Marilyn didn’t quite understand everything that was happening around her. But it truly didn’t matter. She saw this Caelus down Pluto in one hit. She heard the words from Cyrus. She could feel his power like a siren’s call.
Cyrus stood up to the monster in his friend’s body. But she knew he couldn’t hurt him. No one could hurt this monster, not really.
We need to go, she thought. We need to get out of here before he kills us all.
Persephone screamed in rage at Caelus. “What are you? What are you doing?”
Caelus slowly turned his attention her way. “I am taking back what is mine. You took this world from me, godling, and I would have it back.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about! Get out of my home.”
Caelus shook his head. “They teach you nothing. You know my name, you know my place. I am Caelus. I am the sky. I am the stars. I created your progenitors, godling. You are my children, yet you betrayed me to a prison you could not imagine.”
“I did nothing,” Persephone said. “I do not know you, dead thing, but return to the realm from which you came.”
“That will not happen,” Caelus said. He walked towards her.
Persephone swung an impotent fist towards the emaciated form of Petraeus, possessed by whatever this Caelus was. Marilyn watched him catch her hand almost in slow motion. He held her fast and shook his head.
“Your rage is impotent. It will do you know good against me.”
He pulled her closer, ran a hand supply down her cheek. “If you are good, I might find you a place as a concubine. If not, you can join the fool on the floor.”
Persephone spit into his face. “Go to Hades, you monster. I bow only to Zeus.”
“His time will come, woman. As will yours.”
Caelus’s hand stopped its caress. He drew it back and brought it hard across Persephone’s face. She sprawled to the floor. She stared daggers up at him, clutching her jaw.
Cyrus saw enough. He charged towards Caelus, intent on avenging his mother’s honor. Marilyn tried to stop him, but Cyrus moved too fast. Caelus didn’t even seem to see him as Cyrus charged forward. Marilyn saw the distortion form around his hands, signs of the sonic energy he built up. He planned a killing blow, but Marilyn didn’t know if even that would stop this monster. She wasn’t sure if anything could hurt Caelus.
A figure dropped down from above on Cyrus. Shrouded in darkness, she struck him with a sharp foot to the skull, rebounded off and landed on her feet. She smirked, white teeth gleaming beneath her raven black locks.
Nightmarish visions floated around her, moving as if tendrils of pure evil. But despite her change into a long black gown that melded with her dark creatures and the hair now falling in her face, Marilyn recognized Melinoe.
Persephone and Cyrus both stood shocked. Melinoe walked up to Cyrus and drove a sharp boot into his gut. She pushed him back and away, and let him crumple down next to their mother.
“Melinoe,” Persephone cried. “What are you doing? Help us! Your brother is not the enemy. This monster is.” She pointed towards Caelus.
“Oh, mother, so naive. Thousands of years and still you do not even glimpse the minds of the truly enlightened.”
She turned and walked to Caelus. He opened his arms to her as she approached. She came into them and kissed the lips of the possessed corpse. It was no peck, but a kiss of passion, a kiss of longing.
“Hello, my love,” Melinoe said. “I’ve waited millennia to finally see you, to hold you, to touch you.”
Persephone clearly couldn’t believe her own eyes. “You betrayed us. You killed Petraeus and framed your brother. You’ve betrayed everything I’ve ever taught you!”
“No, I’ve manipulated you into doing everything I needed you to do, mother. I thought I would have to use my dear brother and his lover here to unlock my beloved’s prison. You sent me after him like a hound, but I waited and waited until he had the right connections, the right people around him. I knew Cyrus was too much a fool to ever stay away from human connections. And I needed those connections.”
Cyrus looked to Marilyn. Marilyn gave him a slow nod. She knew she wasn’t the smartest or wisest being in the universe, but she understood Melinoe’s words well enough. This was why Cyrus wanted to run, to leave her and the others behind.
“But Cyrus didn’t just pick a lover, he also picked up an entire group of friends,” Melinoe said. “An entire gaggle of them. I realized I wouldn’t have to convince you to use my choice of prison. I could just trick his friends into traveling there.”
“Don’t be coy, Melinoe.” A new voice emerged from the shadows behind Marilyn. “You couldn’t have done it without me.”
The man stepped out of the shadows. He was a thick figure, dark skinned and covered in tattoos. Marilyn didn’t know him, but she recognized the figure draped over his shoulders. It felt like forever since she last laid eyes on her.
“Alli!”
The man laughed. “Good, I’m glad you still remember her.” He dropped Alli on the ground in front of him.
Caelus turned and looked down at the limp form. “Is she still alive? You have not harmed her? She freed me from my prison how ever inadvertently. She should be honored for doing so.”
“Honored?” Marilyn’s word seemed to echo through the room.
“I cannot survive in this corpse forever,” Caelus said. “And I do not plan to spend another day without a body. Your friend honored me with my freedom. It seems only fit that I honor her by wearing her body and transforming her into a god.”
“You would kill her,” Cyrus said. “She did nothing but help you.”
“Oh, yes, the dear girl did give me my freedom.” Caelus turned to the other man. “No thanks to you, Vulcan.”
The tattooed man shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“It proved all too simple,” Caelus said. “Many things changed during my imprisonment, but mortals remain trusting fools. They trusted Smith here because he was one of them, a man with powers. They didn’t even ask questions, knowing he was a figure that could help them. It was all too easy to plant him where he needed to be in order to intercept their path and bring them to my prison.”
“You’re sick,” Cyrus said.
“Perhaps. But I’ve also won. I played your entire family for fools, child god. I led your human allies into breaking the chains only they could break. And I did it simply by offering power to my allies.” He looked at Melinoe, eying her like a piece of meat.
“Are we really the fools?” Marilyn’s words pierced through the tension in the air. She heard enough from this mad god. He might have more power than they could hope to beat, but she wasn’t sure. He seemed to use shows of powers to hold them, but beyond his attack on Pluto, really did nothing. Melinoe and that Vulcan bastard were doing the grunt work.
Focus, she told herself. You can’t help Alli if you don’t focus.
“You speak out of turn, human!” Melinoe’s words brought everyone attention back to the traitor.
“No, I don’t think I do. I don’t think we’re the true fools. You are, Melinoe.”
“Enough! Enough of your insolence!” Melinoe turned to Caelus. “Show them, my love! Show them your power!”
Caelus started to chuckle. But the chuckle quickly grew into a full belly laugh. Marilyn could feel the menace in his humor though. This wasn’t whimsy or joy. This was a snake being caught just as it struck.
He pulled Melinoe into him and kissed the goddess on her lips. Her eyes turned black. Her skin shriveled beneath his touch, the veins showing through her skin. It took only a matter of seconds.
Caelus released her body and let her drop to the floor. Melinoe still lived, but she looked like a mummy of her former self. But Caelus stood triumphantly, his own skin more alive than before.
Caelus turned to those gathered before him. “Do you see now? Do you understand what you have made me? This is my body now. But I will have all your life and your death.”
He looked down at Persephone and Pluto. “Once I suck you dry, I will have control over life and death. My limits will gone and the world will be mine.”
He kicked Melinoe’s body aside. “I don’t need any foolish love affairs to get in my way.”
Cyrus stepped between his parents and the killer. He was ready to die to protect them.
Marilyn didn’t know what to do. She still couldn’t grasp what this monster was. He talked of godhood and ancient times. Her life was measured in a matter of a few short years. It was too much to take in. Too much to comprehend. She couldn’t grasp why anyone that ancient could be so evil. Nor could she ever believe they stood a chance against such a being.
No. There’s no choice. Chance or not, we have to stop him here. If Cyrus and I don’t do it, the entire world might pay. Live or die, it’s time to fight.
Hermes flashed across the floor, teleporting from his position to directly in front of Cyrus. His fist caught Cyrus in the jaw. Cyrus stumbled at the impact, but he didn’t fall. He threw up his own hand.
The chamber shook as he unleashed a burst of solid sound at Hermes. But Hermes vanished before it could strike. The blast flew across the room and smashed into the stone slab on which Petraeus’s body sat only minutes before.
Hermes reappeared near Caelus, but Marilyn was already ready for him. Before he could react, her body was already fluid. She flowed towards him, enveloping him in less than a second.
He might be fast, but he wouldn’t escape her, even if she had to squeeze the life out of him. Marilyn already knew that killing a god was a crime here, but she no longer cared. Hermes hurt Alli. He tried to hurt Cyrus. The bastard would pay.
She squeezed with all her might, uncaring about her fate or that of the god. Marilyn never felt rage like this before, but she felt it for the monster her liquid form enveloped. She felt his bones bend and crack, felt him struggle to cry out, but no air came.
And then he was gone. Disappeared from within her and gone from all sight.
Caelus roared with rage. He raised both hands and unleashed a blinding burst of energy. Marilyn felt it rip into her skin even as it flowed across everyone else standing in the room.
It hit her like a anvil to the chest. The blast knocked her down and back. Her eyes were on Cyrus and Persephone. Both went down at the impact as well.
“Fighting will solve nothing. You can scare away Hermes. You can try to fight, but I will not be beat. I am Caelus. I am a god of gods. I am the ruler of the universe. This world is mine!”
He threw up a hand and the chamber shifted around them again. The tomb started to rise back to the surface, but as it did so it opened into a wider wall.
The walls shimmered and transformed. Gone was the marble, replaced by old brick, ancient stones piled one upon the other. The room temperature quickly rose.
Marilyn remembered what Cyrus told her about the Estate. He said it existed between Hades and Earth. As she watched, it seemed clear that Caelus was moving them from reality into the death-realm. She didn’t know why, but she already knew it would be bad.
“Yes, yes! This is my world now. The false god of death is gone! Now Caelus will rule. Now I will take what is mine. Life and death, reality and unreality. All are mine to control. Come. Come lords and ladies of Hades. Come and know your new ruler. Come and be free from this realm. All you must do is destroy my enemies.”
The moans seemed to come from everywhere. Marilyn rose to her feet, but as she did so, the first of them appeared from nowhere. A lone shambling figure in ancient attire, some kind of Roman warrior. He came towards them, unspeaking, perhaps mindless.
And he was far from alone.
They appeared one by one, male and female, young and old, Greek and Roman, ancient and far more modern. In seconds, they seemed to stretch for miles.
Caelus laughed. “Yes, yes! Your monstrous overlord is gone! Rise, my army of the dead. Rise, serve me and live a new life. I will give you the justice you’ve craved for eternity!”
Marilyn met Cyrus’s eyes. The young god just shook his head. She knew the meaning. I don’t see a way out of this.
Marilyn didn’t see one either, but she knew she wasn’t going to stop. One way or another, she refused to let this be her fate.
“This isn’t over,” Marilyn said. “We have to fight him.”
Persephone shook her head as she cradled her husband’s still form. “Without Pluto we have no control over Hades. We cannot stop Caelus.”
“Why can’t we?” Marilyn looked towards the dark god. “He’s a pompous ass with some power. He can suck the life from a god, but he still fears us. If he was as powerful as he claimed, we would all be dead now.”
“No,” Persephone said. “He’s older than us, more powerful than us. We can’t—”
“No, you’re wrong,” Cyrus said. “I’m sorry, mother, but Marilyn is right. If I learned one thing from the humans I’ve met, it is that when all else fails, it’s up to you to do the right thing. And if that means I must fight for my very life, then so be it.”
Marilyn could only smile at his sudden support, but she knew she didn’t have time to focus on it. The undead were closing on them.
She twisted her head around in a full three hundred sixty degree turn. They were surrounded. But it didn’t matter. All they needed to do was stop their leader. And she may not know how to kill him, but she could stop him in his tracks.
“Let’s do this!”
Her hands flailed out like two trees flailing in hurricane force winds. They each struck a few of the undead, sweeping them down and into more of their brethren. It did little to break the siege, but it opened a clearing. It gave them room to move.
Cyrus shot into the air with a wave of sonic energy that shook the dirt beneath their feet. The strange red-black sky seemed to undulate around him. He flew towards Caelus, ready to end the fight one way or another. Marilyn hoped for his survival, but she needed to make her own move.
As one arm continued to push back against the oncoming horde. Her other hand slipped across the ground. She pulled her fingers through the dirt and towards Alli’s still form. Her lover was still breathing, but Marilyn knew that she might need medical care.
Can’t think about that now. Got to focus on the task at hand.
The hand on the ground found what she sought just as her other outstretched arm was caught and held by one of the oncoming dead. She started to pull it away, but the walking deadman was joined by first one man, then several more undead men and women. They held her arm fast and started to pull.
She ignored their insistent tugging. She knew they would pull her in soon enough, but she had other priorities. Caelus needed to be stopped, one way or the other and she knew she could do that.
She brought up her other arm, Sticky Gun in hand. Before anyone could realize what she was doing she took aim and fired. The first ball of glue-goo flew into Caelus’s chest and started to expand. She fired a pair of follow-up rounds. With three shots in place, the goo spread out across his entire frame.
She pulled against the horde that wanted to rip her to shreds, but it was no use. “Cyrus, Persephone, help me!”
She looked to Cyrus, but Marilyn saw he had his own problems. The undead had pulled him from the sky. He blasted them back with sound blast after sound blast, but even his powers didn’t allow him to generate the attacks fast enough. They were overwhelming him.
“Persephone! You have to help us. If you don’t, I’ll die and your son will die! If not for mankind, do it for your family.”
Persephone stared down at her still husband. Her eyes traveled to her daughter’s shriveled, still form just a few feet away. But she didn’t move. Marilyn wasn’t sure the goddess even heard her. They would die here.
Slowly Persephone rose to her feet. As she rose, her face went from passive and broken to strong and commanding. Marilyn couldn’t believe the change that came over the goddess. One second, she seemed beaten, but now she truly looked like a queen.
Marilyn realized the goddess was a far stronger presence than she ever let on. She let her husband show force, but she controlled her own power.
“You made a mistake,” Persephone said. “I am queen of the dead. But I am also the overseer of the harvest. This is my time of power. I am at my strongest. And you Caelus, will pay for your transgressions against my family!”
Caelus laughed as he met Persephone’s glaring, glowing eyes.
“Prattle and prance all you want, woman. I am Caelus the Unkillable. Caelus the All-Powerful. You can imagine what you wish, but your kingdom is mine now.”
“No, as long as I stand, Hades remains free of your will.”
She waved a hand outward. The army of the dead around them dropped to their knees. Marilyn found her body released from their tightening grip.
Caelus shook his head, the only part of his body free from the goo’s grip. “You think I’m beaten. You think you’ve won. And I’m only just beginning. You see I am many, many things. But one thing I have always been is a powerful force in the universe. Since millennia long forgotten, gods have rose to rule mortals. And sometimes those gods stepped out of line. That is why I exist. I walk this universe to end the foolish immortals that think themselves unconquerable. I am Caelus and I am the Godkiller.”
The ground started to shake beneath their feet. The sky seemed to flicker from a dull gray to a glaring, deadly red. The army started to fall down. Their frames seemed to shrivel.
Marilyn didn’t know how, but somehow Caelus drew in their power.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
River City History: Gloria Travers
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| Not only a skilled investigator, Gloria was equally as famous for breaking the social conventions of the 20s and 30s. |
By the time she was a teenager, she was already gaining notoriety as the most beautiful woman on rails. She would enter the Miss America pageant in 1941 and easily take the win. But what was supposed to be her moment of glory was dashed by news of her mother’s death.
Gloria returned to River City for the first time in years to attend her mother’s funeral. (Her father declined to even witness his ex-lover’s burial.) Public attention and her inquisitive nature quickly drew her to the Regal Hand of Gold’s attention. The megalomaniacal crimelord already sought to expand his empire far past River City’s confines, only to find the sudden arrival of another thorn in his side.
Gloria quickly realized that even with the remnants of the Hoods, she didn’t have the resources left to bring down the Regal Hand. She instead started a clear attempt to expose the Regal Hand’s operations as often as possible. This quickly drew the attention of the FBI. With the assistance of an agent known simply as X, Gloria was able to destroy the Regal Hand’s smuggling operations, destroying the movement of heroin and opium into the city.
With his operations in shambles, the Regal Hand of Gold disappeared to Southeast Asia, never to return to River City. Gloria Travers would also move on. Recruited by X into the FBI, she would ultimately become the handler for the special operations team known as the Rangers of Freedom.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Walking Shadows Book 2 Chapter 24. Ian
A body floated. The body was male, but his face was down, blocked from view. Water stretched out all around him. The body was alone, lost and truly important. Ian didn’t know why, but he knew this figure would play an important place in his future.
Ian’s eyes shot open. He stared up into the Rhode Island sky. He was cold, but he was alive. His head ached and his jaw felt like it was on fire. He slowly sat up and looked around.
Alli was gone. So was Smith. His dream left him disconcerted, but he knew something far more dangerous—something far more immediate—endangered him and perhaps the world.
Phoebe stirred on the ground next to him. Her hair was now even bluer. Her skin was darker and her gown seemed to have lost much of its glimmer. Ian climbed to his knees and crawled over to her.
“Phoebe, are you alright?”
“I—where am I?”
“You’re on Earth. In Rhode Island. Do you remember me?”
“Pollux?”
“No, my name is Ian. Do you remember?”
“I—gods, did you say Earth?”
“Yes, we came from—”
She shot up to her feet. “We have to move. We have to go now. If we don’t hurry, the entire universe will be in danger.”
She walked away from him. Her eyes shot across the fields around them, but Ian couldn’t begin to guess what she wanted to find. Outside of Providence, Rhode Island, he didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“Phoebe, I still don’t know what’s going on. You collapsed as soon as we got here. Smith turned on us as soon as he appeared. I don’t know where Peach is, but the portal closed behind him. She could still be trapped on that other world.”
“I cannot help your friend out of the Inbetween, Mister Ian. I can only stop what you and this Mister Smith have unleashed on the world.”
Ian grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned, threw up an arm to hold him. “You would be wise to watch yourself, mortal.”
“You don’t remember me at all, do you? We talked for half an hour before we came to Earth.”
“My memories are muddled. That often happens when you’re possessed.”
“Possessed? What are you talking about?”
“I mean you were tricked by the being the Inbetween was created to hold. He is a monster that ravished half the galaxy. He claimed it was his to rule. But thousands of years ago, his body was destroyed. Still his power kept him alive.”
“His soul-self needed to be contained. We could trap him Inbetween, but a bodiless spirit would have an easier escape route than one contained within a body. A guardian had to be chosen to suffer the banishment with him. The Galactic Council asked for someone to take him, hold him within them. I volunteered for the process.”
“You went to that hole on purpose? You said you were there thousands of years.”
“Even then, he told the truth. I was sent to The Inbetween to contain him. Somehow he convinced someone here to help him, to break him free. It appears that somehow he gained a means of communication back to Earth.”
“How?”
“That I do not know. But if Caelus has even one ally here, he may have many more. We must tread carefully?”
“Did you say Caelus? Like in mythology?”
“You know the name then. Interesting. Perhaps his godhead is deeper than I thought.”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s a particular well known figure, but for some reason I feel like I know it. Like I’ve studied it closely. I don’t know. I don’t have all my memories.”
“Intriguing. I sense great mystery about you, Mister Ian.”
“Please, just Ian.”
“Ian then.” Phoebe pointed towards the large manor on the estate. “I’m not sure what Caelus plans, but I suspect we can find at least a clue inside. Are you with me, Ian?”
“I am.”
Ian wondered if this was a mistake. He already walked a monster back to Earth and now that monster had Alli. He was wary to trust Phoebe, but if he was going to help his friends, he would have to take her. Even if she tried to betray him, he knew he could hurt her back, though the thought of using that power again made him sick to his stomach.
He walked up to the door at her side.
“Should we knock?”
Phoebe studied the door, then the entire patio. “This place isn’t as it seemed. It exists between planes. It connects to something else. Ah, I see. It’s a godhead, a realm of death.”
“A what?”
“It is a death realm. Most are barren wastelands, not unlike the Inbetween. Certain beings are known to latch on to the souls of the dead. They will capture those souls of their so-called followers, keep them from passing to their final reward. They place them in a sort of netherworld, store them for their power. It is an archaic art, but one backworlds are known to still practice. Earth has been shut off from the world for millennia. It would seem death gods still exist here.”
Ian rubbed his forehead. “Space and gods and death realms. This is a bit much for me.”
“The universe is a grand place, Ian. You must learn to accept it for what it is: a grand adventure often fraught with danger. Now come.” She reached out and tried the door.
The knob turned and opened with ease.
“Be careful,” Ian said. “I can’t imagine what awaits us if the doors are open. No one leaves their doors open these days.”
Phobe turned towards him. “These days, Ian? You are an immortal too. I remember.”
“I don’t know about that. I only remember the last week or so.”
“Perhaps I can help with that should we survive this day.”
“I would like that,” Ian said with a smile.
“Good, now be ready.”
She turned and entered the door. With a deep breath, Ian followed her.
The hero thing still wasn’t his thing. He really hated to even think about what kind of danger they faced inside. He wasn’t a fighter. He was more than happy to hide behind an illusion, let the world think he was gone.
No. I’m here for my friends. I have to help them. Or if need be, avenge them.
He walked through the door. The air turned instantly dry as he walked inside. It was warm inside, but with no moisture at all. It felt like a desert.
Guess this is a death-realm.
The room was the kind of opulent foyer one saw in any number of Southern Gothic films. But it didn’t feel like one. It felt like something unearthly. It wasn’t just the dry air, something seemed not quite real about everything around him.
“Is there anyone here?”
Phoebe scanned the room as Ian’s question lingered in the air.
“Not in this realm. This place is native to your world, but it is also a nexus that connects to the death-realm. The control over the connection seems to be gone. Something has happened to crack the link. The natives of the death realm have lost their connection to our reality.”
“Is that good?”
“The connection needs to be maintained. It won’t close without its owner in control. Rifts between realities are inherently dangerous. Left open they could wreak any kind of havoc on this world. It could turn your entire world into a barren wasteland. Or it could open your world to a flood of millions of men and women long dead.”
She turned her head and looked around again. Her eyes traveled downward towards the marble floor below them.
“Or it could be used to power a madman that wants to conquer the galaxy.”
“Stand back.”
Ian took a few steps back though he wasn’t quite sure why. Something in Phoebe’s tone perhaps. She bent down and studied the floor. Her hand reached out and ran across the black and ivory marble. Her hands seemed to caress it, as if it was a pet.
“Yes, this is it.”
A second later, the floor shifted beneath her feet. It sank down into the ground inch by inch. Her spot stopped after only a few seconds, but the rest of the floor in front of her continued to drop. One by one, steps formed out of the receding floor, a perfectly squared pathway down into something.
Ian tried to peer down at the base of the stairs, but the path disappeared into darkness. The lights of the foyer couldn’t penetrate all the way down into the seemingly never-ending path.
“What is it?”
“It is our way to your friends and allies. I do not know where they have went exactly, but I know it is down there. Will you continue this journey with me, Ian? I know I have given no reason to trust me, but I—”
“If there’s a chance my friends are there, I will follow you. Even if I’m literally walking into hell.”
Ian worried about the lack of light as they walked down the stairs, but he quickly learned there was no need. Phoebe raised her left arm after a few steps downward. A soft glow rose from her flesh, a beacon of light in the nagging dark. It illuminated her and Ian as they made their way down the narrow steps.
He hated not knowing where they were going. He hated being lost and scrambling for answers. This isn’t normal. I just want to find out who I am and live my life.
He didn’t know how long they walked downward, but it felt to Ian like they were entering some subterranean chamber far deepr than any subway. Phoebe stopped short at a door, a simple old piece of wood that looked centuries old.
Phoebe reached out and touched the door. Ian could feel the hint of electricity in the air. Power radiated from the door—or perhaps something beyond the door.
She looked back at him. He nodded, hoping he showed confidence that he did not feel.
She turned the handle and pulled the door open. Light flashed at the door’s edges as it opened. Red and ominous, it streaked out over them, consumed them. Ian didn’t even have time to scream before he was whisked away to somewhere else.
Ian’s eyes shot open. He stared up into the Rhode Island sky. He was cold, but he was alive. His head ached and his jaw felt like it was on fire. He slowly sat up and looked around.
Alli was gone. So was Smith. His dream left him disconcerted, but he knew something far more dangerous—something far more immediate—endangered him and perhaps the world.
Phoebe stirred on the ground next to him. Her hair was now even bluer. Her skin was darker and her gown seemed to have lost much of its glimmer. Ian climbed to his knees and crawled over to her.
“Phoebe, are you alright?”
“I—where am I?”
“You’re on Earth. In Rhode Island. Do you remember me?”
“Pollux?”
“No, my name is Ian. Do you remember?”
“I—gods, did you say Earth?”
“Yes, we came from—”
She shot up to her feet. “We have to move. We have to go now. If we don’t hurry, the entire universe will be in danger.”
She walked away from him. Her eyes shot across the fields around them, but Ian couldn’t begin to guess what she wanted to find. Outside of Providence, Rhode Island, he didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“Phoebe, I still don’t know what’s going on. You collapsed as soon as we got here. Smith turned on us as soon as he appeared. I don’t know where Peach is, but the portal closed behind him. She could still be trapped on that other world.”
“I cannot help your friend out of the Inbetween, Mister Ian. I can only stop what you and this Mister Smith have unleashed on the world.”
Ian grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned, threw up an arm to hold him. “You would be wise to watch yourself, mortal.”
“You don’t remember me at all, do you? We talked for half an hour before we came to Earth.”
“My memories are muddled. That often happens when you’re possessed.”
“Possessed? What are you talking about?”
“I mean you were tricked by the being the Inbetween was created to hold. He is a monster that ravished half the galaxy. He claimed it was his to rule. But thousands of years ago, his body was destroyed. Still his power kept him alive.”
“His soul-self needed to be contained. We could trap him Inbetween, but a bodiless spirit would have an easier escape route than one contained within a body. A guardian had to be chosen to suffer the banishment with him. The Galactic Council asked for someone to take him, hold him within them. I volunteered for the process.”
“You went to that hole on purpose? You said you were there thousands of years.”
“Even then, he told the truth. I was sent to The Inbetween to contain him. Somehow he convinced someone here to help him, to break him free. It appears that somehow he gained a means of communication back to Earth.”
“How?”
“That I do not know. But if Caelus has even one ally here, he may have many more. We must tread carefully?”
“Did you say Caelus? Like in mythology?”
“You know the name then. Interesting. Perhaps his godhead is deeper than I thought.”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s a particular well known figure, but for some reason I feel like I know it. Like I’ve studied it closely. I don’t know. I don’t have all my memories.”
“Intriguing. I sense great mystery about you, Mister Ian.”
“Please, just Ian.”
“Ian then.” Phoebe pointed towards the large manor on the estate. “I’m not sure what Caelus plans, but I suspect we can find at least a clue inside. Are you with me, Ian?”
“I am.”
Ian wondered if this was a mistake. He already walked a monster back to Earth and now that monster had Alli. He was wary to trust Phoebe, but if he was going to help his friends, he would have to take her. Even if she tried to betray him, he knew he could hurt her back, though the thought of using that power again made him sick to his stomach.
He walked up to the door at her side.
“Should we knock?”
Phoebe studied the door, then the entire patio. “This place isn’t as it seemed. It exists between planes. It connects to something else. Ah, I see. It’s a godhead, a realm of death.”
“A what?”
“It is a death realm. Most are barren wastelands, not unlike the Inbetween. Certain beings are known to latch on to the souls of the dead. They will capture those souls of their so-called followers, keep them from passing to their final reward. They place them in a sort of netherworld, store them for their power. It is an archaic art, but one backworlds are known to still practice. Earth has been shut off from the world for millennia. It would seem death gods still exist here.”
Ian rubbed his forehead. “Space and gods and death realms. This is a bit much for me.”
“The universe is a grand place, Ian. You must learn to accept it for what it is: a grand adventure often fraught with danger. Now come.” She reached out and tried the door.
The knob turned and opened with ease.
“Be careful,” Ian said. “I can’t imagine what awaits us if the doors are open. No one leaves their doors open these days.”
Phobe turned towards him. “These days, Ian? You are an immortal too. I remember.”
“I don’t know about that. I only remember the last week or so.”
“Perhaps I can help with that should we survive this day.”
“I would like that,” Ian said with a smile.
“Good, now be ready.”
She turned and entered the door. With a deep breath, Ian followed her.
The hero thing still wasn’t his thing. He really hated to even think about what kind of danger they faced inside. He wasn’t a fighter. He was more than happy to hide behind an illusion, let the world think he was gone.
No. I’m here for my friends. I have to help them. Or if need be, avenge them.
He walked through the door. The air turned instantly dry as he walked inside. It was warm inside, but with no moisture at all. It felt like a desert.
Guess this is a death-realm.
The room was the kind of opulent foyer one saw in any number of Southern Gothic films. But it didn’t feel like one. It felt like something unearthly. It wasn’t just the dry air, something seemed not quite real about everything around him.
“Is there anyone here?”
Phoebe scanned the room as Ian’s question lingered in the air.
“Not in this realm. This place is native to your world, but it is also a nexus that connects to the death-realm. The control over the connection seems to be gone. Something has happened to crack the link. The natives of the death realm have lost their connection to our reality.”
“Is that good?”
“The connection needs to be maintained. It won’t close without its owner in control. Rifts between realities are inherently dangerous. Left open they could wreak any kind of havoc on this world. It could turn your entire world into a barren wasteland. Or it could open your world to a flood of millions of men and women long dead.”
She turned her head and looked around again. Her eyes traveled downward towards the marble floor below them.
“Or it could be used to power a madman that wants to conquer the galaxy.”
“Stand back.”
Ian took a few steps back though he wasn’t quite sure why. Something in Phoebe’s tone perhaps. She bent down and studied the floor. Her hand reached out and ran across the black and ivory marble. Her hands seemed to caress it, as if it was a pet.
“Yes, this is it.”
A second later, the floor shifted beneath her feet. It sank down into the ground inch by inch. Her spot stopped after only a few seconds, but the rest of the floor in front of her continued to drop. One by one, steps formed out of the receding floor, a perfectly squared pathway down into something.
Ian tried to peer down at the base of the stairs, but the path disappeared into darkness. The lights of the foyer couldn’t penetrate all the way down into the seemingly never-ending path.
“What is it?”
“It is our way to your friends and allies. I do not know where they have went exactly, but I know it is down there. Will you continue this journey with me, Ian? I know I have given no reason to trust me, but I—”
“If there’s a chance my friends are there, I will follow you. Even if I’m literally walking into hell.”
Ian worried about the lack of light as they walked down the stairs, but he quickly learned there was no need. Phoebe raised her left arm after a few steps downward. A soft glow rose from her flesh, a beacon of light in the nagging dark. It illuminated her and Ian as they made their way down the narrow steps.
He hated not knowing where they were going. He hated being lost and scrambling for answers. This isn’t normal. I just want to find out who I am and live my life.
He didn’t know how long they walked downward, but it felt to Ian like they were entering some subterranean chamber far deepr than any subway. Phoebe stopped short at a door, a simple old piece of wood that looked centuries old.
Phoebe reached out and touched the door. Ian could feel the hint of electricity in the air. Power radiated from the door—or perhaps something beyond the door.
She looked back at him. He nodded, hoping he showed confidence that he did not feel.
She turned the handle and pulled the door open. Light flashed at the door’s edges as it opened. Red and ominous, it streaked out over them, consumed them. Ian didn’t even have time to scream before he was whisked away to somewhere else.
Monday, June 1, 2015
ICONS Character Profile: Alli "Spirit Cop" Finch
Real Name: Allison “Alli” Finch
Origin: Gimmick
First Appearance: Book One, Chapter 6
ABILITIES
Prowess 5
Coordination 6
Strength 3
Intellect 6
Awareness 5
Willpower 3
Stamina 6
Determination 3
SPECIALTIES
Electronics
Mechanics
Occult
POWERS
Detection (spirit) 6
Binding 4
Strike 5
QUALITIES
Connections: Peach
Epithet (World’s Leading Authority on Supernatural Entities)
Motivation (Help lost souls find peace)
CHALLENGES
Enemy (Doctor Ghost)
Personal (Anger Issues)
HISTORY
Allison Finch spent much of childhood in foster care, but she never let it bother her. She maintained a relationship with her mother during the time, despite her mother’s death during childbirth.
When she reached adulthood, she quickly turned her relationship with the spirit world to use, perfecting technologies what would allow her to become the Spirit-Cop.
Alli lives in the public eye and likes to use it to push herself as a world-changer. Unfortunately, she can barely get coverage anywhere, not even locally in River City. Her quest to change the world’s view on spirits has a long way to go.
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