I was not expecting this! Since when can you fly!?" Jason asks.

"I guess for like the past four years, but I didn't realize I could until recently when I caught Tia as she was falling seventeen stories..." I reply, trailing off with the thought of how I didn't save her even though I caught her.

"Cole, I am not comfortable with you getting depressed while you are holding me several hundred feet above the ground," Jason nervously says.

"Haha, right. So... I have no idea where I'm going," I tell him.

"Uh... I think the palace is that way," Jason says while pointing to the right so I start flying us in that direction.

"I never realized how massive Niflheim is," I say five minutes later.

"Yeah, it is pr—HKKK *cough*," Jason says followed by spitting.

"Woops, I guess I forgot about bugs when flying... Uh, maybe we should just port back," I suggest and set us down on the roof of a building.

A swirl of black mist envelopes us as we port back to the kitchen.

"I'm going to go wash my mouth out," Jason announces as he sets the bag on the table and heads upstairs.

I feel the need to take a piss so I walk down the hall to the bathroom. As I'm standing there, handling my business, I notice a pink box and a white stick with a blue plus sign on it sitting in the trash.

"Reyna, when did you find out that you were pregnant again?" I ask as I walk back into the kitchen. Reyna's and Cheza's eyes go wide.

"I... umm... haven't told Jason yet... I was planning on having it be a surprise..." Reyna replies.

"Well, if you wanted to do that, then you really shouldn't leave the pregnancy test at the top of the trash in the bathroom. Don't worry, I won't tell him. Congratulations though! Aren't azeman pregnancies really rare? What are the chances of you getting pregnant again so soon!?" I respond.

"Well he never uses that bathroom anyway. I know, it's crazy right?" Reyna nervously says.

"Don't worry, Reyna. I'm sure Jason will be ecstatic! Anyway, Cheza, you should eat your soup," I tell her.

"What? Oh, sure," Cheza replies. She seems to be slightly distracted by something. I remove the plastic container from the bag and pour some into a bowl.

"Thanks... Cole, can we talk?" Cheza asks.

"Sure, what about?" I ask and sit across from her at the table as Natasha and Reyna leave the kitchen.

"You know how unexpected things sometimes happen? They're not necessarily bad, just a bit surprising to one party," Cheza says.

"Well sure. Something wouldn't be a surprise if it was expected. That's pretty much the definition of a surprise," I reply.

"Yeah, right... you know how two stars meeting can lead to formation of a new star after an... _explosion_?" Cheza asks.

"Yeah, but the meeting of two stars can also cause a black hole that sucks all life out of the galaxy," I reply and Cheza's eyes go wide.

"Shit... that's like the absolute worst analogy for this," Cheza mumbles.

"Cheza, are you feeling alright?" I ask with concern.

"Umm, yeah... I think I'm going to go lie down for a while though," Cheza replies and stands up.

"Finish your soup first. It should help," I say.

Cheza grabs the soup and drinks it from the bowl before setting it down and heading upstairs. I grab her bowl, rinse it out, and place it in the dishwasher as I feel Alice wake up from her nap.

"So, how do you feel?" Reyna asks as she walks back into the kitchen.

"About what?" I inquire.

"Uh... never mind," Reyna says and turns around.

I hear a sound that resembles a high-pitched 'eep' as a small bat, no bigger than my hand, flies into Reyna's chest.

"AHHHHH!" Reyna screams like an average human woman who just walked in on a bloody murder. I felt the need to specify because I think that Reyna would probably ask 'Who didn't clean up after cooking?' if she walked in on a murder scene.

"What's going on!?" Cheza thinks with an alarmed tone.

"Don't worry. A bat is just attacking Reyna," I calmly reply.

"Giant or normal sized!?" Cheza asks without calming down.

"Below average, I'm guessing. It's pretty small," I respond.

"Oh, okay," Cheza calmly replies and closes the connection.

"GET IT AWAY! GET IT AWAY!" Reyna screams while flailing around.

The bat flies off from Reyna's chest when she starts flailing around and looks at me before turning back to Reyna. Jason runs into the kitchen and immediately comprehends the situation, knowing Reyna's fear of bats. He grabs the bat, runs to the front door, and tosses it outside as Reyna starts hyperventilating in the kitchen.

"Where in the hell did that bat come from?" Jason asks as he walks back into the kitchen.

"No clue," I reply and then realize that I can no longer feel Alice in her room.

"HOLY SHIT! THAT BAT WAS ALICE!" I shout.

"That's impossible. Alice won't be able to change into a bat until she turns ten at the earliest," Jason replies.

"Well I can't feel her presence in the house now and I felt her wake up right before the bat appeared!" I exclaim.

"You mean I just screamed at my own daughter to get away from me...?" Reyna asks in shock before snapping out of it.

"We have to find her! My first change was one of the most frightening experiences of my life and now she's all alone for it!" Reyna exclaims as she starts crying.

"Don't worry, I'll catch her!" I reassure her.

"How are you going to catch her!? She's flying!" Reyna asks in hysterics.

I smirk at her as my arm flushes black and I hover a foot off of the ground. I zip out the front door, passing by Natasha who just looks on in shock.

"Airi, which way?"

(Roughly one mile to your right)

I take off in that direction as quickly as I can. Alice comes into my sight about thirty seconds later, flapping frantically to keep herself aloft and looking slightly drunk in the process. I fly up behind her and pull her to my chest, causing her to 'eep' loudly and thrash around.

"It's okay, sweetie. I've got you... Uncle Cole's got you," I say with as soothing a tone as I can have.

Alice stops thrashing at the sound of my voice and looks up at me. She makes an 'eep' that sounds like a question mark is on the end. Black mist swirls around her, obstructing my view as I feel her get bigger in my arms. The black mist dissipates, revealing a naked Alice in my arms.

"Uncle Cole!" Alice cries and throws her arms around my neck.

"Come on, let's go home," I softly say.

"But Mommy hates me now!" Alice sobs.

"Mommy doesn't hate you, sweetie. She just didn't like that form you were in. She's really afraid of bats. Your mommy loves you, just like she always has and always will," I tell her.

"Okay..." Alice quietly says and sniffles as I start flying us back towards the house.

"Alice, why didn't you come to me when Mommy started freaking out?" I ask when we are about halfway home.

"Because I thought you would be angry with me... like last night," Alice quietly informs me. I'd punch myself in the face if I had a free hand.

"I wasn't angry with you last night, sweetie. I was angry at my circumstances. You can always come to me with anything, no matter what, okay?" I reply.

"Okay, Uncle Cole... Uncle Cole?" Alice asks.

"What is it, sweetie?" I inquire.

"I love you," Alice says.

"I love you too, Alice," I reply.

"And I'm hungry..." Alice sheepishly responds.

"Haha, go ahead!" I lightheartedly chuckle.

Alice's tiny fangs pierce my neck as we land. I walk into the house with Alice latched onto my neck as Reyna rushes over and then stops when she sees the situation. Reyna heads upstairs without saying anything, presumably to go fetch Alice some clothing. Natasha gives me a questioning look because of the small naked girl attached to my neck. I mouth 'not a word' and she responds by quietly snickering as I walk into the living room and sit on the couch. Reyna comes back with clothes for Alice as she finishes drinking and pulls away from my neck. Reyna sits down on the couch and helps Alice with her clothes.

"Mommy... I'm sorry I scared you..." Alice timidly says.

"No Mija, I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you... I'm so sorry," Reyna cries.

"Don't cry, Mommy," Alice says as she hugs her mother.

While watching this, I'm reminded of something from my past with Sara, and I realize that I haven't seen her all day. I stand up and head upstairs while they're working that out. I walk down the hall to the door at the end and knock twice. There's no response so I open the door.

"Hey Sara... are you alright?" I ask as I enter her room. I see that she's still in bed, lying on her left side and facing away from the door. I move closer to her.

"Sara?" I ask with concern while walking around the bed to where she lies huddled under the covers.

I start thinking of various horror movie scenarios as I grab the comforter and pull it off. Sara is in bad shape with puffy red eyes and tear stained cheeks. I sit on the bed beside her and lightly place my hand on her shoulder.

"I miss her, Cole... I miss her so much," Sara whispers as more tears free themselves from her eyes.

"I know..." I softly say.

"I don't want to keep living without her..." Sara whispers and the revelation hits me.

After the news of their fling four years ago, I've received no indication from either Tia or Sara that they were together. I had always assumed that they continued living together out of a familiarity or habit after Cheza and I had left.

"You know that she wouldn't want that," I softly reply, unsure of what else to say.

"I know that... I know..." Sara cries. I lean over and awkwardly hold her as she lies there.

About fifteen minutes later, Sara calms down and sits up in bed. Sara starts telling me stories about Tia and we start generally reminiscing. Several hours go by before I stand up.

"I'm going to grab our salmon that Jason and I brought home. I'm hungry, and you need to eat something," I tell her and exit her room.

I head downstairs, reheat two of the salmon dishes, grab a bottle of cabernet, pop open the bottle, and pour out a quarter of it. Despite knowing that white wine goes with fish, a white wine won't mix with my blood without changing the color, which is why I chose the cabernet. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep Sara from trying to kill herself, but I'm not going to lose another sister because I didn't take the precaution. After replacing the missing quarter of the bottle with my blood, I grab two wine glasses and head back to Sara's room with our meal.

"Here we are," I say as I set her plate down in her lap. I set both wine glasses on the bedside table and pour the wine into both of them. I sit down on the bed next to Sara's legs and grab my wine glass.

"To Tia," I say and raise my glass.

"To Tia," Sara repeats and chugs her glass.

I give her a refill and we eat our meal. When we finish, I take our dishes downstairs and grab another bottle of wine, same procedure. I bring the bottle of wine back up to Sara's room and find Cheza in Sara's bed as they watch a movie on the TV that sits on top of the dresser. I climb into the bed on Sara's other side and hand her a wine glass.

"Do you want some wine, Cheza?" I offer.

"Umm, no thanks..." Cheza replies and we go back to watching the movie.

When the movie ends, I notice that Sara has fallen asleep. I put my left hand over her mouth and siphon more of my blood down her throat.

"Cole, what are you doing?" Cheza thinks.

"I'm getting an insurance policy... I'm not losing this sister too," I solemnly reply.

...

Chapter 14: Dragon Kidnapping

[December 26th]

After Cheza throws up again in the morning, she and I spend the whole day with Sara, helping her through her grief.

"This is hitting Sara pretty hard, huh?" Cheza comments around lunch time while we're downstairs.

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure they were together..." I reply.

"Yeah, they did live together for like twenty years," Cheza says.

"Not like that..." I mumble.

"What do you mean?" Cheza asks.

"I'm pretty sure they were a couple," I tell her.

"What? No way," Cheza incredulously replies.

"They hooked up four years ago and last night Sara mentioned how she didn't want to live without Tia..." I recant.

"What!?" Cheza exclaims.

"Yeah... that's why I took the extra precaution of spiking Sara with my blood," I explain.

"Wow... I had no idea..." Cheza says.

"I didn't either until Sara said that," I reply.

"Cole, can we talk again?" Cheza asks.

"What's up?" I respond.

"You know how sometimes a woman will think about her husband and say to herself 'I know what's good for him and I know what's going to make him happy so I'm going to make a major decision without him and he's going to deal with it'?" Cheza asks.

"I didn't, but I do now... what major decision did you make without me?" I warily inquire.

"Oh, good. You're actually picking up on it this time. I stopped taking something which resulted in something else happening, which I know will make you happy in the long run, but right now it won't seem like such a great thing," Cheza replies.

"Cheza, what are you talk—" I start to say as my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see that it's Naia.

"Hey Naia, what's up?" I answer.

"Cole! Ryuji has been taken!" Naia frantically exclaims.

"Calm down, and explain what happened," I reply and Naia takes several deep breaths.

"We were eating lunch together, finally able to relax now that the vampire crisis is over, when there was a loud banging at the door. Ryuji grabbed my arm and pulled the bracelet off of my wrist as four armed men in ski masks broke the door down. The men grabbed Ryuji and left! I tried to stop them using magic, but it did not work on any of them!" Naia exclaims, freaking out again by the end of her story.

"Can you remember anything else about them?" I ask.

"Nothing stands out..." Naia softly says.

"Alright, I'll be at the apartment in a few minutes," I tell her.

"Okay, thank you, Cole," Naia replies and hangs up.

"What's going on?" Cheza asks.

"Ryuji's been kidnapped. I'm going to help Naia," I reply as I head upstairs.

I walk into our bedroom, wrap my arm in a bandage, grab my pouch from the table, and stick it to my lumbar. I open up my bag and find a new pair of armored jeans, along with a new sleeve on my jacket. Sara must've done this a couple days ago. I quickly dress in those as Cheza walks in and grabs her suit from her bag. Having already expected this outcome, I don't say anything as I exit the room and head down the hall to Sara's room.

"Hey Sara, Ryuji is in trouble. Naia told me that he was kidnapped by four men and her magic didn't work on them. Any ideas on what they were?" I ask.

"Naia's magic didn't work? That seems like it would be nigh on impossible given her background. There are spells that will block other spells of a specific type, but the caster would have to be more powerful than the offensive spell, which would be really unlikely with anything cast by Naia. Hmm... if I remember right, dragons tend to have an extreme resistance to magic. Did Naia say what kind of spells she tried?" Sara asks.

"No, she didn't. What does it matter?" I inquire.

"Well dragons are pretty much immune to illusion magic and any magic that directly affects the body, like sleep magic. However, elemental types of magic would still be effective since the magic is affecting the element and not the dragons directly. It seems likely that Naia would have only tried illusion or corpus magic though," Sara informs me.

"Alright, thanks Sara. I'll look into it. Cheza and I will be back as soon as we can... are you going to be okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, Cole... I'll be okay," Sara replies with an attempted smile.

I lean over and give her a hug before exiting the room. I head downstairs and find Natasha.

"Hey, Cheza and I need to go help Naia. Ryuji has been kidnapped. I need you to do me a favor and help Sara. Try and get her out of the room, if you can," I request.

"Sure. Focus on finding Ryuji," Natasha says.

"Of course. I'll find him and be back as soon as I can," I tell her.

I walk into the kitchen, grab a bottle, and use my left hand to pour some blood into it for Alice in case I'm not back tomorrow. I head upstairs and enter Alice's room. She's sleeping peacefully in her bed so I lift her over the guard rail, knocking Dynamite to the floor in the process. I place her head on my shoulder and she sniffs before biting into my neck. I cut Alice off at half a liter and tuck her back into her bed. After picking Dynamite up off of the floor, I brush him off and place him in Alice's arms, causing her to snuggle up to him.

"Ready to go?" Cheza thinks and I turn around to see her smiling in the doorway wearing her leather suit.

"Yeah, let's go find our friend," I reply.

I walk across the room, grab Cheza's hand, and port us to Ryuji and Naia's apartment in Seattle.

"Cole! Thank you for coming! You too, Chezarei," Naia gratefully says with tear-stained eyes while standing from the couch in the living room.

"Of course. Here," I say and hold my left hand out before moving the bandages away from my palm.

"Airi, if you'd please."

A maroon bracelet forms in my left hand and I hand it over to Naia.

"Thank you, Cole," Naia says and slips the bracelet on her right wrist.

"Naia, what kind of magic did you try on the kidnappers?" I inquire.

"Well, since we are indoors, I tried an illusion spell and a spell to put them to sleep," Naia replies.

"Just as Sara thought. I think I might have a lead on the kidnappers," I inform her.

"What is it!?" Naia runs over, grabs my shoulders, and starts shaking me. "WHAT DID YOU FIND!?"

"I would tell you if you stopped shaking me!" I exclaim in a broken up fashion because of the shaking.

"Sorry..." Naia replies and lets go.

"It's okay, I understand. Anyway, from what Sara said, dragons have a resistance to magic," I tell her.

"That makes sense. Ryuji got sick a few months ago and none of my spells would work on him. I had assumed it was because of dragon physiology or I was using the incorrect spells," Naia comments.

"If I remember correctly, Ryuji had something of a master in Chinatown, San Francisco. I think that's our best bet for information," I say.

"Ryuji's parents should have an address, or at least a phone number. I shall call Mr. and Mrs. Wright and let them know that we are coming," Naia tells me and walks back to the bedroom.

"Cole, can I tell you a story?" Cheza asks.

"Uh, yeah... sure," I reply.

"Okay. It starts off with a woman who really wants to have a baby, but due to a traumatic event in her husband's past, she can't figure out how to talk to him about it. So, she decides to stop taking her birth control without telling her husband," Cheza starts.

"Cheza, I'm not really in the mood for horror stories," I interrupt.

"It's not a horror story! Anyway, so the woman stopped taking her birth control and the inevitable happened," Cheza continues.

"Are you sure this isn't a horror story? Because I think I've heard this before," I say.

"You have?" Cheza asks.

"Yeah, doesn't it end with the wife pushing her husband into a wood chipper or something?" I inquire as I notice Naia coming back down the hall.

" _It might if the husband doesn't stop being so idiotically dense..._ " Cheza mumbles.

"What?" I ask Cheza as Naia walks into the living room.

"Never mind," Cheza replies and looks to Naia.

"Alright, Ryuji's parents know that we are coming, but they do not yet know why..." Naia informs us with a downtrodden tone, presumably at the prospect of telling Ryuji's parents what's happened.

"Okay, do you have a picture so I can port us there?" I inquire.

Naia walks into the kitchen and comes back with a Christmas card. The card shows a man and a woman standing in front of a fireplace, both white and looking so generic that I wouldn't be able to realize that the card wasn't a sample from a store if it weren't for the personalized text: 'Happy Holidays Ryuji and Naia! Love, Mom and Dad.' Even though Naia and Ryuji still haven't gotten married, I guess Ryuji's parents already consider Naia to be a part of the family.

"Will this do?" Naia asks.

"Yeah, I can work with this," I reply and set the card on the table.

I grab Naia and Cheza's hands, and focus on porting to the fireplace from the picture. We appear in the living room of the San Francisco townhouse, standing in front of a granite fireplace. The pristine, cream-colored carpet beneath my feet makes me feel uncomfortable for standing on it while wearing shoes.

"Mother! Father!" Naia shouts.

Generic white folk numbers one and two enter the living room with puzzled expressions. Both of them are wearing cashmere sweaters. Mr. Wright is balding and wears glasses while Mrs. Wright has short brown hair. Nothing else about them is even remarkable.

"Naia? How did you get here so quickly?" Mr. Wright asks.

"Oh! You must be Ryuji's friend, Cole! The one that can teleport, dear," Mrs. Wright tells her husband.

"I see! It's nice to meet you, son," Mr. Wright says and holds his hand out so I shake it.

"Where's Ryuji?" Mrs. Wright asks and Naia looks down so I take over.

"Ryuji's been kidnapped. I've determined that dragons were most likely behind it and I remembered that Ryuji mentioned another dragon he knows in Chinatown that taught him something or other. I figured that they are probably my best bet for information on why any dragons would kidnap Ryuji and I thought you would know how to find them," I explain. Ryuji's mom wears a shocked expression on her face as she slumps down onto the couch.

"Don't worry. I promise that I'll bring him back," I tell her.

"I'm pretty sure I still have the address. Just a moment," Mr. Wright says and walks out of the living room, keeping a cool head despite the situation. Naia sits down next to Mrs. Wright on the couch and hugs her.

"It is going to be okay, Linda. If anyone can bring Ryuji back, it is Cole," Naia tells her with confidence.

Although, looking at my track record with kidnappings, this can go either way. The situation with Lila was a win; the one with Addie... not so much. Maybe Ryuji has an edge because he's not a small girl? Wait, I forgot about Kita... so I guess Ryuji only has a one in three chance of making it out of this alive... No wait, I forgot that Reyna and Natasha were kidnapped too. I guess they were okay after everything was said and done. So I suppose that Ryuji has a sixty percent chance of coming out of this on top... Hey, that's better than half!

"Cole?" Naia asks.

"His chances are better than half," I blurt out without thinking.

"What?" Naia inquires.

"Well, I was thinking about all of the kidnapping cases that I've dealt with and realized that two out of those five died while the other three were fine... actually, the two that died were both kidnapped only because of me to begin with. So as long as this kidnapping isn't my fault..." I reply.

"Why would this be your fault?" Naia questions.

"I suppose you haven't heard that Tia was just killed because of a plot by Loki to hurt me by hurting those close to me," I state.

"What!?" Naia exclaims.

"So if Ryuji wasn't kidnapped because of you, then the odds are good that you'll be able to bring him back?" Mrs. Wright asks and I nod in response.

"What are the chances that he wasn't kidnapped because of you?" Mrs. Wright inquires.

"Honestly? Given the circumstances, not great..." I reply and Mrs. Wright starts crying.

"But I can promise that, even if the worse should come to pass, those responsible get to look forward to a brutal killing in their future," I reply and Mrs. Wright starts sobbing into her hands.

"Wait, I mean the perpetrators being brutally killed by me! Them looking forward to it was sarcasm!" I exclaim.

"Cole... stop talking," Cheza says while slowly shaking her head.

I get down on my knees in front of Mrs. Wright, take both of her hands, and gently pull them away from her face.

"Linda, listen... the last person I lost on a kidnapping was my daughter... I don't want to see you and your husband go through what I had to, so I promise that I will do everything I can to rescue Ryuji," I gently tell her.

"And that's saying a lot from someone who can kill gods," Cheza intercedes.

"Have you really killed gods?" Mrs. Wright asks.

"Yeah, I killed Venus three days ago for killing my sister," I reply with a straight face.

"See? Ryuji is going to be fine! Despite Cole being a bit of an idiot sometimes, he can bring Ryuji back if anyone can," Naia reassures her.

"I can't find the address so I'll just give you guys a ride there," Mr. Wright says as he walks back into the living room.

Naia mumbles something as Cheza, Naia, and I follow Mr. Wright to the door. I look back at her and see that her wings and tail are gone, but her aura still follows the outline where they should be. We follow Mr. Wright out to the driveway, where we all pile into his Subaru Outback... Can this man get anymore generically white? It takes about thirty minutes of slightly awkward silence until we reach the part of Chinatown that Ryuji's master is located in.

"Here we are. Li Zhang owns that building with the red door," Mr. Wright informs us as he points across the street.

"Thank you for the ride," I tell him as I exit the car.

"No, thank you, Cole," he replies and drives away.

Naia, Cheza, and I cross the street to the unmarked building and knock on the red metal door. A slot in the door opens up and angry almond shaped eyes look at us.

"Hi, we're here to see Zhang Li," I say, unsure if Li is the first name or the last name, because it can be either, but I know that the majority of Asian cultures address names by last name first. Since Mr. Wright said Li Zhang, I decide that Zhang is probably the last name.

A man's voice speaks back in Chinese, not sure if it's Cantonese or Mandarin... What? Just because I speak awful Japanese, I'm supposed to be able to differentiate between Cantonese and Mandarin? Most people aren't even aware that there is more than one kind of Chinese! Realistically, I'm not positive this guy is speaking any kind of Chinese! I just know that he's not speaking Japanese and that he might know English.

"We owe Zhang Li money," I reply and the slot slams shut.

"Nice going, Cole," Cheza says.

"I got it," I tell her.

I start moving my bandage on my left hand aside before several locks click. The red metal door swings open and we're led down a set of stairs by an Asian man, who is about five inches shorter than I am and is wearing all black clothing with a bright red tie that matches the color of the door. We follow him through a concrete room that contains half of a dozen tables lined with green felt, and I come to the realization that this is an underground mahjong den. At the back of the room is another metal door, behind which is a staircase.

The man leads us up the stairs and into an office, where a beautiful Chinese woman in her early forties is lounging on a wood and silk couch while wearing a red and gold 'china dress'. I say early forties, but I'm not really sure, and not just because she's a dragon that possibly has an extended lifespan. I've noticed that a lot of Asian women are timeless until they hit sixty. For example, I always thought my Japanese teacher in high school was in her late twenties or early thirties until I found out that she had a daughter that was at least five years older than me. The woman shouts at the man upon seeing us and the two large men in the room pull guns from hip holsters.

"So you must be Ryuji's master, Li. Do you mind if I refer to you by your first name?" I ask over her shouting as Cheza starts to get a little frosty.

"And who might you be?" Li asks with a light accent.

"I'm known by several names, but probably the most well-known name is Feros," I reply.

"You are the third man to come into my abode claiming to be Feros," Li replies and I engage my silver helmet.

"This is always a good test since the silver helmet isn't something that can be replicated," I say with my modulated voice before disengaging the helmet.

"For what purpose are you here?" Li asks.

"For information. Your pupil, or at least acquaintance, and our friend, Ryuji, has been kidnapped. The perpetrators were most likely dragons, consider that the spells of a powerful jinni had no effect on them," I reply.

"Ryuji has been taken!?" Li asks in an alarmed fashion.

"Four armed men with ski masks took him from his home in Seattle earlier today," I inform her.

"I was afraid this day would come to pass... Ryuji was most likely taken by the Longwang, the Dragon Kings, because of a prophecy," Li says and I try not to snicker at 'Longwang'.

"What prophecy?" I ask.

"A prophecy that was made nearly thirty years ago. It claimed that 'the black one will bring about the destruction of the Longwang and usher in a new era.' This prompted the other three Longwang to kill the black Dragon King of the north, as well as any black dragons that lived and have been born since. The Longwang gave orders to all dragons that any black dragons are to be brought to them," Li explains and a small chuckle slips out of my mouth.

"And Ryuji is a black dragon, I'm guessing?" Cheza asks.

"That is correct," Li answers.

"Why didn't you turn him in?" Naia asks.

"Because that prophecy is too vague and stupid," Li answers simply.

"Do the Longwang have the power to kidnap Ryuji?" Naia inquires.

"The Longwang's reach is far and wide—" Li starts to say before I can no longer take it. I just start fucking dying with laughter. Did she really just say that by accident?

"Hahaha... alright so all we have to do is go to the Longwang, burst into their _pitched tents_ , break through the _shaft_ of their defenses, rescue Ryuji from their _firm grips_ , and _come_ back. I just hope that they aren't beating him like he owes them money or _jerking_ him around too much. So where are they?" I ask as Cheza rolls her eyes.

"You know that you went from dick innuendos to masturbation innuendos, right?" Cheza thinks.

"Yeah, but I ran out of dick jokes that made any contextual sense," I reply.

"Given the circumstances, Ryuji will most likely be taken to Ao Guang's crystal palace at the bottom of the East China Sea since it is the closest. However, it is impossible to reach without being transported by a Shen dragon because of the barrier that camouflages the palace and prevents discovery through electronic means," Li explains.

"Oh, I don't think that will be an issue. Can you get me the exact coordinates of the palace?" I request. I can utilize Neptune's power to get down there so I don't need to worry about a submarine.

"I do not have the coordinates, but I'm told that it can be reached by heading ten kilometers northwest from the western tip of the Japanese island of Hateruma," Li tells me. Well, I should be able to find it and I can always think of something else if I can't...

"Alright, thanks. Now I need to go rescue my friend. Goodbye," I reply.

I grab Naia and Cheza's hands before porting back into the living room of Jason's house in Niflheim.

"Okay, you two are going to have to stay here. The only way I'll be able to get there is if I use my ability to breathe underwater that I gained from Neptune. Since it only affects me, you two will drown if you come with me," I explain.

"Cole!" they both exclaim.

"I'm sorry, but there is literally no alternative. I'll go get Ryuji and bring him back here," I reply.

"Okay, Cole... be careful," Cheza reluctantly says and I give her a kiss.

"I always am," I reply with a smile.

"You are such a bad liar," Cheza smiles back.

"Take care of Sara. I'll be back as soon as I can," I tell her as I pull out my phone and look up satellite images for the island of Hateruma.

I touch my Haglaz and port to the master bedroom our house in Bellevue. I doubt this is going to be non-confrontational so it is probably a good idea to grab the rest of my equipment. After sliding off my jacket, I clip on the rest of my holster before returning my jacket so that my Diamond swords are mostly concealed. Once equipped, I port to the satellite photo of Hateruma. As I stand on the beach of the island and take in the sight of the ocean, I suddenly feel someone beside me.

"Feros... it has been quite some time," a Japanese man with long black hair, wearing a white and blue kimono, says. It takes me a few moments before I recognize him as Susanoo, the Shinto god of the sea.

"That it has, Lord Susanoo," I reply.

"What business do you have here?" Susanoo inquires.

"Not here, about ten kilometers northwest of here. My friend was taken by the Dragon Kings and I'm going to get him back," I answer.

"So you are headed to Nirai Kanai... You shouldn't have any issues seeing past the barrier around the place, but you will have problems going that far down. Head in that direction, and you will find yourself on top of it," Susanoo replies.

"Thank you, Lord Susanoo... Before I go, how is Inari's servant, Yui?" I ask.

"She looked well when Inari brought her to the last meeting a few months ago," Susanoo answers and I nod in response.

"Goodbye," I reply before walking away.

My arm flushes black as I tread through the waves. I push the water away from my body to avoid getting wet as I submerge myself. Enclosed in a bubble of air, I will a water current to propel me forward and down as I engage my helmet—it's probably going to be rather dark near the ocean floor. After about thirty minutes, I come across something that looks like a dome with an aura. I set my hand on it and it sinks through with little resistance before showing me its contents. The crystal palace of the East Dragon King is quite magnificent. Azure colored crystals stick out of the ground and collect into a spiky pyramid shape that reminds me of Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

I notice that my hand is dry inside of the dome before hearing a bizarre sound. I turn to the right just before a gargantuan mouth swallows me.

Chapter 15: Frogman Jones, Turtle Poon, and Atlantis

I start freaking out for about fifteen seconds as I'm passed through a series of winding tubes, feeling like any cartoon character that has ever been flushed down a toilet and traveled through the plumbing. The large tubing, that must be an esophagus, drops me fifty feet into the center of a chamber that I can only assume is this creature's stomach. I deploy my flight to keep from falling and I gently touch down onto the squishy pink floor. Green lights along the inner walls of the chamber slightly illuminate the area as I realize that there isn't any water in here, which should be completely impossible. What the fuck is going on? Did I just get swallowed by Moby Dick? No wait, I'm thinking of the whale from Pinocchio... what's its name...? Monstro?

Well, the first thing that I need to do is figure a way out of here. I could probably just hack my way out, but that would most likely kill whatever swallowed me and I'm interested in seeing what this thing is. Plus, it might be the last of its kind considering how big it is and that would be a waste. Besides, I still have quite a bit of time until Ryuji gets to the palace anyway since it's a twelve hour flight from Seattle to Shanghai, giving me about eight hours until he lands and then there's the travel time from Shanghai to the crystal palace.

I start walking along the spongy pink surface towards an end of the room, figuring that the best way to get my bearings of this place is to walk to one end and follow the wall. I reach a wall and start following it, keeping the wall to my left.

"Koroshite kudasai!" a croaky voice exclaims to my left, causing me to jump.

"HOLY SHIT! Dude, you scared the hell out of me!" I reply.

I get closer and see an Asian human stuck into the wall of the room with some sort of crunchy, pink, coral-like substance holding him in. It reminds me of the crew of the Flying Dutchman in the _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movies.

"Onegai! Watashi o koroshite kudasai!" he repeats and I realize that he's speaking Japanese. He's asking me to please do something for him, but the word koroshite is unfamiliar to me so I don't know what he's asking.

"Airi, a little help with the translation?"

(On it)

"Mou ichido," I tell him.

"Please kill me!" the man exclaims, my helmet translating the Japanese so his lips don't match the words, like a dub over of a martial arts movie.

"I feel like I have been stuck in this wall for so long! I regain consciousness on occasion with no sense of how much time has passed. This is no life, so please kill me!" the man explains.

I decide to honor the man's wishes and pull out a Diamond sword. I disengage my helmet so the man is able to see a human face before he dies. I quickly bring the sword through his neck and his head tumbles from his shoulders, but there isn't any blood. Some skin flakes away from his neck and dust trickles out of his severed head, but no blood. How long has he been down here?

"Ari...gatou," the man's severed head says and his eyes close.

Okay, that definitely wouldn't be possible unless magic was involved. The body of the man rapidly decays until all that's left is dust. What in the hell is going on here? Is this some kind of security system around the palace to prevent human discovery? I continue walking along the wall until I see something to my right, closer to the center of the room. I walk over and find that it's a small, round, submarine with Japanese Kanji characters on it. It looks just big enough to fit a single person. If this is where that man came from, this thing is at least twenty years old. I look closely and see that the door of the submarine appears to have been bashed open... that's not good.

I hear the distinctive clink of metal behind me... that's also not good. I turn around and see short green men with tridents and swords. The men are five feet tall on average, have webbed hands and feet, frog-like heads with rows of sharp teeth, triangular fins sticking out of the sides of their heads, large green luminescent eyes, are as muscular as Russian gymnasts, and there are about twenty of them behind me... Pfft! Only twenty? Just who do they think I am?

(This may be a good opportunity to gather some information)

"What do you mean? I highly doubt they speak English... and they might not have the capability to speak at all."

(You have Neptune's power over the sea so you can communicate with all aquatic life)

"Great, now I'm Aquaman, arguably the lamest superhero of all time. Once the super villains stop making their doomsday machines out of paper mache, Aquaman's usefulness goes out the window."

(Just shut up and try it)

"Halt!" I command to the frog creatures as my arm flushes black, causing them to stop their advance... sweet! Next I have to go see some of those sea turtles to find out if shell-shock is turtle slang for some sort of turtle BDSM...

"I command you to tell me where I am," I order the closest frogman.

What follows is an odd sort of grunts, squeals, and clicks that my ears don't understand at all, but the meaning gets relayed directly into my brain.

"We are inside our god, the great sea serpent of old," Frogman Jones tells me.

"Great sea serpent of old?"

(Given the location and the enormous size of this creature, I'm willing to bet that we are inside of Leviathan)

"Wait, _the_ Leviathan? The giant sea dragon from the Old Testament?"

"Why did Leviathan swallow me?" I ask.

"I do not know, but our Chieftain might," Frogman Jones answers.

"Please take me to them," I reply.

"This way," Frogman Jones says and walks to the right, away from the submarine.

I follow Frogman Jones as the other frogmen fall in behind me. After walking for about ten minutes, we reach the pink wall of the chamber with the green luminescent crystals that remind me of the frogmen's eyes. Frogman Jones walks up to the wall and places a webbed hand over one of the crystals. Part of the wall to the left of the crystal thins before it separates and reveals a circular opening that is roughly eight feet in diameter. We head down the passageway, which goes on for the better part of a mile with few luminescent crystals (thankfully my helmet offsets the lack of light), when a question occurs to me.

"Do you know why Leviathan swallowed that metal ball and why the human was being held in the wall?" I ask Frogman Jones.

"Are you referring to the submersible? Our god swallows humans that discover him to keep his existence a secret," Frogman Jones replies, making me feel like an ass for assuming that he was uneducated.

"Why was that man in the wall?" I inquire.

"We were commanded to put him there," Frogman Jones answers. So was the man being used as some sort of power source? That's the first thing that comes to mind considering his lack of blood and presence of dust...

We walk around a bend to the left and run into a dead end. Frogman Jones opens his mouth to a 130 degree angle, revealing two rows of shark-like teeth, and a chant flows out of it. His voice is like that of an angel, ethereal and beautiful. His singing goes on for ten seconds before the wall opens up. The passageway lights up as a chamber is revealed that is as bright as the first one, but only about half the size. I follow Frogman Jones as he enters what must be the Frogman village. Teepee-esque huts line the chamber and appear to be made of the pink coral substance that was holding the Japanese man. There are over a hundred huts of different sizes, some only large enough for a single person and others large enough to fit a family of twenty.

The frogmen fall in beside me and behind me as we head into the village. I see tiny frogmen playing, accompanied by frogmen that are devoid of head fins and have breasts covered by tube top-esque bits of cloth that show off their significant abdominal muscles, which match any of the warrior frogmen with me and freak me out a bit. Everyone we pass stops and warily looks at me as we pass by.

"Papa!" a frogchild squeals as it runs over to Frogman Jones, with a frogwoman following behind it. Frogman Jones lifts up his daughter (if the lack of head fins are an indicator) and spins her around before setting her back down.

"I still have work to do so go play with your mother," Frogman Jones tells his daughter.

"Yes papa!" she squeals and runs back to her mother. Frogman Jones continues walking through town.

"Cute kid," I tell him.

"Do you have any children of your own?" Frogman Jones asks.

"I did once... Now I just have a goddaughter that I adore," I reply.

"Goddaughter?" Frogman Jones inquires.

"She's the daughter of my friend. He and the girl's mother chose me and my wife to become her parents should anything happen to them. Do you have anything like that in your society?" I ask.

"No, we don't. I have never heard of someone being unfortunate enough to lose both of their parents before they reached the age where they were old enough to care for themselves," Frogman Jones replies.

We pass through the center of town and reach the opposite edge, roughly half a mile from where we came in. There is a large opening in the pink wall with strange tentacles draped over it.

"This is where our chieftain resides," Frogman Jones reports.

"Thank you. I shall go speak with them now," I reply and walk through the tentacles.

I walk down the dimly lit tunnel, passing by alcoves with strange pink coral sculptures. After about a hundred feet, the passageway opens into a chamber that is roughly thirty feet in diameter. At the end of the chamber is someone in a large chair, facing away from me.

"I have waited a long time for this day, Father!" a deep voice calls out from the chair as I notice a golden outline.

"Trapping me in Leviathan for a few years to teach me a lesson about not fucking your favorite turtles, I can understand... However, A HUNDRED YEARS IS A LITTLE MUCH!" the voice shouts and swivels around in the chair. Sitting in the chair is a man that has blue scales from the waist down and flipper-esque feet. His central aura looks a lot like the Starbucks logo. A merman demigod?

"I—You're not my father. Who are you?" the man asks, perplexed. I disengage my helmet.

"I'm Cole," I reply.

"But I sensed my father's power! I had Leviathan swallow my father!" the man exclaims.

"Your father wouldn't happen to be Neptune, would he?" I ask.

"YES!" the man shouts with annoyance.

"Oh, Neptune's dead and I have his power over the sea now," I inform him, keeping it vague for my benefit.

If he didn't like his father and is happy he's dead, taking credit can only help me, but if he tries to kill me for killing his father, I can backpedal and explain that Hades did it and I killed Hades. Either way, I'll benefit from it.

"What!? When did he die!?" the man asks.

"About four years ago," I reply.

"I see... you killed my father, and you have his power now... so I'm free to leave?" the man asks.

"That depends, who are you?" I ask.

"Triton, King of Atlantis," Triton replies.

"Well Triton, you are free to leave, but I don't know how to get out of here," I tell him.

"You just command Leviathan's body to open up the passages. While Leviathan helps me out by occasionally following my orders, like the one to swallow you, certain passageways can't be opened consciously by Leviathan. They're coded to Neptune's power," Triton explains.

"Okay then, let's get out of here," I reply. Triton groans something out and the chamber rumbles in response.

"Alright, Leviathan is going to swing by Atlantis to drop us off. Just place your hand on the green crystal on that wall and we can leave," Triton says.

"Good... wait, don't you need to name a new chieftain or something?" I ask.

"Oh, right," Triton replies and groans, causing the chamber to rumble again.

About two minutes later, Frogman Jones walks into the room. Triton talks to Frogman Jones and names him the new chieftain, presumably. I'm not sure because I didn't bother to use Neptune's power to translate it.

Triton nods at me and we walk over to the right wall. I place my blackened left hand on the green crystal, assuming that I need to have Neptune's powers engaged for this to work. The pink wall opens up and reveals a dimly lit passageway that slopes upward. The passage winds back and forth, steadily rising in elevation.

"You said you've been trapped in here for a hundred years?" I ask as we walk.

"Yeah, give or take a few years," Triton replies.

"How long do mermaids and mermen usually live?" I inquire.

"The average lifespan is usually only about a hundred fifty to two hundred years, but I'm going on four hundred, most likely because Neptune is my father," Triton informs me.

After walking for about half an hour, we reach a dead end with a single crystal on the wall. I put my hand on the crystal and the wall opens up to a small room that is about 10'x10'. I look to Triton and the passageway rumbles.

"We've arrived at Atlantis. Apparently this chamber will fill up with water and then the ceiling will open up to the outside," Triton tells me. We head into the chamber and the wall behind us closes.

"So... what's your policy on turtle fucking?" Triton asks as water slowly fills the room. I keep Neptune's power engaged to force the water to swirl around me.

"I'm not interested... go ahead and get all of the consenting turtle poon you can. Just make sure that you don't stick it in the wrong hole or the turtle might suffocate," I reply while awkwardly avoiding looking at him and trying to convince myself that it's probably okay because he's a merman.

"Don't worry. Sea turtles don't have cloacal bursae so they don't breathe through their anuses!" Triton reassures me, as if that had been my major concern... although part of me was expecting him to reply with 'What do you think I did that got my father to throw me into Leviathan in the first place?'

"Well, that's a relief..." I awkwardly reply.

"You're a good guy, did you know that? How about you come into Atlantis for a drink?" Triton asks. I take out my phone and check the time.

"Yeah, okay. I still have about six hours until I have to be somewhere," I respond, deciding that I could use a drink and I've never been to Atlantis before.

"Alright!" Triton exclaims before the room fills up completely.

The ceiling opens up and reveals the ocean. Triton kicks upward and swims through as I propel my bubble forward. I look down and see a massive turtle-like shell before it moves down into the depths. From what I can see before it swims away, Leviathan has a turtle's body, complete with flippers, but the long tail, long neck, and head of a dragon.

"So where's Atlantis?" I ask Triton and he points behind me.

I turn around, but all I can see is an aura covered dome, like the one at the Dragon King's palace in the East China Sea. I propel my bubble forward, right through the dome before I notice that Triton is frantically waving at me. Once I start falling, I realize what Triton was trying to say. I switch gears and engage my flight so that I don't fall over one hundred yards. I hover down until I reach the three feet of water that covers the ground.

"I was trying to warn you of the fall, but I guess it was unnecessary," Triton says from behind me.

"What's with all the water?" I ask.

"Mer-people prefer swimming over walking," Triton replies.

"Then why—" I start to ask.

"How would mer-people be able to talk to each other without air?" Triton rhetorically asks. That does make sense... I've always wondered how the Little Mermaid was singing under the sea without air.

"Anyway, on to the palace!" Triton exclaims and points forward.

I look forward for the first time, since I was looking down during the descent, and see a glittering golden palace. Triton swims forward as I follow and we pass through the empty streets that have coral-like buildings lining them. There are green crystals, similar to the ones in Leviathan, that illuminate the streets. I wonder if they brighten during the daylight hours to signify the time since the sun's rays definitely can't penetrate this deep into the ocean.

"Is this place always so empty?" I inquire.

"No, everyone is asleep. I believe it's around 1am here," Triton replies and we continue toward the palace.

As we approach the glittering palace, I notice something interesting: a phallus shaped tower. So did Disney animators somehow see Atlantis in person? Did they just draw the palace exactly how they saw it? I bet that sure pissed them off when everyone started making a fuss about _The Little Mermaid_ ... They probably really wanted to shout, 'Shut up, you idiots! That's factually accurate!'

"Your king has returned!" Triton announces to the guards when we arrive at the palace gate.

"Who in the hell is this guy?" one guard asks the other.

"Dunno..." the other guard replies.

"Who is in charge here?" Triton asks.

"That would be me," the other guard says while the first one points at him.

"No, I mean who is ruling Atlantis!?" Triton rephrases with annoyance.

"Queen Ariel... How long have you been away from Atlantis, buddy?" the first guard replies.

"Ah, my sweet daughter. I demand that you take us to her," Triton says and the guards start laughing.

"Get lost," the other guard says.

"Let me give it a shot," I tell Triton and step up to the guards.

"You will take us to see Queen Ariel," I command, Neptune's power flowing out of my voice.

"Right this way," the guards say in unison. This power is pretty fucking useful.

The guards open the gates and lead us inside. We pass through an opening into a throne room before we are surrounded by a large group of guards armed with tridents.

"You will all go back to your duties this instant," I order them and they all do, even our guides.

"Not you two," I clarify and they go back to showing us through the throne room.

We head down a hallway to the right once we reach the end of the throne room. The hallway goes on for about one hundred feet before veering off to the left. Triton and I follow the guards until we reach an entryway that has steel bars sticking through it, preventing our entry.

"Queen Ariel, you have two visitors," the head guard says into a metal communication tubing. There's no response so the guard tries again thirty seconds later, and again thirty seconds after that.

"WHAT!?" the pipe screams back with high-pitched annoyance.

"You have two visitors," the guard replies.

"I'm not expecting anyone! Send them away!" Ariel responds.

"Ariel, this is your father. Stop being rude," Triton says after pushing the guard aside.

"*Gasp* Daddy!?" Ariel replies in surprise before the bars descend into the ground. A blonde mermaid comes swimming out and hugs Triton.

"But how!? I thought grandpa was punishing you for the whole turtle thing!" Ariel exclaims.

"I'll explain everything over drinks. Let's go to the bar," Triton replies.

We head further down the hallway as it arcs to the left before turning left through a door and into a lounge with a bar. I take a seat with Ariel while Triton grabs drinks.

"So who are you?" Ariel asks.

"I'm Cole. I helped your father get out of Leviathan," I reply as Triton comes back and hands me an oddly blue-colored drink.

"Yes, it's quite the story! He killed your grandfather and took his powers so I had Leviathan swallow him once I sensed my father, only to find out that it was Cole!" Triton exclaims.

"Sorry..." I say to Ariel.

"Don't be. He was constantly trying to molest me when I was younger anyway," Ariel replies with a creepy amount of nonchalance while Triton chugs his drink.

"What is this?" I ask as I sip my drink.

"It's a mermaid alcohol known as Aquablue," Ariel informs me.

"This is fantastic! It has been so long since I've had any that I forgot how good it—" Triton says before passing out midsentence. I guess his tolerance has dropped to zero in the past century.

"So Cole, what do you do?" Ariel asks, ignoring her father.

"I, uh, solve problems... Shouldn't we do something about him?" I ask while pointing at Triton's slumped over form.

"He'll be fine," Ariel replies.

"Okay... so, I have to ask, why are there so many similarities between this Atlantis and the Disney rendition of _The Little Mermaid_?" I ask.

"The what?" Ariel asks so I decide to try another method.

"Have any humans been brought down to Atlantis?" I inquire.

"Occasionally... I brought one down about thirty years ago," Ariel replies.

"Why?" I ask.

"Well, I saved him from drowning and then he told me I had the most beautiful scales he'd ever seen, that silver-tongued devil. Next thing I knew, I'd fallen in love with him and I brought him here. We talked all night. I told him about the mer-people, about our society, and even about Daddy. After a night of passion, I brought him back to the surface and never saw him again..." Ariel wistfully replies. Well, now I can see how the similarities came about.

"Speaking of, how about you spend the night with me, Cole?" Ariel propositions.

(Gotta love that fish half!)

"I... how would that even work?" I ask, strictly for curiosity's sake.

"Mermaids have vaginas, they're just covered by a layer of scales. Just move those scales to the side and have at it," Ariel informs me with a sultry tone while leaning towards me.

"Well, thank you for the offer Ariel, but I really must be going. Before I was swallowed by Leviathan, I was on my way to rescue my friend from being killed by the Dragon Kings, so I really must be going," I quickly reply, slightly flustered.

"Alright, I understand. Good luck, Cole!" Ariel exclaims and kisses me before I can react.

"And come back soon," Ariel adds with a sultry tone.

"Uh, yeah... thanks," I say while backing away slowly as I engage my helmet.

"Goodbye," I add and touch my triskele while thinking of the waters outside the Dragon King's palace.

Chapter 16: And I discover what everyone else already knows

[December 27th]

I arrive at the same location that I was in before Leviathan swallowed me, the bubble automatically encompassing my body instead of just my lower half, like it was in Atlantis... Maybe I'll bring Cheza there one of these days. A certain amount of exhaustion sets in and I realize that the strain from constantly using Neptune's power is starting to get to me. I'd better make this quick.

I cross through the dome and switch gears to prevent myself from falling. I land in the blue crystal courtyard and start walking towards the pyramid-like palace, keeping an eye out for guards, traps, or other defenses. However, I don't see anything of the sort. I follow the courtyard pathway straight up to the triangular door of the palace that is around thirty feet tall. I notice a button on the wall to the right of the door, so I press it and hear a chime.

"Hello?" an Asian woman in servant's clothing answers in accented English, opening a normal sized door that is to the left of the giant door.

Judging by her white and bronze swirled inner aura, she's a dragon. I walk over to the door so I'm not shouting from thirty feet away.

"Umm, hello... is Ao Guang home?" I ask.

"No, he is at the western palace. Ao Run is hosting the inauguration of the new Longwang in the West Sea," the woman answers.

"Oh... okay, thanks," I reply and turn around.

I hear the door shut behind me and then I touch my Haglaz rune, porting back to Jason's house.

"Cole! Where's Ryuji...?" Naia asks with uncertainty.

"He wasn't in the eastern palace. I spoke with one of the servants and she said that Ao Guang had been called to the palace in the West Sea, but I don't know where that is so I'm going to go talk with Li Zhang again," I reply.

"It took you ten hours to figure that out!?" Naia shouts at me. I'd be angry too.

"No, there was this whole thing with getting swallowed by Leviathan and then there was Frogman Jones and The Little Mermaid and her turtle fucking father and Atlantis..." I try to explain.

"What in the hell are you talking about!?" Naia screams.

"Naia, calm down honey. Why don't you try to go and get some sleep?" Cheza suggests. Naia huffs and heads upstairs.

"So... explain to me why you have been gone for ten hours and have no results to show for it besides the glitter that is currently on your lips," Cheza says while narrowing her eyes at me. I quickly recap things for her so I don't get stabbed.

"And then she kissed me before I could react and I ported away. I went to the Dragon King's palace, only to find that he wasn't home," I finish recanting.

"So now you have to go back to Ryuji's master to find the location of the western palace... so what are you doing here?" Cheza asks.

"I'm... just reporting in? I actually don't know, now that I think about it," I reply.

"Well, get going! We have to save Ryuji!" Cheza orders.

"Yes ma'am!" I reply and touch my Haglaz rune while thinking of Li Zhang's room.

"Li, Ryuji wasn't in the eastern palace," I announce when I port in. I look around and see that no one is here.

"Hello?" I ask.

Li walks through a curtained doorway on the left wall, wearing a red silk robe.

"What do you need, Feros?" Li asks.

"Ryuji wasn't in the eastern palace and neither was Ao Guang. A servant at the palace said he was called to the western palace for something. Where is it?" I inquire.

"It's in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Sri Lanka, but I don't know it's exact location. It's also where the Longwang military force is based. I heard something earlier today, something that pertains to Ryuji," Li tells me.

"What did you hear?" I ask.

"The Longwang have been trying to gather support to retake some territory back from the tigers of the west. Lately, their biggest problem is that the Longwang are not complete since they are missing the black dragon of the north," Li informs me. Didn't the servant say something about an inauguration?

"And since Ryuji is a black dragon, holding him captive and declaring him the new black dragon of the north would get the Longwang the support they need..." I conclude.

"Precisely," Li replies.

"And the chances of the Longwang just letting Ryuji go when they're done are slim to none..." I add.

"Alright, thanks Li. I'll just be going now. Goodbye," I tell her and port back to Niflheim.

"What did she say?" Cheza asks me.

"Well, the good news is that Ryuji isn't in any immediate danger... The bad news is that the Dragon Kings are naming Ryuji as the new Black Dragon King of the north to get support for a war with the tigers. Once the war starts, I doubt Ryuji will survive," I inform her.

"So the stakes are still the same?" Cheza inquires.

"Yeah, we just have a bit more time now... I'm going to go talk with Nagi," I tell her.

"Why?" Cheza questions.

"Because the dragon military is based in the western palace, so if I'm going to rescue Ryuji without getting myself killed or losing myself in the process, I'm going to need some help. Nagi knows the tigers, or at the very least knows Jeremy, who will know the tigers... or if that falls through, I'll go talk to Saraswati to find the leader of the tigers," I reply.

"Alright, I'm coming with you. I'll go get my suit on," Cheza says and heads upstairs. I follow her upstairs and enter our room as she starts putting on her suit.

"Hey, how has Sara been doing?" I inquire.

"She seems to be doing better... but she still didn't leave her room today," Cheza replies and finishes putting on her suit.

"Well, at least she seems like she's doing better... Ready to go?" I ask.

Cheza nods in response, I grab her hand, and port us to Mount Kailash.

"So how do we find Nagi?" Cheza asks.

"...I have no idea," I reply after thinking for a moment.

"Your mother will probably know," Cheza suggests and I snap us to my parent's lake-bottom property.

"Cole and Chezarei! What can I do for— *Gasp*... Chezarei! You're—" my mother, Parvati, says when we arrive in the kitchen. I notice Cheza's eyes go wide when my mother gasps and covers her mouth, but my mother suddenly stops talking.

"She's what?" I inquire.

"As beautiful as ever!" Parvati exclaims. I find this whole exchange to be rather suspicious...

"Cole, I need to speak with you for a moment," my father, Shiva, tells me.

Shiva snaps his fingers and ports us to the black space where he told me the truth about my origins.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Be careful with your use of the Void... Taking Loki out needs to be your priority. If the Void takes over before that happens, Loki will go unchecked," Shiva says.

"I know that... this has been one hell of a pep talk, dad, but I'm in the middle of something," I reply.

Shiva snaps his fingers and we reappear in the house.

"I am just so happy for you two!" my mother exclaims while hugging Cheza in the kitchen.

"What are you two talking about?" I ask, suspiciously eyeing the two of them.

"Nothing. Oh, by the way, we need to talk to Nagi so can you summon her here?" Cheza answers and asks my mother.

Shiva snaps his fingers and Nagi appears in the kitchen.

"So then I said... oh, what do you need, Lord Shiva?" Nagi asks and my father points toward Cheza and I.

"What's up?" Nagi questions me.

"Ryuji was kidnapped by the Longwang to be instated as a figurehead for the black dragon of the north so the Longwang can get support to wage a war against the tigers for territory or something. We need to rescue Ryuji and since he's being held in the place with all of the dragon soldiers, I need the tigers' help. I figured that you or Jeremy would know how I can contact the leader," I explain.

"Well, I suppose I can help you out. Let's go to my and Kanta's quarters so I can grab some things," Nagi replies.

"Alright, let's go. Nagi's quarters," I say and snap my fingers.

We appear in front of a waterfall that collects into a small pond that is only about twenty feet in diameter. Large stepping stones span the length of the pond and lead up to the waterfall. I look into the pond and see the sky through the water. This pond appears to go straight through the ground of this floating island, like the ones that make up the rest of Mount Kailash, but the water somehow remains in the bottomless hole. Nagi steps across two stones, holds her hands out at shoulder level, and claps once. Two slabs of rock emerge from the cliff side in a triangular shape behind the waterfall, parting it down the middle and revealing the opening to a cave.

Cheza and I follow Nagi across the stones and into the cave's opening. The tunnel of the cave continues on for about one hundred yards or so until it opens up into a bright chamber. I notice the tropical garden at the center of the chamber before I look up and see the red, orange, and pink sky. Nagi leads us around the garden to a canyon-like passageway on the far side of the chamber. The passageway ends in something of a cul-de-sac with a large house.

The house bends around the interior of the cul-de-sac and has two doors, one for each wing. The wings of the house look like they were taken from two different houses and then pasted together here. The styles are completely different from each other, but they still somehow look like a reflection because of the overall shape. Nagi walks over to the left wing and opens the door, ushering us in. The foyer has hallways to the front and right, but a door that looks misplaced on the left wall of the foyer is what attracts my attention.

"Nagi, where did you go?" Kanta, Nagi's twin sister, asks as she walks into the foyer from the right, ripping my attention away from the door.

"Oh! My apologies, Lord Cole. I didn't realize you were here," Kanta says and bows stiffly when she sees me.

"Relax, Kanta. I'm not big into formalities," I tell her and Kanta relaxes a bit.

"Kanta, do you know where our old photo album is?" Nagi asks.

"I don't know. Where did you leave it?" Kanta questions.

"I wasn't looking at it last, you were," Nagi replies.

"No, I distinctly remember you having it last," Kanta replies.

"No, you took it into your room a few weeks ago!" Nagi expounds.

"Yeah, and you took it when you got all drunk and sappy last week!" Kanta exclaims.

"Girls! Nagi, how about you look for the album, and Kanta can show us around?" I intervene.

"Yes, Lord Cole," they both reply, almost simultaneously.

Nagi exits the foyer by going down the front hallway while Cheza and I follow Kanta down the right.

"This hallway leads to my half of the house. Lord Murugan and Lord Ganesha did this with the hopes that my sister and I would get along better, but we mostly just annoy each other. I still love her though... Please don't tell her I said that," Kanta begs.

"Uh, sure," I reply.

"Thank you, Lord Cole. That hallway leads to the kitchen area, which I'll show you in a moment," Kanta says while pointing at a hallway in the middle that has a different style for each half. I assume this means that it's the exact center of the house. Kanta continues down the current hallway until we reach the right wing's foyer.

"I'll show you my area now and then we'll loop back around," Kanta says and turns down the front hallway of the right foyer, but my eyes are fixed on the misplaced door on the right wall, similar to the one that caught my attention in the left wing's foyer.

"Where does this lead?" I ask as I absentmindedly open the door.

The ground shifts beneath my feet and I land facing a different door. I turn around and see that I'm in a familiar room with gold and glass décor.

"Hey little bro. Long time no see," Murugan greets as he walks over to me.

"Yeah, it has been a while," I reply.

"By the way, congratulations on getting married," Murugan says.

"That was four years ago," I respond.

"Shit, really? I didn't realize that it's already been that long," Murugan replies.

"Don't worry about it. You already sent a card anyway," I say.

"I did?" Murugan asks.

"Yeah, Nagi delivered a card from you and Ganesha about a month after the wedding," I answer.

"Heh... we have a great brother... that card was only from him. He signed it as being from me as well because he knew I'd forget. As such, I apologize for being so late with my congratulations," Murugan admits.

"No problem," I tell him.

"Say, I know that this is a bad time to ask, but I could use some help," Murugan says.

"With what?" I inquire.

"It seems that some dragons are plotting to use my people again to try and take over Lanka, modern day Sri Lanka. It hasn't even been a decade since the end of their last attempt, which lasted thirty years. The tigers currently control Lanka after I gave them my backing and got the Sri Lankan government behind them to defeat the dragons nearly a decade ago. It took me quite some time to trust the tigers because the faction that the dragons started had 'tiger' in the name, so I naturally thought that they were the ones deceiving my people. I'd like your help in stopping them to ensure that the tigers stay in power in Lanka. And I know, while Lanka should technically belong to the Naga, there simply aren't enough of them to hold power and they play nice together with the tigers so it works out," Murugan explains.

"What a coincidence, I'm actually on my way to speak with the tigers to get backing to help me rescue my friend. He was kidnapped by the Dragon Kings to be put in place as a figurehead so that they can get the support they need for the war to take over, presumably, Sri Lanka," I reply.

"Great! Looks like we can solve both our problems with a single blow! The Dragon Kings won't let you just walk out with the key component of their plan, so you kill them to rescue your friend and the plot to manipulate my followers falls through! Everybody wins except the Dragon Kings!" Murugan chuckles and then snaps his fingers. A letter appears in his hand, which he then holds out to me.

"Here. Give this to the leader of the tigers and you'll have their full support," Murugan tells me.

"Alright, thanks..." I reply, unsure of the mess I just got myself into.

"Well, the girls are waiting for me so how do I get back?" I ask.

"Oh, just open that door and it will take you back. Ganesha and I created direct links between the girls' quarters and ours so they could easily make their reports," Murugan answers.

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you around, brother," I reply and open the door behind me.

The ground shifts beneath my feet and I find myself facing the door in the right foyer of Kanta and Nagi's house. The girls have left the foyer and I hear voices coming from the general direction of the kitchen. I head down the left hall towards the hallway in the center of the house that Kanta said leads to the kitchen.

"No offense intended, but Lord Cole seems a little dense. I think telling him outright would be best," I hear Kanta say.

"I agree with my sister, Chezarei. Cole will never get it if you use obscure analogies and metaphors," Nagi says.

"I know, but it's so hard... I don't know how he'll react... especially after how he reacted a few years ago when I simply brought up the idea of having a baby..." Cheza replies.

I halt mid-step in the hallway, my lungs no longer taking in air. Is that what she's been trying to say this whole time? The vague analogies that didn't make sense, the puking, people's reactions... Did everyone know but me? Every fiber in my body is telling me to run, get the hell out of here, and never stop running, but this isn't a problem that I can run from.

I'll protect her... I swear to the Void, I'll protect her... I'll slaughter anyone that threatens her or our child.

(Master, calm down!)

This won't end like last time. This won't end like last time. This won't end like last time. This—

Cheza suddenly tackles me and slaps me in the face. The prickling in my left arm, which I wasn't aware of until just now, fades.

"Cole?" Cheza asks with concern.

"I'm alright. It was probably something my brother said... thanks. Did Nagi find the picture?" I ask, changing the subject because I'm not quite ready to tell her that I know.

"Yeah, I did," Nagi replies.

Cheza gets off of me and gives me a hand up. Nagi hands me a picture of her, Kanta, and Jeremy as kids standing in front of a wooden pagoda-type structure. Even though it's been four years since I've seen him and he's only about seven years old in this picture, it's obviously the Fogquartz University Fight Club's president.

"Alright, let's get going," I say as I hand the picture back.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Kanta asks.

"Sure," I reply and snap my fingers, porting the four of us to Mount Kailash's gate.

"Just hang on," I say while holding out my left arm as I grab Cheza's hand with my right. Nagi and Kanta grab my arm, I focus on the four of us standing in front of the pagoda from the picture, and we port away.

Chapter 17: Tigers and Trains

We port to the pagoda and I hear guns cock behind us. I turn away from the pagoda and find a platoon of thirty weretigers standing in a grassy field with Heckler & Koch G3 assault rifles, all pointed at the four of us. 'The four of us' includes Cheza, doesn't it? I step in front of her as my left arm starts prickling.

"At ease men. It's just Nagi and Kanta," one of the soldiers says and they lower their weapons as Cheza grabs my left hand and the prickling fades.

"Hi boys!" Kanta greets.

"Hi!" the majority of the soldiers call back from their positions in the field. From what I can see, the field expands out until it reaches a beach.

"Chief in the house?" Nagi asks.

"Last I saw," a soldier answers.

"Thanks," Nagi replies and starts heading off to the left, towards a dirt path that leads into a tropical forest. Cheza, Kanta, and I follow her.

"Do you always have to act like such a whore every time we come here?" Nagi asks her sister.

"I'm not acting like a whore! I'm just being nice!" Kanta expounds.

"Offering to let them run a train on you isn't called being nice, it's called being a whore," Nagi replies as we clear the forest and see a large one-story house across an expansive grass lawn.

"I wasn't offering to let them run a train on me! You just came in at the wrong time!" Kanta exclaims.

"Of course! How could I forget the ever-popular innocent conversation about trains! I'm sorry for calling you a whore, Kanta!" Nagi says, the epitome of sarcasm.

"What are they talking about trains for?" Cheza thinks.

"No, they're talking about 'running a train,' where in this case, the train is a line of naked guys," I reply.

"That are connected!?" Cheza exclaims.

"No! Not like that! All they would all be connected in the fact that they would become Eskimo brothers..." I think.

"Eskimo brothers?" Cheza asks.

"You should know this. It's what you call the guys that a singular woman has slept with. I think it's from _The League_ ," I answer.

"I know, but that doesn't have anything to do with the guys in the gay train that are all having sex," Cheza replies.

"No, you are misunderstanding the concept of this train. The only one that is getting fucked in this train is the girl... singular," I explain.

"Oooooh, got it," Cheza thinks as we approach the house.

Nagi and Kanta stride through the sliding back door like they own the place. We follow them in, finding ourselves in a sitting room as Nagi and Kanta take a seat before Cheza and I follow suit.

"Chief! We're home!" Kanta shouts.

"You really need to stop calling me that. It feels weird with our history," Jeremy says as he rounds the corner into the room.

"Feros, it's been a while," Jeremy adds, looking indifferent to see me.

"We need to meet with grandpa," Nagi reports.

"Grandpa?" I question.

"You know how people sometimes call the grandparents of their good friends, grandpa and grandma?" Nagi answers.

"Is this one of those occasions?" I ask, seeing something in Nagi's eyes that makes me doubt the statement.

"Not exactly..." Kanta quietly replies.

"He's pretty busy with the impending war," Jeremy responds.

"That's what we're here about. I have a letter from Lord Murugan," I interrupt.

"I see... follow me," Jeremy says.

I stand up and follow Jeremy down the hall. Jeremy turns left, knocks on a set of doors, and waits.

"Come in," a gravelly voice calls out from beyond the doors.

"Commander, a messenger of Lord Murugan's has arrived for you," Jeremy announces as he opens the doors.

"Is that so?" the white haired Indian man says while inspecting me over the rim of his glasses, still holding the report that he was reading.

I remove the letter from my jacket pocket, walk across the room, and hand it to him over his desk. After setting the report down and taking the letter, he flicks out the index finger on his right hand, morphing it into a claw to cut open the letter with. He removes the letter, unfolds it, and reads while I stand there.

"I'll just be leaving now," Jeremy says.

"Wait a moment, boy. Since you will be taking over for me soon, perhaps you should stay," the commander says.

"Nagi and Kanta are waiting in the sitting room and I don't wish to be rude," Jeremy replies and shuts the door as he leaves.

"Stubborn boy... he always has that face on when it comes to those girls, even the first time," the commander says while wistfully looking away.

"I still remember that stubborn determination on his face when he asked me to take in those two girls when the war claimed both of their parents, in much the same way they had claimed his... and now it's restarting all over again after less than a decade..." the commander recollects.

"But this time there's an opportunity to stop it before it truly begins," I interrupt.

"That there is... you have my full support, Lord Cole," the commander replies.

"Please, just Cole, and I was thinking that it would be better if I didn't have your support at all... at least not officially," I inform him.

"What did you have in mind?" the commander asks.

"Well, my name, or rather my nickname, is well known in the supernatural community. If anyone finds out that you're working with me when I kill the Dragon Kings and rescue my friend, the war will continue," I start to explain.

"If this war gets going again, it won't matter. The dragons and the tigers have always had a rivalry," the commander interrupts.

"Then we won't give it a chance to get going. There's an idea that I've been toying with, but it has certain parameters. First, what is the dragon's naval force like?" I ask.

"Unprecedented. It would be suicidal to face them in naval combat so we avoid it all together," the commander answers.

"Perfect. That leads to my next question: do you have any way to get to the dragon's base, their palace, at the bottom of the sea?" I inquire.

"No, we don't. We know the location, but we lack a submarine vehicle and even if we had one, it ties in to the naval combat situation. We tried dropping depth charges on top of the base, but the dome covering it detonated the charges. This resulted in no casualties on their part, but a boat and three lives lost on our side. The dragons are masters over water and anything in their domain doesn't stand a chance," the commander replies.

"I don't know about all that..." I reply with a smug smile. "They know this fact though? They know that you have no means to reach their base?"

"Most likely," the commander says.

"So they will most likely send their full force out to fight..." I say as the parameters of my plan come together, but then I realize something important: if I start a fight up here, Cheza is going to want to help since she can't come with me to the palace... I can't put her in danger like that...

"Wait a second, you said that they fight underwater, and guns don't fire underwater or they end up with ruptured barrels, but water is super conductive... do you have any napalm? My original plan was to sneak in back once the main force leaves the base to fight, and then kill the Dragon Kings, but I think I'll just kill them all myself and save you the hassle. Alright, all I need are the coordinates and some napalm—a couple gallons should do," I tell him and he gives me a quizzical look, but doesn't ask any questions. I pull out my phone and type in the coordinates as the commander gives them to me.

"Ask the boy about the napalm. Are you sure that you don't require anything else?" the commander asks.

"Yeah, I should be able to take care of this. Thanks," I tell him and exit the office.

I head back down the hall and into the sitting room where the girls and Jeremy waiting.

"Hey Jeremy, the commander asked me to tell you to get me some napalm," I announce.

"Why do you need napalm?" Jeremy asks.

"To initiate a one man naval battle with the dragons," I reply.

"But that's suicide!" Jeremy exclaims.

"For normal people, yes; however, I am far from normal," I respond.

"Cole, what's going on?" Cheza asks, concerned by the whole 'suicide' comment.

"I'm going with an option that doesn't cost the tigers dozens of lives. I'm going in alone," I reply.

"Cole!" Cheza exclaims.

"Don't worry, Cheza. They think that they're unbeatable in water so I'll simply prove them wrong using water's weakness," I tell her, but she still looks worried.

"Just trust me," I add with a smile.

"Okay, Cole..." Cheza reluctantly replies.

"Waiting on that napalm," I tell Jeremy.

"Follow me," Jeremy says and heads outside.

I follow him around the left side of the house and over to a secondary building that is about the size of a tool shed. He opens the door to the shed and all I see is a set of stairs leading down. I follow Jeremy down the concrete stairs and into an underground armory.

"I need to requisition some napalm on the commander's orders," Jeremy tells the man on the other side of the window that is presumably made of bulletproof glass.

"How much?" the man asks Jeremy.

"How much?" Jeremy asks me.

"I don't know... three gallons worth?" I reply.

"A ten liter tank," Jeremy tells the man.

The man stands up, walks around a corner, and comes back holding a metal canister that is about two feet tall and a foot wide in both hands. He opens the reinforced door to the left of the window and I take the canister from him with my left hand.

"Thanks," I say.

"Yep," the man replies and shuts the door. Jeremy and I head back up the stairs.

"Thanks, JJ," I tell him as I take my phone out and see that I'm a little over twenty miles from the palace coordinates.

"Good luck, Cole," Jeremy says as I unzip my sleeve, unwind the bandage from my arm, roll them up, and slip them both into my jacket pocket.

"I don't need luck when I've got skill," I smugly reply as my arm flushes black and I take to the skies.

Chapter 18: Electric Feel

I reach the coordinates of the palace in just under ten minutes. I screw off the cap of the metal canister and start pouring the napalm onto the ocean's surface, spelling out Feros in cursive. Once the canister is empty, I replace the cap and engage my helmet in case the next step backfires. The purple lightning bolt on my left hand surfaces as I create a small spark to ignite the napalm. That should get the dragon's attention.

'Perhaps I did my job a little too well...' I think as a spout of water shoots up and knocks me out of the sky, smacking the canister out of my right hand—so much for not littering. I recover before I hit the water, only to have a tentacle-like stream of water wrap around my leg and drag me into the ocean.

A dragon says something to me in Chinese (presumably) while releasing air bubbles beneath the surface of the ocean. I feel the flames of the napalm heating my back as I activate Neptune's power and engage a bubble around me.

"You fuckers got me all wet," I tell the ten dragons that have surrounded me, armed with harpoons, tridents, and... is that a fucking speargun?

The purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my blackened left hand as I hold it outward, dipping it into the water outside my bubble. The lightning streams from my palm and rapidly expands in the water. The dragons surrounding me do fantastic impressions of epileptics that have accidentally walked in on a rave as the electricity interrupts their nervous systems, seizes their muscles, and stops their hearts.

('I said ooh girl. Shock me like an electric eel. Baby girl. Turn me on with your electric feel.')

"Haha, Electric Feel by MGMT. You know that this isn't what that song is referring to, right?"

(Really? It sure sounds that way to me. Listen)

Airi starts playing the song in my head and I propel myself deeper into the ocean as the dragons float to the surface while their weapons sink.

(See? 'She got the power in her hand, to shock you like you won't believe.' Tell me how that doesn't apply here besides that fact that you're a man?)

"I'm pretty sure that MGMT is using a metaphor," I think as three more dragons come out of the dome that is barely visible at the bottom of the ocean.

The three dragons speed towards me, using their wings to propel them forward like giant flippers. They must be scouts investigating, meaning that the group from before was most likely out on patrol or running drills and I just got unlucky. The three scouts are all armed with spears so I stick my hand into the water when they get close and zap them all.

(I don't know... it sounds to me like they're singing about a woman killing her enemies with electricity)

"Haven't you ever heard of someone describing a feeling they got when with a person they're attracted to as electric?"

(Ah, I see... incoming)

Ten dragons come out of the dome and swim towards me, armed with spears and tridents. A few use their control over water to hold my bubble in place while the others use tentacle-like jets of water to whip at me. I let them jerk me around a bit before expanding my field of influence with Neptune's power. The whips suddenly cease and the hold on me stops. The dragons panic when they find that their power isn't working and they all charge at me. I stick my left hand into the water and fry them like a redneck fishing with a live power line. With this threat dealt with, I continue my descent.

'It appears that they're getting serious,' I think as I see a large squad.

A grouping of twenty dragons comes out of the dome. As I get closer, I notice that this dome is much bigger than the one in the east, most likely to accommodate the military force. The dragons approaching all seem to have guns, which I find to be odd. When they are about thirty feet away, they make use of the third axis available in underwater combat and fan out into a wall that is four high and five across. Once in position, they all open fire. The guns don't explode and five inch bolts shoot out in rapid fashion.

I just let the bolts hit me and bounce off of my jacket, armored jeans, and helmet. When they stop firing, I yawn mockingly before feeling stupid when I realize that they can't see me yawning because of my helmet. I place my left hand in the water and concentrate the lightning in front of me, which doesn't work out too well and branches out because of the water. The lightning is enough to get the whole 'epileptic at a rave' effect and the dragons float downward due to the weight of their weapons that are strapped to them.

I propel myself forward and snatch one of the guns to find out what in the hell it is: ASM-DT Russian made amphibious rifle, 26-round magazines, shoots five hundred rounds per minute at a velocity of less than 1000 ft/s. I release the gun and let it carry it's wielder down as I continue towards the giant dome on the ocean's floor. A dozen metal tubes come into view and it appears that they are traveling towards me.

(Letting torpedoes detonate near you is not recommended underwater... or anywhere else)

"Well then, how about we return these to them?"

I reach out with Neptune's power, use the surrounding water to grab hold of the tails of the torpedoes, and slowly turn them around. I release the torpedoes and let them fly—or swim, back to their launchers where they explode on impact with the dome. Done with the shenanigans, I propel myself full speed through the dome.

As I cross the threshold, switching gears to fly so I don't fall, I notice that Ao Run's palace is the same style as the eastern palace, but these crystals are clear in color instead of azure. There are about a dozen military buildings placed on a compound that is about a mile from the palace and about one hundred yards below me. Also beneath me are around a hundred dragons, most armed with unfamiliar assault rifles that remind me of the Steyr AUG and are pointed skyward.

"I am Feros! You kidnapped my friend Ryuji, and I'm here to take him back!" I announce.

I consider giving them the chance to surrender, but they'll just shoot at me anyway, so what's the point? Instead, I point my left hand downward and start blasting them all with the hydro-electric cannon. I have to say, I'm thankful to Hades for using this on me because I probably wouldn't have thought to use it otherwise—I'd just be spraying them down and then zapping them. The dragons start firing at me while I hit them. The majority of the bullets miss me, but the few that do hit me don't get through.

Since the dragons aren't submerged, the lightning doesn't kill them, but it does incapacitate them. I fly down and pick up one of the unfamiliar assault rifles: Chinese made Type 95 that uses 5.8x42mm rounds in a 30-round magazine with a velocity of 3100 ft/s and a fire rate of 650 rounds per minute.

With the last of the soldiers dealt with, I fly towards the palace. I land in front of the giant door like the one at the other palace and I'm slightly surprised when it opens for me. I enter the large foyer and see that not only does the foyer have thirty foot ceilings, but the large hallway in front of me does as well. I cautiously head down the hallway in front of me, noticing a source of light coming from the only open door down this hallway. Since they obviously want me to go this way, I do so.

"Welcome to my palace, Feros," a voice greets as I walk through the door and exit the hallway.

The room that I enter is enormous: one hundred yards long by one hundred yards wide with the same ceiling height as the hallway. In the room are a total of ninety-four dragons: three dressed in white, blue, or red regalia in the back of the room with a bound Ryuji, and ninety soldiers in front of them that are organized into three different groups and dressed in colors coinciding with the regalia. All of the soldiers appear to be armed with Type 95 assault rifles; however, unlike the soldier dragons I've been fighting, these ones have bronze outlines.

"I believe that you are here for your friend; however, we need him for our war with the tigers. We promise that we will return him when we're finished," the dragon in the white regalia calls out with a light accent and a fake smile. Since he called it his palace, this must be Ao Run.

"Right, like you'll let a black dragon just walk away when you're all scared shitless of a stupid ass prophecy," I reply and Ao Run's smile widens.

"We will make you a deal: you eradicate the tigers for us, and you leave with your friend. Or, I can always just kill your friend, blame it on the tigers, and get our support that way," Ao Run offers and I take a step forward.

"Move and your friend dies!" Ao Run shouts while pulling a Beretta 92 9mm pistol from his white regalia and pressing it to Ryuji's temple.

"The same goes for porting!" Ao Run adds.

I slowly raise my hands into the air while thinking over my options, if there are any I have now that I didn't when in this exact situation with Addie... then I notice something missing from this scene that was present with Addie.

The hammer of the Beretta 92 in Ao Run's hand isn't back so there is no round in the chamber of that gun.

I don't let my face show as I continue thinking over what to do next. Even with my speed, I most likely wouldn't make it the one hundred yards before someone takes action, which would slow me down and give Ao Run the order for someone else to shoot Ryuji. I can port over there, but then I'd have to deal with fighting my way out while protecting Ryuji. For some reason, my gut instinct is to shoot him myself, kill everyone in the room while they think that their bargaining chip is gone, and then fix the damage to Ryuji after, but there has to be a better way to do this... and since my guns might still have water in them, firing them may result in a ruptured barrel.

"What is your answer, Feros?" Ao Run asks.

There's only one option.

"You know, I just realized something about your prophecy," I reply as a prickling sensation takes over my left arm, spreading across my chest and shoulder blade. I feel a mild prickling sensation in my right thigh, but it might just be my imagination.

"That prophecy never specifies that a black _dragon_ would be the one to destroy the Longwang," I add as the prickling sensation reaches my face and an enhanced awareness of my surroundings comes to me.

A Void tendril shoots out of my left hand and heads straight for Ao Run. Ao Run sees it coming and pulls the trigger of the Beretta 92 in his hand, only to have nothing happen. He looks down in confusion at the gun before the tendril finds his face. Ao Run's head disappears into the Void, leaving a decapitated body behind that starts squirting blood everywhere. The dragons react by shooting at me, and I respond by laughing as Void tendrils mow through the legs of all the white-colored dragons.

Red and Blue teams seem to realize that the bullets aren't working so a few of them drop their guns. Do they think that will save them? I realize why they dropped their guns at the same time that I realize why this palace has thirty foot ceilings.

The dragons that dropped their guns start warping into... well, dragons... but the twenty foot tall, Chinese variety, which look like giant, winged-skinks with deer antlers instead of giraffe-like lizards with wings like the European variety, if they actually exist. I start questioning the laws of conservation of mass and how this is happening scientifically... for about three seconds before I'm overcome with joy at the concept of dual-wielding swords against a bunch of giant lizards, in much the same way as a child who discovers Disneyland for the first time is overcome with joy... unless that first time is when Disneyland is being torn down.

'Better make that _fire breathing_ giant lizards!' I think in a giddy fashion as I flip to the side to avoid a jet of flames.

While hanging upside-down, I pull the Diamond swords from the sheaths on my back before landing into a crouch. I launch off of the ground, jumping through the air at the neck of the nearest red dragon before scissoring through the two-foot thickness of his neck with both swords. Blood drenches my clothing as I laugh and continue through the spout of blood coming from the severed neck, using flight to assist my lack of momentum due to the sword force needed for the decapitation.

I land on the other side of the room, next to the two remaining Longwang and Ryuji.

'Did I say two? I meant one!' I think as I slice the blue regalia-donned dragon, who is probably Ao Guang, to pieces. The six blue 'dragon-form' dragons in the room roar at me, probably for killing their master.

"Don't feel bad! YOU'LL ALL BE JOINING HIM SOON!" I shout and laugh maniacally as I rush forward.

A blue dragon swipes a set of foot-long claws at me when I get close, so I take the time to stop and chop his paw off before sprinting around the length of his fifty foot body to chop off all of his other appendages.

"There! Now you're a snake! Hahaha!" I laugh as the dragon roars in pain and starts thrashing around, spraying blood across the floor and splattering his comrades.

"How about I kill whoever gets covered in blood!? Now there's a fun game!" I announce and hack the head off of a nearby blue dragon in human form.

Laughing all the while, I sprint around the room and make good on my promise as I slash apart any human-dragons that have blood on them, which is a little difficult to tell because of the red dragon soldiers' armor. By the time I'm finished, the dragons that are left have warped into their giant lizard form, crowding the room with a surplus of twenty fire-breathing lizards with deer antlers protruding from their skulls. A blast of fire threatens to roast me before I jump out of the way and proceed to decapitate another dragon.

"You know, I wish that it was the size of the antlers that counts in deer hunting instead of the number of points, because all you fuckers have six points or less! The guys at the lodge will just laugh at me if I bring your pansy-ass antlers in as trophies!" I yell while laughing.

Jets of fire start erupting around me as I notice the last Longwang getting his shit together and making a break for Ryuji, looking comical with foot long claws where his hands should be.

"What is this, a lame Mario game? Come on girls! You can do better than this! HERE'S A LITTLE MORE INCENTIVE!" I shout as a Void tendril shoots out of the side of my left arm and hits the Red Dragon King when he's six feet from Ryuji.

The red dragons roar with the fall of their master while I laugh and slice off the head of another dragon.

"You know what? I'm kind of bored with this, so I'm just going to end you all now!" I announce as I sheathe both Diamond swords.

Ten Void tendrils extend out from my left arm at different heights. I swing my arm and tendrils like a wall of giant swords as I walk around the room, slicing all of the dragons into bits with each swing. The giant lizards lie in large strips by the time I'm finished. I walk through the carnage and over to Ryuji's position.

"For those of you that are still alive, count yourselves lucky! Spread the word that Feros will not tolerate anyone threatening to hurt his friends!" I announce to the room in case I missed one.

I bend down next to Ryuji and free him from his bindings. Suddenly, I get the urge to grab his head and slam it repeatedly into the ground. I fight the urge, but it doesn't recede.

What's going on? I've never had this urge towards those that are close to me before, if I don't count what happened with the Greek/Roman pantheon, which I didn't because I just assumed it was a result of my compromised state caused by Tia's death.

(It's a side effect of the Void. You already had a taste of it five years ago)

"What do you mean, Airi?"

(Five years ago, during your fight with Illapa, I introduced the Void into your system. It was a small dose and your blood had to be used to offset the cost, but that's the reason that Illapa was paralyzed when the silver tendrils were in him. It soon became apparent that you weren't ready for it as the Void started affecting you with certain sadistic tendencies. Luckily, we got a redo when you died)

I think back to when all the sadistic tendencies I had started and realize that it was immediately after my fight with Illapa. I thought it was because of my Drive, Bhairava, having merged with my consciousness, mainly because that's what Airi initially told me.

"What do you mean 'we got a redo'?"

(The Void was only present in your old body, not your aura. When I kept your aura 'in play' after you died, I instructed Shiva to create a new vessel for 'me'. Once Parvati put us into your new body, we had a fresh start. Were it not for that, had you remained in your old body, you would have reached this stage several years ago)

The incident with Sara and the knife pops up in my mind and I realize what Airi means.

"So what can I do about it?"

(My suggestion is to get away from everyone when you get like this)

"We need to get out of here," I tell Ryuji in a strained fashion.

I grab his wrist and port us to the sitting room of the tigers' base. We land in the sitting room with Cheza, Kanta, Nagi, and Jeremy behind us.

"Did you succeed? Are the Dragon Kings dead?" Jeremy asks as Ryuji stands up.

I drop down to my hands and knees, clenching my eyes shut. Part of me is seeing everyone in this room as a target to be destroyed and it's slowly winning... I just have to hold out for forty more seconds and I can port away from them. A prickling sensation in my right thigh moves upward, accompanied by a burning in my chest that increases the more I resist the urge to kill until it feels like I've been swallowing plasma.

"Cheza... help," I practically whimper and she's at my side in a flash.

Cheza cups my face in her hands and brings my head up to look into her eyes as she cools her hands. Her frozen lips meet mine as she wraps her arms around me and squeezes tightly. The burning in my chest cools down and I feel the Void on my face receding. Once the prickling finally stops, Cheza pulls away from me, looks into my eyes, and gives me a sad smile.

"Let's go home," Cheza whispers and I smile in response.

"The Dragon Kings are all dead and any dragons left alive at the base know that Feros was responsible. Kanta, can you tell my brother that this situation should be taken care of?" I request.

"Yes, Lord Cole—I mean, Cole," Kanta replies.

"Thanks. Well Ryuji, let's get you back to Naia."

Chapter 19: Offing Oneself is not Acceptable

"Ryuji? RYUJI!" Naia exclaims in a flurry of tears as she runs to Ryuji when we appear in Jason's living room. Last I remember, Naia had gone to bed so she must've woken up and come down here to watch TV.

"I'm back," Ryuji replies and hugs Naia.

"This is touching and all, but I'm really tired so I'm going to go get some sleep," I announce and head for the stairs.

I walk into the bathroom across the hall from the bedroom and step into the shower. The water washes out some of the blood from my clothes before I take them off and scrub myself up. I cinch the towel around my waist after drying off when the bathroom lights suddenly flicker.

"That was pretty close. I thought I was going to have to send Sydney in to kill Ryuji to kick you into a Void state again, but then you did it all on your own! You need to throw yourself into the Void with reckless abandon," Loki says in the bathroom mirror.

"And why should I do that?" I ask.

"Because I'm really tired of waiting to see what will happen! It's excruciating waiting for this when you only have a few more nudges to go before you slip in completely! And since I'm so tired of waiting, I've come up with a solution!" Loki exclaims.

"And what is this solution?" I inquire with annoyance because I want to go to bed.

"Why, it's the next 'event' of course! I'm quite proud of this one. I'm just going to go ahead and warn you that this threat cannot be beaten without using the Void! You should look forward to it!" Loki explains in an excited fashion before a smirk crosses his face.

"By the way, how _does_ it feel to know that you're responsible for the death of your sister?" Loki asks.

Anger flares inside me and I lash out at the mirror with my left fist. The mirror breaks, but instead of dividing Loki amongst the broken pieces, Loki is only in one large shard and laughing at my outburst.

"I'll give you a little bit of time, but come New Year's, the game is back on," Loki says with a broad grin before disappearing.

(It seems that the years have not been kind to his mental health)

"Cole!? What's wrong!?" Cheza asks as she rushes into the bathroom and sees the broken mirror.

"Loki appeared in the mirror again... taunting me about Tia..." I reply through gritted teeth as I try to calm down.

"Come on... let's go to bed," Cheza gently says while grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the bathroom.

Cheza pulls me into the bedroom and shuts the door behind us. I get into the bed while Cheza strips out of her suit before climbing in after me, snuggling into her usual spot against my right side.

"Cole... you already know, don't you? The thing that I've been trying to tell you for the past couple of days...? That's the reason you felt weird at Nagi's house and with the tigers wasn't it?" Cheza thinks and I remain quiet for a few moments as I feel Cheza's anxiety increase.

"If it's a girl... we're naming her Tia..." I whisper and Cheza squeezes me tightly as a few tears drip down onto my chest.

"Okay," Cheza happily replies and we drift off to sleep.

...

[December 28th]

I wake up at noon the following day to find Cheza in the bathroom, puking once again.

"I'll be fine, just do me a favor and leave," Cheza requests so I head downstairs. If she keeps sending me away even now that I know about the pregnancy, I think we're going to have to have a chat.

"Hi Uncle Cole!" Alice waves from the couch in the living room when she sees me.

"Hey sweetie, are you hungry?" I ask as I sit down next to her on the couch.

"A little," Alice admits.

"Did you eat yesterday?" I inquire.

"No, you weren't around..." Alice replies.

"It seems her initial bloodlust is wearing off. She'll be down to feeding once a week pretty soon," Reyna tells me as she walks in from the kitchen with Alice's lunch.

"What happened to the blood I bottled?" I ask.

"What blood you bottled?" Reyna replies with an uninflected tone and quickly leaves the room. I guess that answers my question...

"How about you finish your lunch and if you're still hungry, you can have some blood?" I suggest.

"Okay Uncle Cole!" Alice replies and shovels a spoonful of mac and cheese into her mouth. I sit next to her and watch cartoons while she eats her lunch.

"I'm still hungry, Uncle Cole..." Alice tells me once she's finished.

"Alright, come here," I tell her in a friendly manner.

Alice sets her bowl down on the couch and moves over to sit on my lap. She leans up, bites into my neck, and drinks less than half a liter before cutting herself off.

"Thanks, Uncle Cole..." Alice sheepishly says.

"Anytime, sweetie," I reply as Cheza walks into the room.

"Hey Cole? Naia and Ryuji need to get back, as do Natasha and I. I need to talk to Carla about maternity leave," Cheza says.

"Alright, let's go pack and get Sara to do the same," I reply and we head upstairs.

Once in the bedroom, I pull on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before grabbing my now-dry armored jeans and jacket from the bathroom to pack them away with the rest of my clothes.

"I'm going to tell Sara that we're leaving," I tell Cheza while she is still packing her things.

"Okay," Cheza replies.

I head further down the hall and knock twice before entering Sara's room, only to find that she's still sleeping. I walk around the bed to wake her and I see some suspicious items: a letter, an empty glass, and a white bottle. I read the bottle and see that it's Ambien... and it's empty. I sniff the glass and smell vodka... I don't even need to read the letter to know what it's about. I smear some of my blood onto it with my left hand and transmute it into Acetylene. The letter goes up in flames too hot to leave any ash.

"Airi, I assume my blood broke down the mixture?"

(Yes, Master)

"Thank you."

"Wake up, Sara," I calmly say while shaking her and her eyes flutter open.

"We're going back to our house, so you need to pack," I inform her as she wakes up.

"Oh... Okay," Sara drowsily replies as she sits up and looks around.

I don't say anything as I leave the room and head back to my guest bedroom, and I refrain from telling Cheza about the situation when I get there.

"Can you go tell Naia and Ryuji that we're leaving soon?" Cheza asks.

"Sure," I reply and head back down the hall again.

I knock twice on the door of the room Ryuji and Naia are staying in before entering.

"Hey Ryuji, we're going to be leaving soon," I inform him when I see that he's the only one in the room.

"I know..." Ryuji replies.

"How are you handling things?" I ask, figuring that he must be under some stress from the whole kidnapping thing.

"Fine... I guess I'm a bit shocked... finding out the truth..." Ryuji responds.

"What truth?" I inquire.

"About my birth parents... about how they didn't abandon me for selfish reasons, but because they knew that I'd be killed along with them for being black dragons... I've held animosity for them for most of my life, but now I just feel like a giant piece of shit..." Ryuji tells me.

"Yeah, that sucks... but remember that they did what they did because they wanted to give you a life, not so they would have someone to mourn them," I reply.

"You're right..." Ryuji says.

"I need to go take care of some things so just come downstairs when you're ready," I tell him.

"Alright... thanks, Cole," Ryuji replies as I leave the room.

I head downstairs and find Jason and Reyna in the kitchen.

"Hey, we're all going to be heading home now," I inform him.

"Alright bro. I'll give you a call when Alice is hungry again," Jason replies.

"Sounds good," I say.

"Ready to go?" Cheza asks behind me. I turn around and see Cheza, Natasha, Sara, Naia, and Ryuji waiting for me.

"Yeah. Thanks for putting up with us," I say to Reyna and Jason.

"Anytime! Oh, Cheza! Did you remember to grab the pregnancy books?" Reyna asks.

"Yeah, they're in my bag. Thanks again!" Cheza replies.

"See you guys soon. Alright everyone, link up," I tell them and hold out my left arm.

Everyone grabs my arm except Cheza because she is holding her bag and mine so I place my right hand on her shoulder. I picture us standing in the living room of our house in Bellevue and port everyone there.

"I'll show you to your room, Sara," Cheza says and carries our bags upstairs while Sara follows.

"I'll take you two back to your apartment now," I tell Naia and Ryuji once a minute has passed. They grab my arm and I touch my triskele.

"Thanks again for rescuing Ryuji, Cole," Naia says and hugs me.

"Of course! I wasn't going to let one of my friends get killed. Ryuji, you should probably call your parents and let them know that you're alright," I tell him.

"Yeah, I'll go do that," Ryuji replies.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later," I say and port back to the house.

"Hey Cole? We need you to take us to the office now," Cheza informs me while sitting next to Natasha on the couch.

"Right, reports and maternity leave. Okay, let's go," I tell them and the girls stand up.

I grab both of their hands before realizing that I still have fifteen seconds. I stand there awkwardly until I picture us standing in Carla's office and port us there.

"Chezarei, Natasha, I've been expecting you two. I've been meaning to forward along a message to you as well, Cole," Carla says when we appear in her office.

"What message?" I ask.

"AUSSIE sends their thanks for all of your help. They offered to show you and Chezarei a good time if you'd like to go on a vacation," Carla informs me and Chezarei starts cracking up.

"Bastards..." I mumble.

"Haha! Don't hold it against them, Cole. There's no way they could have known haha!" Cheza laughs.

"What's his problem?" Carla asks.

"He's terrified of Australia because of all the poisonous shit. I was really surprised that he stayed with us in Australia," Natasha replies.

"Natasha! That's—Wait a second... in Australia you said 'oh, right' when Cheza explained about my fear. Why is that?" I inquire.

"I... uh, might've told her a couple years ago..." Cheza admits.

"Wow... alright, ignoring that breach of trust for the moment," I reply.

"Stop being such a woman and grow a pair, Nancy," Carla says and the girls laugh.

"Right. Okay, when you're done being bitches and need a lift home, call me," I say and storm out of the office.

I take the elevator down to the ground floor and walk out the front door. I walk three miles in the drizzle until I get to Pike's Place. After walking around for about an hour, I head down to the Waterfront and grab a bread bowl of salmon chowder. Oh Ivar's... your salmon chowder can always make me feel better. I expected Cheza would have called by now so I should probably just port home to wait. After checking to make sure the coast is clear, I touch my triskele.

"Sara, I'm home!" I announce, but there's no answer.

It's around this time that I realize that none of the electronics are on and I remember the events of this morning. I race upstairs to the master bathroom, and find that the door is locked. I throw a left hook through the door and tear it off of the hinges. Sara is in the bathtub, a radio in her lap. She must have realized what I did after her failed attempt and decided to use electricity so my blood couldn't interfere. I rush over, yank the radio cord out of the socket, and pull Sara out of the tub, finding that her skin is still warm, which I assume is a good sign. I quickly form a Sic scalpel and make an incision in Sara's neck. Blood only trickles out instead of gushes, which is not a good sign. Her heart isn't beating, which I had anticipated with the electrocution.

I cover the incision with my left hand and pump my blood down into her heart before manually restarting it. I consider using electricity to restart her heart before realizing that defibrillators use two paddles because of how the current passes between them. If I were to apply a straight jolt of electricity, her heart might explode or something.

"Airi, did I make it in time?"

(It appears so. It seems that she hasn't suffered any brain damage so she must've electrocuted herself less than six minutes before you showed up)

"Good... I can't keep this one from Cheza though."

I grab a towel from the rack and dry Sara off before I wrap her in it and carry her to the room she's staying in. After placing her in bed, I head downstairs and out to the garage to reset the circuit breaker. I return to Sara's side, contemplating what I can do for her. I come up with an idea that is going to make me feel like a terrible person, but it might keep Sara from trying to kill herself a third time.

"Airi... can you implant a dream of Tia talking to Sara into her mind? Basically just repeat my speech to Cheza before I killed Fenrir, and tack on something about how she can't go to where Tia is."

(I can do that)

"Thanks..."

My phone starts ringing. I pull it out of my pocket and see that Cheza is calling.

"Hey," I answer.

"Hi..." Cheza replies and I hear her cover the phone with her hand.

"What's wrong?" Natasha asks in the background.

"He still sounds upset," Cheza informs her.

"Try apologizing," Natasha suggests.

"I'm sorry, Cole..." Cheza tells me.

"For what?" I inquire.

"For laughing at you and for telling Natasha about your fear of Australia a few days after you first told me..." Cheza quietly replies like a scolded child who's being forced to explain what she's done wrong, but I can't figure out why.

"What...? Oh right, that. Anyway, I assume you guys need a lift?" I ask.

"Wait, if that's not it then why do you sound upset?" Cheza asks and I touch my triskele.

"...I'll explain when we get back to the house," I tell her while sliding my phone back into my pocket, noticing that it dropped the call.

"Cole? What's going on?" Cheza questions, but I remain silent for the next minute before grabbing her and Natasha.

I port us to the living room of the house, sit down on the couch, and pat the seat next to me.

"Cole?" Cheza inquires after sitting down, feeling very concerned.

"Sara tried to kill herself... again," I inform her.

"What do you mean, again!?" Cheza frantically asks.

"Last night she apparently washed down a bottle of Ambien with a glass of vodka. When I came home a little while ago, I found her in the bathtub with a radio in it. She must've figured out that I slipped some of my blood into her so she used electricity to bypass it. I'd just siphoned my blood in through her neck and restarted her heart when you called," I recant.

"Is Sara okay?" Cheza questions with tears in her eyes.

"Airi told me that there wasn't any brain damage so she must've done it less than six minutes before I got home... it seems like we were lucky," I reply.

"So what do we do now? Lock her in her room after taking away any sharp, blunt, or rope-like objects?" Cheza asks.

"Maybe... I hope that won't be necessary after what I'm doing..." I say.

"Cole? What did you do!?" Cheza exclaims.

"I'm implanting a dream of Tia into Sara's mind that will hopefully help her move on," I reply.

"So like that movie _Inception_?" Natasha asks.

"Not really... well, kind of," I admit.

"Oh, good... I thought you were erasing Sara's memories..." Cheza tells me.

"I couldn't with how deeply ingrained her memories are. We'll know if the dream worked when she wakes up, I suppose... Anyway, how were things at the office?" I inquire.

"Good..." Cheza replies in a fashion that leads me to believe that everything wasn't 'good'.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Carla's secretary brought in her hamburger for lunch and Cheza puked into Carla's trashcan upon smelling it," Natasha answers.

"I'm officially on maternity leave and Natasha is going to stay with us for a while because she's going to be helping fill in for me," Cheza replies, ignoring the last part of the conversation.

"That's fine. We have another guest bedroom after all. So what do you guys want to do about dinner? Are hamburgers sounding good to anyone right now?" I ask with a chuckle before Cheza runs off to the bathroom.

Now I feel bad...

...

[December 29th]

I wake up in the middle of the night, the blue glow on the ceiling telling me that it's 12:42am. I carefully get out of bed, silently slip out of the room, and head down the hall into Sara's room. After seeing that she's sleeping peacefully, I make a detour downstairs for a glass of water. Once finished with my water, I head back upstairs to the master bedroom when I hear the sound of heavy breathing coming from Natasha's room. That's not good... the last time Natasha had a vision in the middle of the night, we got attacked by were-sharks the next day. I walk up to her door and softly knock twice before opening the door.

"Natasha, what did you see?" I ask while opening the door, expecting to find her sitting up like last time. Instead, I find her propped up against some pillows while in a slightly more _relaxed_ position with her hands underneath the blankets.

"Shit! Sorry!" I exclaim and turn around.

"Cole, wait! Would you care to help me out with this?" Natasha invites.

"Tasha... I'm sorry, but I can't. Goodnight," I reply and close the bedroom door.

As Aziz Ansari once said in a joke about a young father who fucked a bowl of macaroni and cheese, "Once you have a kid, the macaroni and cheese fucking days are over". My kid is on the way, Natasha is my macaroni and cheese, and the days in which I'd jump into her bed and ravish her until naught a thought could come to her mind, are over. I return to my bedroom, climb into bed with my wife, and go back to sleep.

...

Chapter 20: Totally Not Whipped Cream...

Breakfast the next morning is a little awkward, to say the least, what with walking in on Natasha's happy-happy-fun-time-followed-by-loneliness-and-a-bit-of-self-loathing and the fact that I haven't talked to Sara since she tried to kill herself. However, based on Sara's demeanor, she seems to be doing better. Regardless, I walk into her room after breakfast to talk to her.

"Sara, I need to talk to you," I tell her as I close the door behind me.

"I figured that you would," Sara replies while making her bed.

"You understand that you can't kill yourself... I won't allow it," I firmly say.

"Sara, you know that Tia wouldn't want you to kill yourself... and Cheza and I don't want to lose you... We want our child to grow up having an aunt," I add, my voice cracking under the weight of the topic.

"I know, Cole... I know... I'm sorry that I've been so selfish," Sara replies as tears start streaming down her cheeks. I step closer and wrap my arms around her. Sara turns around and cries into my shirt.

"I'm sorry, Cole..." Sara whispers.

"It's okay, Sara... It's going to be okay," I tell her as I hear my phone start ringing, but I ignore it. My phone rings two more times before Sara pulls away.

"Go ahead and answer it. It's important if the person is trying this hard to contact you," Sara says.

I nod in response and run into my room to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Cole! We need your help!" Naia exclaims.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Something is happening with Ryuji! We need to go visit Li Zhang and speak with her about this!" Naia tells me.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few," I reply and hang up.

I pull on a pair of jeans and my old jacket before heading downstairs.

"What's going on?" Cheza inquires.

"I'm not really sure, but Ryuji and Naia need me to take them to see Li. I'll be back later," I announce.

"Be careful, Cole," Cheza replies. I walk over and give her a quick kiss.

"Make sure you check on Sara... I just had a talk with her and she seems to be doing better, but just in case," I whisper.

"Okay, I'll go do that now," Cheza replies.

"See you in a bit," I respond and touch my triskele.

"Alright, so what's the situation?" I ask once I appear in the living room of Ryuji and Naia's apartment.

"Well, Ryuji..." Naia starts and walks down the hall as I follow after her.

"his skin is... well, it is like that," Naia finishes while pointing into the office. Ryuji is sitting at his desk and his skin is all black (a darkness kind of black, but not quite a Void black). Naia slowly shuts the door and turns toward me.

"When did this happen?" I ask.

"We woke up this morning and his skin was all black... and I have been inexplicably more attracted to him since we woke up..." Naia informs me and I start laughing.

"Hey, Ryuji. Are you ready to go see Li?" I inquire as I open the office door.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I know what's happening, but she'll be able to confirm it," Ryuji replies.

"Alright, let's get going," I say and hold my arm out.

Naia and Ryuji grab my arm and I port us to Li's office.

"Did Li know that we're coming?" I ask when I see that the office is empty.

"Well, I sent her a text, but she didn't reply... I'm actually not positive that she knows how..." Ryuji comments.

"I know how, I was simply ignoring you," Li says while walking through the curtain covered door on the left wall, dressed like she's ready for a safari.

"Just what I was expecting," Li comments when she sees Ryuji.

"You three may want to go home and put on better shoes. We have a lot of stairs to climb," Li informs us.

"Care to fill us in?" I ask.

"We have to take Ryuji to a temple in China so he can go through his first change into his dragon form, and this temple happens to be at the top of around a thousand steps," Li replies.

"Riiiight... well, as much fun as that sounds, I'll give you guys a lift to China, but then I'm out. I've got a sister to keep from going for attempt number three on her life and a pregnant wife to make as comfortable as possible," I announce.

"Chezarei is pregnant!?" Naia and Ryuji exclaim.

"Ryuji I can understand, but where have you been, Naia?" I rhetorically ask.

"A lift would be much appreciated, and you wouldn't be allowed in the temple anyway. Naia should be okay unless anyone looks closely, which is doubtful seeing as the dragon monks are all in the final stages of their lives so they're blind..." Li says.

"Okay, ignoring the comical insinuations of a convent full of blind dragon monks. Get me a picture of the place and I'll port you to it. If I were you, I'd opt for the top of the stairs, but that's just me," I respond.

"I've got a photograph of the base of the stairs, but there aren't any of the temple because it's forbidden. I'll go grab it," Li replies and walks through the curtain.

"Thanks for helping me out again, Cole," Ryuji says.

"No problem," I reply.

The three of us wait in awkward silence until Li comes back. She hands me a black and white photograph of her standing with two men in front of a stone marker with bamboo trees on either side and a mountain in the background. I'd say this picture is from the 1930's at the latest judging by the fading in the photograph. Just how old is Li?

"Are you three ready?" I ask and hold out my arm as everyone nods and grabs it.

I touch my triskele and port us to the place in the picture. I look to the right and notice a giant staircase that weaves back and forth up the tall green peak with small groves of bamboo trees bordering the entrance to the stairs.

"Well, good luck, Ryuji. Give me a call when you guys need a lift back," I say.

"Thanks, Cole. See you soon," Ryuji replies and the three of them turn towards the stairs.

I watch them start their ascent to the temple for a minute before touching my triskele to port back to the house. I don't see anyone in the living room or kitchen so I head upstairs to check on Sara.

"Natasha... this stuff with Cole needs to stop," I hear Cheza say and I stop at the top of the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asks and I start quietly approaching the closed master bedroom door.

"Look... I'm grateful to you for being there for him... for keeping him from hurting himself when I was being a bitch... Without you, there's a good chance that Cole wouldn't be alive. Because I'm so grateful to you, I've felt indebted to you so I've overlooked your feelings and advances toward Cole. I've been willing to share him with you. However, all of that has to stop. We're having a child and you can't keep doing that," Cheza explains. Cheza must've gotten an image about last night...

"Chezarei, I think you're misunderstanding something," Natasha says.

"What am I misunderstanding?" Cheza asks.

"I'm not in love with Cole..." Natasha replies.

"What?" Cheza responds with disbelief.

"Well, I am..." Natasha admits.

"But I'm also in love with you, Chezarei," Natasha replies with a sultry tone and I hear them kiss. This is one 'left turn' that I wasn't expecting... and Natasha calling me an idiot after what I said at the wedding makes more sense now that I have all the information.

"I'm in love with both of you... it's something I discovered when I was 'playing girlfriend' for Cole," Natasha explains with a breathy voice.

It looks like my macaroni and cheese is more of a... a... something about a food that goes both ways... damn this is hard, most likely because women aren't known for fucking foods... a banana maybe? Wait! Hear me out! A man could technically jerk off with the peel while a woman uses the actual banana... after he microwaved the peel, of course... What was I talking about?

"Tasha..." Cheza coyly replies.

What follows are the sounds of heavy petting, light moaning, and kissing, while I'm just sitting here, listening to this shit... of course I start jackin' it! What did you expect!?

"Jeez, Cole..." Sara says behind me, causing me to silently jump.

"Stop jerking off in the hallway and just go join them already!" Sara exclaims in a hushed tone.

"Sara... I believe that this is my house so I have the right to jack it wherever I want," I calmly explain.

"However, I shall heed your suggestion," I add.

"Right... have fun. I'm going to go get some lunch," Sara replies.

"Feel free to take one of the cars, if you want. Just make sure to bring your phone," I tell her.

"Thanks, Cole," Sara says and heads downstairs.

"Think we should go get some whipped cream?" Natasha asks in a sultry tone.

I immediately stick my dick back in my pants and race downstairs. After throwing open the refrigerator door and reaching into the back to grab the can of whipped cream, I race back upstairs, leaving a trail of clothing in the upstairs hallway as I strip, and knock on the door. I never could have anticipated that I'd ever think this, but I wish I had a banana hammock.

"Did somebody order whipped cream?" I ask in my best porn star voice while holding up the can. Cheza looks surprised at my appearance before she grabs the can.

"Yeah, thanks!" Cheza exclaims and shuts the door in my face.

Well... this is not the outcome I was expecting. I turn around and start to trudge down the hall before four skinny white arms pull me into the room and shut the door.

...

The three of us collapse in a heap on the bed in a hot, white, sticky mess... your potential for innuendos will never cease to amuse me, whipped cream. I notice some on Cheza's chest so I lean over and lick it off.

"AH! THAT WASN'T WHIPPED CREAM! THAT TOTALLY WASN'T WHIPPED CREAM!" I scream as both of the girls laugh at me. And then I calm down and realize that there isn't really any taste.

"Actually, this isn't too bad! I mean, I wouldn't drink it by choice, but the overall taste isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would—HKK!" I gag as the taste hits me all at once.

I can only equate it to the aftertaste of sucking on a roll of pennies while drinking a chalky protein shake. My gagging only has the result of making the girls laugh even harder. As I lie gagging, Cheza stands up and runs to the bathroom. I resist the urge to laugh at the mother of my child for this ironic situation when my phone starts ringing.

"I should probably get that," I announce, stand from the bed, and head out into the hall to retrieve my phone from my pants.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey Cole. We are all done," Naia informs me as wind rushes past the speaker, slightly breaking up her voice.

"Alright, are you guys already at the bottom of the stairs?" I ask.

"Almost. We are gliding down the steps now," Naia reports.

"Give me about ten to fifteen minutes and I'll meet you three there," I reply.

"Okay, see you soon," Naia responds and hangs up.

I collect my clothes and walk into the bedroom, seeing that Cheza has rejoined Natasha on the bed, and I make a break for the bathroom. I step into the shower and turn it on to wash the stickiness from the whipped cream off of my body. The girls decide to join me and start things again.

"I can't. I have to go pick up Ryuji and Naia," I inform them.

"We know. This is just for us," Cheza replies with a surreptitious smile.

"How are you two not exhausted? We were at it for like four hours," I inquire.

"Because frankly, you aren't that good at your job," Natasha teases.

"I was trying my best!" I exclaim.

"I know you were, honey. Just like I was trying my best not to sleep with your brother, but sometimes our best just isn't good enough," Cheza replies and Natasha starts laughing.

"Wait, what?" I ask.

"What?" Cheza asks in a manner that suggests that she didn't say anything.

"What?" I question.

"What...?" Cheza inquires.

"...What...? Anyway, I need to get going... You two have fun, I guess," I tell them and step out of the shower.

After drying off and getting clothed, I touch my triskele and port to the steps leading to the temple in China. Seeing that no one is here, I wait around for a few minutes until the three of them come gliding around the first corner and down the steps. I notice Li's red wings and realize that this is the first time I've seen them.

"Hey, were you waiting long?" Ryuji asks, his skin having returned to normal.

"Only a few minutes. Let's get going," I reply and hold out my left arm.

Everyone grabs on and I port us to San Francisco.

"Thank you for all your help, Master Zhang," Ryuji says when we arrive back at Li's place.

"I promised that I'd train you twenty years ago, and so I have. Stop by and see me whenever you happen to be in town," Li replies.

"We will. Thank you, Master Zhang," Ryuji responds.

"I'm not your master any longer, Ryuji. Just call me Li," Li says.

Ryuji looks shocked for a moment before he quickly steps forward and hugs her.

"Thank you for everything... Li," Ryuji says, sounding a little choked up.

Li looks surprised for a moment before sighing and hugging him back.

"Ryuji... there's something I need to tell you..." Li whispers.

"What?" Ryuji asks.

"The truth is... I knew your father," Li admits.

"What...?" Ryuji inquires with confusion.

"He was Ao Shun... the black Longwang of the north..." Li replies.

"What about my mother?" Ryuji asks.

"She was... killed," Li says. Something about her intonation and expression when she said that seemed off...

"Your father ordered me to take you out of China when the Longwang were coming for him. I arranged passage to the US and dropped you off at an orphanage. Then seven years later, you found your way back into my life," Li finishes. Ryuji lets this information soak in for a few moments before pulling back to look at Li.

"I have two questions. First, why did you give me a Japanese name?" Ryuji inquires.

"To distance the possibility that you might be a dragon. No one would suspect a Chinese dragon to have a Japanese name," Li explains.

"Why didn't you raise me?" Ryuji inquires.

"I predicted that you would be safer if you weren't raised by dragons... excuse me. I need to go lie down," Li says and retreats through the curtain-covered doorway on the left wall.

"Let's go," Ryuji quietly says.

"Just a moment. I need to go ask Li something. I'll be back in a few minutes," I reply and follow Li through the doorway.

Past the curtain is a hallway that leads to an apartment. I pass a small kitchen on my right and a living room on my left. I catch a glimpse of a red wing sticking over the top of the couch in the living room whilst passing by, so I back up and enter the room. Li is lying down on the couch, silently crying.

"Are you fine with letting him believe that his mother is dead?" I softly inquire while leaning against the back of the couch.

"What do you mean?" Li asks, poorly feigning confusion.

"We both know that I'm standing next to his mother right now," I reply.

"...How?" Li inquires.

"Something was off about your voice and expression when you said that his mother was killed..." I inform her.

"Life isn't as long as you think... You should tell him before the chance is gone forever," I add as I turn around and walk back down the hall.

I walk through the curtain to the office where Ryuji and Naia are waiting.

"All set?" Ryuji asks. A few moments of silence pass as I look at the curtain and sigh.

"Yeah... let's get going," I reply.

Naia and Ryuji grab my arm and I port them back to their apartment.

"Are you alright, Ryuji?" Naia asks.

"Yeah... I mean, this is quite a shock, but I expected that both my parents were probably dead. Anyway, I'm going to go to bed. The events of today have been pretty draining," Ryuji replies.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute," Naia calls out as Ryuji heads down the hall.

"Hey Cole? Can you do me a favor and port to Shehar to see how my mother is doing? I tried to contact her this morning, but I could not get through. I would ask you to take me with, but I do not feel that Ryuji is as okay as he says he is," Naia requests.

"Sure. I'll go see Tali and ask her to contact you. I kinda want to see that statue of me that she had erected anyway," I reply.

"Thank you, Cole!" Naia says and gives me a hug.

"No problem. See you later," I tell her as I break away and touch my triskele while thinking of Shehar.

Chapter 21: Mood Swings Galore

I arrive in Shehar expecting the sandstone gazebo and Persian spires in the distance, but all I find is darkness. The sandstone gazebo that acts as a gate is partially destroyed and crumbling as it floats through the darkness that I often see in my dreams. I start coughing as the thick miasma that is in the air fills my lungs. My helmet engages and helps me breathe, but something more concerning comes to my attention. The miasma lies thick on my left arm as my fingertips are dyed black and a tingling sensation starts. I feel the same tingling in my right leg as the black slowly moves up my left arm.

The tingling continues to the flesh of my left shoulder and I realize that I need to get the hell out of here, but I still can't port for another thirty seconds. The Void starts crawling towards my face as I try to fight it and count the seconds. I focus on thoughts of Cheza: her cool skin, her soft lips, the mandarin orange scent of her hair, the light feeling I get whenever she's around. Despite my efforts, I feel the Void crawling across my left cheek.

I'm going to lose it...

_Cheza_.

I land on the floor in my living room, gasping as my helmet disengages. Cheza is on top of me in a flash, taking my face in her hands and pressing her lips to mine. The tingling on my face recedes in the cooling glow of Cheza's hands. The tingling stops and I notice that my arm is still black... this can't be a good sign...

"What was this all about?" Cheza inquires as she stands and helps me up.

"I don't know. I was porting to Shehar, but I ended up in the darkness like in my dreams..." but that sandstone gazebo was definitely the same as the one at Shehar... Loki is the only one that could have done this.

"Cole?" Cheza asks as I run to the bathroom.

"LOKI! I know you can hear me! What happened to waiting until New Year's, you bastard!?" I scream at the mirror. Cheza follows me into the bathroom as the lights flicker.

"Why, if it isn't Cole and my dear granddaughter Chezarei! What are you screaming about?" Loki asks as he walks into view, like he had been standing in the back of the mirror the whole time.

"I went to Shehar! I know that you're responsible for it! What happened to you waiting until after New Year's!?" I ask.

"Oh, right... Shehar. Well, I honestly didn't think you'd realize what had happened until after New Year's, so I guess that's my bad," Loki admits.

"What did you do to the city!?" I demand.

"What makes you think it was just Shehar?" Loki asks with a grin as I catch his drift and my eyes widen.

"Yes, all of Duniya al Jinn is like that. I've simply returned the plane to the Void, where it rightfully belongs. Haha! It looks like you took a dip in the pool while you were there! How did you like it!?" Loki exclaims with a maniacal glint in his eyes.

"You bastard!" I shout.

"Yes, well it is an acquired taste, one that you will learn to love it in the coming weeks! I need to be running now. Ta ta!" Loki exclaims and disappears.

"So you went to Shehar and it's gone?" Cheza asks, trying to catch up.

"Yeah... I need to go tell Naia now..." I quietly reply.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cheza gently inquires.

"No... you don't need to share in the misery. I'll be back soon," I reply and touch my triskele.

"Hello, Cole. You have returned so soon," Naia says as she walks into the living room of the apartment.

"Naia... you should sit down," I suggest and Naia stops mid-stride.

"What is going on?" Naia inquires with a worried expression.

"It's gone, Naia..." I tell her. Naia's legs buckle and she falls into a pile on the floor.

"My mother is gone...? How!?" Naia cries and I cringe at her misunderstanding.

"...It's not just your mother..." I reply, feeling horrible about telling her this.

"What do you mean!?" Naia asks through her tears.

"Loki destroyed all of Duniya al Jinn..." I gently tell her.

"Wait, so the entire plane is gone...? I am the last jinni...?" Naia inquires before she slips into a state of shock.

"RYUJI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" I shout. Ryuji comes running down the hall a moment later.

"What's going on!?" Ryuji asks.

"Tali is dead and Naia might be the last of the jinn because Loki flooded Duniya al Jinn with the Void. I barely ported out before it could consume me and now my arm's stuck like this," I quickly inform him while showing him my black left arm.

"Tali is dead...?" Ryuji asks with a shocked expression so I roughly grab him by his shirt and smack him with my right hand, halting his reaction.

"You are not allowed to freak out right now. The only one that can freak out is Naia. Your job is to comfort her. Got it?" I explain while over enunciating every word.

Ryuji gives me a determined nod, bends over, picks Naia up, and sits her down on the couch before hugging her. Naia comes out of her shock and starts sobbing into Ryuji's shirt. I sit down on the chair beside the couch and wait for a while until Naia calms down some.

"Cole... can you take us to see Lady Isis? I want to see Milady... can you take us to see her?" Naia requests when some speech faculties return to her.

"Sure. Let's go," I gently reply.

I grab Naia's hand and picture the three of us standing in Isis's room. Looks like Horus's power gives me direct access to Duat as well.

"Cole! It's been quite some time! And Na—Naia, dear? What's wrong?" Isis warmly greets before becoming concerned when she sees Naia's state.

"My mother is dead and I am the last jinni alive!" Naia replies while starting up the sobbing as she runs over to Isis.

"What's going on?" Isis asks me as she holds Naia.

"Loki destroyed Duniya al Jinn. Shehar is gone, and as far as I can tell, so are all of the jinn," I reply.

"Loki? Could he have anything to do with..." Isis trails off.

"Could Loki have anything to do with what?" I inquire.

"Ra, the other head of the Egyptian pantheon, was killed two days ago. Apparently he was killed in the manner that Horus was. Osiris thought you were behind it until I checked with Hel and she told me that you were in Niflheim at the time of the murder. Everyone is a bit on edge since Osiris is the only pantheon head left," Isis explains.

My gut instinct is to blame Isis for the murder of Ra based on their relationship in the Egyptian mythos, but I doubt that she would do something like that... right?

"Well, if Ra had his core absorbed, then Loki definitely had something to do with it. He supplied Hades with the weapon that he used to absorb the cores of the other heads of the Greek pantheon four years ago," I reply.

"Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about that. Didn't you help them out and kill Hades?" Isis asks.

"Yeah, I did and then I named the new heads of the pantheon to restore the power balance," I answer.

"How did you manage that without eradicating the Greek pantheon?" Isis inquires.

"Trade secret. Anyway, I need to get home. Is it alright for Naia and Ryuji to stay here for a few days?" I ask.

"Of course! Osiris actually isn't here at the moment so everything will be fine in that regard," Isis replies.

"Alright, just give me a call somehow when you two are ready to head back," I tell them.

"How?" Ryuji asks.

"Well, at the very least Isis can contact Hel to contact me so no worries," I reply.

"Okay. Thanks, Cole," Ryuji responds.

"Just take care of Naia," I whisper to him and port back to my house.

I appear in the living room to find Natasha and Sara eating dinner in the kitchen.

"Where's Cheza?" I ask.

"She got nauseated when she smelled the food so she decided to go to bed without dinner," Sara answers.

"Alright, I guess I'll head up too," I reply.

"Are you sure, Cole? All you've had to eat today was breakfast, some whipped cream, and a little bit of extra protein," Natasha comments with a smug grin.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I say while glaring at her.

I retreat upstairs to the master bedroom and prepare for bed before sliding in next to Cheza.

"How did things go with Naia?" Cheza mumbles in a state of half sleep.

"About as well as you can expect for someone who just found out that her entire race has been wiped out. I ported her and Ryuji to Duat to see Isis. They're going to stay there for a few days," I reply as I wrap my arm around her.

"That's good... poor Naia..." Cheza whispers while snuggling into me.

"Yeah... hopefully Isis and Ryuji will help her find some peace..." I whisper back as I drift off to sleep.

...

[December 30th]

I'm awakened at 12:33am when Cheza farts. I simply ignore it and go back to bed, but then it happens again. And again. And again. And again. It finally stops for just over a minute before one occurs that reminds me of the sound of a blue whale farting underwater and I chuckle slightly.

"Airi, I swear if Cheza catches wind... haha... of how I mentioned that any part of her resembles a whale, I'll... I don't know if I can hurt you, but since you reside in my head, I'll start huffing glue or something."

(I wouldn't do that to you, Master)

"Sorry, Cole..." Cheza sheepishly says. I think she may have misinterpreted my chuckle for something else... a cough perhaps?

"Don't worry about it. This is a pregnancy thing, right?" I confirm.

"Yeah... should I light a candle?" Cheza asks.

"Dear gods woman! Are you trying to kill us all!? With the amount of methane in this room, the smallest spark will blow up the entire second floor!" I exclaim and chuckle to myself to let her know that I'm kidding. The temperature in the room suddenly drops by about twenty degrees.

"Cheza?" I cautiously ask.

"Out," she mumbles.

"What?" I ask.

"GET THE FUCK OUT! ARE YOU DEAF!? GODS! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH AN ASSHOLE!?" Cheza screams and I recoil back so hard that I fall out of the bed.

"Cheza, honey, I'm sorry. It was just a poorly timed joke," I try to calmly explain... because history has taught me that calm explanations and Cheza's anger go along so well!

"I DON'T CARE! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Cheza screams.

"Who makes jokes at their pregnant wife's expense!?" Cheza asks as she starts crying.

"Cheza, I wasn't trying to make a joke at your expense! I was trying to make things less awkward!" I explain.

"No you weren't! You just don't care, do you!?" Cheza cries.

"Of course I care about you! I love you, Cheza. You know that's true. You're just being a little hormonal right now," I calmly say and immediately wish I hadn't.

(Yeah... remember how we're supposed to avoid words like 'irrational'? Hormonal is another one of those words)

"Get out," Cheza says through barely contained fury.

"Wait, I didn't mean that!" I exclaim.

Three small ice daggers are thrown and sink into my torso: one in my navel, one in my left shoulder, and one through my right nipple.

"Right, getting out," I gasp out as my right lung deflates.

I stagger out into the hallway and down the hall to the bathroom. I grit my teeth, yank the three daggers out, and toss them in the sink to let them melt.

"Are you alright, Cole?" Natasha asks from the doorway.

"Yeah, I'll be fine... can you go sleep with Cheza?" I request.

"Sure. Go ahead and sleep in my bed," Natasha offers.

"Thanks, I think I'll do that," I reply as Natasha walks down the hall towards the master bedroom. I hear the door open and then close as Natasha heads inside.

"Natasha..." Cheza whines. "Why does he have to be such an asshole?"

"There, there, I know," Natasha replies, presumably while climbing into bed to comfort Cheza.

I walk across the hall and enter the guest bedroom. I flop down on the bed and turn over to try and get some sleep. The smell emanating from the pillow gets me thinking that the banana seems more attractive than the orange when the orange just gave you three stab wounds.

...

The next morning at the breakfast table, Cheza gives me the cold shoulder... literally, she freezes my left shoulder. I guess she's still angry at me... but at least I know what I did! Am I right, fellas!?

I simply keep my mouth shut while taking my punishment so I don't make anything worse. By noon, Cheza sits down next to me on the couch and snuggles up to my right side to watch a movie, all without saying a word. I accept this silent mood improvement and watch the movie with her. By dinner, Cheza's mood towards me has greatly improved and things are back to normal.

...

[December 31st]

In the words of the great Christopher Titus, "So I woke up at 3 o'clock last night and she was just sitting on me, popping me in the temple... Then today I went out and got her flowers."

I never thought that a joke about domestic abuse would apply to my life, but that's exactly what happened, and I still have no idea what I did. My only guess is that a dream version of me did something that she didn't approve of. Cheza accepts the flowers silently and then starts sneezing uncontrollably. It's around this time that I remember that a heightened sense of smell is another 'pregnancy thing'.

"You did this on purpose didn't you?" Cheza accuses with narrowed eyes.

Awww... I'm about to get stabbed again.

"AUGH!" I scream in pain and grab my head as I suddenly feel this undeniable sense of dread.

"Cole!? Are you okay!?" Cheza asks with concern.

"Airi, what is going on!?"

(Something has happened in Tir na nOg)

Chapter 22: Tir na nOg and Black Fire

After rushing upstairs to equip my old suit and my holster, I touch the triskele on my left shoulder blade to port to Tir na nOg's gate and I'm met with an unexpected sight. The grassy hills and groves of trees are all ablaze with black fire, in addition to a feeling that something is off about the whole plane. I feel the heat of the flames around me as I notice dozens of Dagda's black winged soldiers, all of them dead and most on fire.

The ones that are most likely responsible for the deaths of the soldiers make their way toward me. The six creatures are unlike anything I've seen before: all black, humanoid shaped bodies between five and seven feet tall with long, thin limbs, and no visible facial features or sensory organs. They remind me of shadows, albeit unstable ones as they seem unable to move straight towards me. Their movements are jerky as they shift to the left and right while quickly advancing.

It seems kind of like they've all done a load of speedballs before eating several dozen crystal meth cupcakes, but instead of overdosing and dying, they developed a whole body twitch with super speed. They blur back and forth as they approach, looking like they are moving even when they are standing still. The most disturbing part about them is their aura, and I'm not even referring to their lack of outline that is usually only reserved for the deceased. Their all black central aura that is barely noticeable against their bodies is far more disturbing to me... is this what's going to happen to me?

I engage my helmet while drawing my right Diamond sword and my .460 S&W as the shades advance, armed with either a sword or an axe. The permanent darkness in my left arm floods into my gun, turning it black as I take aim and fire at the shades. I miss all five of the shots that I take at the creature in the front of the pack. I'm going to have to stall these shifty bastards if I want any hope of hitting them. The purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my left hand as I take aim and fire. The lightning hits the front shade and stalls it long enough for the bullet to connect with its head. The shade at the front flies backward through the pack with the force of the hit, like anyone who gets shot in a Tarantino film. The other five shades stop and look at their fallen comrade. Then something unexpected happens: the shade gets back up like it wasn't just shot in the head.

The shades restart their advance and I charge forward with my Diamond sword to meet them. I dodge past an axe slash and bring my Diamond sword through the neck of a shade, its head turning into black smoke upon decapitation, only to have the shade attack again and hit me with the axe after its head is gone. I jump back to distance myself from the shades so they can't surround me as the decapitated shade's head starts to reform. What in the hell is going on!?

" _I'm just going to go ahead and warn you that this threat cannot be beaten without using the Void!"_ Loki's voice echoes in my mind.

(You are correct in thinking that, Master. I'm almost certain that these 'shades,' as you have started calling them, are made of the Void. You can easily send them back using the Void, but they cannot be harmed through traditional means)

Dammit... I guess there aren't any other alternatives...

A shiver of pleasure runs down my spine as the tingling flows up my shoulder, across my chest and back, and up my right thigh. I should probably be more concerned by the fact that the prickling sensation has now become a pleasant tingle, but I really don't mind at the moment. I holster my sword and gun as the Void reaches my eyes and the shades stop advancing, cocking their heads to the side in confusion as they watch me. My left fingertips warp into claw-like points and I flash forward. With six quick slashes, I rip the shades apart and they disperse like smoke. The nearby flames suddenly dim from an inferno to little more than a campfire. So the shades are causing the fires?

(It seems that the fires aren't feeding on the grass and the trees, but on the plane itself. The presence of the shades seems to be igniting the fires. Eradicating the shades should extinguish the fires and the plane should repair itself with time)

"Well, you should certainly know. You did create the planes after all. So what's the next step?"

(The plane will still fold in on itself if the heads of the pantheon are eliminated, and the gods have no way of destroying the shades)

"Shit! Will porting still work throughout the plane!?"

(It should)

I touch my triskele and think of Dagda's palace. I land in the white marble foyer to find that all the alcoves that were full of trees are now aflame with black fire and that there are more dead soldiers on the ground. The dozens of shades around me take notice of my presence and turn towards me before Void tendrils emerge from my arm. I quickly spin in a circle and the shades get split in half, turning to smoke. I chuckle at how easy this is as the alcove fires diminish.

I walk over to the large doors that lead to the main hall and throne room, only to find them locked. I consider disintegrating the doors for a split second before I realize that it would leave Dagda, and anyone else in there, without their first line of defense. Thus, I resist the urge to blow the doors away and knock instead.

"DAGDA! Are you in there!?" I shout.

"Cole? Is that you, boyo?" Dagda asks through the door.

"Yeah, I just cleared out the shades in the foyer. What's the situation in there?" I inquire.

"The area's secure for now! We can hold our own, but I need you to go help Brighid! She left to get Aine and Lila, but she hasn't returned!" Dagda urgently exclaims.

"I'll head to Aine's now," I reply and touch my triskele.

I appear in the yard outside Aine's palace to find the entire area engulfed in black flames: the grassy lawn, the surrounding forest, the white marble palace. Water automatically flows out of my arm and deadens the heat from the flames as I look out across the sea of shades that surrounds the area. So Loki has sent the majority of his force here to take another one of my friends... Did he really think I would allow that!?

Void tendrils shoot out of my left arm and right leg in a fanned out pattern. The tendrils make their way through the crowd in front of me, turning the hundreds of shades into black mist en masse. Laughter erupts from my throat as I slowly walk towards the palace, all those around me getting obliterated. I walk up the white marble steps of the front porch and blow away the main doors. The multiple shades in the foyer are quickly eliminated as I hear the sounds of conflict coming from the throne room.

I make my way through the doors and all I can see are dozens of shades. The enhanced awareness that comes with a Void state notifies me that the shades are standing back while one shade engages one person at the end of the room. Since they're blocking my view, I quickly eliminate all of them. Black smoke fills the room and quickly disperses, revealing a bloody and battered Charlotte at the end of the hall. Her fairy wings are projecting out of her back, but one is halfway torn and hanging limply.

"Cole?" Charlotte asks with her usual uninflected tone.

"Where are Brighid, Aine, and Lila?" I inquire while fighting a darker impulse that is telling me to kill her.

"Lila went down the secret passage behind the throne... I stayed behind to hold them back when Brighid showed up... she followed after," Charlotte explains while breathing heavily.

Charlotte collapses to the floor, her wings disappearing as I notice a large gash on the left side of her ribcage. She's on her way out anyway. I should just kill her and end her misery. That would be the humane thing to—No.

"Come on. We have to go after them," I say as I walk towards her.

"You go on... Leave me here..." Charlotte says with strained breathing.

I take my left hand and pour blood onto the gash to quickly form a seal. I scoop Charlotte up in my arms, taking care of the placement of my claws, as my tendrils shoot out and throw the throne aside.

"Just leave me... focus on... getting to... the princess," Charlotte responds.

"Sleep now," I command my blood and Charlotte's eyes close.

I carry her down the white brick passageway and hear the echoic sounds of metal clanging in the distance. I race down the passageway, around a corner, down a flight of stairs, and into a long, straight hallway. I see Brighid clashing swords with several shades while trying to fight her way to a room. The entrance of the room is surrounded by shades and appears to be covered in tree roots as shades with axes try to hack through them. Without needing to command them to, the Void tendrils shoot out of my arm and leg, around Charlotte, and hit the shades while weaving around Brighid. I flash down the hallway, past Brighid, and blow the roots to dust. I hear Lila scream as a torrent of brambles surges towards me. I start up the gyroscope and slice the brambles to pieces.

"Lila, can you stop that?" I calmly ask while resisting the impulse to fight back.

I feel Brighid rush in behind me and stop, unsure of how to approach this new threat, until she realizes who I am.

"Cole...? COLE!" the 4'10" nineteen year old peri screams and runs toward me with her white feathered wings fluttering along behind her as I cut off the gyroscope.

"Charlotte!" Lila exclaims when she sees what I'm carrying.

"She should be fine, just unconscious. Where's Aine?" I inquire.

"She went into the town when things started getting frantic and told me to stay here. When those things attacked, Charlotte took me down the passageway and resealed it behind me. I didn't want to leave without her, but she ordered me to go... I continued down here when those things appeared in front of me so I ran and barricaded myself in here..." Lila tells me while looking ashamed.

"Don't worry, Charlotte will be fine and I'll go after Aine. Is Colton still in the house?" I ask, thinking that Lila might've brought her pet chinchilla home.

"No, a friend in Fogquartz is watching him for me while I'm here on break," Lila replies.

"Good. Brighid, I need you to take Charlotte and Lila to my house. Stay there and whatever happens, don't come back," I order as I turn towards her.

"You aren't going to keep me from coming back to fight, Cole!" Brighid exclaims. Something is telling me to beat her into unconsciousness and drag her to the house myself, but I refrain.

"Right, your _fighting_ ... how was that working out against the shades? Did you manage to kill even one of them?" I ask with a condescending tone.

"I—" Brighid starts.

"You are underpowered and underequipped to face this threat. I don't know quite what the shades are capable of. All I know is that you can't kill them, but they may be able to kill you. Should the worst come to pass and we discover that they can kill gods, that's all the more reason for you to stay out of it. I might be able to save Tir na nOg, but if the heads die, there is no coming back from that. Tir na nOg dies, and all of Ireland will probably fall into the ocean," I tell her with a grave tone, helped by the 'Sith' voice setting on my helmet.

"Alright..." Brighid concedes.

"Let's go to the gate," I reply, deciding that an escort would be a good idea just in case shades have reappeared.

Brighid snaps us to the gate and I see nothing around except burnt grass and dead bodies. I hand Charlotte off to Brighid when I realize something.

"How do I get to the fairy town?" I inquire.

"Just head straight out the doors of the palace. The path through the forest takes you to the town," Lila replies.

"Alright. You two head to my house and get medical help for Charlotte. It's the same house that you visited for the house warming party a few months ago, Brighid," I tell her.

Brighid nods, grabs Lila's shoulder, and ports away. I suppose I should get back to work now. I touch my triskele and port to the front lawn of Aine's palace, the surrounding trees noticeably less on-fire. After turning around, I notice the path that Lila was referring to so I take off down it.

After running for about a half of a mile, I exit the forest and see smoke rising over the hill in front of me. That's not a good sign. I crest the hill and see a meadow of flowers—that is on fire—along with a quaint little town in the center of the meadow—that is also on fire. I see Dagda's black-winged soldiers fighting the shades, as well as several light-winged fairies and creatures that I'm not familiar with. They look like humans, but their central auras look like a wreathe of brambles backed by earthen tones... druids perhaps?

The fighting is not looking good for the home team, but roots have ensnared several shades—the fairies or druids must be using nature magic. I take to the skies and fly over to the center of the town. I float there for a few moments as I pinpoint all of the shades, and then Void tendrils shoot out of my arm and leg. The pencil sized tendrils spear through each of the shades that are below me, sending them back to the Void.

I remain airborne and search for Aine while taking out any shades that are outside, and several that are inside after sending my tendrils through the roofs of those buildings. I'm going to attribute my knowledge of the shades' presence in the buildings to my Void state, since that's the only plausible explanation. Something about a large house at the far edge of town attracts my attention so I fly over there.

A total of six shades are in the house: two engaging two people on the first floor while four are upstairs, advancing towards a grouping of five people. I crash through the roof and slash through the four shades with my claws as two tendrils shoot out of my right leg, through the floor, and eliminate the two shades that are on the ground floor. I turn around and see Aine, along with Lila's friend Aimee, Aimee's mother, Lila's other friend Megan, and another woman who is presumably Megan's mother.

Upon seeing Megan, I remember that I still haven't forgiven her for dosing me with fairy alcohol and being the direct cause of me waking up next to a naked Lila four years ago. I grab Aine, touch my triskele to port to the gate, and immediately port back to my house. It's really convenient that the time limit doesn't affect me when porting within Tir na nOg.

"Mom!" Lila exclaims and hugs her mother while Aine is still shocked.

"Fairy town is secure now and I'm going to be heading back to clear out the rest of the shades," I announce.

"Cole?" Aine asks, finally realizing who I am.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Thanks for saving us," Aine says.

"No problem," I respond as I fight the impulse to kill everyone in this room. Cheza must sense this because she starts walking towards me.

"No, Cheza. I'm not done yet so I'll hold out. I only have ten more seconds," I tell her while holding my hand out to stop her.

"No... Manannan mac Lir is dead..." Brighid softly announces with a fallen face.

"Shit... Stay here!" I order and port back to Tir na nOg.

Once at the gate, I touch my triskele and port to the foyer of Dagda's palace. The first thing I see is that the doors to Dagda's location have been blown away, and the second thing is the waves of shades that are in the hall. I step into the hall behind the shades and notice Manannan mac Lir's husk off to my left. My phone starts ringing as my tendrils surge forward and deal with the shades. The resulting black mist settles in time for me to see Sydney slamming a black claw, much like my left arm, through Dagda's chest.

"NO!" I scream and charge forward.

Sydney throws her free left hand at the ground and a cloud of red smoke fills the area... wait, red smoke? Despite the smoke, I'm still able to see relatively well, especially her silver and black aura. Sydney's aura flares as Dagda's body comes flying and hits me in the chest.

"Rango-fay urus-may!" Sydney's modulated voice calls out as I hear the sound of rock breaking.

I watch as Sydney sprints away, presumably out a newly made hole in the wall. I roll Dagda's body off of me and stand up.

"Wait lad! I don't have much time!" Dagda coughs and I turn around. I thought he was already dead...

"Take my position as head," Dagda tells me.

"Dagda..." I reply and reach into the hole in his chest with my left hand.

Despite the hole being made with a Void weapon, the core doesn't appear to have been absorbed at all and is flaking apart, like gods' bodies seem to do when they suffer enough damage.

"Avenge us, boyo," Dagda requests.

"I will," I emotionlessly respond.

I open my hand to pierce the edges of his core with my claws and quickly absorb it, feeling rather indifferent to taking the life of the man that has been my friend and mentor for the past five years... and also thinking that this might be the plot of _Transformers_ with Optimus and the allspark... it is kind of similar. Now that that's settled, I have a black leather clad, motorcycle helmet wearing bitch to catch.

Upon remembering that Sydney is really fast, and having no idea which way the gate is on foot, I port to the gate to intercept her. What I see when I arrive at the gate is Sydney—Void claw sticking into another person's chest—and Brighid—with a claw in her chest.

"Dammit Brighid! This is exactly why I said to stay at the house!" I shout to her while her core is absorbed, feeling little towards seeing my friend killed in front of me.

Sydney tosses Brighid's husk to the ground and turns towards me because I'm blocking the only way out of this place.

"I suppose I should kill you now for what you've done," I nonchalantly tell her.

I point my left hand forward and tendrils spear out towards her. With her speed and being a hundred feet away, she has plenty of time to dodge, but she allows the tendrils to hit her. The tendrils pierce her suit and hit her skin before bouncing back and retracting. I notice that the holes that several of the tendrils made show Void-black skin and others show pale white skin.

"Huh... so I guess the Void isn't going to be effective against you," I comment as I pull my Diamond sword from over my right shoulder.

"Nor will the Void be effective against you," Sydney says and grasps her left arm with her right hand. She pulls her right hand away and blood streams from her left arm until she's holding a red, three foot blade in her right hand.

"You know, I was wondering how you made that cloud of red smoke back there," I reply.

Sydney and I look at each other for a moment and flash forward. We meet each other half way and our swords clash. We go at it for several rounds and I find that she's pretty good. Sydney blocks and counterattacks with ease, showing no signs of fatigue while displaying finesse. She suddenly disengages and jumps back to put some distance between us, going into a more relaxed stance.

"Aw, come on! It was just getting good!" I exclaim.

"As much as I would love to stay and play with you, I really must be going. I got what I came here for anyway," Sydney tells me and raises her right hand.

I'm suddenly engulfed in black flames that seem to be slightly different than the ones that were caused by the shades, and things get blindingly bright, even to the point that my helmet can't completely neutralize it. Water flows over my body and extinguishes the flames as I turn towards the gate.

"See you soon!" Sydney calls out. I can barely make out her aura as it disappears.

So, I now know that Sydney can control her blood like I can, and based on her use of sun and flame based magic without incantations, she also killed Harry and absorbed his core.

Fucking fantastic...

Thanks to my Void enhanced senses, and possibly to Dagda's power, I notice that the 'off' feeling of the plane has disappeared with the shades' presence as I trudge over to the gate and port back to the house.

"Cole! How's the situation?" Aine asks as I notice that only she and Cheza are in the living room.

"Manannan mac Lir is dead, Dagda is dead, Brighid is dead... so not well," I reply.

"What!?" Aine says in a state of shock.

"Aine, I need you to focus, turn around, and take your blouse off," I respond.

"Why?" Aine asks while trying to hold it together.

"I was able to take Dagda's position as pantheon head before he died so I need to transfer that power to you," I quickly explain.

Aine processes the information for a moment before turning around, unbuttoning her shirt, and lowering it past her shoulder blades. I set my left hand on Aine's back, the blades on my fingers cutting in slightly while I fight the urge to sink my claws into her. I close my eyes and the computer-like screen pops up in my head. I click and drag the Dagda's folder over to Aine's folder.

" _Would you like to name yourself as the successor in the event of the receiving party's demise?" a_ pop-up asks.

I click yes and my eyes shoot open. My nerve endings are set on fire as a burning in my chest tells me that I've gone too long without killing anything. Cheza rushes over and rips open my suit, placing her left hand on my chest as she reaches up with her right and pulls my head down to meet hers. My chest cools down and a tingling inflicts itself as I feel the Void receding. Once my Void state vanishes, the grief I should feel at the loss of my friends hits me all at once. Cheza embraces me and opens our connection.

"I couldn't save them, Cheza... I watched two of my friends die in front of me and the worst part is... that I felt nothing. I took Dagda's core, dealing the final blow, and then I ported to the gate to stop Sydney and watched Brighid die... and you know what? All I did upon seeing Sydney's Void claw sticking into Brighid's chest was joke about how I told her to stay here..." I think.

"Cole..." Cheza replies, unsure of what else to say.

"Come on... let's go lie down," Cheza suggests, takes my hand, and leads me upstairs. I strip out of my suit and we lie down in our bed when a question occurs to me.

"How's Charlotte doing?" I ask.

"She's suffering from a good deal of blood loss. Natasha and Sara are at The Agency office getting blood for her so she'll be fine," Cheza answers and I close my eyes to get some rest.

Despite trying, I don't get any. I get up and go to the bathroom about an hour later. I finish my business and wash my hands.

"So how do you like them? My pets?" Loki asks. I guess the lights don't flicker if they're off initially.

"I see you finally succeeded in creating your own army of artificial sentient beings," I reply.

"Artificial sentients? I gave up on that plan years ago—too difficult. After all, it was much easier to just alter a race of beings that already existed," Loki says with a broad smile and the truth dawns on me.

"The jinn... the jinn turned into shades when you flooded the plane with the Void..." I summarize in shock as I hear my phone ring.

(He certainly seems to have lost his morals. The old him never would have done something like this)

"The next event should be starting right about now," Loki says and disappears, his broad smile being the last thing to vanish, reminding me of the Cheshire Cat.

I fetch my phone from my suit pocket.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Cole... Help!" Reyna exclaims, her voice cracking and sounding distressed.

Great... What now?

Chapter 23: Laws of the Universe

[January 1st]

After getting dressed, I immediately port to Reyna and Jason's house to find Reyna crying in the kitchen with Hel comforting her.

"What's the situation?" I ask.

"Alice has been kidnapped. She and Jason went for a walk in the park when she was taken. To top it all off, a war for Underworld has been started and my resources are stretched thin," Hel answers.

"What do you mean a war for Underworld?" I question.

"Fighting in the streets across all districts. Manannan mac Lir seems to be behind it based on the bizarre black creatures that are flooding out of Annwvyn," Hel replies.

"That's doubtful..." I say.

"Why is that?" Hel asks.

"Because Manannan mac Lir was killed not too long ago. What do these bizarre black creatures look like?" I inquire.

"All black humanoid creatures with thin arms, no facial features, and incredible speed. How was Manannan mac Lir killed?" Hel questions.

"Shades... so Loki is behind this one too..." I respond.

"What does my father have to do with this?" Hel asks.

"Loki created the shades for the specific purpose of giving me an enemy that only I could kill. He sent them to Tir na nOg with his right hand, Sydney, and they tore the place apart, killing Dagda, Manannan mac Lir, and Brighid in the process. They seemed to disappear when Sydney left so I wouldn't be surprised to find that she's behind this as well," I reply. That coincides with what she said about getting what she needed as well since she had already absorbed Manannan mac Lir...

"Back to the kidnapping, where's Jason?" I inquire.

"Shot in the neck with a tranquilizer. When the fighting started, I sent a patrol to go bring them back and they found him face down on the trail. He's still unconscious on the couch," Hel points and I see Jason's feet hanging off the edge.

"Do we have any leads?" I ask.

"No..." Hel admits somewhat shamefully.

My phone suddenly beeps loudly, one of those impatient sounding beeps that notifies me when I have an unchecked message. I pull out my phone and see that I have a missed call from an unknown number and a message from that number. I press play and put the phone up to my ear.

"Feros... I believe I have something that you want," I hear Osiris say before pulling away from the phone.

"Say it... SAY IT!" Osiris shouts in the background and I hear a slapping sound.

"UNCLE COLE!" Alice cries.

"I'll be seeing you soon," Osiris says and the message ends.

"Osiris..." I say as I slip my phone back into my pocket, the tingling in my arm and leg intensifying.

My kidnapping statistics ring through my head and fill me with a sense of dread. This is my fault... I promised her that I'd protect her... I promised her that I'd keep her safe... I promise... that she won't end up like Addie. The Void crawls across the entirety of my right leg as the tingling crosses the bridge of my nose.

"Cole?" Reyna warily asks.

"I'm going to bring her back, Reyna... I swear I will... and I'll make Osiris pay for this. I'm heading to Duat. Fair warning, the shades can't be stopped by normal means. Just stay out of my way, and I'll bring her back," I coldly reply and touch my Haglaz rune.

I appear at the entrance of Duat to the unmistakable feeling of shades in the area, courtesy of my heightened sense of awareness due to my Void state. The rush of excitement at the ensuing battle makes my spine tingle as I take off towards the concentration of shades, and presumably Duat's palace based on the direction.

As I round a corner, my right leg suddenly pivots, causing me to spin. The asphalt road ten feet behind me explodes as I hone in on a sniper with an anti-material rifle on a rooftop half a mile away. I pull my .460 handgun from my back and take aim as the gun is dyed black and the purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my hand. I pull the trigger and lightning shoots out of the barrel with the bullet following close behind. Despite being unable to see the bullet hit, something tells me that the threat is eliminated so I continue towards the palace.

I get within a half a mile from the palace before I run into my first group of enemies: a medley of shades and mummy soldiers armed with Kalashnikov PKM machine guns. With 200-round box magazines loaded with 7.62mm rounds (thanks video games!), those PKMs will slow me down at the very least. The shades advance toward me with their usual melee weapons as the mummies open up on me with complete disregard for friendly fire. I guess they got the memo that the shades can't be killed.

This confirms that Osiris is working with Loki and Sydney... So that's how Sydney got out undetected. With her speed, she could have made it to the gate that leads to Duat in the three or so minutes that she had before Niflheim was locked down. Once there, she could just port out without the threat of detection since only Osiris would detect porting in all of Duat and he was on her side...

Void tendrils jettison out of my right leg and break down the shades while I use my clawed left hand to tear through a couple mummies. Strips of flesh and bandages weave in between my fingers like cheese through a grater, which gives me a strangely satisfying feeling. One mummy moves its PKM up to block a downward slash from my claw. Five clinks ring out as the metal of the barrel hits the ground in pieces. I really wish that these mummies were... well, not mummies, because the lack of blood is really make this whole thing less enjoyable. The screams that are emitted from the mummies when I disembowel them or cut off their limbs does amp up the enjoyment, however.

After a last look around at the ribbons of flesh and cloth, I continue towards the palace with the top of the black pyramid now in sight. I turn a corner and walk into a blockade of three .50 caliber machine guns. The mummies manning the turrets get out about five rounds each before full sized tendrils strike both the turrets and the mummies, sending chunks of each to the Void.

"AUGH!" I yelp and grab my chest at the pain that has suddenly beset me. I look down and see that I wasn't hit, so this pain in my chest can only mean one thing... I need to hurry.

I sprint forward with a sense of urgency and make it to the entryway of the black sandstone pyramid that is Duat's palace. I'm met by several hundred shades, which do little to slow me down as my tendrils slice through and vaporize them. The pain in my chest intensifies as the dust settles and I see a dozen golden auras standing in front of the entrance to the black pyramid. The auras belong to minor gods armed with khopesh sickle swords.

"Where's Osiris?" I inquire, but the gods remain silent.

"Fine, if that's the way you want to play it," I reply and the gods charge.

I duck under a khopesh and stab my left hand into the god's chest. His core starts being absorbed as I spin to the left and use his body to block another khopesh. I laugh as I hurl the husk of the god to my right, hitting an attacking god as I slam my claw into the chest of another god.

"You know, it's times like these that I wish I had a second Void claw!" I announce while absorbing the core of the second god.

My chest and right arm start tingling as I feel the Void crawling down my right arm, which distracts me long enough for three gods to hit me from the front, sending me flying back. I hit the black sandstone fence with a crunch. My right hand turns black and my fingers elongate into wicked-looking bladed claws, the sound of bones cracking reaching my ears as they do so. When it's finished, I notice that I no longer have a sense of touch with my right hand, but something tells me that it still isn't as hardy as my left. As I pry myself out of the stone fence, I look up at the gods with a smile behind my helmet.

"Hey Airi, does absorbing the cores of these gods do anything for me?"

(Since they are minor gods, not really)

With that, I flash towards the gods with both claws crossed at shoulder level. One god meets my charge and I rip my claws outward, tearing through his khopesh and shredding his core. I roll to the side to avoid the aerial down slash from another khopesh while I rip through the ankles of another god. After coming out of the roll, I tear through another god's core before flipping back and landing with my left claw slamming through the core of the downed god that is missing his ankles. The god behind me must think that I don't see him coming; he certainly doesn't expect me to spin on my knees and slam my right claw through his chest.

The remaining six gods surround me and slowly close in. The key to getting out of a situation like this is to pick the weakest link in the circle and charge, so that's what I do. The surprise on the god's face is priceless when he realizes that I'm heading for him, shortly followed by _be_ heading him. Now that the chain is broken and I'm out of the circle, I focus my efforts on speed as I spin around while throwing a smoke bomb. With their vision obstructed to the point that they can only see my aura, I charge forward and spear each claw through a chest as I run through the grouping, breaking the circle once again. I fling my arms out, sending the bodies of the two gods flying into the fence, and turn around for another go.

The last three gods have regrouped as I advance towards them. I start running circles around them, herding them inward until they're back to back as I get closer. They keep trying to hit me with the khopeshes, but they aren't quick enough. Once I get sick of playing with them, I give three run-by stabs into each of their cores. They crumple to the ground, moaning in agony as they live out their final moments with the other gods that are nearing death now that their cores have been destroyed.

With the small fries taken care of, now the real fun can begin! I walk through the front doors to the lobby of the pyramid palace expecting to see some opposition, but instead I see nobody. Where are all of the gods!? Speaking of gods, where is Isis in all of this? Ryuji and Naia too...

(Based on the location of your blood, I'd say that they're downstairs)

Since the only way out of the lobby is to go up, I head up the left staircase to the balcony that overlooks the lobby. I walk down the hall, passing by Isis's room, and continue until I find a staircase at the end that leads both up and down. I take the stairs down two at a time and find that they continue past the distance to the first floor. The staircase winds back and forth seven times before I finally reach the bottom and see a brick wall. Obviously it's a feint and I should just look for the brick that opens the wall; however, having had enough of this Scooby-Doo shit, I place my left hand on the wall.

" _Erase_ ," I command and the wall blows away like dust.

I step through the newly made hole into what is obviously a dungeon. Isis, Ryuji, and Naia are chained to the wall on the far side of the dungeon, about fifty feet away. The ceiling starts rumbling as a brick falls down on my left... Are you fucking kidding me? Fucking Scooby-Doo! I try to ignore that bullshit and bypass the mystery wall only to have the place act like I just fucked up the laws of the universe so it has decided to just collapse! I flash across the room and use my tendrils to slice through the chains binding Isis, Ryuji, and Naia.

After picking the three of them up with my tendrils, I touch my Haglaz to port to Jason's house, the blades in my hands sinking into my shoulder—that's a fact I should keep in mind. We land on the floor in the living room and I take a knee, my bladed hands cutting into the carpet.

"Cole!" somebody exclaims, but I can't differentiate who the voice belongs to.

"Where's Alice?" I grunt out as I turn to look at Isis.

"Osiris took her to Heliopolis," Isis replies, but I wouldn't be able to tell it was her judging by the sound of her voice alone. It's like I'm hearing it for the first time and the sound is completely unfamiliar to me.

"He's taken over the entire pantheon now that he's the only head and he's obsessed with getting revenge for Horus," Isis tells me. I feel the worth she has as a person slipping away with the familiarity of her voice.

"What's Heliopolis?" I ask while trying to ignore the burning in my chest.

"It's the plane where the majority of the Egyptian pantheon resides," Isis answers.

Alright, porting there should be doable since I have all of Horus's power. Isis is no longer needed... I should just end her. After all, she most likely had some part to play in this... it'd be safer to just kill her and be done with it.

She had some part to play in this and decided that she'd chain herself up in the dungeon? Highly unlikely.

But not impossible.

I can't take the only family Naia has left.

Then kill her too. She did take Addie from me.

No, that was Horus. Naia was told that nothing bad would happen to her.

I need to get out of here.

"You guys should go get Cheza... when I come back with Alice, there's a good chance that I won't be myself," I announce as I stand up, keeping my eyes closed.

"Heliopolis."

Chapter 24: Heliopolis

I arrive in a gold-plated limestone gazebo to blue skies and a large sun. The hot, dry air fills my lungs as I look forward at a column-lined limestone path the width of a football field in front of me, leading to a massive, gold-plated pyramid that makes the ones in Giza look like stepping stones. I advance down the path unopposed, feeling no enemies nearby.

"Welcome Feros!" Osiris's voice booms across the sky when I'm roughly halfway to the pyramid.

"Under the basis of Maat, I condemn you to death for upsetting the balance of this pantheon!" Osiris calls out.

"Maat? You want to discuss Maat right now? You are siding with Loki, who is bent on destroying the world and all of the gods for the sake of petty jealousy and revenge, and you're talking to me about a concept that is based on balance and order?" I reply.

"Silence! You have no say in this, monster!" Osiris exclaims in fury.

"Come Feros. I'll be waiting for you at the top of the pyramid," Osiris informs me in a more calm tone.

"Aw, but I hate dungeon-crawlers!" I exclaim.

"Or should I say that _we'll_ be waiting for you," Osiris adds.

"Uncle Cole!" Alice cries out in the background and I get serious.

I sprint towards the base of the pyramid as it towers over me. I see an opening to the pyramid at the end of the path, so I enter it. The tunnel I enter has torches lighting each wall that continue down as far as I can see. I speed down the tunnel and reach a dead end with a brick wall. I'm not falling for the collapsible ceiling twice. I'll just search for the brick.

I touch the wall and my hand sinks through, causing a ripple like when you jump through a painting in that Mario game for Nintendo 64. The wall leads out into a well-lit room with a sand floor that is the size of a stadium, and at the other end is a twenty foot tall lion with a man's head and white wings on its back: a sphinx?

"Answer my riddle, and you may pass. Fail to answer, and you will be killed," the sphinx tells me as I approach.

"Great... more bullshit," I reply.

"Let's play," the sphinx responds and the light in the room dims as spot lights flood the area around the two of us and the music from _Who Wants to be a Millionaire_ plays.

"The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who buys it doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it?" the sphinx asks.

I think for all of ten seconds before Void tendrils seep out of my left hand. I jump into the air, cast my left arm forward, and the tendrils wrap around the sphinx's neck.

"C: A coffin. Final answer, bitch," I reply and rip my left arm back.

The tendrils tighten around the sphinx's neck and slice through it. Its head comes flying off as the music plays again, notifying me that I got the answer correct. Blood showers down from its neck and soaks the sand. I walk around the sphinx's decapitated body as the blood hits me like rain drops, and I find the door out of this place.

I walk through the doorway and into another tunnel. This tunnel leads to... surprise! Another dead end wall! Knowing the drill, I jump into the wall.

Discovering that it's solid, I rebound off of the wall and fall on my ass. I stand up and take a long, hard look at the wall, like a drunk who has just fallen off of his bar stool.

(Master... take a few steps back)

I do as Airi instructs and take three steps back.

(Now look right)

I do so and see a staircase leading up.

"Thank you, Airi."

I head up the stairs that seem to go up for an absurdly long time. After finally reaching the top, I find myself in another tunnel. At the end of this tunnel is another wall, which I approach with caution instead of trying to be Super Mario. My hand sinks through the wall with a ripple and I walk through it.

I find myself in the middle of a desert, nothing but sand for miles in each direction. All that is present is a brick wall behind me that is exactly the same as the wall I walked through with nothing but desert behind the wall. Well, it looks like the best way to go is probably straight. I walk for close to half of a mile when I see another brick wall like the one I just came through.

Oh, don't tell me...

I look over my shoulder and see the brick wall I came through off in the distance. Why do I always assume the worst in situations like these? The ground starts to rumble and I remember the answer to my question: expect the worst, and you won't be disappointed when it happens, but you will be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't. I see a dot on the horizon to my left as it comes towards me. The dot quickly becomes the size of a dog, then a car, then a house, then a HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!

I start to lose my cool as the gargantuan beast with the hind legs of a hippo, the torso of a lion, and the head of a crocodile comes to a stop roughly two hundred feet from my position and takes a seat.

"Ammit, I presume?" I ask as I start shaking with excitement.

"I have not come here to talk, Feros," Ammit replies, towering over me with her crocodile mouth the size of a semi-truck hanging open as words flow out in a volume that is much softer than I was expecting.

"Oh, yay!" I respond, completely giddy. "You know, I honestly never expected a fight like this outside of video games like _God of War_ or _Shadows of Colossus_. Definitely never anything real!"

Ammit appears to have had enough conversation and tries to smash me with one of her massive paws, which she manages to move much more quickly than I was expecting given the sheer size. After narrowly avoiding her paw, the force causes a large cloud of dust and sends me flying. While tumbling through the air, I hold my left hand out and send a dozen Void tendrils at Ammit. When the tendrils break the edge of the dust cloud, Ammit quickly jumps back to dodge them, easily putting half a mile between us. I look to my right and see that the wall is only about a quarter of a mile away so I make a break for it. The ground quakes as Ammit quickly runs and intercepts my path.

Thinking back now, I've never understood why giants in video games and movies are supposed to move slowly... maybe it goes off the basis of overall wind resistance, but if you somehow find a cheetah that is twenty times its normal size, why would that cheetah go less than 60mph when its muscles and stride are now twenty times their original size? The answer: because they would otherwise be too damn difficult to beat.

"The clock is ticking, Feros," Osiris's voice booms as I hear Alice scream out in pain.

"You're a dead man, Osiris!" I shout towards the sky.

"Ammit, either move out of the way, or I'll kill you too," I inform her.

Ammit responds by lifting her massive paw into the air. No longer having time to mess around, Void tendrils leak out of my arm and leg and I start up the gyroscope. Ammit's paw comes flying down and I get to see what the inside a giant lion's paw looks like. Ammit roars out in pain as the paw goes flying back on reflex, her demon blood drenching the sand around me. I fly up and land on Ammit's back as she's trying to deal with pain on a level that I imagine she has never felt before, especially considering that her kids are the size of tadpoles in comparison.

Since Ammit's gargantuan mouth is still open, I take advantage of this. Six Void tendrils shoot out of my left arm, go around Ammit's head, through the sides of her open mouth, and back to me where I grab them with the bladed Void claw that is currently my right hand.

"I warned you, Ammit," I say as I rotate my wrist and wrap my left hand around the tendrils while doing the same with my right to ensure that I have a good grip.

With my hands held behind my head, I run down Ammit's back. When I've run about twenty feet, I kneel down and give a final tug, throwing my hands over my head. I retract the tendrils back into my left arm as the upper portion of Ammit's crocodile head slides free from her body, leaving the mandible to fall down and dangle by the skin. Gallons upon gallons of blood spill from Ammit's neck as I hover so I don't fall with the body.

Now it's time to go get Alice.

(Just thought I'd let you know that this area isn't an open plane)

"What do you mean?"

(This room is still a part of the pyramid, not a separate plane. The sky is just an illusion on the rather high ceiling)

"I see where you're going with this."

I start up the gyroscope again and fly towards the sky. Once I'm about half a mile up, I reach the ceiling and slice my way through it to the floor above. I see that this floor contains a river and plants for a split second before I go crashing through the ceiling to the next floor: a torch-lit passageway. Next floor:

Sand and lake of fire.

Torch-lit passageway.

Limestone-brick chamber.

Torch-lit passageway.

Massive library.

In my blur through the floors, I notice several gods before I hit open air and blue skies. The massive circular limestone-brick platform that I land on is ringed by giant columns, each several hundred yards from my position.

"You just had to come crashing through the ground, didn't you? Couldn't you just use the stairs?" Osiris rhetorically asks behind me.

I turn around and see him standing on a tall circular pedestal that is about a hundred yards from my position, wearing white robes. Chained to the base of that pedestal, is Alice. She has cuts on her face and a white stuffed rabbit that's been torn to shreds lying next to her.

"Uncle Cole?" Alice asks when she sees me, eyes puffy and red while her cheeks shimmer with tear stains. I find that her voice is familiar to me and I don't feel the urge to kill her so that's a relief.

"Hey, sweetie. I'll get you out of here momentarily, but until then, I want you to keep your eyes shut," I tell her.

"*Sniffle* Okay," Alice replies and closes her eyes.

"Yes, you wouldn't want your precious goddaughter to see your gruesome death!" Osiris exclaims.

"No, I just don't want her to see what I'm about to do to you," I coldly reply and Osiris laughs.

"I very much doubt that!" Osiris responds and pulls out a Void dagger and it dawns on me that he's the one who killed Xipe-Totec, as well as killing Ra.

"Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Aztlan after this..." I comment.

"No you won't because you'll be melted to ground in about three seconds!" Osiris exclaims and raises the Void dagger into the air.

The sun moves behind Osiris and grows in size, getting closer as I realize that I might be in a bit of trouble. A beam of light hits Osiris and he points the dagger at me. The sunlight is channeled through the dagger and directed at me. I sprint to the side as a beam of light that is roughly ten feet in diameter hits the spot that I was just in, melting the limestone. I probably shouldn't chance getting hit by that. I run around the platform, getting further away from the pedestal as the sunlight chases me while Osiris laughs. Looks like the head of a pantheon fighting in their own domain comes with certain perks for them. If I can get that dagger away from him, this fight will be over, but I can't seem to get close.

(Master, have you forgotten that Horus was a head of the Egyptian pantheon as well?)

A smile comes to my face as I figure it out.

"YES! DANCE FOR ME!" Osiris shouts as I focus on porting to the top of the pedestal.

I appear beside him, grab the Void dagger with my left hand, and rip through his wrist with my right claw before I jump up, hook his neck with the ankle of my right foot, and bring his head down into the pedestal. When it rebounds up, I bring right boot into his face as I land, sending him flying. Osiris screams out in pain as I pry his severed hand from the Void dagger and smash it against the ground. The shards get absorbed into my left hand, accompanied by the usual dose of pain, as Osiris hits the limestone platform some two hundred yards away.

I jump off the pedestal and sprint halfway to his position when the gods of the pantheon appear in a circle around me. A variety of animal heads are on the gods, but the two that I immediately recognize are Anubis's jackal and Thoth's long-beaked ibis. A bout of mad laughter erupts from Osiris.

"You may think you've won the battle now that you've taken the dagger, but you are about to lose something far more important. You've got, what? Another thirty second before you can port again?" Osiris asks as a mad smile crosses his lips and I realize what he has planned.

Osiris pulls a Glock 19 from his robes and ports away. He appears in front of Alice as I port in behind him. Osiris looks back to where I was and sees that I'm no longer there. The gods start running towards us as Osiris turns around and I bring my right foot into the base of his jaw. He goes flying into the air and I port above him to see what porting-involved combat would be like since I don't have a time restriction here because I hold dominion over this plane. Osiris rapidly approaches me as I rear back and bring a double hammer fist down on his face, sending him crashing back down towards the ground. I land as Osiris is picking himself up with the gods surrounding him.

"How!?" Osiris asks.

"You never should've picked a fight with me, Osiris," I reply as I slowly walk towards him.

"Now, don't do anything rash! You kill me and the Egyptian pantheon goes with me! Everything related to us, including the pyramids in Giza! You'll be hated the world over!" Osiris exclaims.

"You hurt Alice..." I start to say.

"Uncle Cole! Uncle Cole... I love you, Uncle Cole!"

"As long as she continues to call me that, I'm okay with being the worst kind of person. I'm okay with being a monster. As long as it means keeping that girl safe, I'm okay with making an enemy out of the entire world," I finish as a worried expression crosses Osiris's face.

"Stall him!" Osiris commands and ports away, but I already have a good idea of where he's going. The gods advance towards me, but I hold up a hand to stop them.

"Are you really okay with following Osiris despite the fact that he's sided with Loki? I'll have no qualms about killing you all to get to him, but that would leave Isis as the only god left in the Egyptian pantheon once I kill Osiris," I state.

"Not really, but we have no other choice," Thoth replies.

"Because he's the last head of the pantheon? You don't really believe that, do you? Let me pose a question: how is it that I'm able to port here despite having no supposed affiliation with the Egyptian pantheon?" I ask.

"You shouldn't be able to," Thoth replies.

"Yet I can, and it's because I absorbed Horus's core. It's also the reason that I can fly," I respond.

This is taking too long. Just kill them and go finish Osiris.

No, I can't practically wipe out the pantheon for that reason.

Why not? It's not like I haven't done so for an even stupider reason.

A burning in my chest accompanies my urge to tear them all apart. I'm about to port to the gate when I remember the reason I came here. I port over to Alice, use Void tendrils to slice through her bindings, and have them pick her up. Alice quickly grasps Dynamite's remains before we appear at the Heliopolis gate and step in the gold-plated gazebo to port to Jason's house.

Chapter 25: Down Time?

"Alice!" Reyna exclaims and rushes over with Jason when we port in, her voice sounding unfamiliar to me.

"Thank you for bring her back, CT," Jason gratefully says, but all I can focus on is how the voice of my best friend holds no meaning to me. His worth as a person means nothing to me.

I feel the presence of shades in Niflheim as I set Alice down, retract my Void tendrils, and race into the bathroom, cutting into the door with my bladed claw as I close it behind me.

"You can do this, Cole. You just need to hold out for fifty seconds and port to Annwvyn. You can do this," I tell myself as I try to ignore the burning in my chest as it intensifies.

I carefully turn the faucet on as I disengage my helmet and stick my face under the running water because, you know, blades in my hands plus my face equals not a good time. The door to the bathroom is practically broken down as Cheza run in.

"No, Cheza! Not yet!" I grunt out.

"Yes, Cole! Now!" Cheza exclaims, her voice still familiar to me. It looks like the only ones that are remotely safe around me when I'm like this are Cheza and Alice.

"No! I can't stop yet! I still have to kill that bastard and the shades!" I reply and the lights suddenly flicker.

"Cole, you aren't looking so good!" Loki exclaims from the mirror.

"LOKI!" I shout.

"You should probably get a bit of rest! We can't have you reaching your inevitable conclusion too early when I still have plans for you! Oh, and as for your dilemma, here is my gift to you!" Loki exclaims and the mirror ripples.

The mirror suddenly shows Osiris and Sydney in a black room with elaborate furnishings, most likely Annwvyn's palace. I can see a door frame on the fringes of the view, and what looks like a black counter at the bottom of the view. Judging by the position and viewing angle, I'd say that we are viewing this through another mirror that is most likely in a bathroom.

"I need help!" Osiris pleads.

"We held up our end of the bargain Osiris, and you failed," Sydney replies.

"I'll help you however I can, just help me kill Feros!" Osiris exclaims.

"Well, there is one way you can help..." Sydney says.

"How!?" Osiris asks, desperate for assistance.

Sydney's right hand warps into a claw as she spears it into Osiris's chest.

"Like this," Sydney answers and Osiris looks shocked.

"Don't you get it, you fool? You were never meant to kill Feros, he was meant to kill you. All you were supposed to do was put him into a situation where he had to slip into his Void state, a job you did well. However, the part you play in this has already passed and your services are no longer required," Sydney explains as she absorbs Osiris's core.

Sydney flings the husk off of her arm and walks toward us.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Cole," Sydney says and disappears.

I feel the presence of shades in Niflheim disappears as the mirror ripples again and goes back to normal. The burn in my chest intensifies and Cheza tackles me to the ground. She unzips my suit, pulls it down to my waist, takes off her shirt, and lies on top of me. Her body cools down my chest as I feel the Void start to rescind.

"AUGH!" I scream at the pain in my right arm as the blades and spikes retract.

I grit my teeth and bear it as my right hand returns to normal. The Void retreats across my chest, across my back, across my nose, down my neck, and down my right thigh. When it's finally finished, I find myself breathing heavily on the bathroom floor.

"Cole..." Cheza softly says with a worried and pitiful gaze.

"Come on... I'm not done yet. Is Isis still here?" I ask.

Cheza opens her mouth to answer when she's interrupted by a soft knock at the door.

"Did you need me, Cole?" Isis asks and I'm glad to find that she has worth to me as a person again. It looks like that is only a problem while I'm in my Void state.

"Yeah, come here," I reply and stand up.

Isis enters the bathroom and closes the door behind her while Cheza grabs her shirt off of the floor and puts it on.

"Turn around, please," I request.

Since Isis is wearing her usual golden halter top dress, she doesn't need to disrobe. Isis gives me a questioning look and turns around. I set my black left hand on her back and close my eyes. I run through the process of transferring the Ra folder over to Isis, but I decide to keep the Sun section so all I'm really doing is making her the Egyptian pantheon's head. I name her as the successor and my eyes shoot open. Thirty more seconds of pain later and my job is done.

"Alright, Isis. You are now the head of the Egyptian pantheon and are taking Ra's position. I kept his power over the sun so I won't get blinded again when I have to fight Loki's right hand, but that will be returned upon my death, whenever it should be," I inform her.

"What about Osiris?" Isis asks.

"He was killed by Loki's right hand, Sydney," I gently respond, realizing that despite what Osiris did, Isis probably still loves him.

"I see..." Isis quietly says and leaves the bathroom.

Cheza suddenly scrambles over to the toilet and starts puking. I walk over and make sure her hair stays out of her face while rubbing her back, somewhat glad that she didn't ask me to leave. A few minutes later, she recovers, gargles some water, and washes her hands. Cheza and I exit the bathroom and head into the living room.

"They killed him, Mommy... they killed Dynamite!" Alice cries while holding the tattered rabbit.

"Well it's about time somebody did! What with all the knights he's killed!" Jason exclaims and laughs while Reyna glares at him.

"Ahem... inappropriate," Jason adds and stops laughing.

"It's okay, sweetie. We might be able to fix Dynamite," I tell Alice.

"Really?" Alice sniffles.

"Yeah! Auntie Rei should be able to," I reassure her.

"I can give it a shot, but Sara will be able to fix him if I can't," Cheza says and Alice's face lights up.

"Thank you, Auntie Rei!" Alice exclaims as she runs over and hugs Cheza.

"While you're doing that, I need to make a trip to Aztlan. Be back soon!" I exclaim as I touch my Haglaz rune.

"Be careful, Cole," Cheza thinks with uncertainty as I appear in the living room of our house.

"Don't worry. All I'm doing is transferring Xipe-Totec's power," I reassure her.

"Okay... I'll try and fix Alice's rabbit in the meantime," Cheza replies as I head upstairs.

"Alright, see you soon," I respond and close the connection.

I pass by the room that Charlotte is resting in and hear that Natasha, Sara, and Lila are inside with her. I continue on to the master bathroom and step into the shower. The water drenches my clothing and washes out the blood, most of it Ammit's. I turn off the shower, take off my clothes, and engage Neptune's power to separate the water from them. After placing the newly dry clothes on the bathroom counter, I step back in the shower and scrub up. Hair is washed, the shower is turned off, and the body is dried when I realize that I need to grab clean underwear. I cinch the towel around my waist and walk over to my dresser.

"Hey Cole," Lila says from behind me, causing me to jump.

"Hi, Lila. What's up?" I ask as I make sure that the towel is securely around my waist.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving Charlotte, and my mother, and me... again," Lila replies in a breathy tone with slightly flushed cheeks as she advances toward me. I start to back up, but my dresser quickly halts progress. What Cheza told me a few years ago, about how girls love a hero, surfaces in my mind.

"I can always count on you to be there for me, Cole," Lila softly says as she steps closer and places her hand on my chest.

"As a friend!" I blurt out.

"Yeah, a really... good... _friend_ ," Lila whispers as her hand trails down towards my towel.

Okay, I need a way out of this, and fast! Suddenly the cause of the discussion I had with Cheza a few years ago, about why Natasha and Lila are interested in me, surfaces in my mind and my stomach bottoms out. I now hold Venus's power... It's the cleanest way to end this... I quickly embrace Lila as she gives a small yelp in surprise.

"Sorry Lila, but I only see you as a friend," I reply as I activate Venus's power and disable Lila's attraction to me by altering the chemicals in her brain.

"What? Of course, I only see you as a friend too! Oh... this is awkward... I'm sorry that I gave you the wrong idea, Cole," Lila replies and takes a step back.

The perplexed look and lack of nervous inflection in her tone as she says it notifies me that it worked and she's not just covering up embarrassment. It worked... but I feel like shit for toying with her feelings... even though this is for the best...

"No, that's on me. I completely misinterpreted things!" I exclaim and laugh it off.

"Well, I need to go look after Charlotte, talk to you later," Lila says with a bit of awkwardness and leaves my room.

I sigh, grab a fresh pair of boxers, and walk into the bathroom to get dressed. Once clothed, I port to Aztlan. After arriving at the familiar stucco gazebo, I snap my fingers and port to Quinn's quarters, thanks to having the powers of an Aztec pantheon head.

"Feros! W-what are you doing here!?" Quinn asks in a startled manner. Did I just accidentally walk in on him jacking it?

"I recovered Xipe-Totec's power. I'm here to transfer it over to his replacement," I reply.

"Oh... of course. You caught Osiris," Quinn says while letting out a breath of relief.

"How did you know about Osiris?" I ask.

"What?" Quinn replies.

"How did you know about Osiris? All I said was that I recovered Xipe-Totec's power, not who it was recovered from," I respond as Quinn's eyes widen.

"Hey, Quinn? You said that you were supposed to go to that meeting with the vampires but you were running late... What was holding you up?" I inquire as I take a step towards him, my arm tingling.

"Perhaps a meeting with a certain person OFFERING YOU A DEAL!?" I shout.

Quinn suddenly ports to the gate and I immediately follow, having anticipated this. Quinn is able to take a single step into the stucco gazebo before Void tendrils spear into his arms and legs, paralyzing him.

"So what happened!?" I shout as the Void tendrils pull him into my fist.

"How did he get to you!?" I yell as I punch him again.

"WHAT DID LOKI OFFER YOU IN EXCHANGE FOR MY SISTER'S LIFE!?" I scream as I give a solid left punch to his face.

The Void tendrils retract, allowing Quinn to fly the maximum distance. Quinn goes crashing through several buildings as I fly over to where he ultimately lands: a courtyard fountain. I touch down and my tendrils lift Quinn out of the fountain as guards swarm around the area, armed with spears, clubs, and even a couple of macuahuitl, which are basically doubled-edged wooden saws with obsidian teeth. I notice that all of the guards have their faces painted blue and red and have shaved heads. Combined with the silver outlines and central auras that resemble a ripple in a pool of blood, it is rather obvious that they're blood shorn ones.

Upon seeing Quinn's state, their eyes shift to a light blue color. Protector Drive, eh? This is going to be fun! One of the shorn ones lunges at me with a macuahuitl raised over his head as the others close in. I hold my left arm out and think of charging the air around me as the purple lightning bolt surfaces on my hand.

The smell of ozone reaches my nose as the shorn ones crumple to the ground in pain, clutching at their heads and screaming. Laughter erupts from my throat as tendrils shoot out and eliminate the shorn ones, crushing them like the ants that they are... figuratively. The tendrils don't crush so much as suck them... into the Void... they're dead... and not the little death kind, the translation from the French 'le petite mort,' a euphemism for an orgasm.

"So Quinn... why don't you tell me why you sold out your friends to Loki?" I suggest with a broad smile.

"I didn't have a choice! Loki appeared in my quarters before I left for the meeting and told me to stay back if I didn't want to be killed! I stayed home, felt them die, and then Loki showed up again the next morning telling me to get you and Tlazolteotl to investigate! It was either that, or I die and take the whole pantheon with me!" Quinn tries to vindicate as I notice the Aztec gods appearing nearby.

"What about warning your friends and preventing their deaths! You had dozens of other choices... you were just too much of a coward to risk them!" I shout as my left hand warps into claws.

"I apologize!" Quinn exclaims.

"Apologize to them yourself," I reply as I sink my claw into his chest.

I quickly absorb his core as the gods shuffle into the courtyard before tossing Quinn's husk to the ground while resisting the urge to destroy everyone around me.

"As the majority of you just heard, Quetzalco... Quinn, was responsible for the deaths of the other heads. Mictlan... Micky! Come here," I shout.

The mummified corpse/ Mictlan's ruler and only remaining head of the pantheon, steps forward.

"Decide on Quinn's and Xipe-Totec's successors," I order as the burning in my chest starts up.

"Centeotl will be Xipe-Totec's replacement, and Ehecatl will be Quetzalcoatl's," Micky says, his voice reminiscent of an eighty year old smoker.

Two gods step forward, but nothing else seems to stand out about them. I walk around behind them. Why am I handing over this power? It's not like I owe them anything. In fact, they owe me for not killing them! No... I have to make sure the pantheon maintains some balance. I move to set my hand on one god's back, only to find that clothing is in the way, so I sink my claws through the cloth and into his back. The god grunts in pain as I close my eyes. The panel pops up in my mind and I transfer the Xipe-Totec folder to the folder labeled Centeotl. The pain in my chest intensifies and increases the overall burning sensation I feel as a result of the transfer.

Thirty seconds later and I step up behind the next god, sinking my claws into his back despite the lack of clothing. I drag Quetzalcoatl's folder over and my eyes shoot open. The burn in my chest becomes unbearable as I stand there, wanting ever so badly to slam my left hand through this insignificant god. Somehow, I pull through and sprint to the gate before touching my Haglaz rune. I port to Jason's living room, my momentum causing me to go crashing through his coffee table.

"Cole!" various voices exclaim as I keep my eyes clenched.

"Cheza!" I gasp out before a cool body jumps on top of me. Cheza runs through the usual routine, but the burning doesn't subside.

"Cole? Cole!" Cheza exclaims.

I feel like I'm underwater in a hot tub, being boiled alive while Cheza starts shaking me and says some indecipherable things.

"I told you that you should have gotten some rest," I think I hear Loki say as everything fades away.

****

Chapter 26: Coma Time

I find myself lying frozen in the darkness, continuously choking on it, but never dying. I start constantly wishing for this hell to end, but it never does. Hatred for the person who put me here festers in me. Hatred for Cole Treyfair. The need for revenge is the only thing that keeps me remotely sane.

After what feels like an eternity, a round hole opens up in the darkness and a cone of light beams through, illuminating the space around me. A shadowy figure slowly approaches me and all I can make out is a broad grin. The figure lifts me up and carries me towards the hole.

****

[January...?]

I slowly awaken to find that something is in my nose and that I'm lying in my bed at my house. I hear the sound of a magazine drop to the floor to my left.

"Cole...?" Cheza asks in a state of shock.

"COLE!" Cheza screams and rushes over to hug me.

It's around now that I notice the bump of Cheza's stomach that is stretching out her grey and blue horizontal striped t-shirt. How long have I been out!? Sara comes into the room as a result of Cheza's screaming.

"Hold on, Cole. I need to take the nasogastric tube out first. It's going to feel weird and it's probably going to hurt, but just stay calm and don't try to breathe through your nose," Sara tells me.

Sara pulls the tube out of my stomach, up my esophagus, and out through my nose. The burning sensation that accompanies the process brings tears to my eyes. Once it's out, I start sneezing uncontrollably and Cheza hands me some tissues.

"Thank you," I tell her after I stop sneezing, my voice sounding raspy.

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Six weeks. Today is February 13th. I would have considered installing a gastronomy tube if it weren't for the fact that your blood protects you from infections and other side effects of long-term NG-tube use," Sara replies.

Six weeks... which means I also have a tube up my urethra at this moment.

"Let's get this tube out of my dick-hole," I say, my voice sounding a bit less raspy. Sara moves the blankets aside and grabs the tube of the catheter.

"Alright, use the muscles that you use to get the flow going as I pull this out. One, two, three," Sara says and starts slowly pulling the catheter out, causing a slight stinging sensation.

"Thanks," I tell her once it's out while I'm in the process of removing my IV.

"Any idea why I was out for so long?" I ask.

"Airi said that it was because of your prolonged Void state use," Cheza timidly answers while holding the bottom of her shirt and turning to the side. Is she trying to hide her stomach from me?

"Come here," I gently tell her.

Cheza trundles over to me, her gaze not meeting my face. I place my right hand on her bump and wrap my left arm around her waist as I pull her into me.

"What, did you think I'd be disgusted by you or something?" I softly ask. Tear drops hit my longer-than-normal hair as Cheza wraps her arms around my head.

"But I've gotten so big! And then there's what you said about not loving a certain someone if they got fat..." Cheza cries.

"Like I told you then, that was all Airi. I will never stop loving you, Cheza," I reply. I consider commenting on how her breast have gotten bigger so that's a plus, but I decide not to considering that I'm not too sure how she'll react...

"I missed you so much, Cole... I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up..." Cheza sobs and holds my head to her chest tightly. She starts smothering me as I hear the bedroom door open.

"I'm home—Cole! You're finally awake!" Natasha exclaims from the doorway. Cheza releases me as Natasha comes over and gives me a brief hug.

"Good! Now you can do all the baby stuff with Chezarei instead of me!" Natasha announces.

"Yeah, I guess I've sort of fallen behind on my duties as a father-to-be, huh?" I rhetorically ask.

"So fill me in on everything that's happened in the past six weeks," I request.

"Cole? It's a nice day... How about we take a walk to the park and I can fill you in as we go?" Cheza suggests somewhat timidly.

"Sounds good, just give me a moment to get dressed," I reply with a smile.

I swing my legs out of bed, stand up, and immediately collapse to the floor. I was expecting some muscle weakness, but not this much.

"Cole!" Cheza exclaims as Natasha and Sara help me up.

"I'm alright, Cheza. It will just take me a bit to get my strength back," I respond as I support myself up against the bed.

"Yes, atrophy is to be expected after six weeks," Sara comments as Cheza grabs some clothes from my dresser.

(I believe that I can be of some assistance in this matter)

"Thanks, Airi."

Cheza comes over with boxers, jeans, a t-shirt, and helps me get dressed.

"Are you sure you're up for walking to the park?" Cheza asks.

"I'll be fine, see?" I say as I stand up, reinforcing my weakened muscles with my blood.

"Okay..." Cheza replies with uncertainty.

I walk over to the closet, take out my jacket, and pull it on before grabbing a knit jacket for Cheza that I know will fit her. I help her put it on and we head downstairs. After slipping our shoes on, we step out into the chilly winter air. It's a rare winter day in Washington where the sun has actually broken through the clouds. Cheza hangs onto my right arm as we slowly walk down the street towards the park in our neighborhood.

"I suppose I should start from the top," Cheza says.

"After you fell down, Isis ported us to the house and we got you into bed. Aine had already returned to Tir na nOg to help restore order while Lila was still there with Charlotte. They left after Charlotte had recovered, a few days later. Sara installed the feeding tube woken you hadn't woken up after five days," Cheza informs me as we approach the entrance of the park. We find an open bench outside of the playground area and watch the kids playing, my right arm draped around Cheza.

"Alice has been very worried about her Uncle Cole. She's been calling to check on you every couple of days. Alice didn't want to drink from anyone but you, which proved to be difficult until Isis dropped by. We drained some of your blood into a bottle and Isis brought it to Jason, who mixed it with some other blood to sort of wean Alice off of yours," Cheza says.

"How have you been?" I inquire.

"Well, my nausea has faded quite a bit, so that's good..." Cheza comments somewhat sheepishly.

"What about Loki?" I ask, changing the subject.

"He's been keeping quiet for the past few weeks," Cheza replies.

So it looks like Loki really has done all of this just for me... Tir na nOg, the Underworld, Osiris, Dagda, Brighid, Manannan mac Lir... even Alice's kidnap was all because of me... Perhaps it would be better if I just hadn't woken up?

"No, Cole... Loki is the one doing these things... Regardless of the reason, he is the one to blame and you're the only one that can stop him..." Cheza thinks as her eyes start to glisten. I pull her in closer and kiss her forehead while rubbing her shoulder.

"We should get back soon, don't you think?" I suggest.

"Yeah..." Cheza replies and we stand up.

We walk to the entrance of the park when we're intercepted by an older lady.

"Look at you! What have you got in there?" she excitedly asks and touches Cheza's stomach.

How is this action acceptable in society? Why does nobody have a problem with touching a random pregnant woman's stomach? People will get up-in-arms over invasions of personal space, but I guess that pregnant women's bellies are the exception to the rule? Instead of getting all agro and asking this lady those questions, I decide to get passive aggressive instead.

"We actually just got back from the doctor! The ultrasound revealed that we're having a manatee! We're considering a water birth so we don't air drown the thing. We're also probably going to have to move given the proliferation with which boats kill their kind and then we're going to have to deal the other kids making fun of them and calling them a mermaid," I reply.

The lady slowly backs away and walks off with nary a glance back. Cheza takes my arm, unable to contain the smile on her face at my comment, and we leave the park.

"Speaking of birthing options..." I start on the walk home. "What do you think about getting a C-section? That way, you wouldn't have to deal with any loss of... tightness, you won't have to worry about a scar, and Sara could probably do it at home."

Cheza suddenly stops and I feel a chill run down my spine.

"Cole..." Cheza starts with a grave tone. "I will consider it... but if you say anything about tightness again... I will stab you."

"Duly noted," I reply and we continue walking.

"So have you considered any names if it's a boy?" I inquire.

"I discussed it with Natasha and Sara, and I was thinking about Eric or Matthew," Cheza replies.

Eric? Oh, right. I never told her that Inti was responsible for her mother's death...

"I like Matthew... plenty of opportunities for nicknames there... Speaking of boys, I think we should get him circumcised," I say, changing the subject so she doesn't ask about Eric.

"Why is that?" Cheza asks.

"Well the majority of the arguments against it are kind of stupid... which isn't to say that the arguments for it aren't also stupid, except for the one about reducing HIV risk, but that isn't applicable when he'll have my blood," I reply.

"But doesn't it reduce sensitivity or something?" Cheza inquires.

"And that's... bad?" I sarcastically ask.

"What about complications?" Cheza asks.

"They're mostly just the usual surgery-related ones like infection, which my blood won't allow," I reply.

"Wait, wouldn't your blood just heal things anyway, making circumcision impossible?" Cheza inquires as we walk into the driveway of our house.

"Oh, I guess you're right... this whole conversation has kind of been useless, huh?" I respond as we walk in the door. At least the conversation did what I originally intended it to do.

"Hey Cole, we're heading down to Niflheim. Jason wants to celebrate your return to consciousness and Alice wants to see you," Natasha announces.

"Alright, I'm just going to take a shower first. While you guys did a great job of keeping me from smelling like a festering corpse for six weeks, no doubt through a series of mildly erotic sponge baths from you and/or Cheza that probably would have been enjoyable had I been conscious, I'd still like to get cleaned up," I reply.

"Okay, we'll get ready while you take a shower," Cheza says and we head upstairs.

...

Chapter 27: Off + White Picket Fence

"UNCLE COLE!" Alice screams from inside the house after Sara, Natasha, Cheza, and I port to the front door and ring the doorbell. I hear the door handle jiggle before it bursts open and Alice tackles my leg.

"Hey sweetie," I reply while smiling down at her as I notice a patchwork stuffed rabbit that she's carrying. It looks like someone stitched Dynamite back together.

"Uncle Cole..." Alice says while looking up at me with tears in her eyes. I bend over and hoist her up.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Alice," I gently tell her.

"Uncle Cole," Alice replies as she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me.

"I'm back," I say as I return the hug.

Natasha clears her throat to remind me that we can easily take this hug-fest inside, so I open the front door and walk in.

"WELCOME BACK, COLE!" the living room patrons announce as music starts pumping through the house.

Standing in the living room are Aine, Charlotte, Lila, Isis, Naia, Ryuji, Hel, Jason, Reyna, Maria, Babette, Pinga, Persephone, and finally Jericho.

"Thanks, you guys," I reply as Jason walks over.

"Here you go, bro," Jason says while handing me a green drink. I set Alice down and take the glass.

"What's with the St. Patrick's day drink? Isn't it still February?" I ask as I take a sip. The kick that hits the back of my throat tells me what it is.

"Green Russian? Nice... I haven't had one of these since we were eighteen," I reply with a smile.

"What's a Green Russian?" Lila asks as I chug the drink. If Jason wants to celebrate my return in this manner, who am I to argue? Jason smirks as I polish off my drink and he snaps me a new one, as well as one for himself.

"It's a drink from the animated show _Archer_. I'm not sure if it was a real drink or if they made it for the show, but it's two parts Absinthe, two parts Vodka, one part Crème de Menthe, and two parts milk," Cheza answers with a slightly cross tone. I look over and see her trying to actively glare a hole through my head.

"Oh, sorry Cheza. Do you mind?" I ask.

"Go ahead and do what you want," Cheza replies.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"It's fine, Cole. You can just drink for both of us," Cheza says with a smile.

"Well, if you're sure..." I reply and down my drink. "I'm going to go mingle. Let me know if you need anything."

"Sure," Cheza replies and I walk over to Jericho.

"Jericho! How have things been, man?" I ask, having not seen Jericho in over a year.

"Business has been good, especially with all the crazy shit that's been going on lately," Jericho answers.

"Yeah, I imagine so. Tragedy is usually good business for a bar. Anyway, I need to go take a leak. These Green Russians are running right through me," I reply and walk down the hall to the bathroom. I'm standing there, handling my business, when I hear something coming from the next room over.

"So how are things going?" Hel asks.

"Duat is mostly repaired and I've been running things in Heliopolis from down here. Some of the gods don't like it, but I have the support of Thoth, Anubis, and Nephthys so the others will most likely fall in line. How are things on your end, Pinga?" Isis inquires.

"Adlivun is nearly fully recovered, but it did have a very small amount of damage to it compared to the other districts. Sedna should have the repairs completed in less than a week," Pinga reports.

"As you both probably know, Annwvyn is still a mess. Tir na nOg is recovering, but it's been slow going since I'm the only head and the size of the Tuatha De has been so greatly diminished. I'm just glad that Loki hasn't launched a follow up attack," Aine comments.

"Yeah... I hate to say this, but Cole being away has helped since Loki seems to only be active when Cole is... What? I can't be the only one to have noticed this," Persephone says.

I wash my hands and return to the party.

"You alright, CT?" Jason asks while eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yeah... I could use a top-off though," I reply.

"Sure," Jason says and snaps his fingers.

"Hey Jason!? Can you give me a hand!?" Reyna requests from the kitchen.

"I should go help her..." Jason tells me while still observing me.

"Go on," I respond.

Jason gives a glance over his shoulder as he walks into the kitchen. Cheza is sitting in the corner and chatting with Lila, Natasha, Sara, and Charlotte as I look on, feeling a bizarre kind of distance from them. At Least It Was Here by The 88 starts playing throughout the house as I realize what I'm going to do... what I have to do.

(Cole... are you sure you want to go about it this way?)

"Yeah... I'm putting them all at risk by staying while Loki is still around."

(What about Cheza and the baby?)

"All the more reason for me to go find Loki and protect them."

(I can't count the reasons I should stay)

"One by one, they all just fade away," I whisper in time with the lyrics and head upstairs.

I enter the guest bedroom and pull a pen and a piece of paper out of the desk.

Cheza—

I'm going to be gone for a little while. It's time I went on the offensive. I'm not leaving you behind to protect you, because I promised you that I wouldn't do that anymore. That's why I'm going alone to protect our child and our future together. I promise that I'll be back soon. Once I finish Loki, we can start our happy family.

Love,

Cole

P.S. Natasha, if you could help Cheza with the baby stuff while I'm gone, I'd appreciate it.

"Airi, I need you to block Cheza."

I fold the piece of paper and write Cheza's name on the back before placing it on the desk. I walk over to the window, open it up, and fly out. After flying about a mile away, I touch my Haglaz rune and port back to the house. Hel will still realize that someone has ported so I'll have to make this quick. I grab my armored jeans, jacket, and holster before placing my phone on the night stand and porting to India. Upon arriving in the tropical garden, I wait for about a minute.

"Cole, what can I do for you?" Saraswati asks as she ports in.

"Have you guys discovered anything about Loki's whereabouts?" I inquire.

"No, we haven't," Saraswati answers.

"Well, try harder. I need to take him out before things get worse. I'll search around on my own and see what I can turn up. Just contact me with Nagi or Kanta if you find anything and don't let anyone know where I am. I didn't bring my phone with me so that nobody can call me or track me," I reply.

"Okay. I'm sure that Shiva will be happy now that you have such a vested interest in this. We'll let you know if anything turns up," Saraswati says.

I nod in response and touch my triskele.

...

[February 14th]

"And that makes zero for six," I say to myself while standing in the underwater dome at the Witley Park Estate, having reached the last place on the list of six abandoned places that would make awesome super villain hideouts.

(At least this place wasn't as bad as those metro tunnels in Moscow)

"That is true... ugh... I guess the reason that 'in Russia, rat eats you' is because the rats are as big as bears and bears without vests or hats tend to eat people... hmm..."

(I doubt that giving the rats vests and hats would make them more likeable or give them the ability to ride a unicycle)

"Dream crusher..."

"Cole! Finally... We've been looking for you all over this damn place!" Nagi exclaims as she runs into the dome. She said we, so Kanta must be around here somewhere as well.

"What's up, Nagi? Did my father find Loki?" I inquire.

"Cheza's been kidnapped!" Nagi answers.

"What...?" I ask while trying to remain calm.

"Your mother found her location, but she can't port Cheza out remotely for some reason!" Nagi explains.

"Where is she?" I question.

"She's being held on a train that runs through the realms of Yggdrasil," Nagi replies.

"Wait, so Loki has been hiding on a train that runs through the realms of a pantheon that he is the head of, and it's taken Cheza getting abducted to find him!?" I ask, nearly shouting by the end.

"Well, there is the whole constantly moving aspect to it..." Nagi says.

"Oh good, you found him!" Kanta exclaims while running in from the opposite side of the dome.

"Unbelievable... alright, I'll go save her," I reply.

"Port to Niflheim. Jason is waiting to take you to the train's next stop," Nagi responds.

"Alright," I say and touch my right shoulder.

"Cole! Let's get going. The train should be stopping in Asgard right now," Jason reports when I appear in his kitchen.

"How did Cheza get kidnapped anyway?" I ask. It's most likely my fault, but I mean, come on! I haven't even been gone for a whole day!

"She... Uh... We don't have time for this!" Jason exclaims and claps his hand on my shoulder.

The black mist disperses to the sound of train bells, the kind that notify of a train's departure. I run to the door where a person in a bellhop-esque uniform stops me.

"Ah, yes. I've been told to expect you. She's waiting in cabin fourteen," the guy says and waves me through. He must be talking about Sydney...

I continue down the train's car as it departs the station, glancing back down the hallway to find that Jason isn't following me. I reach the door to cabin fourteen, remove my .460 S&W from the holster, and quietly slide the door open. The entryway opens up to a luxurious cabin with gas lamps and 1920's décor that reminds me of the Titanic. I sweep the open doors to my left and right, a bedroom and bathroom, and get to the closed door at end of the hallway. I slowly open the door and see a leather lounge chair angled away from the door with a white hand holding a crystal glass that contains an amber liquid. No one else is in the room.

"Where's Cheza?" I demand while aiming my gun at the back of the chair. The white hand lifts the glass out of view and I make my way around the room.

"Cheza? What are you doing drinking!?" I demand when I see that she's the one in the chair, wearing a fine black dress and the white gold and sapphire pendant that I gave her for her eighteenth birthday.

"Sit, Cole," Cheza replies and gestures across from her at the other chair. I take a seat while Cheza finishes her drink.

"This is just apple juice, by the way," Cheza informs me.

"So you kidnapped yourself..." I comment.

"Here's what's going to happen: We are going to spend Valentine's together. We are going to enjoy our evening like normal people. We aren't going to use our powers for anything. If you can manage these without fucking them up, I'll forgive you for leaving me behind," Cheza explains with a serious tone.

"I'll forgive you for leaving me like that..." Cheza adds with tears in her eyes, her voice cracking. I stand up, walk over to her, get on my knees, and embrace her.

"I'm sorry, Cheza. Happy Valentine's Day," I softly reply. I hold Cheza until she calms down a minute later.

"So I guess today will be sort of like our Shabbat... yeah, supernatural Shabbat," I comment.

"Shabbat?" Cheza curiously asks.

"It's the Jewish day of rest where they aren't supposed to do anything work-related," I explain.

"Oh... I guess supernatural Shabbat sort of fits, then," Cheza replies.

"So what shall we do this evening?" I inquire.

"There's a murder mystery themed dinner in about an hour and then I was thinking we could come back here, have a soak in the tub, and see where things go from there," Cheza informs me with a surreptitious smile.

"Sounds like a plan," I softly reply and give her a kiss. Cheza kisses me back and then softly pats my cheek as she stands up.

"Good, now change into this," Cheza says as she walks to the corner and grabs a suit bag.

I unzip the black bag and see a pair of black pants, a white shirt, and... is that a waistcoat? Cheza smiles me, silently judging my reaction. As such, I say nothing, strip down, and get dressed in the outfit. After feeling a bulge in the pockets of the pants, I search them and feel my cellphone. I notice the pair of white gloves after buttoning my waistcoat. It looks like Cheza thought of everything. I slip the ring off of my left hand, put the gloves on, and slide the ring back into place.

"How might I serve you, Mistress?" I ask with my best 'Belvedere' accent and hand flourish.

"If I wanted to look at your feet, I'd sneak into your room and do it while you were sleeping, Woodhouse," Cheza replies and I smile at her.

"I love you," I tell her.

"Don't get all gay on me, Woodhouse," Cheza says and kisses me.

She might be having me play as her manservant, but she is letting me act out Woodhouse, the valet from _Archer_.

"But seriously, there are shoes," Cheza adds.

"No, you threw those off the balcony when I made a mistake whilst making your eggs," I reply with a smile. Cheza's face warps into a frown.

"No, your shoes are right there," Cheza points at the ground. Getting the hint, I grab the polished black shoes and put them on.

"As for your punishment, I'm going to rub sand in your eyes... so I need you to go out and buy sand. I don't know if they grade it... but, coarse," Cheza says.

"Mistress, I'm more than happy to be your valet without playing a character," I reply.

"Oh, good... I was running out of references," Cheza responds and gives me a brief kiss.

"Now, give me a foot massage, mongrel. Be happy that I'm allowing you to bask in their presence," Cheza says while lying down on the nearby couch.

"Thank you, Mistress," I reply as I sit on the couch and get to work.

...

Chapter 28: Farriers and Train Dwarves

Forty-five minutes later, Cheza and I decide to head to the dining car. Cheza wraps her hands around my arm and I escort her down the hall, noticing that the way her dress is cut under her breasts has the effect of hiding her stomach quite well. We pass by several windows and I notice that we are in the middle of a frozen tundra. I think we may be in Jotunheim, the frost giant's plane of Yggdrasil. I hear sounds coming from beyond the door as we approach the dining car.

I slide the door open and Cheza strides in before I follow two steps behind her. In the dining car are a dozen people, all dressed very 'high society' with shiny things, and fancy threads. I can tell that these people come from money when they behave like I'm part of the background while talking to Cheza. I want to scan them and see who I'm dealing with, but that would violate Supernatural Shabbat and Cheza would get angry with me. Although, judging by the pointy ears, I do know that some of the people here are elves.

"Oh, yeeees! This economy has forced me to wear grey fox instead of chinchilla! Can you believe that!?" a slim older woman wearing a fur coat asks with an accent that is reminiscent of the Queen of England.

"You don't say," Cheza mumbles.

"My furrier of forty years even went out of business!" the older woman exclaims.

"Yes, well this economy must be quite difficult on the illustrious horseshoe makers of old," I chime in and Cheza stifles her laughter while the older woman cocks her head to the side.

"Now, dear, don't bore the young'uns with such tales," an older man says as he walks over from the bar, talking with an accent that also reminds me of English royalty and a mustache that makes me think of Colonel Mustard... or maybe that's because of the monocle... Did Colonel Mustard have a monocle?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we shall be beginning shortly so if you could all find your seats," the host announces and leaves the car again.

Everyone makes their way to the dining table and finds their seats that have been labeled with white placards. Cheza's seat is near the center of the table and her placard reads Chezarei Vaele with "Mistress" written below it. My seat is next to her and reads Woodhouse with "Valet" below it. I look around at the other placards and realize that the subtext is the part that the person plays in regards to the victim, making the positions of Cheza and I coincidental. We take our seats, the host returns, and the generic speech about the murder setup is given involving a train ride through a frozen wasteland that has no stations to stop at until morning.

"Clues can be found throughout the train and it is our duty to discover the murderer using the clues given. However, the murderer will be actively trying to kill you to cover up the crime. If you are "killed," simply lie on the ground and give your best blood-curdling scream. Have fun everyone!" the host finishes and a scream is heard from the kitchen.

"What was that!?" the host asks in mock shock, doing a convincing job of playing as a terrible actor.

"Well, this is going to be fun," I sarcastically mumble as everyone gets up and walks to the kitchen. In the kitchen is a man lying in a pool of blood with a slit throat.

"Oh my gods! Brian!" the host exclaims when he sees the body, doing a much more convincing job of acting the part by collapsing to his knees in shock beside the woman who must've screamed.

The first thing that tips me off is the smell of copper—they used real blood. The second tipoff is the fact that the man is still bleeding. I walk over and inspect the body more closely with another man that is dressed in a suit and appears to be in his late thirties.

"Remember: no powers," Cheza thinks.

"Yeah, yeah," I reply. I look at the throat and notice that it's been torn open.

"This man is dead," the other man announces and mock gasps ring through the crowd.

"No, I mean he's literally been killed. His neck is still bleeding and that wouldn't be possible without an elaborate pump system, which..." the man pauses while rolling the body over and ripping open his shirt. "Isn't present."

"It looks like this is going to fun after all!" I exclaim with a smile while realization of the situation dawns on everyone's faces. Cheza just rolls her eyes at me.

"Get everyone into the dining car. Someone on this train is a murderer and we're going to find out whom," the man says. We start walking back into the dining car when the man holds me back.

"This company is known for going all out on these things. It is hypothetically possible to simulate a recent death by thawing out a body and manually pumping the heart several times. You should probably tell your wife. The extra stress won't be good for the baby," the man whispers.

"Thanks, I'm Cole," I reply and hold out my hand.

"Jacob," Jacob says and shakes my hand.

"How did you know that Chezarei is my wife?" I ask.

"The way you look at her, the rings on both your fingers, and the fact that you've spoken tonight. Real butlers pride themselves on being unobtrusive. Well, we should get out there!" Jacob replies and we exit to the dining car.

While Jacob seems to think that this whole thing is an elaborate ruse to enhance the experience, I'm not so sure. I've seen enough fresh bodies that I'm pretty sure I can tell whether or not the body is old and it certainly doesn't seem to be.

"Alright, I think we should split off into our pairs and search for the culprit," Jacob announces.

"EVERYBODY AGAINST THE WALL!" a high-pitched voice screams.

I turn around and see a dwarf wearing a ski mask with an MP5 submachine gun as six more like him file into the car.

"Wow, they've really gone all out with the story this year," a woman to my left comments.

I have to admit that this story is getting elaborate. Hopefully it won't get too convoluted. Suddenly the lead dwarf fires the MP5 and real bullets shoot out. I don't think this is part of the plan.

"THIS IS A ROBBERY! EVERYONE AGAINST THE WALL!" the dwarf screams. This time everyone shuffles to the wall and sits down.

"For too long, we dwarves have been treated as a lower species!" the dwarf rants.

"Lower to the ground, maybe," I whisper and Cheza giggles.

"We only get work around the holidays, when it isn't outsourced, and we are expected to be servants even when most of us aren't, unlike this man here!" the dwarf continues and points at me.

"Today, we are taking some of the power back! Hand over your valuables!" the dwarf demands.

"Haha... train dwarves..." I think.

"Just like the gypsy woman said!" Cheza replies and we both start laughing.

"It's looking right at me with its dwarfy little eyeballs!" Cheza exclaims and we laugh harder.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! We get no respect!" the dwarf exclaims and fires the gun over our heads, looking rather comical because of the relative size of the gun as chips of wood rain down on us from the walls.

"Put your wallets, jewelry, and purses into the bags! And no funny business!" the lead dwarf order and another dwarf starts walking past with an open bag.

"Alright Cole, I think it's about time for you to take them out," Cheza thinks.

"But what about Supernatural Shabbat?" I ask.

"You're not Jewish!" Cheza replies.

"But I'm Supernatural Jewish!" I exclaim.

"Fine, then I'll just do it!" Cheza exclaims.

"Shiksa! You're a Supernatural Shiksa! MY WIFE IS A SUPERNATURAL SHIKSA!" I shout through our connection.

"Hand over the jewelry," the dwarf says to Cheza when he gets to us, but Cheza doesn't move.

"Either hand them over, or we'll shoot you! You too buddy!" the dwarf says in his comically high-pitched voice while pointing his Glock 18 at me.

"Fine _Napoleon Complex_ ," I mumble as I act like I'm trying to pull the ring off of my left hand.

"What was that!?" the dwarf demands.

"Studies have been done disproving the Napoleon Complex and have found that taller men are more likely to strike back in anger when hit!" another dwarf chimes in.

"They may be on to something... for example, as a man nearly twice your size, I'm much more likely to get angry when someone is pointing a gun at my pregnant Mistress and asking her to hand over things that are precious to her," I reply.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it, big boy?" the dwarf taunts.

"I was thinking something like this," I reply as the blade jettisons from my ring.

I lash out with my left hand and clip the dwarf's jugular with the tiny blade. His throat squirts blood and he grabs his neck while I grab the Glock 18 out of his hand and proceed to blow holes into each of the seven dwarves in the room before any of them have realized what's happened. I listen as the tiny bodies drop, making nearly non-existent thuds on the ground because there isn't much force behind the fall. I wish I had used a shotgun so that I could see if it was possible to shoot a dwarf across a room. I'm picturing them flying into the walls with each blast of the shotgun like something out of a Tarantino film...

"See? I was able to eliminate the threat without violating Supernatural Shabbat! I deserve extra credit!" I say to Cheza as I stand up.

Automatic fire from an MP5 rings out and hits me in the back. I hit the ground with five bullets in my back, bleeding as I turn over and open fire on the three dwarves that are standing in the doorway of the dining car.

(Do you want me to use your powers to stop the bleeding? What about Supernatural Judaism?)

"Fuck the stupid religion that I made up two hours ago! I'm bleeding out over here!"

(Forgive him Supernatural Lord, for this lamb knows not what he does)

"If this is the same deity that deals in cosmic luck that I made up two months ago, tell him he can go fuck himself!"

(Now he's saying something about a Supernatural Holy Grail...)

"AIRI!"

(Fine... I was just trying to get a new thing going since our Office bit ended...)

"We can discuss it later, WHEN I'M NOT LYING IN A POOL OF MY OWN BLOOD!"

(So it would be fine if it were a pool of somebody else's blood?)

"Did you forget who you're talking to?"

(Right...)

I feel my back start to heal and I stand up. I walk over to fallen dwarves and search their equipment.

"I'm going to go sweep the rest of the cars to make sure that there aren't any more. Does anyone here know how to use one of these?" I ask as I hold up one of the MP5s.

"I do. I spent some time in the military," Jacob speaks up. I want to ask which military, but I ignore it.

"Good, stay here in case more come from the other direction while I'm searching the other cars," I say while tossing him the submachine gun.

I grab another MP5, step over the bodies of the fallen dwarves in the doorway, and sweep the hind cars. I don't find any more enemies in the rear cars so I make my way back through to the dining car.

"So I guess the dwarves were responsible for the death of the actor..." a woman absentmindedly says as I pass through on my way to the kitchen car.

While passing by the body, I make my way to the front cars. Judging by the equipment on the dwarves, they can't have been responsible for that body. That pattern of tearing on the throat is more common with claws... Ah, shit.

"Hey Airi... what are the chances that Loki would send Sydney to kidnap Cheza after Sydney was blamed for the fake kidnapping of Cheza to get me to come here?"

(Well, that would be incredibly ironic... so the chances are probably pretty good)

I suddenly feel Cheza start to get frosty before she stops... which means that it was either a false alarm, or a very bad sign. I sprint back to the dining car and throw the door open.

"Welcome Cole! So nice to see you again! How was your vacation?" Sydney asks from over Cheza's shoulder as they stand amid the unconscious passengers.

"It seems that your lovely wife is quite resistant to the magic that affected the others, so I was forced to threaten her into submission with this," Sydney explains while keeping her Void claw level with the bulge in Cheza's stomach.

"What do you think will happen if I flood her womb with the Void? Do you think she will give birth to a... what have you started calling them...? Ah, yes: shades. Do you think she will give birth to a shade baby?" Sydney asks.

I picture a shade baby and a chill runs down my spine, but then I really think about it. Having a shade baby could be pretty cool, despite the featureless face... As long as it learned to talk. I'm picturing a shade child with a red baseball cap as we play catch in the front yard. He plays in little league and brings his team to the championships through psychological warfare by scaring the crap out of the other teams. Father-son bonding moments with a shade child... that's a sitcom I would watch...

"That might be pretty cool..." I comment.

"COLE!" Cheza angrily shouts.

"Oh, I mean, let her go!" I reply.

"No, I don't think I will. We'll be waiting at the place where this all started," Sydney says and waves.

"WAIT!" I shout, but she's already ported away...

and Cheza's with her.

Chapter 29: Sydney Showdown

I run back to cabin fourteen and change into my armored clothing. After clipping my holster on, I open the window and jump out into the frigid air while engaging my flight. I slow myself down from the train's speed so that I don't go flying into a tree upon arriving in India.

My phone beeps as I'm waiting to port, indicating that I have a message before it beeps half a dozen more times. I pull out my phone and see that I have four missed calls, a voicemail, and two texts from Natasha. I tap on the voicemail and put the phone to my ear.

"Cole! Pick up! Something is going to happen to Cheza!" Natasha exclaims and the message ends. The texts basically say the same thing. Did Sydney somehow block my phone because she anticipated that Natasha might get a vision?

Cheza was taken by Sydney. I'm going after her.

I send the text off to Natasha before porting to Mount Kailash and proceeding to my parents' house.

"Cole?" Parvati asks when I port into the kitchen.

"Cheza's been abducted," I report.

"Oh... did you miss the train?" Parvati inquires.

"No, she was kidnapped by Sydney after we got robbed by some train dwarves," I explain. Now that I think about it, I have been involved in a stupid number of kidnappings... it's like I'm gunning for Liam Neeson's job or something.

"Cole, I understand that you're upset, but you should've taken the time to work on a better story that might be even remotely believable," Parvati replies.

"I'm being completely serious, mom," I respond.

"Cole's right. Chezarei is in an anomaly in Seattle," Shiva informs us as he walks in.

"What do you mean an anomaly?" I ask.

"I can't see her," Parvati says with her eyes closed. "I can tell that she's in the warehouse district of Seattle, but everything else is dark."

"Can you remotely port her out?" I inquire.

"No, we can't..." Parvati replies.

Yeah, this situation is exactly the same as the one I thought Cheza was in a few hours ago... Loki must be laughing his ass off right now.

"Airi, can you see her?"

(No, the connection between us is broken for some reason...)

"Seattle's warehouse district?" I ask for confirmation.

"Yes," Shiva confirms.

"Thanks," I reply and snap myself to the gate before porting to Seattle's warehouse district.

My jaw drops when I get there and see the anomaly. There is a giant black dome covering the area in front of me and blocking out half of the moon. Based on the way that the moonlight isn't reflecting off of the dome, I think it's a safe bet that the dome is made of the Void. My mind flashes to the remains of Duniya al Jinn... Cheza's in there!

I engage my helmet and sprint towards the dome. The dome ripples like liquid when I break through it as my skin tingles and I enter my Void state. Once I'm in, I feel Cheza's presence in front of me and see that the moonlight is illuminating the area, which is pretty unexpected. What's more unexpected is the fact that I can breathe easily because of the cool, dry air in place of miasma. So I guess that this isn't the same situation as Duniya al Jinn, but I still need to get Cheza out of here as soon as possible. Since this placed forced me into a Void state so easily, there's no telling what it might be doing to her or the baby...

(Although the easy slip into your Void state has to do with your closer connection to the Void than the one you had when you visited Shehar, I still recommend that you hurry)

I race down the street as the area starts looking slightly familiar. I turn a corner and reach an area that is cordoned off by construction signs. Since that's where Cheza is, I continue onward. If the crumbling walls and black streaks are any indication, I'd say a building was burned down here. A strange feeling of familiarity hits me as I continue through the remnants of the burned out building until I walk through a doorway and I see them: Cheza is chained to the burned remains of the far wall with some bizarre black binding and has bruises on her face that are in the process of healing while Sydney stands next to her.

"SYDNEY!" I roar as the bones in my right hand crack while both my hands warp into the bladed Void claws.

"Yes, Cole. Get angry. I want you angry for this," Sydney says as her hands warp into Void claws as well.

"I have dreamed of this moment for years. This is where it is all going to end. THIS IS WHERE I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" Sydney screams and raises her right claw up.

I port beside her when I realize that her target is Cheza. Sydney's Void claw sinks through my jacket and into my stomach. Just as I thought, our claws will work on each other since I was able to cut myself with them. Her Void claw pierced through my armored jacket as though it were made of cotton. Pain sears my guts as I swipe at her with my left claw, but she jumps back before I can connect.

Sydney flashes out of the remnants of the building and over to an open space that is two hundred yards away. A seal forms over my stomach while I pursue Sydney, puking up some blood for short-ranged porting mid-stride. I stop about fifteen feet in front of her for a moment before I charge. I go for a cross slash and Sydney counters by flipping over me. Sydney scratches at my head as I roll to the side to avoid her.

Using the powers she stole from Harry, Sydney tries to blind me as she distances herself by about thirty feet and runs behind me, but Ra's power nullifies the effects.

"That's not going to work. What else do you have?" I ask as I turn towards her.

My body is engulfed in black flames before water flows out and neutralizes it. I hold my left arm in front of me and blast a torrent of water at her, with the intention to get in close while she dodges it. However, Sydney doesn't dodge the torrent and lets the water hit her, or at least get close. When the water is about a foot away, it explodes outward like it hit an invisible umbrella—must be Manannan mac Lir's power as a Sea god. Since water won't work, I switch to lightning. Sydney sees it coming and raises her right hand. The lightning gets sucked into her Void claw in much the same manner as Perun's was when we fought.

Well, since the lightning by itself won't work, perhaps using it as an enhancement will. I reach behind my back and pull my .460 S&W, turning the silver gun black on contact. Sydney sees what I'm doing and sprints towards me as I put the gun on target and pull the trigger. She holds her right hand out and absorbs the lightning as she flips to the side to avoid the bullet. Since she's avoiding the bullets, she must not be confident in her ability to stop them. I think I just found my advantage.

I aim and fire seven more times as she keeps dodging the bullets without signs of fatigue. I finally go for a three-shot combo: one round goes to where she's headed, forcing her to stop, the next round goes behind her, and the third round goes directly at her. Sydney jumps back and into the path of the second bullet as she absorbs the lightning. She sees the third bullet coming and spins, turning the bullet that was aimed at her heart into a grazing shot at her left arm that takes out a chunk of her left triceps. The wound stalls her as I take another shot, only to find that I'm out of bullets. Right, that was eleven...

Seeing her opportunity, Sydney rushes forward as I eject the clip and bring the gun around my back to reload. She throws her right leg at my left arm as I lash out with my right claw. I graze her left shoulder as I notice her blood filling in the missing part of her triceps made by the bullet wound. Her right foot connects with the gun and sends it flying as something sharp pierces the left side of my ribcage. Now that I'm disarmed, Sydney jumps back, ripping my left side with the black bladed spikes that are protruding from her ankle as she does so.

We face off with about ten feet of distance between us and assess our damage. My left side starts healing as Sydney's shoulder does the same.

"Ready for round two, princess?" I ask. Sydney makes a lighthearted scoff in response.

We both lunge forward and take a swipe at each other. Her right claw comes in towards my face as my right claw sails towards her head. I reach out with my left claw and catch her right as Sydney does the same. We stand there with our hands clasped together, each of us cutting into the other's hands while trying to get the advantage.

"It looks like we're pretty evenly matched," I comment.

"Not quite... there is still one area in which I excel while you fail," Sydney replies.

"Oh really? And what might that be?" I inquire.

"This," Sydney says and swiftly kicks me in the balls.

"AH!" I yelp and drop her hands as I bend forward on reflex.

I can tell her follow up is going to be a knee to my face so I lash out wildly with my left hand. My left claw connects with her chin as she leans back, minimalizing the damage to a grazing scratch that shreds the strap of her helmet. Sydney's knee connects with the front of my helmet and sends me flying onto my back. Sydney pounces on top of me, landing on my torso and pinning my arms at my sides. I'm about to retaliate in any way that I can when I notice that her helmet has flown off and several things connect in my mind: short silver hair, Void-black eyes, five black spike reaching into both of her eyes across her pale white face, a face that can't be older than fifteen, but what stops me in my tracks is the familiarity. It's been four years and she's aged twelve, but it's definitely her.

"Addie..." her name surfaces to my lips.

"Hello... _Daddy_ ," Addie venomously says.

"This is all your fault! For abandoning me in that wretched place! Do you know what it's like to feel like you're choking for years!? YEARS I WAS TRAPPED IN THAT PLACE! BECAUSE OF YOU!" Addie screams while repeatedly punching my helmeted-head.

Suddenly the bizarre dreams that I had start to make sense: they're what Addie perceives as her past.

"I didn't abandon you! You were killed!" I exclaim in between punches.

"What?" Addie asks curiously, but with the same intense anger. I retract my helmet to talk to her.

"I watched you get shot in the head! You died... and there was nothing I could do to save you. I didn't abandon you... how could I ever abandon my little girl? I carried your ghost around for months after you died and had to be heavily medicated to be granted any peace..." I softly reply.

"LIES!" Addie screams and punches me again as I notice that her hands have warped back from claws.

"I'm not lying... just drip some of your blood into my mouth... and you can see for yourself..." I tell her in between punches, her left punches having become significantly weaker.

Addie looks at me warily before doing what I said. I feel her blood travel into my brain as my memories get replayed in my head: the situation of her death, me sending her to the Void, frantically grabbing at the smoke in a futile effort to bring her back, the dreams, the hallucinations, the conversation with Loki where he admits to having her killed, all of it. Addie's eyes glaze over slightly as she watches the memories and several tears stream down her cheeks.

"Daddy?" Addie softly asks.

"Welcome back, Sweetie," I softly reply as I tear up.

I finally get a second chance to make things right—to be a father for Addie. We have a lot of catching up to do...

A giant icicle suddenly penetrates through the left side of Addie's chest. She looks down in surprise at the spear of ice that is four inches in diameter and sticking out of her chest.

"Daddy?" Addie says before she coughs blood onto my face and falls over.

I scramble up and cradle her in my arms.

"Addie! Addie, no! No, no, no, no, no! I'm not losing you again!" I panic as I push the icicle out of her chest and start pumping blood from my left hand into the hole to save her.

(Master, her body is rejecting your blood... you can't save her)

"Don't argue with me, Airi! I don't care what you have to do, just save her!" I shout as my blood goes into the hole, only to trickle out the back. I reach around and cover the back of the hole with my right hand.

"Dammit... dammit... DAMMIT!" I scream as the futility sets in and the life drains from Addie's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Daddy... for everything," Addie whispers.

"No, I'm sorry, Sweetie. Everything that's happened to you has been my fault!" I frantically say as tears stream down my face. Addie smiles softly at me as her eyes close. I hug her body to my chest as I cry.

"Cole..." Cheza softly says as she set her hand on my shoulder. I bat it away and turn towards her as the dome cracks and sheets of the Void fall like panes of glass that turn to dust on impact with the ground.

"Why Cheza... WHY!? WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" I shout at her as she flinches away.

"I'm so sorry, Cole... I thought she was about to kill you..." Cheza quietly explains.

(Master, in addition to altering Adelaide's memories, it seems Loki also altered her body's chemistry. He purposefully made it so your blood couldn't interact in Adelaide's body... he planned for this outcome)

"I really was in love with this plan because there was no way that I could lose!" Loki exclaims from the reflection of a nearby puddle.

"However, when I saw the opportunity to make it better by adding Chezarei, I just had to take it. Having your precious daughter killed by the woman you love!? That scenario was just too perfect to pass up! So, I disabled her bindings and released her, knowing that she couldn't contact you and would think that you were about to be killed. I promised you untold levels of anguish, Cole. I deliver on my promises," Loki says and fades away as Addie's body does likewise.

"LOKI!" I scream and something breaks inside me.

I hear myself screaming in pain as the Void floods my body. The amount of pain as every bone in my body cracks is unbearable. The mind-numbing quality of it forces my personality, my emotions, my memories, the very things that make me a person, to all slip away from me.

But one thing sticks in my mind.

One thing keeps me from completely losing it.

Loki is going to die for this.

The pain in my body stops and I slowly stand up. My entire body feels numb as I notice the bladed spikes that are swept up out of my joints and the way that my body seems to absorb the moonlight. Wisps of black smoke float upward as a murky black hole opens up below me and I slowly sink in.

"COLE!" a woman with silver hair screams to my right and reaches out to me as everything fades away.

Chapter 30: Celestial Crossroads

"Cole!" a woman's voice calls out as I open my eyes. I find that I'm in a massive black sphere, standing on a clear plane in the center of the sphere. The sphere appears to be made of separate panes that are possibly hexagonal, but it's difficult to tell from this distance.

"There's no use in trying, Chezarei. The Cole you love is gone," a man's voice says behind me.

I turn around and the sight of the man fills me with rage. I want to hurt him. I want to render the flesh from his body. I want to break his bones. I want him to scream out in agony as I destroy him.

"LOKI!" I roar and charge at him.

Loki turns to smoke and fades through me before reforming about fifteen feet away.

"Welcome to the Celestial Crossroads! From this space that I've created, I can look into any plane I see fit through any reflective surface! This place makes intelligence gathering a breeze. It took me hundreds of years, but I finally regained enough power to build a section of the Void while having it connected to the other planes," Loki says while ignoring me so I charge again.

"Now, now, I'm trying to have a conversation!" Loki exclaims as I pass through the black smoke and he reforms behind me.

"There's no need to rush, or even fight at this point since I've already won. By now, you're nothing more than an advanced shade. I'm actually surprised that enough of your mind remained intact to recognize me. You must really hate me!" Loki says.

"Cole?" the silver-haired woman asks beside me. I turn towards her and cock my head to the side.

"See? He doesn't even recognize you!" Loki exclaims and several tears fall down the woman's face. The woman's face suddenly contorts with anger as she screams at Loki. She slams her fist into the ground and looks surprised when nothing happens.

"Sorry, my dear granddaughter, but your powers won't work here," Loki explains as I charge at him again.

Loki raises his left hand and a hexagonal pane rises out of the ground in front of me as I smash into it. Hexagonal panes pop up around me and box me in.

"I have big plans for you, Cole. You see, I learned a few things when I created the shades and infused Adelaide with the Void," Loki starts.

Something about what Loki said makes me furious. I roar and throw both of my claws in front of me in an X. The hexagonal pane in front of me is shredded by my claws, melting the pane in tracks where my claws connect before the pane shatters and I rush forward.

"Just as I thought, you'll be perfect! But first, I'm going to have to beat some of this energy out of you," Loki says as I approach.

I slash at him with my right claw only to have him turn to smoke and reform below me before he delivers a hard uppercut to my chin. The punch sends me flying back in an arc before Loki reforms beside me. He brings his leg up into my back, changing my momentum up into the air. He appears above me and drops a kick into my chest before disappearing, sending me hurtling back towards the ground. I engage my flight before I hit the ground and stop about five feet above it. Loki suddenly lands on my chest, slamming me that extra five feet into the ground.

"You can't defeat me, Cole. I've had centuries to perfect my control over this power to get my revenge on that bitch. You're simply outclassed," Loki tells me with a disinclined tone.

I pick myself up off of the ground and sprint at him. I expect him to turn to smoke again, but this time my left claw connects with his side, shredding it as he grabs my right arm, puts his foot into my chest, rolls backwards, and sends me flying. Hexagonal panes pop up in my flight path and shatter when I come into contact with them, changing color and projecting a point value above them as I do so. My momentum finally stops upon contact with a particularly large pane as the pain of crashing through all those panes hits me. Before I have time to recover, Loki appears in front of me and lifts me up by my throat as I notice that his side has already healed. Loki gives me a broad smile before he slams me into the ground repeatedly, my vision blurring with every impact.

"COLE!" the silver-haired woman shouts and Loki leaves me on the ground.

Loki straightens up, raises his right leg into the air, and brings it down on my chest, cracking the ground around me as I sink in several inches.

"I think it's about time to finish this," Loki says and lifts me up by my throat once again.

Hexagonal panes shoot out of the ground and over my body, my feet spearing through them. Two dozen panes later and I can't move any part of my body. I try to summon the Void tendrils to break the panes, but to no avail.

"It all started when I discovered what Cole really was: a vessel for that bitch to use to drag me back. When I learned that, I realized that she had inadvertently given me the ability to finally stop her. So, I formulated a plan to push him into the Void, restricting her access to him and making it a simple task for me to take over. Now that Cole has finally slipped entirely into the Void, I can begin the last phase of my plan," Loki explains with a broad smile before he turns to smoke.

"This is goodbye, Cole," the smoke says as it hits me.

"COLE!" the silver-haired woman screams as the black smoke is absorbed into my body.

I feel my mind take a backseat as control to my body is relinquished. The hexagonal panes shatter around me and I fall to the ground on my knees.

"Cole?" Cheza cautiously asks, and everything comes flooding back to me: my personality, my memories, my emotions.

"Well, isn't this unexpected? It seems that you're not gone after all... I do apologize, but you still being here is only going to make things much more painful for you!" Loki's voice echoes through my mind. "After all, now you have to sit through a first person view as I kill Chezarei and all of your friends!"

"Loki! You've gone too far! You've gone too far for petty revenge or jealousy!" I shout.

"Revenge? Jealousy? You think I'm doing all this for something so stupid? That bitch must be stopped! This is worth far more than you or I! I have spent centuries working to get my power back so I can end her! And now that I have your power, I finally can," Loki informs me.

"Then why harm Cheza or my friends!?" I demand.

"That? I guess that is simply for fun," Loki replies.

"Cole?" Cheza asks and takes a step towards me.

"I guess it's show time," Loki says with a smug tone.

"Cheza?" my voice asks.

"Cole! You're back!" Cheza exclaims as her face lights up.

"Yeah, I am! I don't know how, but it seems that Loki's plan failed," my voice replies.

"I'm so happy that you're okay, even if you look a little different," Cheza says with tears in her eyes as she steps forward and embraces my body.

"Now, fair warning, this is probably going to sting a bit!" Loki exclaims as he raises my right claw up behind Cheza's back.

"No. You've already taken too much from me, Loki. You've already taken too many people that I care about! You are not taking Cheza too!"

"You can no longer do anything to sto—what!? How is this possible!?" Loki screams as I retake control of my body.

"I love you, Cheza... and I'll always be with you," I whisper.

"Cole?" Cheza asks with concern as she pulls back to look at me. I feel my grasp slipping as I snap my fingers and port Cheza away.

"This is only going to slightly delay me, Cole. You can't keep this up forever and I will regain control!" Loki exclaims.

"I'm aware of that... that's why this is happening," I reply and hold my arms out at my sides as thousands of tendrils erupt from my body.

"What are you doing!?" Loki demands as the tendrils spear through the hexagonal panes that make up the Crossroads and break them.

"I'm pulling a play out of your book. I'm returning this place to the Void," I reply as the miasma floods in and surrounds my body.

"You fool!" Loki screams.

My feet turn to smoke and are blown away, the force slowly traveling upward. I feel the urge to see Cheza and a hexagonal pane pops up in front of me: Cheza is crying on the ground near the burnt out warehouse with Natasha standing beside her as The Agency's people are visible in the background, presumably because of the Void dome. The disintegration encompasses up to my elbows.

"Airi, if you can hear me, watch after Cheza and our child," I say aloud before the disintegration robs me of the ability.

Well, I did it. I'm dragging Loki back to the Void, even if I'm taking myself in the process. This isn't the way I imagined that things would end, but at least Cheza is safe and the world wasn't destroyed. I can at least take solace in that.

The disintegration reaches my head and everything fades away.

...

Chapter 31: Epilogue

I regain a sense of self to find that I'm floating through the darkness with no real direction and my physical form relegated to a shadow-like shell. One by one, small dots appear in the darkness around me. Multicolored clouds of light brighten the darkness as I float past, reminding me of pictures of the cosmos.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Airi asks from my right.

"Yeah, it is..." I reply as I turn my attention towards her. All I can see is the outline of a woman's figure, shadow-like in nature.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"You succeeded, Cole. You kept Loki from destroying the world," Airi replies.

"You don't sound too happy about that," I comment.

"The reason is because I'm not happy about this... Loki was destroyed," Airi informs me.

"And that's a bad thing?" I ask.

"There have to be two Void beings, Cole... there must always be two..." Airi quietly replies and I catch her drift.

"And with Loki gone, I'm number two... How did this happen?" I respond.

"Well, it starts with the day of your birth. Shiva thinks that I never used you as a vessel, but I have been all along," Airi informs me.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I split myself and inhabited your body with that half. The half that I sent into your body is what allowed you to channel the Void and allowed us to be connected. When you were transported here with Loki, that half engulfed Loki and made you into a complete Void being," Airi explains.

"Wait, so I'm basically you?" I inquire.

"Technically, yes," Airi replies.

"And you created all of the old gods, which includes Shiva?" I ask.

"Also yes," Airi responds.

"Then doesn't that make me my own grandfather, like Fry in that episode of _Futurama_?" I conclude.

"Hmm... I suppose that it does, in a way," Airi replies and several moments, or days, of silence pass.

"So I can't be with Cheza now, can I?" I inquire in a downtrodden fashion.

"No... but with some time, you will be able to see her and possibly even contact her. At the very least, I can relay messages to her and your son, once he's born!" Airi exclaims.

Something seems off about this whole thing and Airi seems rather happy at the moment...

"You meant for this to happen, didn't you? You knew that Loki needed me for his plan and you knew that Loki didn't know that you had already used me as a vessel... You knew that I would win and destroy Loki, forcing me to stay here, didn't you?" I ask.

"That is a ridiculous theory... but accurate... I can't deny that I want you to stay with me, Cole..." Airi says.

"I can't stay here, Airi... I need to get back to Cheza and I want to be there to raise my son. We both know that me needing to be here is a lie because you've been the only Void being since you sent Loki to earth," I reply.

"Fine! If you want to abandon me too, then there's the door!" Airi exclaims as she turns away and a rip in space appears to my left. I start floating towards it before I turn towards Airi.

"Are you going to be alright?" I softly inquire.

"What do you care?" Airi asks.

"Come on, don't be like that. We've been through so much, Airi. I care about you... but you know that I can't stay here," I reply.

"*Sigh*... I know, Cole. And I'll be okay... I've got several other projects to keep me entertained," Airi replies.

"Well, feel free to drop in and say hello sometime," I tell her.

"Of course. Come here," Airi says and beckons to me with her arms outstretched.

I approach Airi and embrace her since this is the only time I'll ever see her in person.

"Goodbye, for now," I tell her.

"Goodbye, Cole... and I'm sorry," Airi says before I feel her shadowy arm pierce my chest.

"Airi?" I ask as I feel my presence fading.

"I changed my mind. Being selfish is part of my nature after all and I couldn't let you keep the power to create worlds and alter reality at will!" Airi exclaims.

"Oh... you bitch," I gasp out.

"Sorry Cole, but I couldn't let you end up like the last one. The mistake I made last time was allowing him to live. It wasn't long before he realized that he didn't agree with the way I use entire worlds for my entertainment and tried to stop me," Airi replies.

"So Loki was right? You've just been using me like a puppet?" I strain to ask.

"Don't sell yourself short! You weren't just any puppet. You were the most entertaining puppet thus far! I still find it rather amusing that in his quest to stop me, he gave me the best story to date," Airi informs me as I realize that I've made a huge mistake.

"Don't worry about Cheza and your son. I'll watch out for them. Goodbye, Cole," Airi says.

So while I thought that Loki was the one causing all of my misfortune, Airi was allowing it to happen for her entertainment, just like he said.

_(I tried to warn you, but she wouldn't allow you to understand. We have one last chance to stop her)_ Loki's voice echoes in my mind.

"How?"

(By doing to her what she is doing to you now: rejoining the two halves)

With the last of my strength, I reach up and stab my arm into Airi's shadowy chest. I feel myself get stronger as Airi's form becomes less distinguished.

"So this is how you want things to end, Cole? I suppose it is like you to go down fighting," Airi says as I feel my form fade.

(Since we probably won't get another chance, I just want to say that I'm sorry for all the terrible things I did to you, but it was necessary to get us to this point)

"You made me watch my daughter die... twice," I reply.

(Yeah, that was a real dick move...)

"And my sister..." I respond.

(Hey, I admit it. I was being a grade A asshole. You know how the Void can fuck with you; now stretch that over several hundred years and you'll know what I went through)

"Yeah, I get it. I have to ask, what was your game plan? It seems like it was all over the place."

(When she sent me to your world over a couple hundred years ago, she stripped me of my power so my plan was to get it back so I could take her out. Well, I was able to recover enough power to channel the Void, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough to stop her. So I started working a few other angles like raising an army to take her on. The Void started affecting me and I lost sight of my main goal along the way, somehow deciding that destroying your world would help. When I discovered the truth about you, I realized that you were the answer so all I had to do was get you closer to the Void, which was most easily done through emotional turmoil, as I knew from personal experience)

"Huh... Well, let's keep Airi from doing this to anyone else."

Airi's form starts to fade as I feel my strength grow before my arm becomes less distinguished and I feel my power getting sapped from me. Airi and I shift back and forth for several minutes, neither of us able to get an edge on the other.

"Looks like now that it has come to this, I have no choice but to take you two with me," Airi informs me as both of us start to fade.

(No... this started with us, and it's going to end with us. Unlike me, you still have people waiting on you, Cole)

I feel a surge of pain split me from head to toe as I feel myself get pulled backwards. I pass through the rip in space that Airi opened as I see two shadowy figures start to glow. A stream of images rapidly flashes through my mind as I realize that they're coming from Loki. As I watch the memories, I realize that it's true what they say: either you die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. The two figures explode as the rip closes and everything goes white.

...

I feel my body go crashing through a table amidst a round of gasps and a couple of yelps.

"COLE!?" Cheza screams.

"Chezarei, no!" Natasha shouts.

I open my eyes to find all of my friends and quite a few gods dressed in black. Natasha is holding Cheza back as everyone looks at me warily. Did I just crash my own funeral? I hold my hands up in front of my face and see that both are made of flesh. I look down at the rest of my body to find that I'm naked and bleeding. What's going on?

"Cole?" Cheza asks.

"Hey Cheza... I guess I'm back," I reply and everyone continues to look at me warily.

"Prove it," Natasha says.

I try to open my connection with Cheza, but I find that I'm unable.

"Uh... How? My connection with Cheza is gone... Cheza, can you see my aura?" I ask.

"No, I haven't been able to for the past few weeks..." Cheza replies.

"Well, you're aura is still silver," Hel announces.

I try to close my cuts and find that I'm able to with a fair amount of effort.

"Cole!" Cheza exclaims and runs over to me before gingerly bending down to hug me.

"What happened?" Cheza asks.

"I absorbed Loki, went to the Void, found out that Airi has been using me as a puppet for her entertainment, and nearly got destroyed by her before Loki and I tried to kill her. Airi said that she was taking us with her if she was going out and then Loki split away from me and I was sent back here before they exploded," I recant. All I get are confused glances in response.

"I take it that we're at my funeral?" I ask and a few people nod.

"When we recovered the powers that you said we would upon your death, we decided that it was time to accept that you were gone," Diana informs me.

"You're actually back, right Cole?" Cheza asks as tears slip from her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere. Come on, let's go home," I reply.

...

That night, I slide into bed beside Cheza and drift off to sleep, glad that we can continue our life together without Loki or Airi interfering. Even after she put me through all that, I'll admit that I'm going to miss her. My mind seems like a much lonelier place now that she's gone.

First I was an executioner for the gods, then I became an executioner of gods, all while actually being a puppet, and now that Airi has been killed, I'm just Cole... and you know what? I think I prefer being just Cole: husband and soon to be father.

Poor, naïve, little Cole. You can't kill a personification. Now, Cole gets his happily-ever-after and I get to continue unopposed. Everybody wins.

So, who is my next form of entertainment?

References

Have you come across something in this book and thought 'I know I've heard that before, but I can't remember where it's from'? Well that's what this section is for! I have marked down every reference in this book that wasn't self-explanatory so that you don't have to wake up at 3am and shout "Got it!" when you finally remember.

1: This is from the _Animaniacs_ , the character Mindy would always call her mother Lady, much to her mother's ire. Mindy is a little girl that would get into various misadventures which were then always blamed on her dog, Buttons. Due to my niece's likeness to the character of Mindy, I had always wanted her to say that to my sister-in-law, but it never happened.

2: From _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ , the scene with the killer rabbit that King Arthur refers to as "Dynamite" after the rabbit tears out the jugulars of three knights.

3: Based _The Boondocks_ character, A Pimp Named Slickback.

4: Spoof on _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ , the line where Indiana Jones reminds the audience of his fear of snakes.

5: The Scottish-Indian comedian, Danny Bhoy, has a joke in his comedy special _Subject to Change_ about how whenever you go to someone's house for a party, they always have the alcohol, but not the mixer that goes with that alcohol. This leads to him talking about a drink mixture of gin and chocolate milk, which tastes exactly how it sounds... delicious.

6: Reference to _Archer_ Season 2, Episode 10: El Secuestro.

7: Liam Neeson is an actor that plays the lead in the _Taken_ movies.

Acknowledgements

Writing _The Gods' Executioner Series_ has been a fun, seven month ride. This whole journey started because I wasn't able to return to school for the Spring 2013 semester and I knew that if I had to go for another nine months just watching TV, reading, or playing video games, I was going to go insane and jump off a cliff with a dozen chickens duct taped to my body to give my loved ones the impression that I didn't commit suicide, I was just testing a chicken flight suit and testing went horribly wrong... perhaps while leaving a note that would read, "Invention idea #2: Duct tape + 12 ducks = ability to swim. Name: Duck Tape."

So, I decided to start writing books that I would want to read. I started writing the first book on December 17th, 2012. By the end of January of 2013, I had finished the second book as well. The third was finished being written by the middle of April, the fourth book was finished by the end of May, and this book was finished at the end of July. After that, the long process of editing, beta readers, and publishing started. I've got to thank all of the people who read my book and helped me catch errors and incongruities that I missed.

"A.L. I've gotta ask, what's with all the pedophilia jokes in the last book?" you may wish to ask. That's due in part to a joke my brother made a few years ago about how I'd better not end up being the 'creepy uncle' to my niece, and in part to a joke by Jim Norton in his _Please Be Offended_ comedy special where he discusses how you never want to be in a pedophilia related misunderstanding with someone's kid. I sort of took these two ideas and ran with them.

Speaking of my niece, I based Adelaide's character off of her. Ruby, if you are reading this in the future, hopefully the distant future because you're only five years old right now, I'm sorry I killed the character that I based off of you... twice. Honestly, when I wrote out the death scene for Adelaide in the third book, I didn't write for four days after that because I felt so bad.

I'd like to thank my 8th grade health teacher for the inspiration in Chapter 26. The whole manatee bit comes from her showing the class an ultrasound photo, me commenting that it looks like a sea cow, and her replying "Thanks for calling my baby a sea cow!" That was her way of announcing that she was pregnant.

I give my thanks to all of my fans that have read my books, shared them with their friends, written reviews, and emailed me. I think the biggest shock of this whole experience was discovering that people enjoyed my writing and were waiting for the next book in the series.

I'm giving a special thanks to Deke for helping me out as a beta-reader for the last book and for all of the thoughtful reviews he has written. I reached out to him after he called me "a dick. A genius and a great writer, but a dick," which was the result of him having finished the third book and read about me killing off a three year old. That led to me offering him the chance to read this book before it came out. He was a big help in getting this book ready for all of you.

If you all could keep spreading the word about my books and writing reviews wherever you can, I'd appreciate it! And who knows, I might even ask you to beta-read my next book!

About the Author

A.L. Bridges was born and raised in Washington state. He currently resides in Phoenix Arizona and wonders why in the hell anyone decided to settle in the middle of the desert when it is so stupidly hot there.

A.L. Bridges is currently attending a university in Arizona, focusing on finishing his degree in biomedical sciences, and writing in his spare time... and working on his bucket list that includes getting banned from a country without serving jail time and catching a squirrel with his bare hands... no, those two things don't have to be related.

Feel free to email him at albridgesauthor@gmail.com with comments, criticisms, or suggestions.

For updates on the latest books, visit http://albridges.blogspot.com

or follow him on Twitter @Albridgesauthor

