Denuvus


    The heavy sound of crates being pushed along the cement, the jingling of metal coins and artifacts, and the soft murmur of voices all filled in the air around the pristine swimming pool. Earlier that morning, this had been a private, exclusive resort on a small island in the Caribbean. Only the richest, most politically powerful people were even given consideration to stay there, and the waiting list was months long. A waiting list which required near divine intervention to alter.


    At least the exclusivity part hadn’t changed. All the people steadily moving crates around and searching through the contents, recording them onto both notebooks and several computer pads, had paid more money than most people saw in a year just to stay at this place. Of course, they hadn’t paid for the privilege to work. That was never part of their vacation plans, to say the least. But work they did, without complaint or question. They slowly but steadily made their way through the contents of those crates, behaving like the most devoted of warehouse employees with years of experience and no interest in the beautiful scenery around them.


    Whenever anything interesting came up, one would type its description into their pad and send the message off. A second later, the phone sitting beside a lounge chair at the edge of the pool would ding. The dark-haired woman relaxing there would idly pick up the phone to see what had been reported and send back a message about what they were to do with the artifact they’d found. Usually, that involved putting it aside in a special area of the grounds that had been magically warded. Not that any of these people knew about magic, aside from what they had been instructed about to perform these specific jobs. They were Bystanders one and all. Powerful only in the very ordinary human sense. And right now, not even that much.


    Clearing his throat as he stood behind Denuvus, who was relaxing on that chair, Trice spoke up. “Are you sure you don’t have to worry about any of these people grabbing the thing you’re looking for and taking it for themselves? Seems like you’re giving them an awful lot of leeway here.”


    “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Denuvus replied smoothly, hand reaching out to pick up the wine glass which sat next to her phone. She took a sip, giving a soft murmur of appreciation before speaking again. “Sometimes the best possible leashes are the ones with just enough slack, the ones that seem invisible to outside eyes. Or even to the eyes of the person it’s attached to.” She took another sip, smiling while watching the water of the pool. “I’ve given them crystal-clear instructions about what they are and are not allowed to do, believe me. And if any find the object we need, they will let us know immediately.”


    Trice nodded slowly, looking out at the small army of rich people that had been tasked to do this mundane work. The actual resort employees were taking care of other things, including ensuring no one interrupted them. Not that that was likely on this small island with essentially no other inhabitants, but still. They were keeping their eyes open for incoming boats or planes, and monitoring both the regular airwaves and a magical transportation alarm system Denuvus had installed. It would take quite a bit to get the jump on them here. So, of course, Trice was half-expecting it to happen somehow. He knew Denuvus wasn’t nearly as relaxed as she appeared to be, both due to that possibility and the fact that she was so close to getting the artifact she needed to bring her sister back to life. She was a coiled spring, or possibly snake, depending on who might have presented themselves as a threat to getting what she wanted.


    Setting those thoughts aside briefly, he spoke up. “I’m surprised you don’t seem more annoyed about what happened back there, with the Chambers chicks and the rest of them.” He paused briefly before pointedly adding, “And Nevada. That didn’t exactly go the way you expected it to.”


    There was a pause before the woman gave a soft chuckle. “No, I suppose it did not. And yet, sometimes that is for the best. My ego is not so fragile that I would harbor some childish anger about something not going the precise way I intended it to. Not when I still end up getting what I wanted in the first place. It may have come in a way other than what I planned, but it came nonetheless. The former Djinn served her purpose when I needed her to, now she may live the rest of her life as she chooses. My intention to bring her back under my control was always rooted in the need to exchange her for my sister, not out of any malice. With the Seosten cloning technology, that will not be necessary. Thus, she is free to do as she wishes. Assuming,” she added pointedly, “that they deliver on that promise. They intend to, thanks to our… enforced agreement. But should anything happen to make that agreement impossible, things will change.”


    “What about the Redcliffe chick?” Trice asked then. “She got involved in all that just to force you to give her dad back. Which included threatening to dump this thing you’ve been looking for out into deep space. You really don’t hold a grudge about that?” His tone was doubtful, thinking about how angry he had been, and still was, about his brother’s death. If he had the chance to bring Torv back to life and anyone put themselves in the way of that, he… wouldn’t react well.


    Denuvus turned her head to watch her temporary employees in silence for a moment rather than answer immediately. When she did speak, it was in a soft, contemplative voice. “When I am choosing how to react to any situation remotely similar to what you’re talking about, I try to ask myself how I would have acted in their place. It doesn’t always work, but I do try. I don’t blame Erin Redcliffe for what she did.” Her voice hardened briefly. “Don’t get me wrong, had this gone poorly and the object I seek had truly been lost, my reaction would be quite different than it is now. She would not escape the wrath I would inflict upon her for many years indeed. But as it is? She and the former Djinn made a play to put themselves and those they care about in a better position. It was quite the risk, but it worked out for them, and I can set my own personal feelings aside enough to applaud that.” There was another pause. “Or at least smile faintly about it. Grudges are for people who don’t get what they want. And I… well, let’s simply say I tend not to have occasion to hold many grudges.”


    After silently responding to another text about an artifact that had been found, she spoke again, her voice matter-of-fact as she settled back into the comfortable chair. “For example, I do not hold any grudge against you for alerting Miles and Royce about my control over Klassin Roe.”


    Trice gave a little start at that, head snapping that way as he spoke sharply. “You knew?”


    Another soft chuckle escaped the woman. “There is little that happens concerning me that I don’t become aware of soon enough, especially when it comes right under my nose.” She turned to meet his gaze. “You were angry because I failed to assist in the fight against those Revenants. A fight in which people you had grown to care about died. I would be surprised if you hadn’t done anything in retaliation. And… perhaps there is more I could have done. I thought it too dangerous, yet they did succeed. With more assistance, more could have escaped that chamber alive. And I would not have lost the trust of one I’ve come to value in such a short time.”


    Staring that way, Trice took a few seconds to find his voice. “You had to give them back Redcliffe, and now they’re going to undo your control over Roe. You lost two big contacts with those people. Two big resources. And now you’re saying you’re not pissed about that?”


    “I am a great many things, and yes, I have been angry,” came the response. “But I also understand your reasoning. As I said, perhaps what I saw as avoiding a risk to my life was actually failing to avoid a risk to my resources. I could have aided in some fashion, at least to prevent their deaths. I knew you had grown to care for them, and failed to take how their deaths would affect you into account. I… should have stepped in to help you the way you have helped me. Thus, I will grant you that retaliation. Largely because I do not require Roe for anything further. But, my acceptance of my own culpability is not everlasting.” She met his gaze once more, voice hardening. “Do not test it further. I would prefer our relationship continue to be beneficial to us both. Understood?”


    After the slightest pause he considered everything, Trice bowed his head slightly. “Yeah.


    “Trust me, I’d rather stay on your good side too.”


    ***************


    Sean’s actual recruitment into Gehenna


    Sean Gerardo stepped through a glowing blue portal, accompanied by his cyberform dog. The two of them emerged into what appeared to be the partially-filled cargo bay of an old spaceship. The main doors were open, leading out into cold vacuum. Which would have been rather dangerous for him. But a forcefield kept the atmosphere, and the contents of the hanger itself, intact. Looking around the dimly-lit space and listening to the soft humming engines, Sean put his hand on Vulcan’s head as his partner gave a soft whine. “It’s okay, boy, I’m pretty sure we’re in the right place.” If they weren’t, they would find out about it very quickly. Then they’d just have to deal with it.


    Sean was just fine with anything they had to deal with, as long as it didn’t involve sitting in a house for literal years, trying not to go insane while his parents did their best to change his entire personality. Yes, relatively little time had gone by on the outside of that prison, but as far as Sean was concerned, he had been there for years. All the joys of living inside a place where time was drastically sped up. What had been weeks to everyone else was so much longer for him. He’d grown from a teenager to a young adult trapped in that place, and he had absolutely no desire to ever go through that again. If need be, he would kill to make certain it didn’t.


    And yet, he also didn’t want to be seen as a liability or have the people around him stare with pity. His friends and everyone else he had spent so much time with the year before barely recognized him now. And, to be truthful, he felt similarly about most of them. To those people, he had suddenly changed, going from their age to his twenties in such a short time. But to Sean, he had spent years without them. He had been trapped in that house, visited now and then in his mental space thanks to Apollo and others, but still trapped there. Being visited was probably the only reason he had kept things as together as he had, and yet it didn’t stop the feeling of being different now. And it didn’t stop all those people from looking at him in ways he didn’t like, even if they didn’t mean to. He needed to spend time with people who didn’t know him, who didn’t have any reason to feel pity about what had happened. He needed to be around people he could get to know as the Sean he was now.


    Except for Roxa. She was still… she was Roxa, and he felt like he would always be comfortable around her. The two of them had taken enough time to work out if this was still something they wanted to pursue. He had been ready and willing to step back if his changes, his growth and the associated problems his isolation had created, was more than she wanted to be a part of. Truthfully, he would have understood entirely. But she had made it clear that she had no intention of leaving. Not that it was all that easy, of course. They had to take the time to figure out exactly how their relationship would continue. Which had involved a lot of discussions between them and Klassin Roe, acting as what amounted to a couples’ therapist.


    One of the things they had to deal with was the fact that Sean had issues with locked doors, or even closed ones. Whenever he was in a room, he preferred every door between him and the outside remain opened, or at the very least unlocked. Being in a building that was locked made him incredibly anxious.


    He also preferred to sleep in places where he could see the sky. That was a big part of why he didn’t spend much time up in the Fusion School if he could help it. Yes, being in a space station (or sun station) wasn’t the same as being trapped inside an actual prison. But it still wasn’t freedom. He wanted to stay on the ground as much as possible, and have as much open space as he could get. Which both Vulcan and Roxa were completely on board with.


    For most of the past few months, he had spent his time with Roxa, his uncle, and the rest of their werewolf pack. His brother, Ian was there too whenever he could spare some time from helping the Rebellion. Honestly, this was probably the most time Sean had spent with his brother in… possibly ever. They all went camping, which was just the best, really. Those nights spent sleeping under the stars with the people who meant the most to him all nearby were when Sean felt the most comfortable.


    Of course, all that also meant that standing on this spaceship right now wasn’t his idea of a fantastic time. But he was here for a good reason. His desire to avoid living on the sun station and to be around people who didn’t know him before could both be realized if this worked out.


    Pondering briefly if this was a test of some sort, Sean began to look around the cargo bay. The portal had disappeared as soon as they came through, so there was no going back that way. If Gehenna, the people who had offered him this opportunity, were the sort to toss their new recruits into the deep end and see what happened–well, he wouldn’t exactly be surprised. A part of him was almost hopeful for it, actually. It had been awhile since he stretched his legs, so to speak. And it would prove they weren’t going to treat him like a glass figurine the way so many others seemed to. Yes, he spent most of his current time with the werewolf pack, and they were great. But this was something else. This was an opportunity that had nothing to do with who his uncle was, or who he had known before. This was about who he was and what he could do. Gehenna was recruiting him, and he wasn’t going to screw that up.


    With those thoughts in mind, he had barely started to do a cursory search of his surroundings when the door at the far end of the room swooshed open, and a tall, blonde female figure strode through. “Sean Gerardo,” the Seosten known as Selaphiel spoke in a booming voice, “so glad you could make it. I hope you weren’t waiting for long. I intended to be here when you arrived, but there was a bit of a situation I was forced to address.”


    “Everything good now?” Sean found himself asking, wondering why those words were leaving his mouth. If they weren’t good, she wouldn’t be here. He wasn’t that important.


    If she thought the question was odd, the woman didn’t show it. Instead, she simply nodded once. “Yes, it has been handled.” She looked him up and down contemplatively. “Considering your previous message and the fact that you agreed to come along for this trip, should I feel safe in presuming you have chosen to accept our offer?”


    The question made Sean blink once, then again. He felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. “I ahh… I didn’t actually say that?” His mind was racing, trying to think back to the message he had sent. He’d agreed to the job and then they asked him to do this mission and he agreed, right? Right?


    No. No, he thanked them for the consideration, agreed that he could learn a lot from them and contribute to the organization, along with a bit about what he knew about Gehenna. He talked about plenty of things, but he never actually agreed to their offer.


    Seeing the look on his face, Selaphiel actually chuckled. “It’s alright,” she assured him. “Your intention was clear enough. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here right now. I simply needed to be certain that you haven’t changed your mind.”


    “I have some conditions,” Sean informed her once he’d found his voice. He was trying very hard not to think about the fact that he was imposing stipulations on a woman who was connected to the power of an entire star and was capable of vaporizing him with about as much effort as he spent scratching the back of his neck. Less, really. Still, he pushed on. “If you want me to be a part of this, I mean.”


    Looking neither surprised nor put out, Selaphiel gestured silently for him to continue. So he did. “The person you sent to talk to me before said I’d be assigned to work here on Earth, and that any off-world missions would be kept to a minimum as much as possible. They also said Roxanne would be allowed to accompany me on any of those that did happen, so we wouldn’t have to be separated. I want to hear both those things from you, as the leader of Gehenna.” His voice hardened just a bit. “Let’s just say I’ve had a bad experience signing up for what I thought was one thing and turned out to be something very different. Which is especially important right now considering how much your people had to do with that whole situation.”


    “That is quite understandable, considering the circumstances of your… departure from Crossroads,” the woman agreed. “But I assure you, I have little to no connection to what you consider ‘my people’ anymore. My place is with Gehenna, who remain entirely independent. That said, yes, I can assure you that, considering how much… shall we say ‘action’ your planet sees, the vast majority of your time will be spent there. And when circumstances require your assistance in other places, we highly encourage you to bring Miss Pittman along with you as well. Not only for your own peace of mind and companionship, but from what I’ve heard, she is quite capable in her own right. To be entirely honest with you, we don’t mind if you bring her along on missions you’re given right there on Earth. Any assistance she can provide would be welcome.”


    Sean absorbed that in silence for a moment before exhaling slowly. “Right, in that case, maybe we should talk about how this is gonna work.”


    “You mean in terms of compensation, accommodations, training, communication, and the rest.” It wasn’t a question. Selaphiel simply stated it as fact before turning to walk back the way she had come. “Naturally, there are many details to sort through.”


    “Don’t take this the wrong way,” Sean announced before starting to walk after her with Vulcan at his side, “but I didn’t expect you to be the one sorting out those details. I figured you’d send one of your assistants or something. This seems a bit below your pay grade, you know?” A couple silent taps against Vulcan’s head made him send the miniature drone, VJ, into the air to hover ahead of them. Not that Sean expected to walk into a trap considering who he was with, but it was still a good habit to have.


    They left the cargo bay and emerged into one of the ship’s corridors. A ship Sean still didn’t know the name or location of. He considered that fact while Selaphiel turned left to walk toward a lift, her voice crisp. “Yes, it is far beneath my ‘paygrade,’ as you put it. But you are a special case, Sean. You are a Heretic, a Crossroads Heretic, and we don’t get that many of those. Especially not someone as skilled as you are. Yes, you are still young, the circumstances of your imprisonment notwithstanding. You are strong enough to be quite capable as a new agent of Gehenna, with magical training from no less than Lucifer himself. And a cyberform partner or two of your own.” She gave both Vulcan and the hovering VJ a brief glance before continuing. “Suffice to say, you are important. I am a very busy person, but I can spare the few minutes it requires to personally assure you that we take your recruitment seriously. Assuming you pass your final test, of course, we can discuss all the details you wish.”


    “Final test?” Sean blinked that way. “What test?”


    Selaphiel had stopped walking by that point. “This ship was stolen by a gang of wanted pirates who have terrorized several systems. I’ve eliminated their engines and the defenses on this level. Your job is to take this lift to the upper level, work your way to the bridge, and secure their captain and first officer alive for interrogation. You are free to do as you wish with the others, but we need those two. Your handler will be grading you based on your performance, and will step in if need be.”


    Before Sean could respond to that, the lift opened, revealing a familiar figure standing there. “Oh shit, you actually came,” Larees announced. The firebird tattoo on her face flared just a little bit. “Great, come aboard then.


    “Sounds like I get to watch you tear apart some evil pirates, you lucky son of a bitch.”


    *******


    Eden’s Garden Hybrids


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    “I feel bad for the moose.” As he said those words, the tall (a full six feet despite being not quite thirteen years old), green-skinned and red-haired boy known as Manny shook his head a bit morosely. “Never knew what happened to it.”


    The moose that the hybrid Orc-Human child was referring to was currently being devoured by a pair of Nemeans, giant lions who stood fifteen feet tall. The two were called Sugar and Spice, and the moose was actually the second part of their meal. They had already finished a large elk before ever chasing down this animal. An animal that had not been the least bit accustomed to facing such a large predator, let alone two of them.


    Standing a few feet away in this tiny forest (seriously, the trees would have been considered miniscule saplings back in Eden’s Garden), his friend Lenny made a noise deep in her throat. “I know, I kinda feel bad too. But they’ve still gotta eat. We can’t get enough for them by ourselves.” As she said that, the pale-skinned, light-brown-haired girl shook the bag of gummy bears she was holding. “And they don’t like the same stuff.” Her mouth opened, revealing multiple rows of sharp teeth as she tossed several of the gummies inside. “We just can’t stay here for very long, or they’ll eat too much.”


    The two hybrids and their lion companions had been on the run for months by that point. Since the very moment that the Heretic rebellion had been restarted, essentially. They all received the memories from that girl, the daughter of the woman who had run the rebellion the first time. They knew everything that had happened back then, and what had been done to stop it. That revelation had begun a brand new war right there within Eden’s Garden itself as people realized their memories had been tampered with and began to fight one another.


    One of the Heretics had created a portal and ushered all the Hybrids through it to keep them safe. Manny and Lenny had been the last to go, because they’d had to go find Sugar and Spice. Lenny wouldn’t leave them behind. When they went through the portal together, something happened to the Heretic who was holding it open, and the connection was broken before their transportation was complete. Instead of appearing with the rest of their people, the two hybrids and the lions they were riding had found themselves in the middle of nowhere in the northeastern United States. They had spent these past months trying to avoid being discovered, having no idea who they could trust or how to find anyone they needed. It was all they could do to stay out of sight, let alone track down someone who would be willing to take them in. Yes, there was a Rebellion happening. There were people who would help them. But they had no idea how to find those particular people. The one time they had tried to trust someone, it had gone poorly and they only escaped thanks to some quick thinking on Manny’s part, and an even quicker bite from Sugar, the male Nemean.


    So, they had spent the past months traveling through the wilderness areas, trying to avoid attention while keeping themselves and the lions fed. That amounted to a lot of hunting. Thankfully, they could both eat the wild game the lions brought down. Between Lenny’s partial Akheilosan biology and Manny’s Orcish, their bodies could process raw meat just fine. Sometimes they even cooked it when they could get a fire going. But they needed more than just meat. They also scavenged for wild fruits and vegetables, or even traded with various human campers they could find (while Sugar and Spice stayed out of sight, of course). Sometimes trading involved giving the other campers food they’d hunted, or directions toward good places to hike, or even doing odd jobs for them. The humans they ran into always seemed to think the two of them were either camping with their families, or that they lived out in one of the cabins in the area. They did nothing to dissuade them of that notion, not wanting to draw any attention from Bystander authorities trying to help. And they usually moved on after such an encounter anyway, just in case.


    They had been sleeping outside ever since this started, but that wasn’t anything new for them. The pair were accustomed to sleeping on the ground a fair bit even back at the Garden. In this case, being able to sleep all nestled up against the warm, soft fur of their lion companions was even better.


    All in all, it could have been much worse. But they were still alone out here, and both hybrid children knew their luck couldn’t last forever. Someone was going to find them at some point. And if they had come to one realization over their time together in these past months, it was that they couldn’t go back to the way things were. Living essentially as slaves back at Eden’s Garden had been one thing when they believed that it was the only way to live, when they thought that being Hybrids meant they were doomed to be evil if they weren’t kept under control. But the revelation of the rebellion, and all this time they had spent on their own, showed them that they weren’t. They could be good completely on their own, just because they chose to be.


    Whatever happened, they weren’t going to be slaves again, not if they could help it.


    Which was precisely why, as the two heard the sound of approaching footsteps through the nearby trees, they immediately spun that way and raised the ‘weapons’ they had been able to scavenge. In Manny’s case, that was an old woodcutter’s axe that had been left behind by some campers. For Lenny, it was a switchblade knife that had been a present from a grateful fisherman for diving into the water to get his lost pole back. Neither were all that skilled in using their weapons, but they were going to try if this really was a threat.


    More intimidatingly, Sugar and Spice both abandoned the last of their meal and leapt over, landing in front of the pair protectively while giving low growls.


    “Whoa, hey there.” A single figure emerged from the woods, holding both empty hands up. She was an older girl, who very clearly was not dressed for camping, considering she wore ratty old jeans and a simple gray tee shirt advertising something called Knights Of The Old Republic, along with tennis shoes and no visible weapons or equipment. “It’s okay, I’m here to help. I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Lenny.”


    Both Sugar and Spice immediately leaned down and started taking turns licking the girl excitedly, while Lenny slowly leaned out from behind them. “Uhh…. who are you?”


    Laughing at the lions excitedly slathering her with saliva, the newcomer held them back and looked that way. “Me? I’m with a place called Wonderland. My name’s Sesh.


    “I’m your sister.”


    ********


    Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain – 1863


    “Mark twain!” As he called out those words, the nearly-thirty year old Samuel Clemens strode through the Old Corner Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. In response to the call, one of the barmen moved to add two dashes to Clemens’ tab, before producing a bottle of whiskey and pouring two shots from it into a glass. Setting the glass down in front of the new arrival, he held onto it for a moment. “You gonna be good to clear out what you owe anytime soon, Sam?” His tone wasn’t entirely unfriendly, but there was a very slight warning note that a tab could only grow so large.


    Clemens met his gaze and offered an easy smirk. “Don’t you worry about it. I just sent in another couple stories to Mr. Goodman. I’ll be getting paid tomorrow and we’ll clear all this up.”


    The barman waited only another moment before nodding as he released the glass and allowed the other man to take a pull from it. “More stories, huh? Anything good?”


    “My fine friend,” Clemens reminded him, “all of my stories are good. It’s just that a few may spell that word a bit better than others.”


    “Oh, I’m sure they’ll be just fine.” Those words came from the man sitting a couple stools further down, whom Sam had not paid attention to up until that point. But with the voice tickling at his memory, he turned to look that way. Which left him staring at a tall, almost achingly handsome man with dark eyes and even darker hair, which lay in pristine curls against his head. A half-filled glass of rum sat in front of him. That in and of itself was interesting, considering how relatively few people drank rum around these parts. Whiskey yes, or brandy, and even champagne. But rum, while not unheard of, was different enough to give pause.


    Of course, Sam had other reasons to react to the nearby man besides his choice of drink. He choked a bit on his own whiskey, putting the glass down before blurting a surprised, “Atherby?”


    Waving the bartender away with a smile and a few coins, the dark-haired man extended a hand that way. “Come now, Sam, it’s just Josh. You’ve grown a bit since I saw you last.”


    Lowering his voice a fair bit, Sam replied quietly, “And you haven’t changed at all. Though I guess that’s not surprising, is it?”


    “There’s no need to whisper,” Josh informed him while tapping a coin he had left on the bar between them. “No one’s going to overhear us. It’s good to see you again. And it sounds like you’ve been making some good use of that imagination of yours.”


    “Eh, doing what I can,” Sam demurred with a shrug. “Tried doing some prospecting for awhile, and other things. Even played riverboat captain. But something tells me you know about that part.”


    Joshua Atherby offered a smile. “You did some good work there, Sam. I’ve had a lot of friends tell me they only made it as far as they did down the Mississippi thanks to you getting them a safe ride on that boat. I meant to come see you a lot sooner than this, but things have been… busy. Still, I wanted to thank you personally for all that.”


    “Nothing to thank me for,” Sam immediately insisted. “They all earned their rides. All I did is help make sure they got what they were owed, and didn’t run into trouble. Seems to me you did the same for a little boy who was too curious for his own good back in the day.”


    His words were met with a chuckle before Josh replied, “I like people who are curious. It’s a fine trait to have. Better than being dull.” Shifting on his stool, he added, “But I’ve been getting caught up reading those stories you put in the paper. Seems to me like you could write an awful lot more. You’ve got a creative mind, sharp wit, and a life full of tales just waiting to be embellished. I think you could do better if you made a real name for yourself. All these small stories in the newspaper, don’t give me wrong, they’re good. But you could do better. You could write novels, Sam. Give your characters time to breathe so your readers can become more invested. You’ve got all those stories in your head. I think you could put them in a book and really make something that lasts. Something more than stories in a paper.”


    Clemens was quiet for a moment as he considered the glass. “Maybe,” he allowed. “I’ve some thoughts that could use a little more space to breathe. But I need something… more. I need a name that people will remember, one that will make them snap their fingers and say, ‘That was it, that’s the author I remember reading before. Let me have some more of those stories.’ I’ve been looking for the right name and it just…. nothing feels right.”


    The two men sat in silence for a minute, nursing their drinks. Finally, Josh spoke up. “That thing you said when you came in, what did that mean?”


    “Mark twain?” Sam shrugged. “It’s a riverboat saying, that’s all. It’s what they call out when the boat reaches water that’s two fathoms deep. ‘By the mark, twain.’ I suppose I missed those days a bit, so I use it here to tell them to make two marks against my tab.” He squinted that way. “Why?”


    Joshua smiled slowly, meeting the other man’s gaze. “Mark Twain, hmm?


    “That has a certain ring to it.”


    *******


    Medea – Present Day


    It was a rather impressive greenhouse, all things considered. Unfathomably large by human standards, the main building stretched over a full mile above ground, and went on for several miles below, with the plants being assisted in their growth by artificial lamps. If it had been out in the open, such a structure would have been a marvel to most people. But this particular building was hidden deep in the Australian Wilds, far from most heavily populated areas. Between that and the mixture of technological and magical cloaking abilities that have been layered over the place, almost no one in the universe knew it existed. No one aside from its creator, her family, and a very select group of others.


    At one point in her admittedly fairly long life, Medea had been a loyal Seosten. Barely old enough to be considered an adult by her peoples’ standards when she had joined the Olympus and made it to Earth, she had been part of the Botany division. All she had wanted to do was spend time on the planet cataloging and examining all the different plants this planet had to offer. In exchange for that opportunity, Kushiel had assigned her to watch over a human she liked, a man known as Jason.


    So, she had done that. And the two of them had fallen in love. Or she thought they did, but Jason had betrayed her, had treated her more like his toy than his partner. He was, in no uncertain terms, a bastard. All of which had led her to abandon both him and her people, faking the murder of her children just to escape and take them with her to live on the small continent that would one day be known as Australia.


    Now, many centuries later, this land was very different than it had been when she and her children first arrived. Then again, the entire world was quite different. Human technology might not have advanced nearly to the point of matching the Seosten, but they were definitely not the complete primitives they had once been. Primitives that, in some ways, they had only become thanks to the Bystander Effect.


    At that moment the small, dark-haired woman, who had spent her developing time on the Olympus being teased about her large eyes that were made even more pronounced by the goggles she preferred to wear, was standing on the roof of the greenhouse she and her family had spent the past centuries putting together and perfecting. This was no mere catalog of Earth’s flora anymore. They had collected plants from all over the universe, including many whose worlds had been wiped out thanks to the war with the Fomorians. In some cases, there were literally no other living samples other than the plants here in this paradise.


    Medea wasn’t alone on this roof. Standing next to her, tugging at her hand excitedly to show the potted rose he had helped grow, was one of her grandchildren. Well, to be specific, Fasski wasn’t her grandson. He was her great-great-great-great grandson. After moving to this place with her two children, Medea had spent the first few decades avoiding absolutely everyone. It was easy back then, considering how little of this continent was populated. Especially considering how dangerous a lot of the local wildlife was. The humans knew some of it, but not nearly all. The wilds of Australia were filled with incredibly violent and hungry creatures.


    But, eventually, Medea had not wanted to hold her children back anymore. They mingled with some locals, and started their own families. Now, all these years later, the group called themselves the Tutela Clan. They had originally wanted to name themselves after Medea herself, but she had vetoed that decision. Instead, they were named after the old word for guardianship. That was what she saw them as. Whatever happened, they would protect the plants from every world they could find. They kept expanding the greenhouse structure, adding more to it whenever they needed to.


    Their clan wasn’t large, amounting to barely twenty living people at this point. But they were all devoted to keeping this place secret and protected. They traveled from world to world from this secret place, using actual Primal magic Medea had discovered in her travels through this continent that allowed them to entirely bypass the shield that had been put in place to prevent anyone from traveling to or from Earth. It was some of that same Primal magic which enabled her to hide this place even from her own people. No one could find it.


    At least, no one should have been able to. Which was why Medea was so surprised when a loud humming sound filled the air as a portal appeared just a few feet away. Quickly ordering her grandson to get behind her, she spun that way and stared with narrowed eyes while producing a luxensis, or laser sword, with one hand and an enchanted shield with the other. The latter looked like a simple metal buckler shield, but a single activation of the enchantment on the shield would expel any unauthorized creatures within a three mile radius. If they had truly been found by their enemies, that wouldn’t stop them forever. But it would buy some time, and Medea was an expert in how useful buying time could be.


    If she was surprised by the portal’s creation, she was even more taken aback by the two figures who came into view through it. They were children, young girls who couldn’t have been older than their early teens. One was blonde, while the other had dark hair.


    “Sorry! Sorry,” the latter quickly called out while holding her hands up. “We wanted to send a message warning you about the whole portal thing, but you were sort of shielded so we couldn’t. We’re not here to hurt anybody, we promise, Miss Medea.”


    For a second, the woman just stared at them. Well, it would appear to be a second from their point of view. Thanks to her own Olympian power, Medea was able to freeze time. She was incapable of moving while it was frozen, but it gave her as long as she needed to decide how to respond to something. It was essentially unlimited time to think. And she used it quite thoroughly then, staring at these two girls for several minutes from her own perspective as she tried to decide what to do.


    In the end, she settled on a simple, “Who are you and what are you doing here? How did you find this place?”


    The two girls exchanged looks before the blonde spoke up. “Um, I’m Casey and that’s Dakota. One of the bad guys I killed a while ago knew about this place because he made one of your grandchildren tell him when they were on a trip. He was putting a whole little army together to come fight you for it, but now he’s dead, so you don’t have to worry about it. Anyway, I sort of got his memories, so I found out about this place. I just need some help. I’m trying to find this friend of mine, and there’s a spell that Dakota and me can put together, but we need this special plant that doesn’t grow anywhere on Earth.”


    Dakota bobbed her head up and down rapidly. “Yeah, we’re really, really sorry to bug you, Miss Medea. But it really is important. Can we please talk to you about it? We promise we’re not gonna tell anybody about this place.”


    Another few minutes that was only a second from their perspective passed before the Seosten woman put a hand on her grandson’s head. “Go and let your mother know what’s happening.


    “Tell her we’re going to have visitors for dinner.”


    *******


    Dakota and Casey – Present Day


    “Are you sure about this?” Dakota asked nervously while looking around the simple office. At least, at one point it had been a simple office, a small one in a rented property meant for a lawyer or possibly an accountant to use. One of dozens inside this three-story building. But after what she and her friend had done to the place, they probably weren’t getting their security deposit back. The walls and floor were entirely covered in runes created from various colors of paint, while separate runes had been carved into the material with knives. Several material components, including a bright red gemstone the size of a ping pong ball, were scattered through the room in key locations connected to those runes. Finally, much smaller blue, green, and white gems were embedded within every few inches of space along the ceiling. Those glowed in a steady pattern of green, then white, then blue.


    “Sure about how much damage we had to do to this place, or that it’s gonna work?” As she asked that, Casey straightened from adjusting the placement of one of her components a couple millimeters. The blonde girl turned to face her companion, brushing herself off while smiling. “It’ll work. Trust me, it’s all up here.” She tapped the side of her head before continuing. “And don’t worry, I left a whole envelope of cash for the guys who have to clean up after us. They could practically buy a whole new building. Or at least remodel this one completely. It’ll be fine.”


    Dakota hesitated just slightly before giving a little nod. “Okay, as long as we’re not being total jerks to these guys. It’s not their fault we had to damage their pretty office so much. Curtis said they were pretty nice to him." She was referring to the homeless man the two of them had helped get cleaned up and pose as the person renting the office in exchange for enough cash to get him back on his feet. And, more importantly, out of the city under a different identity so he wouldn’t get in trouble for what they were doing to this place.


    That part was all Casey. Actually, all of this was. But she had specifically been the one to come up with the fake identification documents Curtis needed to start a different life. Dakota still had no idea how the girl had certain resources or knew those people. She was very different than what Dakota had thought she was back before all this started. But then, that was to be expected. She was a full Reaper-bonded, like that Gabriel Prosser guy. If anyone else, especially any of the leadership, knew about that, they probably wouldn’t let Casey out of their sight. She was too important, too potentially powerful. She didn’t just get one power from killing something, she got every power they had, and at full strength. What was more, she also got their memories. Casey might’ve only been thirteen years old, but she had been a natural Reaper Bonded for years, and absorbed the memories and skills from everything and everyone she killed throughout that time. Which meant that she knew a hell of a lot more than she should have.


    It was a lot for Dakota to take in, to say the least. But she’d given a magical oath that she wouldn’t expose her new friend’s secret unless it was a matter of life and death. Yes, before agreeing to the spell meant to stop her from revealing the truth to anyone, Dakota had insisted on adding a couple caveats like that, just in case. Casey had asked for her help in finding her a long lost Reaper friend, and Dakota wanted to do that. She wasn’t going to expose her new friend’s secret without a very good reason.


    Besides, if there really was a friendly Reaper out there, wouldn’t it be better to have help from her too? Something told her that Casey needed this Jones more than she needed to be protected by the others. But that didn’t stop her from feeling nervous about this whole thing. There had been a haze of anxiety hanging over the back of her mind the entire time they had set up this spell.


    Still, she pushed that aside as best as she could and focused. “Does that mean we’re ready for um, my part?” The question came a bit anxiously as she looked toward the hallway where they had left several more important crates.


    Casey confirmed that they were to that point, and the two of them went out to those crates before opening them. Inside were several rare potted plants in a rainbow of colors. These weren’t just any ordinary Earth flora. They came from other worlds and were specifically required for this spell to work. All of them had come thanks to that little visit to see the Seosten, Medea, and her family in Australia. They also would’ve been impossible to grow to their current size without Dakota’s help. Her still-burgeoning control over plants allowed the girl to coax these ones into growing and budding the way they were supposed to. Here on Earth it would’ve taken at least several decades for them to grow this much. On their own worlds, a few years. When coaxed by Dakota’s power, it took only weeks.


    One by one, they carefully carried the plants into the prepared room and arranged them in the proper place. After that, it only took a few minutes to connect the spell forms up onto the plants themselves. Finally, the whole thing was ready. Casey was practically dancing in excitement. “Finally,” she murmured while her eyes glanced around to take in the whole room, checking for any possible problems, “I’m gonna find her again.”


    Soon, the two of them were standing in the middle of the room, holding hands while reciting the verbal components of the spell that Casey had taught to Dakota. It took several repetitions before they felt the power in the room begin to rise. After a few more, their hair was standing out in every direction, electricity seeming to crackle over their skin while they continued to chant. Dakota was even more nervous, but she kept going, not wanting to screw this up. Another repetition, and another. By then, the power was crackling throughout the room. It had to go somewhere. Finally, Casey spoke the last few words, and there was a sudden explosion of power and blinding light as everything they put in the spell culminated in the effect that was supposed to show them how to find the Reaper.


    And then the light faded, leaving Dakota and Casey standing somewhere very different than where they had been before. A place with bright, colorful lights, cheerful songs playing, and the smell of roasted peanuts and popcorn.


    “Uhh… uhh…” Casey turned in a circle, taking in the games and rides all around them. “Are we at an amusement park?”


    “No,” Dakota informed her, rocking back on her heels in surprise.


    “We’re in the Carnival.”