Potentialfate @potential-fate - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
Potentialfate
@potential-fate
I'll answer to Nicky or Fate, 30+, they/them
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If you're expecting some sort of consistency, I'm sorry in advance. The only thing consistent here is that this is a sims (2) blog on main. I have a (nonsims) side blog somewhere around here, but I seem to have misplaced it with my keys...
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Navigation post is pinned.
for posterity's sake, I can also be found on simblr.cc, pillowfort, as well as dreamwidth, though I don't use it currently.
(and for my mutuals, my discord is potentialfate, just make sure you let me know who you are if you add me.)
I’m WCIF friendly, but I also have a lot of old stuff in my game, so I can’t guarantee anything. I should at least be able to give you names though! Please send them via ask though, otherwise I might miss them or forget!
I make TS2 CC exclusively (you will find no ts4 cc here.) and write semi-interesting soap opera style posts based vaguely around gameplay. (with a lot of artistic liberty.) That being said, my writing has some darker themes. I tag appropriately with “tw xxx” as the standard. (ie: “tw death”) please read at your own risk. I’m willing to add extra tw tags for regular readers/mutuals/etc if you send me a dm.
Due to Tumblr's new adverts on personal blogs, I feel like I should add a warning that I neither support whatever adverts are on my page, nor do I even know what they are. I highly recommend you too get an adblocker like ublock or adblock, or use a VPN that has an adblock included. (or all of the above)
(if you only want to see my posts, and no reblogs, all my posts are tagged "my posts" for more specifics, read on)
Current Story (Master Post)
Ten years ago, Arkhelios' "quiet" town was thrown into chaos when one of their beloved founders, Abraham Helios, was found murdered in the park one late night. With no real leads, and no laws as safety nets in place, the case went cold and the town hasn't been the same since. Salem Bellamy stepped up to take over in Abraham's wake, but the peace that followed is strained at best. With new complications on the rise, and the older generation fighting to establish a social hierarchy, the younger generation of residents struggle to find their place, and move on from their traumatic childhoods. But can one really move on, when what's dead and buried doesn't stay that way?
My Custom Content:
// [pfate tag] // (All my CC)
// [Whole SFS Folder] // (it might be a mess)
// [Google Doc Master Post] // (includes images)
// [Object Default Database] // (a GD database for ts2 B/B defaults)
// [Pearshape Fat Morph Project] // (info || tag)
Note:
My custom content follows the same tagging system I use for cc finds, so it will also be mixed in with those tags if you’re looking for something specific. You can also find only my custom content via the “dl: xxx” tags (ie: “dl: hair”) or on my Simblr.CC.
TOU is basically just don’t say you made it yourself, feel free to do whatever you want with it though, just don’t put anything created with my shit behind a paywall… and idek a link/credit or an @ would be pretty chill. it’s not 100% necessary though.
I don’t really take requests, but feel free to make a suggestion. Just don’t be alarmed if I say I’m not interested.
What happened in Pleasantview after Bella Goth's disappearance? How did the other citizens fare from the aftermath, and how does one exactly grow up when your parents can't seem to get a handle on their own lives? Follow the slice-of-life storyline of the teens and young adults from pleasantview, with a few cameos from other neighborhoods.
Other’s Content:
(Other simmer’s works, these will all also be generally tagged: reblog)
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Sims 2 Custom Content Finds Tag Masterpost
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Other common tags: Sims Artwork // Sims Memes // Sims 4 // sims stories
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Stories to Read list
The occasional TS4 post I make will be tagged pfate ts4
"Are you sure that you want to be here? We can go home if you want. Well, back to the house anyway; I doubt we'd have much privacy in the castle with the Pryor-Vienot drama. Despina probably won't even notice that we're back with all the reading she's been doing. I brought her a sandwich yesterday because she's been skipping meals and she barely acknowledged me. We'd have the place to ourselves if you wanted to celebrate your birthday there. We could dance or you could play guitar while I play piano or something. We could do whatever you want."
Adam leaned closer to his ex-boyfriend, smiling when Theo did the same. While their friends worked through family drama, and Despina threw herself into her work with dream magic, Adam and Theo now found themselves alone.
After eating most of Theo's birthday cake, the teens had elected to find somewhere quiet to spend the rest of the night. They'd settled on the abandoned Dean house, which Helle had claimed as another property belonging to her by birthright. She was a Dean by blood, and if any of her siblings returned to the family home, she wanted to be the first to know. Helle and the Pryors were all sequestered in the castle, no doubt continuing their arguments about infidelity and what the Proxy had considered to be sin. Adam and Theo couldn't be paid to wander into that mess. They had more than enough family drama of their own at home.
"No, I think we should stay here," Theo replied. "This bed is comfy, and it's my birthday. I don't want to celebrate it playing guitar and avoiding Despina's magical experiments. I want to celebrate it with you. The way we used to. You know, before we broke up...or how we would have spent it before...before the accident."
Both boys' faces flushed at the reminder of how they spent their nights before Theo's blood magic had sparked a disaster that had almost killed Adam. Theo ran his fingers gently down Adam's face, tracing the lines of the scars his magic had left until Adam reached out his own hand to stop him.
"Hey, we're stronger now and more practiced at holding your power back," Adam softly reminded his ex. "That's never going to happen again. We will never be caught off guard like that again. I promise."
Theo smiled.
"It hasn't happened since I got back from Shadowvale, not even once. Sebastian never...well, we never...it was never dangerous or out of control. He was safe, but he was never you."
Adam cringed at the mention of his cousin and the implications of what Theo had done with him. Only Theo could bring a guy to an empty bedroom, just to talk about his ex. It seemed to be a Bellamy trait, from what Adam had seen, one that Adam had hoped Theo would grow out of. Still, Adam was sitting in a bedroom with Theo, which was more than he could have hoped for even a month ago. Theo wanted him here, even if he couldn't keep his foot out of his mouth. Maybe this was Theo trying to open up about his insecurities about what had happened between them. He wasn't doing a great job at communicating, but this could be a start.
"Of course he's not me," Adam declared, pulling Theo closer to him. "We're magic together, everyone knows that. We always have been and we always will be. I know that you don't want a commitment or relationship right now, but I will always love you, Theo. No matter what. No one else comes close to you."
"H-how many other people are you comparing me to?" Theo asked nervously. "I've only been with Sebastian, but you...Remy made it sound like maybe you've been with a lot of people. Like a lot. I know she lies about just about everything, but is she lying about that too?"
Adam pulled Theo into a passionate kiss, silencing his nervous stammering.
"They don't matter," Adam replied, breaking the kiss just long enough to get the words out. "Nothing else matters. We're sixteen and far away from our home and families, just waiting for a powerful demon to attack. If you want something to happen between us, then that's something we can control. Do you want something to happen between us? It's okay if you don't. I'd understand."
Theo sighed and rolled back onto the bed, unsure of what his answer should be. Yes, he wanted something to happen, and had taken Adam specifically there in order to ensure that it happened. But there was still a million thoughts running through his mind that questioned this choice.
Adam was more experienced than he was. Theo felt a powerful spark run through him at the thought of being with Adam, that had never happened with Sebastian. He had been happy with Sebastian, sure, but there was something wild and dangerous about his feelings for Adam. Had Theo learned to control his powers enough not to injure Adam again? Would he ever have control over those wild feelings? He couldn't explain to Despina that he'd hurt her cousin again; the grief and self-loathing would be more than he could bear.
"I think that I now understand why you kissed Josh," Theo said, reaching for Adam's hand.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I didn't know how to process what happened between us and I could never understand why you would be afraid to be physical with me after the accident. I knew that I wasn't trying to hurt you, but I've never seen what my magic looks like to other people before Xexys accidentally showed me. It just feels normal to me, but the curse, all of that power? Through Xexys' eyes, I could see it for the first time and it was terrifying. Literal nightmare fuel. It doesn't feel natural or safe to other people, but it's all that I've ever known. So, I get why it freaks you out so badly that you wanted to see if kissing someone else was safer. I don't like it or forgive it, but I understand."
Adam rolled close enough to stare Theo in the eyes. Theo was actually admitting that he could understand Adam's actions, and there was no chance that Adam was going to let this opportunity slip past him.
"You saw it in a dream? I'm glad that you got to experience for yourself, so you can understand what it's like for the rest of us. Well, for everyone else, at least. Since I ground your powers, it's a little different for me. I can feel and channel some of that power, but it's still overwhelming. Very overwhelming, if you're not prepared. Remy...Remy was always worried about me dealing with all of it, especially after the accident." Adam smiled wistfully in an attempt to block the tears he felt coming from thinking of when his sister was healthy and awake. He missed her terribly, but he couldn't think about her right now.
"I don't want to hurt you again," Theo murmured. "I know that Evren and my parents shielded me from what happened after the accident, and that you were really badly hurt. I would have come back to see you if I hadn't been sent to Shadowvale. I would have been there for you; I begged to come back."
Adam paused, remembering the months of misery, pain, and confusion he'd endured after Theo had been sent away and how it had all led to him kissing his friend, Josh. None of those memories were pleasant, and he definitely didn't want to remember them now.
"Theo, that won't happen again, I promise. We can't be stuck in the past if we want to move forward together. I'm healed, and you're in control of your powers now. Is this the only reason you've been afraid of being with me?"
Theo looked away, unable to meet Adam's gaze.
"No," he lied. "You cheated on me. I don't know if you would do it again if something else went wrong. That's it."
"That's why Despina is about to murder you if you have another dream about me again, right? You don't care about that kiss with Josh; you care about me but you're afraid of what happened. You're afraid to get close to me again in case something goes wrong. Admit it."
"I'm not afraid of anything," Theo replied quickly. Adam could sense Theo raise his usual walls, effectively ending their conversation about emotions he didn't want to admit to. "I'll prove it. Let's do this, if you're okay with the risk. I'm sure that you're right, and everything will be fine." He put his lips against Adam's and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he did. He wasn't nervous. He wanted to act on all of the dreams Despina shouted at him about, and he wasn't nervous. Everything was going to be fine. Better than fine, even. He was in Adam's arms and that was going to be fine.
"If you're sure." Adam could see the worry in Theo's eyes, but he knew that his ex was never going to talk about his feelings. The only thing Adam could do was support him and assure him that they weren't in any danger. "I love you, Theo."
"I can't live without you," Theo replied, wincing at the disappointment in Adam's eyes when he couldn't repeat the word "love". It was the truth though, no matter how hard Theo had tried to fight it. No matter what happened in his life, Adam was always going to be by his side, even if Theo wasn't sure what their relationship would be.
Adam dug through the limited resources in their shared fridge, hoping that he had enough ingredients for his plan. For the last week, Adam had gathered milk, eggs and flour from any source he could, and stored it in the kitchen of their original hideout. Today was Theo's sixteenth birthday, and he'd spent the last week absolutely miserable about it. The Pryor and Vienot families had withdrawn briefly from the greater mission against Xexys, in order to work through some very important issues, leaving Adam, Theo, and Despina alone. Despina had been thrilled for the chance to dig deeper into any book she could find about either dream magic or the history of Jubilant Accosts, while Theo had simply moped. For a few moments each day, he would practice his swordsmanship in the yard or listen to Adam play on the piano, but it was obvious that Theo was homesick. Homesick and worried about how his father was taking his absence.
Adam couldn't bring him to Arkhelios, but he could try to do something special for Theo. He wasn't skilled at baking like Roman Bellamy, but he did have some practice making a cake. His family could easily afford to buy cakes or have chefs make them for them, but his stepfather, Ewan, loved to bake. He once told Adam that his own father used to bake as stress relief, a skill that he learned from his older sister, who had learned it from their father. It had sounded like Ewan was trying to use baking to bond with his stepson, but to Adam's shame, he had always given up on baking and just ate what Ewan made. Now, he was going to prove to his stepdad that he'd learned something, while also cheering up Theo. When he got back, maybe he'd even make a cake for Ewan.
There were recipe books in the house which contained cake recipes that Adam thought he could make. There were a ton of more difficult recipes, but Adam didn't want to risk having this whole experiment blow up in his face and have nothing to give to Theo. The simpler, the better.
He'd somehow made too much batter for a single cake, so Adam tried to make little cupcakes in a separate pan. He had no idea of they'd be edible, but he at least had to try. Something he'd put in the oven had to succeed or the whole gesture would be ruined. There was only white, boring frosting, but it had been all that Rita could offer. It would at least taste good, she'd promised.
"Adam? Are you making something? It smells smoky in the hall. Despina's not trying some weird spell is she?"
"Surprise!" Adam shouted, gesturing wildly at the cake behind him. "Happy birthday, Theo! I wanted to make you something special for your birthday since you can't be with your family. It's not your dad's cake, but I think it turned out okay. There's even little mini cakes that should be good if the main cake isn't."
Adam left out the fact that the frosting was covering a very underwhelming cake that may still have pieces of eggshells in it, but Theo didn't seem to mind.
"You made this? For me?" Theo gasped. He looked genuinely impressed. "I didn't know that you knew how to bake. This must have taken you forever!"
"A little bit under forever," Adam laughed. He hadn't seen Theo look this excited all week. "Baking is a lot more work than I imagined, but I wanted you to have something special. You do only turn sixteen once, after all."
"I can't believe you found everything to make this in a place like this," Theo exclaimed. He rushed to wrap his arms around Adam, overwhelmed by the gesture.
"I did have some help," Adam confessed, sinking into Theo's arms as deeply as he could. It had all been worth it just for this one moment. "I asked around for the ingredients, but the end result was all me. Do you want to try a piece now, or do I have to sing Happy Birthday to you first?"
"I'm not opposed to hearing you sing, but I am actually pretty hungry. I'm curious to see how this tastes. Did you use any magic to make it?"
Adam shook his head proudly.
"Nope. I did it all by hand. As your dad says, magic doesn't always belong in the kitchen. My stepdad taught me a few things about baking, when I wasn't ignoring him to study crystals. I wanted you to have something special."
"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for my birthday. Ever. I love it."
It probably wasn't true, but Adam's heart swelled with pride all the same.
"Well, uh, we should probably try it before Despina smells it and tries to recruit us for more dream experiments," he said. The last thing he wanted to do was let go of Theo, but eventually, they did have to try the cake.
"I think I heard her snoring, so we should be safe," Theo laughed. "She's probably in her own experiment now."
"We can save her a piece. Helle and the Pryors too, if it's any good. I'd imagine dessert might help break up family fighting. I feel bad for them. I remember how upset you were when you learned about your dad's affair, plus the reapers trying to learn how to adjust to their afterlife? It's a mess."
"You know me so well," Theo replied softly. "You've been my best friend since I was six and you've been through everything with me. I don't know why I thought that I could live without you in my life. It's impossible."
"Impossible?" Adam repeated. His knees nearly buckled from the look in Theo's eyes. "How do you want me to be in your life?"
"I don't know right now. I don't know anything. Helle and Abercius loved each other across two lifetimes, and my parents are happy together now, I think, despite them cheating on each other."
Adam tried not to roll his eyes at the reminder.
"Theo, your dad has two secret children hidden in two monarchies. I kissed one guy because I couldn't handle being afraid of touching you. I almost died, and I still want to be with you. I love you."
"You do?" Theo's voice wavered when confronted with what had been extremely obvious to everyone around them. He knew. There was no way he couldn't know, especially when Despina kept threatening him over his repeated fantasies about her cousin. It was just too complicated to think about, with too many conflicting feelings. Did he break his promise of never taking back a cheater, even after he was able to feel for the first time just how immense his power was to others?
He understood why Adam was afraid of the power attached to him. He understood that Adam had gone through a traumatic event after their accident, and then still braved the dream realm just to talk to him. It was just scary to trust again and allow himself to be open to being hurt again. He knew that Adam had been hurt just as badly, and that living in Jubilant Accosts with the immense pressure being placed on them probably didn't make the situation any easier. Would he still be this desperate to hold Adam as tight as he could if they hadn't left Pleasantview? Probably, though Theo would never tell another living soul about that desire.
"Hey, let's sit down for a minute," Theo suggested nervously. Adam was staring at him with an intense look that Theo didn't know how to interpret. "This is all overwhelming."
Adam obeyed, pushing his chair close to Theo's.
"Theo, we're both sixteen now and more mature," he began. "Well, somewhat mature, considering that I doubt we'd be even having this conversation in Pleasantview. You can't ignore me here, and that makes you nervous. We need to talk about us, even if we're not together."
Theo lowered his eyes and sighed.
"I know. It's been so weird living with you and sleeping next to you again, and all these weird feelings keep popping up that I can't understand. Plus Abercius and his dad having literal soulmates because that's apparently a real thing that exists outside of romantic greeting cards, and what if you're mine? Would I ever know it for sure? Have we just known each other for so long that you're familiar to me or is it something else? And if we are, what does that mean? I don't know if I want to be in a relationship right now. Sebastian only dumped me to protect me, and if he wakes up and I'm with someone else, is he going to be hurt? Do I want him to take me back if we can cure him? I don't know."
"Take a breath," Adam ordered, shocked that Theo was actually being candid with him. Clearly, he'd been thinking about their relationship a lot lately. Adam should have baked him a cake weeks ago. "I don't think that everyone gets a soulmate or that you need to assume you have one. My dad's been with a bunch of women and even had kids with some of them. Are any of them his soulmate? Do you think that anyone's soul could match Remy's? Don't tie yourself into knots thinking about soulmates. Maybe they're just for gods and people from this realm."
"We're connected by blood and magic," Theo insisted. "You ground my powers for me. I still have feelings for you, even if I pretend that I don't. I want to kiss you and never stop kissing you, but then I feel bad about leaving Sebastian and bad about nearly killing you and scarring your face , and maybe I just can't be in a relationship right now. We have to save two realms and save your family or we can never go home! It's all too much."
"Hey, don't worry about that. We can worry about it later, and we don't need to be in a relationship right now. Nothing's going to change if you don't worry about the future for a couple of hours. If you want to kiss me, just kiss me. I want to kiss you too."
Theo's expression still seemed hesitant, but he leaned closer to his ex-boyfriend anyway.
"You're really okay with leaving things casual? I mean, until I can figure out what I want? I don't want to-"
"Theo, it's your birthday," Adam interrupted, bringing his face closer to Theo's. "Just kiss me already."
"Who would have thought that two babies could be so quiet. I wish my little brother was as quiet as these guys. Abe screams all the time."
Theo expertly placed Alphaios in his crib, while glancing at Xaviere's newest sibling in the crib next to his. In all the excitement of reapers and resurrections, someone needed to look after the newest members of the Vienot family, and that responsibility had fallen on Adam and Theo.
Helle, Brion, and Abercius obviously had family issues to work out, and Trysten and Alphaeus had some catching up to do, as well as learning how exactly their new bodies worked. Deia and Xanthos took Desdemona to try to help their family adjust to this new change, leaving only the infants, who would likely be miserable in such chaos. Brion had recommended Theo for the job, since he had so much experience with his younger siblings, and Adam had immediately volunteered to help. Despina had mumbled something about dream magic and volunteered to help protect their base of operations while the boys were gone.
Theo hadn't minded as much as he'd pretended. Honestly, it was kind of nice to be away from high stakes magic and complicated family dynamics for once. Babysitting wasn't all that hard with all the practice he had with his siblings, and though he'd never admit it, spending some time alone with Adam didn't seem like much of a hardship either.
"I hope Brion and Abercius are doing okay," he said, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose your parents, get them back, and then have to deal with a secret half-sibling." He paused. "Well, I do have some experience with that last part. Still, I can't believe Sebastian was right about their dad being in love with their uncle. That's going to be a huge thing to accept."
Adam bristled slightly at the mention of Sebastian, but quickly smothered the jealousy before Theo could notice. Sebastian was family. Sebastian broke up with Theo before he succumbed to the plague. There was nothing to be jealous of.
When Alphaios began to cry, realizing that he was no longer being held, Adam leapt into action before Theo could pick him up again.
"I've got him," he said. "I've held Abe enough times to know how to hold an infant. Your dad was going to murder me if I didn't do it perfectly."
Theo laughed at the memory. His father usually glared at Adam whenever he had come over in the past, especially when Adam had been given Abe Jr to hold. Adam had to be knowledgeable about infants or face the extreme displeasure of Roman Bellamy.
"Yeah, you're lucky to have survived. Luci answered her phone while holding him once, and Dad flipped out for like, an hour."
"Well, he seems like he's-oh my god!" Adam tried to push the infant as far away from himself as possible, but he was too late. Baby spit up was all over his clothes, and even in his hair. "Ugh, Abe's never done that before."
"To you maybe," Theo snickered. "Welcome to the joys of having a million little siblings. I've been thrown up on more times than I can count."
"It's in my hair," Adam whined, looking distressed. "Is there a spell for cleaning this up? I really don't want my wand anywhere near this mess though. Can you cast something?"
Theo shook his head with a teasing smile.
"No, the easiest thing is to bathe it off at this point. I can cast something for your clothes, but you're probably going to want to wash those too. Here, give me Alphaios and I'll clean him up. There's a bathroom down the hall if you want to have a shower."
Adam passed over the infant as quickly as he could, and took Theo up on his offer. He gingerly removed his jacket, leaving it on the floor for Theo to charm. There was spit up all down his pants, and Adam flushed with embarrassment taking those off in front of his ex-boyfriend. It wasn't like Theo hadn't seen him in his underwear before, but that was a long time ago and he could never seem to accurately judge Theo's feelings towards him. One day Theo ignored him and the next, he had his hands all over him in a way that felt anything but platonic. Adam didn't dare ask Theo what he was thinking about their future for fear of spooking him and losing any progress they'd made, but it was really starting to get frustrating. There was no way Theo would make a move with two infants in the room and spit up in Adam's hair, so it was probably safe just to imagine that he was Despina, who absolutely did not care if Adam was in his underwear, so long as he had something on.
"I'll be just down the hall then," he announced awkwardly, covering his boxers as much as he could with his hands. "Call me if anything happens."
Theo waved him away, pulling out his wand to use the gentle cleaning spell Evren had taught the Bellamys when the kids were younger. Theo's parents weren't great at it, and while Adrian was able to complete the spell, he was worried about being unable to control the strength of the very specific spell with the amount of magical military training he'd received, so Theo and Rien had had the most practice with it. Using it on small spots on an infant was easy, trying to clean all of Adam would be more effort than it was worth.
Adam sat in the tub and let the hot water relax all of his tense muscles. It had been far too long since he could actually just soak in a tub like everything in his life was normal again. The tub in the house they'd been staying in was broken, and though Helle's castle was safe and spacious, the plumbing hadn't been updated in centuries. Short, mostly warm showers were all that he'd had since coming to Jubilant Accosts, so an actually hot bathtub was a luxury he didn't know how much he'd missed. Still, he felt guilty leaving Theo with two infants while he relaxed. It wasn't fair to leave Theo alone, and it was pretty rare to get to spend time with Theo without either Abercius or Despina around, so Adam reluctantly got out of the bath.
There was a housecoat in the bathroom closet that had to belong to either Trysten or Xanthos. Adam borrowed it, hoping that it was clean and no one would be angry about its disappearance. He could throw his clothes into the washing machine and wash the robe and Alphaios' tiny clothes later.
"Hey, is everyone alright?" he asked. "Sorry that I took so long."
To Adam's surprise, Theo gave him a look Adam hadn't seen in over a year. Theo was checking him out and barely trying to hide it. Adam flushed furiously, pulling the housecoat over more of his exposed skin self-consciously.
"You didn't miss anything," Theo replied. "Alphaios went back to sleep, and I've been playing on my phone. Nice housecoat, by the way."
"Uh, thanks."
"So, crazy stuff keeps happening," Adam said, sitting on the floor, hoping that Theo would join him. To his delight, Theo's phone disappeared and Theo sat across from him on the floor. "Helle and Abercius are reincarnated lovers and starting a monarchy, the Pryors' dad is in love with their uncle and they're both reapers. What do you think is going to happen next?"
"I hope Xexys will be defeated next and we can go home," Theo replied. "Seeing these kids reminds me of my family. Don't ever tell my parents, but I miss them. All my siblings too. It's lonely here and I'm tired of pretending that things are okay. I'm turning sixteen next week and no one will be here to celebrate with me. I won't get to have my dad's birthday cake or wear the stupid birthday hat. I'll be stuck in this stupid place and I know my parents are going to be falling apart back home. My dad especially. I'm worried about him."
Adam tried not to look surprised at Theo's openness. Theo wasn't exactly an open book since their breakup, even if he had been getting better since they'd arrived in Jubilant Accosts. Adam could have probably guessed at Theo's feelings, but it was nice to have them confirmed.
"Your Dad will be okay," he replied. "He's been through a lot, and he's a lot stronger than you think. I'm sure that he'll lean on the rest of your family until we get back. You can't feel guilty about what he feels; he's the parent and you're not responsible if he goes to a dark place. We have to be here."
"Do we?" Theo asked. "Helle and Abercius have to be here. Despina wants to be here to chase after the ghosts of her parents. What are we doing, except for letting Despina experiment on our dreams? I feel so useless, Adam. Why are we hurting our families by staying and watching everyone else solve this?"
"Some of us don't have families to go home to," Adam said quietly.
Theo swore, then looked apologetically at the babies for swearing in their presence.
"Shit, I didn't think about that. Sorry. Of course, I want to solve this plague so your Dad and sister wake up. Sebastian too. It just all feels so hopeless! Lukas has gotten things done. Despina is getting things done, I think, and what have I done? Blood magic isn't going to help here, and the demonic magic I know doesn't seem effective against a type of demon no one has seen in millennia. Don't you ever feel like this?"
Adam sighed heavily.
"Yes, at times," he admitted. "Not for long though. We're helping Despina do important work. We're helping provide security for Helle. People are afraid of your powers, even if Xexys isn't, and we're ambassadors from another realm. We get to show Jubilant Accosts what life outside their realm is like, and by giving our support to Helle, we're lending credibility to her government. Our mission isn't just battles and sword fighting, Theo. Our mission is to find a cure, defeat Xexys, and be an example of what all 'Tredonians' can be in this realm. We have to do the same things that my dad does when he represents the coven. Some days are tougher than others, but it's our duty to do everything we can to help this realm while representing ours."
"Yeah...yeah, sorry. Like you said, it's a bad day, but I'll be fine tomorrow," Theo lied. Adam could practically feel the giant emotional walls surround Theo once more. "It was just as moment of doubt. I know my family will be fine. Turning sixteen isn't important, and our work here is. Sorry."
Theo's attention turned back to his phone, sinking Adam's hopes of continuing their conversation. Adam grabbed his own phone, and settled back on the floor for a night of silence.
"They're still here, just as they were. It looks like no time had passed at all. Like they're just asleep."
Trysten stared at the bodies of his sister and her husband in disbelief, despite everything that had happened to him. Trysten had died of the dream illness crafted by Xexys and was only standing in the Pryor house because of Abercius' ability to transform him into a sort of reaper. With a red glowing eye, and absolutely no reaper training, Trysten didn't look like a proper reaper, but Abercius had hope that his uncle could do the job. That was why they were in the Pryor house, gathered around the eternally sleeping bodies of Abercius and Brion's' parents.
"Are you sure that I can wake them up?" Trysten asked nervously, looking at Abercius for confirmation. "I don't know anything about being Death."
"You're a servant of Death!" Abercius snapped. "Death is your boss, the deity you work for. You are, and can never be Death himself! And yes, you should be able to do this. I don't exactly want to be forced into a time manipulated state again any time soon, so you're going to do the work that your new body is made for."
Trysten held his hands up in surrender.
"Sorry. Sorry. This is all new to me. I never imagined that the Watcher had these kinds of servants. It makes sense though; the Watcher is always watching, so it makes sense that he has armies to do his will."
Brion rolled his eyes at this comment, which pleased Abercius. Both teens had given Trysten, Deia, and Xanthos a crash course in theology and the purpose of the reaper teams in each country, and Brion had helped explain what he understood of how the universe worked without even having to check with Abercius for the right details. Brion was listening to everything that Abercius had told him, and that felt better than he could have ever imagined his relationship with his brother could be.
Despite loving someone the Proxy didn't approve of, Trysten had been a Jacobean all of his life, and firmly believed that the Watcher had led him to his soulmate. He may not be as devout as his sister, but Trysten still held onto some version of the Jacobean faith. Abercius had no doubt that his father felt the same. They had all been complicit in the Proxy's sacrifices along with the rest of the settlement, and they weren't just going to abandon their long held beliefs in an instant.
But why cling to a faith that didn't want you the way you were? If the Proxy had caught Trysten and either his affair or his pregnancy, he'd be as dead as the Deans were. Abercius and his siblings never really worshipped the Watcher, even if they were taught to fear him, so they had that advantage over their parents at least. It might take some time for the adults of the Pryor and Vienot families to adjust to a world without the Proxy and his rules. Despite understanding this, Abercius felt deep embarrassment that the only reaper Jubilant Accosts had was still going on about the Watcher and ignoring the true ruler of the realm of Death, Izanami.
"Now extend your hand and do what I told you," Abercius commanded his uncle. He tried to keep the anger that still burned inside of him hidden, though he probably failed, given the miserable look on Trysten's face. "Alphaeus Pryor, Damiana Pryor, rise and awaken to your sworn duty to the realm of Death."
There was a loud thud as Alphaeus Pryor fell to the floor. His legs were still shaky after months of prolonged illness and then death, but he was slowly grasping how to use his new reaper body.
Abercius tried to fight the elation he felt seeing his dad again. He needed to be mature and regal, the very best reaper possible, to show these new recruits what was expected of them.
They weren't perfect, this Abercius was well aware of. If they were proper reapers, they should be separate from their physical remains and only tied to them with the sacred link all reapers held with their bodies. These undead almost reapers would shed their current bodies and likely the red glowing eye, once a proper reaper could fix them. They would do for the moment, though Abercius wondered what Lord Izanami would think of his handiwork. Lordem Lukas would probably speak well of his efforts to their husband or at least, Abercius hoped so.
"Alphaeus? Is that you? Are you finally awake?" Trysten stared at the man he loved in astonishment. From his place on the floor, Alphaeus stared back, equally as shocked to see Trysten again.
"Trysten!" Alphaeus bounded down the stairs and swept his love in a passionate kiss, completely ignoring anyone else in the room. His eyes, now that they were free of the film of the plague, could only see Trysten.
Abercius and Brion shared a miserable look. Their father was truly in love with their uncle. Trysten could have been lying to them when he confessed to the love affair, but there was no room for doubt now. They should be happy for their father to have a so called soulmate and new child, but that happiness would have to come with time, if it ever came at all. There was still too much hurt from years of secrets and hypocrisy, and even if they knew their mother wasn't accepting of their own secrets, she was still their mother and she didn't deserve to live her entire adult life in a lie.
"Abercius! Brion! You're safe! Thank the Watcher for his mercy."
Alpheus threw his arms around the son closest to him, squeezing Abercius tightly.
"It's not the Watcher who saved you," Abercius corrected his father. "It was the deity of Life, acting in part with the realm of Death and a Timelady of Ticktop. You're a reaper now, destined to reap souls and maintain the balance of the realm. You'd better get used to addressing other deities with your praise."
"A reaper?" Alphaeus repeated. He looked over his son, noting the changes Abercius had made to himself while he had slept in Xexys' nightmare. "Are you a reaper too? Your eye is very similar to Trysten's. Your hair is long now too, and is that your sister's dress?"
"It's a modification of one of Helena's dresses, yeah. I've tried to hide this my entire life, but you need to know my truth, Dad." Abercius took a deep breath. "I've never felt like a guy, and I don't intend to live as one going forward. I used to be a reaper in my past life, a really old, powerful, female reaper. I'm going to have to train you, Mom and Uncle Trysten to be reapers, even if my current body has limited access to the realm of Death."
Abercius held his breath as his father processed his words. Alphaeus looked over to Trysten who nodded, confirming Abercius' strange story.
"I see," Alphaeus said slowly. "That sounds like we might need to break all that down a little more later, but I'm happy that you're safe and happy. You are happy, right?"
"Yes, I am," Abercius confirmed. "Helena is too. She's safe in Tredony with Phuong. They have a daughter together, just like you and our uncle have a kid. You're a grandfather, but Helena was too afraid to tell you and Mom before you got sick. Before we knew that you were just as attracted to men as Helena is women."
An awkward silence filled the room as Alphaeus tried to process this news on top of the information he was already trying to digest.
"Children are a blessing from the Watcher...er, your god of Life, I guess? She's so young to be a mother, but I'm glad that your sister has found happiness like I have. This impossible pregnancy must be a blessing to confirm that her soulmate is Phuong. Phuong always seemed like a nice kid. She's one of those Dean children, right?"
"She's a werewolf, Dad," Abercius said quickly, before Brion could answer. "Her parents are a vampire and werewolf from outside the settlement."
"Oh. That...that sounds interesting. I'll have to meet this Phuong."
"Abercius is going to marry the queen of Yacothia," Brion added, staring his father in the eyes, daring him to react badly. "They were reincarnated together. They're soulmates too."
"Brion! Come here, let me hug you too!" Alphaeus wrapped his arms around his other son in a bone crushing hug. "I'm so glad that you're okay, and not sick! You and your brother...er, sibling are alive, and that's all I could ask of the Watcher."
"How did you know it was me?" Brion choked out, trying to wriggle free from the reaper who didn't know his strength. "I'm in my wolf form."
"Trysten told me when he joined the nightmare," Alphaeus answered, releasing his son from his grip. "He said that you and your friends were helping fight the plague, and that we weren't the only ones keeping secrets in our family. I don't care if you're a werewolf or if your sibling doesn't feel comfortable being male or that your sister is dating a woman- she probably gets that from me! Though, I do have a lot of follow-up questions about where James is, kids, your happiness comes first. I wish I'd had a parent who told me that. I died, and was granted a miracle; there's no way that I'm going to waste this chance to make things right."
Brion and Abercius grinned at each other, hardly believing their luck. Their parents were dead, but not gone, and the whole experience had opened up new possibilities for their family. The Proxy was dead, and a whole new world was emerging.
Damiana stared in bewilderment at the scene before her. One minute, she had been in the hands of the Watcher, and now? Now she felt strange and disoriented. The world didn't look the same as it had before. She could feel an extraordinary strength in her arms, and could hear her sons' heartbeats from across the room. Her usual magic felt inaccessible and distant, something she'd never experienced. She could hear the sounds of her family. Brion laughing as he and Abercius launched into some chant they likely learned in the schoolyard and Alphaeus teasing her brother.
She focused her eyes on her family and took a tentative step off the stage, ready to rejoin them and thank the Watcher for this miraculous mercy.
In that moment, her entire life changed. Abercius was wearing a dress and a very expensive looking crown, nothing like the fake crowns they played with during the Feast of the Watcher, where they celebrated the fall of the monarchy and the rise of the Proxy.
She froze in terror watching her son frolic with a ferocious werewolf, until she heard the wolf speak with the voice of her other son.
"B-Brion? How? How did the Proxy miss that you were a werewolf? Alphaeus-"
Her voice caught in her throat as she looked to her husband, only to see him passionately kissing her brother.
"Trysten?! Trysten, what are you doing with my husband?" Damiana shrieked. "Get away from him! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind? I always told Mother that she was wrong about you, but she was right! You're a heretic and have cast some spell over my Alphaeus!"
"He's actually been my Alphaeus since the moment we met," Trysten replied, releasing Alphaeus to shout at his sister. He'd been holding his secret for all of his life, and now that his life was over, he wasn't holding back. "We've been together since middle school. He's my soulmate. You and Mother couldn't see it, but he has a Watcher blessed eye opposite to my own! We waited all our life for the Watcher to reveal our destinies, and he finally answered. We have a son together with blessed eyes. He's perfect and healthy and everything my life with Alphaeus has been leading to!"
"Trysten, be gentle," Alphaeus said softly. He placed a calming hand on Trysten's chest and faced his wife. "Damiana, I'm sorry. Trysten is the love of my life, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you too, just in a different way. We had a great life together, but the Proxy was wrong about so many things. Our children don't fit into the narrow vision of the church. I don't fit into that vision either, and neither should you. I know you loved my brother."
"Don't you mention him!" Damiana snapped. She stared at her sinful children, who were watching her sinful husband and her traitor brother with concern. "Don't you dare mention Cleopas! I-I don't know what is happening here or what kind of sick joke this is, but I'm done with it! I'm done with you!"
Damiana vanished in a flash of light without another word.
"You could have broken the news to her more gently," Alphaeus chided Trysten. "There's a lot to process and it's not going to be easy. She's a good woman, and she's just lost her husband and kids to what she's been told was sin. Plus, she died and wasn't taken to paradise to sit at the Watcher's feet. She's going to need some time."
"You're taking this all pretty well," Trysten remarked. "I'm sure she can deal with it the same way as you have."
Alphaeus sighed, and looked at his children. Neither one seemed surprised by their mother's outburst, but the hurt was written across their faces.
"I have you to lean on," Alphaeus explained. "We knew that if Damiana ever found out about us, she'd take it hard. Being a mother and wife was all she ever wanted in life aside from serving the Watcher, and now nothing is like she expected it to be. She's not with the Watcher and her husband betrayed her. You need to give her some time. You too, kids. Your mother has said some hurtful things, but we need to give her space to absorb everything that's changed. If she is still cruel to you after she's had time to reconcile everything that is with everything she once thought, that's different. We owe it to her to give her a chance. She may surprise you...I hope she surprises you, that is. It's very traumatic to die and not be united with the Watcher, and your mother's faith was very strong."
"I guess," Brion sighed. He didn't look enthusiastic at the idea of giving his mother any grace because of her lifetime of hating werewolves, but maybe his father was right. Maybe his mother could come to accept werewolves because of her love of him. Helena's part werewolf baby could also change her mind, though that might just be too much for Damiana to handle.
"I'll try," Abercius promised, looking as enthusiastic as his brother. "Mom might never accept us though, and I'm not going to tolerate that going forward. Jubilant Accosts is changing, and our family is going to have to change too."
"I understand," Alphaeus replied solemnly. "Just a little bit of understanding is all I ask. I know that she loves all of you very much."
"As long as we're not ourselves," Abercius grumbled. It had taken him a long time to become this open and honest about himself, and he wasn't about to apologize to anyone for being who he was.
"Look who decided to stop by?" Trysten distracted all of the Pryors from their conversation by introducing their newest sibling. "Deia brought him over to see his dad."
"Is that?" Alphaeus was so overcome with emotion that he could barely speak. "That's Alphaios? Our son?"
Trysten nodded and held Alphaios closer to his father.
"Our miracle. I never thought I could carry him to term with the plague or that he could ever exist in the first place. I didn't believe it was possible until Deia made me take that pregnancy test. All of our prayers have been for this moment."
"Our miracle," Alphaeus repeated. "He's perfect. Brion, Abercius, have you met your brother yet?"
"I watched him bring born," Abercius said grudgingly. "I can't believe that you've been cheating on Mom all this time. It's disgusting. You should have just left with Uncle Trysten when you were kids."
"Things are complicated," Alphaeus acknowledged. "We have a lot to talk about as a family and I know I've screwed up over the years, but please don't take your anger out on your brother. He's innocent in all of this."
"Yeah, your miracle child is great," Brion remarked, crossing his arms. Beside him, Abercius did the same. "We don't know where James is, but sure, let's celebrate our new little brother."
Alphaeus continued to play with Alphaios, ignoring his older children's comments. There was a lot of work to be done to even attempt to fix their family, but Alphaeus was willing to put in the work. Obviously, things were wildly different from where the Pryor family had been even a year ago, but Alphaeus had to believe that their family could be repaired. His kids needed him and he'd been given a second chance to be a better dad. Even if he knew nothing about werewolves, reapers, or a monarchy that wasn't evil, he owed it to his family to try to understand. Things with Damiana would be difficult going forward as well, but he did love her, even if he loved her brother more. There was so much to learn and do, but Alphaeus now had the gift of time to do his best to fix his family.
"I can't kill my uncle," Abercius protested, looking at Trysten's still form. "Besides, he's almost dead already, what would be the point?"
"The point is all about control," Lukas clarified. They looked irritated that they even had to explain this to a former reaper. "If we slowly remove the energy of Life from him and then replace it, fused with the energy of Death, we should be able to simulate the creation of a reaper."
Abercius shook his head. There was a crucial point that the deity was missing.
"You need a servant of Death to do this. We don't have anyone from that realm. Life can't make proper servants of Death."
"But I do have one, or rather I did have one." Lukas winked at him, only deepening Abercius' confusion.
"You see, what I have is a mortal with a permanent physical connection to their reaper past, and a Timelady of Ticktop. It's a little unconventional, but it's all I have to work with. You, Abercius, are as old as the universe. Power like that goes dormant, but never truly leaves, just like your eye. Each reincarnation still leaves a little of the past each time. I have forms to switch between, and while you're not a deity, I believe that you have another form as well. You just need help to find it."
Abercius paled at these words, looking worriedly at Rani to support him.
"I-I don't have any other form," he stammered. "I promise! I wouldn't even know how to even-" He stopped when Rani lifted her hand, revealing a swirling ball of magic.
"This shouldn't hurt, Abby," Rani promised. The magic in her hand somehow began glowing more intensely than before. "It's Time magic. I'm just manipulating time around you, gradually subtracting the years before your awakening, until we get to the time when your old body released your soul and your new body accepted it. That time in-between when you first became Absydee-Abercius, the fusion of Life and Death."
"And I will help peel away some of the Life in you that enough of Absydee's connection to Death will remain the dominant energy in you," Lukas explained. "With us giving you your best chance to access Absydee's powers, you can guide Trysten towards death, killing the plague when he dies, and then reviving him as a reaper after his heart stops. I've seen Gee do it before, and because of how you were first created, I suspect that you can do it too. It's not perfect, but we can get Gee to correct anything that goes wrong when he next checks in on our progress. Easy."
"Easy," Abercius repeated, still looking terrified. He could feel Rani's magic wrap around him, burrowing into his skin, looking for any trace of the person he'd once been.
"There, that's more like it," Rani said, watching as Abercius' red hair faded to a dark black and massive black wings sprouted from his back. Abercius instinctively reached out and grasped the scythe that had appeared, just as real to him as any of his other piece of his body.
Abercius could see the energy of his uncle's soul hover above his body, almost ready for a reaper to grab. He was so close to death, his spirit was nearly beyond Lukas' ability to control.
"I'm going to start to withdraw some of the life within him," Lukas announced. They looked at Rani to be certain that she had control over Abercius' time manipulated form. To their relief, she nodded back at them with confidence. With that settled, Lukas turned to their strange time distorted reaper. "Abercius, the instant his heart stops and the dream ends, you need to transform him into a reaper. You must have done it before in your past life, so try your best to remember the procedure now before we lose him."
"Uh, and if I haven't?"
Lukas' face somehow became even paler at this admission.
"Never? You were the team leader! How could you not have ever created a reaper before? The candidates destined to become reapers appear in your book! I've seen it myself during the Demon Wars! You've done this, just remember!"
"Lord Izanami made several of them. I did see one or two created, but from afar. Those mortals died in the living realm and I spent my early life in the afterlife, assisting with the work of maintaining that realm. Someone else must have assisted Lord Izanami, but it wasn't me!"
Lukas sighed deeply.
"Okay, so guess based on what you saw. Because I have a history of imitating his realm, Izanami has never decided to share how a proper reaper is made. If you can get Trysten to a functional undead state, that might be enough for now, and Gee can fix it later. There have been cases of dead souls who are meant to become reapers functioning for years after their death before being properly activated. But not a zombie, just undead! I'm not dealing with zombies."
"What's the difference between someone undead and a zombie?" Rani asked. Her eyes danced with excitement, which could only mean that she was getting ideas from this conversation that Lukas didn't have time to deal with. The residents of Ticktop had always been interested in pushing the boundaries of life, as well as time, whether it was their practice of assuming different faces or their goal of creating golems to be as lifelike as possible.
"Don't answer that!" Lukas ordered, eyeing the Timelady warily. "Stay focused on what we're doing here. The last thing I need is to come back in a year to find golems patched together with pieces from corpses. I will tell Izanami all about you spilling undead secrets if I come back to an army of undead golems running around here. You remember how Ticktop used to be, and I don't need that chaos once we finally get this place fixed. Some things should stay in the realm of Death."
Abercius nodded in agreement, though he had to marvel at the hypocrisy of the god of Life trying to make a reaper. Apparently, the rules only applied to mortals. Still, there were more important things to do than satisfying Rani's curiosities about the realm of Death, especially if his friend would use that information for mysterious purposes.
"No pressure," he muttered, holding up his hand and hoping for the best.
It was an important distinction to make though. A zombie was an improperly resurrected soul, while an undead person was usually flagged by the realm of Death for some purpose that hadn't been fulfilled yet. Someone who died and became a zombie would decompose and shamble their way through their second chance at life, while an undead person would be frozen at the exact moment of their death until a reaper could reap them and complete their transformation into their new state. Making Trysten undead until a proper reaper could finish the process would freeze him at the moment of his death; accidentally making him into a zombie would ruin whatever hope they had of restoring reapers in this realm.
"Okay, so I need to flag him as a potential reaper candidate first. I think I can sort of remember how that works. The Ocean used to whisper secrets in the old days. Maybe if I...."
The previously bright glow of his uncle's spirit began to dim, signaling that Abercius was running out of time.
"Rani, can you reverse time any further? I don't think this body has the power to do what I need as it is."
"I can try, but it might be dangerous. How much time do you need? I can try to move a little closer to the end of Absydee's existence, but if I go too far, your current life could be in danger."
"Let me handle that. Keeping mortals alive is literally my job. Once I'm done with Trysten, I can focus on Abercius. Work fast, Timelady." Lukas gave Rani an impatient look, and the magic in her hand grew brighter.
"Okay, but it's not my fault if this goes badly."
"Yes, that's more like it," Abercius exclaimed, wielding his scythe with an authority that came with centuries of practice. "I can remember the whispers now. The secrets of the dead...and the undead are mine."
"Is he okay?" Rani hissed, glaring at the deity. "You'd better not get my friend killed when I just got them back!"
"I can see it," Abercius exclaimed. "The plague, the dream, all of it. I can touch it."
Rani looked distressed at these words.
"Abby, what are you doing? Don't go anywhere near the plague! The dream will end when he dies, and we'll all be safe, remember? What are you doing?"
To the horror of everyone else in the room, Abercius' non glowing eye began to develop the same film over it that had engulfed his uncle's.
"Abby? Are you in danger?"
"Can't you see them?" Abercius asked. "They're talking, lost in the dream together. Alphaeus Pryor is physically across the street, but they're talking to each other here. The dreams are all connected, like Xexys' own private afterlife. Dead souls all sharing a single dream. I don't think that we can end the plague until we end the dream and the only way to end Trysten Vienot's dream is through death."
Both the Timelady and the deity stared at Abercius with dread.
"Abby, you have the plague," Rani whispered. "Your eye is-"
"There's a reason Xexys went after the reapers first," Abercius continued, ignoring his friend's concerns. "They can see the illness, see the dream. They can reap the souls and steal them away from this perpetual state of undeath. Without these trapped souls, Xexys has no hostages to continue the plague. If the dream dies with the dreamer, it can't spread. The dream needs to die."
"Abby, listen to me, this is too dangerous. You have the illness, and I've already turned time back way too far. You need to just create a reaper and end this."
Rani watched with a mix of horror and amazement as Lukas did as instructed and Abercius went to work.
"I can end this," Abercius replied dismissively. "I can end a lot of this. Trysten Jacob Vienot, I command you to wake up! Lukas, remove the rest of the life from him! Wake up!"
In an instant, Trysten's once plague covered eyes snapped open, and he bolted up in the bed, looking wildly around him.
"Alphaeus? Alphaeus where did you go?"
"He's still sick, Uncle Trysten," Abercius replied. The film over his eye had vanished, but his frustration with his uncle still remained. "We'll get to him in time. You need to get used to your new state. Rani, you can stop the time magic now. My work is done."
Rani eagerly snapped her fingers and the ball of time magic disappeared, along with the changes made to Abercius. His hair was once again a brilliant red and the full, black wings and scythe had vanished.
"Thank god," Rani said, looking her friend over carefully. "Is everything still okay? I didn't hurt you by going back too far in the past?"
"I said that I had it handled," Lukas replied irritably. "Abercius is perfectly mortal and perfectly alive. His link to his past form isn't stable, but it exists. He's more like me than we thought."
"I can see again!" Trysten exclaimed, excitedly examining his body for changes. "You cured the plague! You actually did it! This changes everything!"
"Not quite," Abercius said. "You're dead now, Uncle Trysten. You died, and I've made you a reaper. You now have the power to help this realm and free souls from the same suffering you experienced. It's not a cure for the illness, as we can't just kill every afflicted soul and make them reapers, but it will decimate Xexys' plans. Each soul freed will mean one less dreamer. We can slow the spread and make his communal nightmare weaker."
"The eye is a choice," Lukas remarked, ignoring the confusion of the newest reaper. "Are you sure you did it right? I've never seen that marking transfer to someone else before or have it be any colour but ocean blue."
"I'm not entirely sure," Abercius said. "I did the best that I could with the body I had. Maybe some of my own power transferred over or maybe it was just because we cheated to access Death’s realm with magic. Lord Izanami would likely know."
Lukas chuckled to themselves at the thought of Izanami knowing the answer to any of this. Their stepmother, Destiny, would likely have a stronger hypothesis about the glowing eye than Izanami ever would. Their husband was naturally uncurious about his realm, so long as it was functioning correctly.
"Thank you, Abercius. I don't fully understand any of this, but I know that you've saved me somehow, and I'm incredibly grateful. I can see my son. I never thought that would be possible. Thank you."
He hugged Abercius gratefully, which the teenager didn't know how to handle. All of the anger, hurt, and betrayal still raged inside of him, but maybe those were feelings for later. Right now, he had successfully accessed some of his old power, and made the first reaper in Jubilant Accosts in centuries. Well, something reaperlike at least. Progress was progress, so Abercius pushed away the negative feelings for another time, and took this moment to celebrate.
"Now that's one Timelady, one off brand reaper, and my husband's biggest fan," Lukas boasted. They looked extraordinarily pleased with themselves for these accomplishments. "If Trysten or Abercius can make more reapers, then we've got a fighting chance at defeating Xexys. If we can get a proper team, and a new Dream Guardian, then Jubilant Accosts' defenses will be back to what they're supposed to be."
"How did you free yourself from the plague?" Rani asked her friend. "One minute you had the telltale film over your eye, and the next it was gone. If we can replicate what you did, we would have a cure. I could try to mass produce one for the two realms."
"I don't fully know," Abercius answered. "The answer has to lie in the realm of Death somewhere. Dying ended the plague for my uncle, and when I could briefly touch Death’s realm, the illness vanished from me. I could feel the demonic energy it's made of clear as day. I remember how demons were formed from the first Life deity and I've seen the magic that Theo can do. This illness can be harmed by the realm of Death. Not necessarily cured for every mortal still wanting to live, but it's a start."
"It's not only Death that can impact it though," Lukas added quickly. "Theo and Adam are immune because of demonic magic and some strange version of Life magic I can't explain. The solution will involve the magic of both Life and Death, unless you want to make reapers of every victim of the plague and just hope that no one new catches it."
"It's a start," Abercius acknowledged. "It's more than we had an hour ago. This will change things for us, I know it."
A being in the shape of a man silently watched the celebration from afar. For once, Life was not only doing their job, but also a passable attempt at their husband's job as well. It was remarkable to witness after watching Life and Death bicker over the centuries and neglect the only purpose tied to their existence.
The new "reaper" was a clever choice, especially utilizing the skills of Ticktop. Life was more creative than Death, and more likely to think of unusual solutions to big problems. That was likely due to their mortal parents and experience with the mortal world. Izanami and the first Demonic Sovereign were creatures who focused rigidly on the rules of the universe, how to follow them and how to break them. A clever deity needed room to grow and experiment, with parental guidance to shape them. It was an experiment he couldn't wait to begin.
"Yeah, sure, let me follow you to an obvious trap," Brion muttered. He looked at Abercius before following their aunt into the hallway. "If you hear me shout, grab Desdemona and the baby and teleport out of here. You may not know battle magic, but you do know how to protect people."
"I'm more than capable of making sure Abby and the kids are safe, thanks for including me in your rescue plans," Helle called, rolling her eyes.
"I know you're more than capable," Abercius replied, clearly still reeling from everything that had happened in the last hour. "Brion will accept you when he gets to know you better. He's just protective."
"You? What are you doing here?"
Abercius flinched at his brother's words, preparing himself to defend two children as quickly as possible.
"This man says that he's a doctor," Deia said cautiously, staying as far away from her guest as was polite.
"They're not a man or a doctor, Aunt Deia," Abercius replied, his relief obvious. "They're exactly who we need though. This is Lukas, the god in control of the realm of Life."
"A god? Impossible. The Watcher is the only god."
"You're a bad actor for someone who's lied for so long," Lukas replied, rolling their eyes at the absurdity of a woman in love with a dream demon hybrid claiming to be a devout Jacobean. "Your husband I could see believing that, but you? You're smarter than that."
Deia looked helplessly at Abercius, as he clearly was familiar with this supposed god.
"They're really a god," Abercius promised. "I used to work for their husband."
Deia threw her hands in the air and surrendered to the absurdity her life had become. She wasn't a devout Jacobean or even truly Jacobean at all, but this was all too strange to accept. A pregnant husband? A god walking through her door who knew her nephew? When it was safe to take her babies and Xanthos and leave this cursed settlement, Deia was running as far away as she could.
"Sure. That makes sense."
"Don't worry, I'm an expert at all this," Lukas assured her. "My husband's granddaughter would have died in utero if it hadn't been for me, and I helped deliver her. I've given birth to twins, and have several other children, so I know what I'm doing. You couldn't be in better hands. You're just lucky that I find your family interesting enough to keep tabs on."
"Alphaeus? I've lost you. I can hear you, but I can't see you. It's all a blur."
Lukas watched the man on the floor mumble for a moment, trying to diagnose how dire the situation was.
"Okay, demon spawn, you're carrying this man upstairs to the bedroom, while the rest of you are going to sit outside and keep yourself occupied while I work. Not you, Abby. You're going to help me with this birth. I need someone who knows how to look for the signs of death. Yeah, yeah, you're not a reaper anymore, but I need to know how close the parent and child are to death at any moment. There's only so long I can interfere before Death becomes involved and once that line is crossed, I have very few choices."
"I can't believe we're out here while Trysten is alone with a stranger and my delusional nephew," Deia lamented. She watched Desdemona play with her outside toys, while the infant slept in the bassinet Deia used when they had limited outside time. "How sure are we that this isn't a trick of Xexys'?"
"I keep telling you that it's not," Brion insisted. "At least some of us can be counted on to tell the truth. Lukas is helping restore the balance of our realm. Abercius trusts them, so I do too. My friend Theo was saved by Lukas. They're the only chance Uncle Trysten has."
"A bit convenient timing, if you ask me," Xanthos complained. "How did they know when to come here if they weren't behind this sudden change in Trysten?"
"Because they were probably watching," Helle said, as if it should be obvious. Lukas had admitted as much, but the adults were slow to catch on to the realities of their realm. "That's what they do apparently. They watch the living and interfere if they're so inclined. They're helping restore Jubilant Accosts to the way it was supposed to be."
"And how was it supposed to be? With a queen ruling over us?" Xanthos asked. "If I remember my history right, the monarch didn't do much for the people of Jubilant Accosts, especially the demons."
"You're not remembering it right," Helle insisted. "The monarch helped the nation with fair leadership and by defending their people against threats by the Demon of Nightmares. It's not demons that the monarchy swore to defend against, but one singular demon who is currently showing us just how dangerous he is. We were left here in this realm with one terrible demon, but we studied every clue left to us about the demons in the realm we were sealed away from. Over time, we even had people cross between the realms with new information on demons from where they came from. Just because we hate the demon we were sealed in here with, doesn't mean that our whole realm hates other kinds of demon."
"Yeah, Theo went to Shadowvale to learn how to control himself," Brion added. "He was sent here because we had knowledge of ancient magic and ancient demons. We don't have demons native to Jubilant Accosts, aside from the one destroying everything, but Theo told me about how extensive Shadowvale's library was when it came to demonology."
"If we can defeat Xexys, maybe we can encourage other demons to settle here," Helle said. "We can create a home for everyone, just like Tredony has. Xexys was the reason we were sealed away, so if he's gone, maybe things can be different for us."
"As I assured everyone, a baby has been born. A baby boy."
Everyone turned to face the deity who had appeared in the doorway to announce their success.
"It's a miracle!" Deia gasped, grabbing Xanthos with excitement. "The baby is alive! How is Trysten? Is he okay?"
Lukas grimaced at the reminder. The plague was a nasty illness, especially at the end.
"He's struggling. It shouldn't be long now. I need to return to him, but we need the child out of the way. One of you needs to care for him."
Deia stood, but she couldn't take a single step before Xanthos stood in front of her protectively.
"Does he have the plague? Deia, you can't risk exposing yourself to him if he does."
"His eyes are clear," Lukas replied, holding the infant out for inspection. "I can't sense any of the plague within him. If anything, he might have built up an immunity or resistance to the disease. I guess we'll find out. He's completely safe to hold, either way."
Deia didn't need to be told twice. She pushed past Xanthos, and reached for the baby.
"Come here, Alphaios," she cooed, staring at the infant in her arms with wonderment. "You're such a cutie."
"Did you just name him?" Brion asked, dumbfounded at the audacity of his aunt. He didn't know how to feel about this little half-brother/cousin, but however mad he was at his uncle, Trysten still deserved to name his son.
"It's the name Trysten chose for a boy," Deia whispered, keeping her voice low to soothe a very confused infant. "Alphaios Maitiu Vienot to be exact. He wanted to name him after the father Alphaios would never meet. He insisted on it."
Xanthos nodded to confirm her story.
"That's perfect," Helle declared, glaring at Brion to agree with her. "What a lovely gesture."
Brion mumbled something that could have been agreement with Helle, which Helle decided was still a victory. She couldn't win support for her rule if she made enemies everywhere she went.
"Great, welcome to the world, Alphaios," Lukas announced, already heading back into the house now that the baby was safely with his family and out of Lukas' care. "I've still got work to do. I'd advise staying out of the bedroom until I'm done."
"And Abercius? Is he coming back to us now that his work is done?" Helle asked hopefully. Her hopes were dashed when Lukas shook their head.
"No, I still have plans for them," they replied cryptically, vanishing into the house without another word.
"Them?" Helle repeated, looking to Brion to see if he had any clue of what the deity meant. Brion only shrugged. He hadn't truly understood anything he'd seen upon returning home. Just one mystery or tragedy after another.
"Let's get you inside," Deia sang to Alphaios, rocking him in her arms. "There's no sense waiting out here when all we need to do is avoid upstairs. Come on, Desdemona, clean up your toys."
Abercius stared at his uncle, unable to process everything he'd just seen. Clearly, Lukas knew what they were doing; the baby had been born faster than Abercius could have even imagined.
Now, Trysten lay before him, completely lost in the haze of the plague. His arm twitched slightly every minute or so, but otherwise, he was as still as a corpse. Absydee was used to seeing dead bodies in her line of work, while Abercius was still a little squeamish.
To his surprise, Lukas had been right that Abercius could still see and understand the different stages of death, without having a reaper body. He had seen the signs of Trysten's soul releasing from his body, and warned Lukas, so they could try to heal just enough to keep him alive. There was only so much that they could do though; Trysten's name was likely appearing in Absydee's old book as they spoke.
"Listen to me, I know what Lordem Lukas wants from us. They have been watching and waiting for this for some time. They need our help. Remember who we were."
Abercius jumped at the impossible sound of a familiar voice, looking around to find its owner. "Absydee?"
He blinked, and when his eyes focused, his former self was staring intently at him, holding out her hand.
"They need our help," she repeated. "Take my hand. We need both of us for this. I know that we haven't fully fused, and I sometimes feel like a different person, but we are the same. We share the same soul, we both love Apophis. We will do this together."
"Do what?" Abercius asked nervously. "If I'm you, shouldn't I know what you know?"
Absydee nodded carefully.
"Yes, and you do know, you just haven't learned to listen to that part of us yet. Take my hand, and listen."
Abercius reached out his arm to make contact with the apparition of his past self. Even though no one could see Absydee, Abercius could feel her familiar presence wash over him, whispering to him softly about what he already knew within him.
"Oh," he said softly. "I see. That might work. I can't see Lord Izanami being happy about that, but that might work until something better comes along. But in order to do anything, I need-"
Absydee vanished, fading into the smoke spilling from his uncle's cauldron, only to be replaced by Rani. She landed safely on the floor in a shower of sparkles, grinning wildly.
"Abby! Can you believe it? Life is making us kill someone! I thought that I had to have heard it wrong, but there's someone half dead already and they need help crossing over. No one ever gave us missions like this in the old days."
Abercius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"No, you definitely heard that wrong," he said. "We're not killing anyone. Life can't kill people. It's pretty obvious that Life is going to try to make my uncle a reaper, so we can have a proper team again. I don't know if we'd even succeed, since I'm not a reaper anymore, but we're not going to kill him."
A certain deity cleared their throat and stepped into the room.
"I'm sorry. More sorry than you'll ever know," Trysten began. Brion and Abercius looked skeptical of their uncle's words. It was hard to believe anyone who had been lying to them for their entire lives about his relationship with their father.
"Not sorry enough to not do this to our mother," Abercius muttered, crossing his arms. "This would kill her if she knew. Her only brother and her husband conceiving a child behind her back? She'd die of the shame."
Brion nodded his agreement, but remained silent.
"There is a holy legend that says that the Watcher blesses some souls with a soulmate," Trysten continued, ignoring the teens. "I was born with one eye larger than the other, and in cases like mine, I should expect to find another soul with a larger eye on the side opposite to mine. That person would be my soulmate, and we would create children with both eyes larger than usual, just as the Watcher intended. My mother reminded me of this sacred mission of mine every day of my childhood. I waited longer than most to marry, and then only to the woman my mother arranged me to marry. She couldn't find a woman who would fit the definition of my soulmate, but she wanted grandkids, so she settled for the poor widow with a daughter already. It was pointless though, as I'd found my soulmate as a preteen, and he wasn't a woman."
"Interesting," Helle said with a practiced smile. The siblings beside her were still glaring daggers at their uncle, so it was up to her to keep the peace.
"The Pryor brothers attended school with Damiana and me. They and their mother were recent converts to the Jacobean faith, so they had lots to learn about being a Jacobean. Your father got along with everyone in the school, including the teachers, but he always hung out with me and Damiana. Cleopas, his identical twin brother, wasn't as sociable as Alphaeus, but he followed my sister around like a love sick puppy. I never paid any attention to Cleopas, and I'm definitely not sleeping with him now. Even though they were identical, I knew that Alphaeus was my soulmate from the first time we met. His eye was larger on the side opposite to mine, and even though we were still kids, something inside me just clicked into place. This was the person that I would love until my dying breath. Alphaeus was a faithful Jacobean, same as me, and we waited for the Watcher's instructions throughout our teenage years. We were two young men, who couldn't have children, or even be married, and yet our souls were inseparable. I prayed every night for the Watcher to make his plans known to us, to give the Proxy a message for us that would make everything okay. My prayers were never answered.
Damiana loved the Pryor brothers, though just like me, she had a clear favourite. Cleopas was less devout and more prone to taking chances on things that other people might find heretical. I used to tease her that she must love bad boys, until my mother intervened and made me recite prayers in my room for forgiveness. We were a tight friend group, just Alphaeus, Cleopas, Damiana, and I, until we became teens. Cleopas was expelled by the Proxy, along with their mother. I don't know what their supposed crimes were, only that Alphaeus had been allowed to stay. He served the Watcher faithfully and so I got to keep him in my life. I know that if he'd been expelled too, I would have left with him without any regrets, but Damiana couldn't. She didn't want to live the life of an exile. Her greatest dream was to become a mother one day, and raise kids in her faith."
"Do you know where Cleopas and Grandma went?" Abercius asked quietly. "Obviously, he's come back to the settlement, but has she? Is my grandmother still alive? Where did she come from?"
"I've never known," Trysten answered. "Even your father didn't know. He was young when they moved, and he didn't remember his father. It troubled him greatly growing up, but over the years, he stopped wondering. It was decided that he should marry Damiana when we were finished school, and Alphaeus and I resigned ourselves to never being able to be true to ourselves. He loved your mother very much; that wasn't an act. If I had died or left, maybe they'd still be happily married today. They loved each other, but not like Alphaeus loved me. We still met in secret to be together, even when Abercius was born and fatherhood changed his life. You were my nephew, and the closest I'd ever thought that Alphaeus and I would come to having a child of our own. You have the Vienot red hair, and looked so much like your father. I loved you the moment I first held you. A Vienot who looked so much like a Pryor."
A silent rage turned Abercius' face a fiery shade of red. This was the absolute last thing he needed to hear at the moment. He was already furious at his uncle, he didn't need to know how Trysten had fantasized about being his father despite Abercius already having two parents. If his uncle had projected all of his hopes of having a biological connection to his father on him, Abercius didn't know how to process it. It made his stomach turn to think of all the nice times in his childhood he'd spent with his uncle, when Trysten was secretly trying to imagine himself in Damiana's place.
"Don't. Don't talk about me. Don't talk about my dad. Just tell me what happened after we left Jubilant Accosts. I think I can fill in the rest of your backstory with Dad on my own. What happened after that?"
Helle squeezed Abercius' hand tightly. It meant everything that she was here to help him with this. Brion looked just as upset as he felt, but Brion was adopted, and therefore couldn't be used for their uncle to picture as own child like he did Abercius. It was a good thing that Brion was there too. Maybe he could tell Helena about this conversation the next time they saw each other, because Abercius never planned to speak about this conversation again.
Trysten nodded, lowering his gaze to the floor after seeing the disgusted look in his nephew's eyes.
"Alphaeus was sick before you left, as you already know," he began. "Damiana too. Your father got so sick so quickly, we never really got to say goodbye. I couldn't openly tell him what I wanted to with my sister beside me. I watched the life drain from him a little more each day, until finally he fell asleep and never woke up. We tried everything we could think of to wake him, and when we gave up hope, we committed him to the care of the Watcher. You kids were supposed to leave and never return so that you'd be safe. I didn't realize that the plague would spread to Tredony; you were supposed to live a life of safety, not return to die with the rest of us."
"Um, what about James?" Abercius sneered. "He's my little brother, lost in a dangerous world on his own. Should we not care about his safety? He's my father's son, you should at least care about him for that reason."
"The Watcher will protect him and guide his path," Trysten assured his nephew. "There was no time to find him, you know that. This isn't the first time that James has disappeared. He's a spirited child. I became ill too quickly to search for him."
"We should probably stick to the matter at hand," Helle said diplomatically. She squeezed Abercius' hand to reassure him. "What happened next?"
"I realized that I was pregnant," Deia replied. Emotions were running high, and the teens would probably prefer another person answer their questions. "It obviously wasn't your uncle's child, and I feared how he'd react to the news."
"But then I noticed that he was starting to show the same symptoms as me. He couldn't keep food down and we were racing each other to the bathroom. I never expected to see a pregnant man, but whispers had been circulating around the settlement of bizarre miracles that defied what we understood about the world, so I decided to test my theory."
"The pregnancy test was positive. Your uncle had only taken it as a joke, believing that I didn't know about his little love affair. Once the proof was before us, there wasn't any point in denying it. We were both pregnant by other men."
Abercius' face fell when he did some simple math in his head.
"You were already pregnant when Dad got sick," he spat. "All that talk about my parents fixing their marriage or starting over was a lie, wasn't it? How long did you two stop your affair after you got caught? Did you ever stop? You were pregnant while you were consoling my mother over her husband's sickness! How could you? That's sick!"
"He's my soulmate and he was mine long before he was Damiana's," Trysten protested. "These things are complicated; you'll understand when you're older."
"I am the reincarnation of one of the oldest creatures in creation," Abercius spat. "There's no age that I could ever understand what you've done!"
Helle cleared her throat quietly.
"I was married when we began our relationship," she said softly. "I mean, I wasn't in love with my wife, but we still did have Hetepheres together. Maybe thinking about our past will help you accept your parents' choices."
Abercius clenched his hands angrily.
"I never imagined Hetepheres as my own. Your wife wasn't my sister. There's no way that this is anything like us. Not at all."
Brion gave his sibling a curious look, but didn't comment on the strangeness of listening to Abercius describe another lifetime. He knew that look in Abercius' eyes; he'd inherited it from their mother. Damiana had that same expression whenever she was furious at her husband or children. It was best to leave Abercius alone until he calmed down.
"Trysten. Trysten, can you hear me?"
Trysten's eyes rolled back in his head and he stumbled. Deia was immediately at his side, supporting him as best as she could.
"Trysten! Trysten, ignore it! You can't give up! Not yet!"
The teens watched in horror as Trysten tried to right himself, then settled for setting on the edge of the couch.
"Sorry." He coughed violently, struggling to catch his breath. "The plague has almost won. Xanthos is a great help at keeping it at bay, but he can't delay the inevitable. The pregnancy doesn't help either. I don't have much time left."
"Xanthos can help weaken the plague?" Helle gasped. "Because you're your father's son? That's great news! You need to talk to someone from Tredony who is studying dream magic. Maybe together, you can work on a treatment!"
"Tredony?" Xanthos repeated. "That's where you sent Xaviere? Hasn't that place been destroyed for millennia?"
"No," Brion replied. "I've been there, same as Abercius. They call it Pleasantview now. Our friends from Tredony can help us. They need to see how you can save people from the plague."
"Not save, delay what will always happen," Deia corrected.
"I told Xanthos about my pregnancy and Trysten's as soon as I knew," she continued. "If my husband wasn't going to be able to hide who he truly loved, then I wasn't going to continue to do the same. We would figure things out together."
"We've all worked together to keep our house safe, and the pregnancies secret. When the Proxy disappeared, we knew we were likely safe from the church, but there was a good reason that Xanthos sent me and Xaviere away all those years ago. People don't trust demons, Jacobean or not."
"The Proxy is dead, not disappeared," Xanthos corrected. "My parents killed him with the plague."
"I guess that's comforting to know that he's not coming back," Helle said. "After everything he's done, maybe I can bring peace back to our home."
Xanthos and Deia smiled thinly at the comment. As much as they hated the Proxy, they didn't seem excited about the idea of a queen.
"We've been keeping Trysten as healthy as we can," Deia said, turning the conversation back to the past. "Xanthos goes out to get us food and supplies, and we've been homeschooling Desdemona as best as we can. Shadowvale was abandoned, and didn't bother to protect the building against demons when they left."
"I used to visit Damiana and Alphaeus back before things got bad," Trysten confessed. "I'd sit with them both and just talk to them, hoping they could hear me. Maybe that's how I caught the plague, maybe I got it the same time as them, I don't know. I tried telling Alphaeus about the baby every time that I sat with them, but I don't know if he could hear me."
"Eventually, I was too sick, too pregnant to leave the house. I can still hear him sometimes though, calling me. Calling me to join him in the dream. To be together again, even if it's in an endless dream. I need to have the baby, though. I need to give them a chance to live, and pray that they haven't caught the plague from me."
"Trysten, come join me. I've been waiting so long to see you again. I love you."
"Alphaeus? I can see you. I can't believe you're here. Is this the end? It can't be. Our child isn't born, I can't leave now. I...I...."
Trysten collapsed on the floor, unable to hold himself up anymore. Luckily, he landed on his back and not his stomach, though Deia and Xanthos both rushed to his side to check for any injuries.
"Trysten, you need to fight this!" Deia protested. "Don't give into the dream. Not yet. You can do this!"
Helle ran to assist the adults, while Brion and Abercius watched in horror. Neither one of them wanted to deal with the situation before them, especially while they tried to process everything they'd uncovered about their family.
"He's dying?" Abercius asked, his eyes still fixed in horror on his uncle. "D-did we cause this with our questions?"
"No, this was always going to happen soon," Deia reassured the teens. She reached for her phone, but hesitated when she realized that she had no one to call. "We need a doctor, but who can we possibly find to help a pregnant man with the plague? I was hoping we'd have more time."
"Step away from him, Deia. I can't guarantee that I can protect you from the illness this far into the end stage. He's fading quickly and I don't want you to be exposed. We have the kids to think of."
"What about his kid?" Deia demanded. "If he's dying, then we need to get it out of him. You're not a doctor, and none of us know how to deliver a child from a male body!"
In their panic, the adults almost missed the knocking on the front door.
"Are you expecting someone?" Brion asked nervously. "Should I answer the door or should I prepare for an attack?"
Deia and Xanthos exchanged a terrified look.
"I'll answer it, and Xanthos, you stay with Trysten. Wolfy, you come with me."
Helle, Abercius, and Brion stared at their aunt and uncle's house with trepidation. If the Pryor family house had been mostly vacant, then what had happened to the Vienot house? Were Trysten or Deia also victims of the plague? Was Desdemona, the cousin they'd been forced to leave behind, okay?
At least Abercius had went into his home knowing that there was a good chance that his parents might be gone. He had no idea what to expect from his aunt and uncle.
"Stop! Come any closer and I'll be forced to defend my home!"
The teens were suddenly face to face with a blonde man they'd never seen before.
"Did you kill my aunt and uncle and steal their house?" Abercius asked, looking at Brion for support. Abercius still didn't know battle magic, so Brion's claws were probably their best protection from this stranger. "Is Desdemona okay? I knew that we should have taken her with us, but Aunt Deia said that she was too young to take on such a dangerous trip. Please, tell me that at least she's alive!"
"Xanthos, enough. Those are my nephews and a local girl. At least, I'm pretty sure that wolf is my nephew. They're family."
The two Pryors gasped at the familiar voice, staring at her with disbelief.
"Aunt Deia? You're alive!"
Deia hugged Abercius tightly, as the blonde man retreated into the house.
"I'm so glad to see you alive," she said, releasing Abercius and looking carefully at the werewolf before her. After a moment of consideration, Deia reached out her arms for Brion to hug her. She didn't want to risk getting too close to a werewolf's personal space, and triggering an attack. Brion hugged her, thankful that his usually uptight aunt wasn't rejecting him.
"Come inside, children," Deia urged, looking around for threats. "The streets at night aren't safe. You never know who or what is lurking out there."
"Daddy, can you read me a story? I'm not tired, but Mommy says it's bedtime. I can stay up and read with you, right?"
Trysten Vienot gently placed the infant in his arms in the crib, then turned to face his stubborn daughter. "Honey, it's bedtime. Even Mommy and Xanthos and I are going to bed. It's dangerous outside, and we all need our rest. Maybe if I'm feeling okay tomorrow, you can read me a story. You know that Daddy's eyes hurt too much when trying to read all those letters. C'mon, let's get you into your pajamas."
"Uncle Trysten?!"
Both Abercius and Brion stared in horror at the sight of their uncle, while Helle tried to understand just what she had walked into.
"That man is pregnant," Helle whispered, as if this was somehow a secret. With a stomach as swollen as his was, there was no denying that Trysten was pregnant.
"Look at his eyes," Abercius whispered back. "He's got the plague. This makes no sense. Even if he got sick after my parents did, he should be sicker. Way sicker."
"You know, I may be sick, but I'm not deaf," Trysten remarked. He coughed a little and had to spend the next few moments catching his breath. "What are you kids doing back here? Is Xaviere okay? Did any of you make it to the other realm?" He paused again for another breath. "Why does it suddenly smell like dog?"
"That would be Brion, dear," Deia called out from the hallway. "Perfect little Damiana adopted herself a werewolf it seems. I wish I could see the look on her smug face when she sees that."
"My mother is dead! My father too! They won't see anything ever again! My mom loved Brion and I love Brion and why are you pregnant?" Abercius didn't even realize that he was shouting until Helle reached for his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Abercius appreciated the gesture, but he was far too angry to stop now. "Are you fucking my dad? Are you fucking his identical twin, who, by the way, I had no idea existed until he tried to threaten us ten minutes ago!"
"Oh honey, please try to calm down," Deia replied, interrupting her husband's attempt to reply to the outburst. "We all have some catching up to do. A lot has changed since you left and-"
"And a lot of things haven't changed," Brion snapped. He grabbed his sibling's hand in solidarity. "The Tredonians and Sebastian were right this whole time, weren't they? You were cheating with our father, and when he died, you moved on to his twin brother! Is Cleopas the father of your child? How could you do this to our mother? She was your only sister and you slept with her husband?! You're the reason that we had to move and listen to the whole settlement talk about our sinful father? We trusted you!"
"That is a shitty thing to do." Helle joined in with the shouting, though she wasn't entirely sure what to yell about. She ended up deciding to ask for information while the Pryor children lowered Trysten's defenses. "Um, not to be rude, but why aren't you dead like Abby's parents?"
"Enough. We can talk about this, and I promise not to leave anything out, but you need to calm down. You're going to wake up the baby," Trysten replied. "I don't have much time left here in this world, as the girl who somehow possesses the Yacothian crown has pointed out. You deserve to know before I'm gone too."
Abercius' mind filled with questions. He couldn't begin to choose which ones needed to be answered first.
"How long have you been sleeping with my dad?" he decided. "Was the affair that Mom discovered the first time?"
Trysten shook his head slowly.
"No, it wasn't the first time. We've been in love since we were teenagers. He's my soulmate after all. I knew that he was the one the first time I looked into his eyes."
"Like we're supposed to believe that," Brion scoffed, looking at his sibling with a knowing look. "Soulmates don't really exist; that's just an excuse you're using to justify your bad decisions. I can't believe Theo was right. I thought better of you."
Abercius stared at his uncle's very pregnant stomach until he lost all sense of time. He tried to piece the facts of this situation together in his head in a way that made any kind of sense. Soulmates? His father having an identical twin? His parents trapped inside a broken shell of a corpse while his uncle still lived? It was all too much to handle.
"Abby, I think that we should hear your uncle out. You can still be mad at him, but he has information that might help our cause. Come on, let's sit down. Brion too," Helle ordered, pulling the siblings with her towards the nearest couch. Neither Brion or Abercius fought her. They were far too angry and hurt to protest. "Mr. Vienot, I would be very happy to listen to your explanation about this scenario, and I know Abby and Brion would be too, even if they can't say it."
"That man smells like a demon," Brion growled, his attention now on the blonde man still standing in the hall. "Why is there a demon here? Are you working with Xexys?"
"Xexys is my father," the man answered. "My name is Xanthos Onerieroi, and I've been fighting against my father for a very long time. Trust me, no one wants to see my father dead more than I do. I'm here to protect my family as best as I can."
"You're Xaviere's dad," Brion gasped, looking at his aunt's face for confirmation. "Aunt Deia said you were dead! Does Xaviere know?"
"No, it was safer this way," Deia replied. "If the Proxy knew that she was related to the Demon of Nightmares, she would have been killed. Xanthos stepped out of her life so that she could live, and now that the Proxy is gone, we can stand together against Xexys. You still haven't told us if Xaviere is okay. Did she survive the journey?"
"She's fine," Brion said, glaring openly at his aunt. "She's with Phuong and Helena in a house protected by the monarchs of Strangetown and Twikkii Island. She's been taking magic lessons and really enjoying it there. We didn't know that she was a demon, but the other realm seems to embrace demons, so she's fine. It would have been good to know about that beforehand."
"Your uncle sent her, not me," Deia said in a frosty tone. "It would have been good to know that she was being sent off with a werewolf, but I'm not complaining."
"Deia, these are children, not my sister," Trysten said. "They're innocents in all this and they've already told you that Xaviere is safe. Please. I need to tell Abercius what happened, before it's too late."
"You need to tell Brion too!" Abercius snapped, not realizing that his voice was raised until Helle gently placed her hand on his. "Brion is my brother, even if he is a werewolf, just like I'm the reincarnation of an ancient reaper, and I don't feel like a boy! I can't ever tell my parents that, so you're going to have to listen to us for them, and treat us all equally! Helena has a baby with a female werewolf now too, and she's learning battle magic, just like I am. And-"
"I think they understand that, Abby," Helle said reassuringly. "We can hammer this all out later, but I think that we should listen to your uncle. He might be able to clear some things up for us."
Abercius flushed at the interruption of his rant, while Brion looked at his sibling with a new appreciation. It had taken the breaking of their family and the damnation of their realm, but Abercius was finally standing up for what he believed. Brion couldn't remember a time when he'd seen Abercius this angry in the last five years.
"Okay, fine," Abercius grumbled, folding his arms angrily. "Tell us all about how you've been lying since before we were born."
"I don't hear anything. Maybe it was just the wind outside."
Helle wrapped her arms around Abercius to comfort him. He'd just encountered the lifeless bodies of his parents, while sorting out the aftermath of a reincarnation, and worrying about his siblings. He had a lot on his plate at the moment, so it was understandable if he was hearing noises that sounded like growling. It made sense.
Except, now Helle could hear the growling herself.
"Werewolf!" she shouted, looking hurriedly for an exit from the tiny room they found themselves in. "We have to go, Abby! The werewolf/vampire feud has found its way into the settlement! There could be more of them on the way!"
Helle reached for a weapon, while Abercius started laughing.
Without warning, the werewolf burst through the door, leaping towards Abercius with his teeth bared.
"Oh no," Abercius cried out, throwing his arms in front of him dramatically. "A werewolf! I'm doomed!"
The werewolf laughed in response, throwing his own arms around Abercius. Helle still looked like she was about to hit the werewolf with the closest thing at hand, but she hesitated when she saw both of them laugh together. Maybe this wasn't a threat to them after all. Brion and Phuong were both werewolves, maybe this was one of their friends. Helle had never really seen a werewolf before, so she had no idea.
"Brion, what the hell are you doing here?" Abercius asked, pulling away from the werewolf, allowing Helle to get a better look at him. "You're supposed to be with Helena and Phuong! I had to come back to find Tiffany Dean and James, but you're supposed to be with them!"
"You need me more," Brion explained. "Helena and Phuong had their baby already, and they have enough Tredonian help. I need to protect you and help our family. You can't just run off without telling us you're leaving."
"If I had told you, you would have tried to stop me," Abercius countered. "What did they name the baby? Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A little girl named Nguyet Selene," Brion answered. "She's healthy and completely normal. No extra hands or feet and with the right amount of eyes. Maybe she'll inherit the vampire or werewolf gene from Phuong's side of the family, but it's too early to tell. Everyone is doing great though. I think the king of Strangetown is about to adopt them all at this rate. He's always over to check in, and brings his grandchildren over to socialize. For a monarch, he's not too bad. The queen of Twikkii Island is always busy, so we don't see her much, but she does send a representative to check in with us."
"Ah, right, a monarch," Abercius said nervously. "I'm glad that you think that some monarchs aren't bad because...uh...Helle is the reincarnation of the final king of Yacothia."
Brion looked at Helle, who had until that moment, been trying to stay out of the family reunion.
"Yeah, that tracks. She's wearing the Yacothian crown," Brion replied. He looked curiously at the crown on his sibling's head. That wasn't as easy to explain.
"Um, Helle and I are engaged. I'm going to be her consort because...uh...I'm the reincarnation of a reaper who fell in love with the king. Helle and I fell in love centuries ago and I broke all of the natural laws so that we could reincarnate and have another chance at life. So we're engaged, and going to restore the monarchy."
Silence fell in the room as Brion processed what he'd just heard.
"What's a reaper again? Are you in a textbook somewhere?"
"A reaper is a servant of the god of Death," Abercius explained nerviously. "They collect the souls of dead mortals, and protect the natural balance of the world. Reapers usually exist in teams in different countries or realms, and I was once the leader of the reaper team here. If I was in a textbook, I wouldn't know. We don't exactly get an accurate education here."
"Is that why your eye looks different?" Brion asked cautiously. He didn't want to offend his sibling if the change to his eye was because of an accident like the scars on Adam's face. As Brion had learned, people were often sensitive about changes to their face. Theo hadn't let him bring up Adam's facial scars at all, despite his own anger at his ex-boyfriend.
To his relief, Abercius nodded.
"It seems to have carried over from my past life. Once I regained my memories, it hasn't gone away. I don't have any of my reaper powers, but for some reason, I get to keep the same feature that everyone used endlessly stare at. I'm sure that it will be the same in this life."
"So, Helena is a mom and you're engaged to a queen," Brion stated. "So much has changed in such a short time. If someone told me that James was in the service of the Demon of Nightmares, I'd believe that too."
"So you're not freaked out about me?" Abercius asked hopefully. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I promise that I'm still your sibling. That will never change, no matter how many lifetimes I have."
Brion smiled warmly.
"Don't be ridiculous. Finding out that you're just as heretical as the rest of us is great! You're engaged to a monarch, and used to be a creature of Death. Not only is that cool, but Mom will have a meltdown about it. She won't know what to angrier about: you in a dress and a crown, Helena with her grandchild, or little old wolfy me."
When Abercius didn't laugh at the joke, Brion had to assume that Abercius' strange behaviour wasn't entirely about being reincarnated.
"Have you found Mom or Dad? Is James okay? With all the details of your scandalous life, I forgot to ask about your progress. I hope none of them are too mad about us leaving them behind."
Abercius hung his head, unable to look at his brother. Helle cleared her throat nervously.
"We haven't found James yet, but we have found your parents. I-I'm afraid it's not good news."
"They haven't moved since we left. They were supposed to wake up while we were gone. Maybe if we give them more time something will change."
Helle gave the siblings some distance so that they could process their loss together. No matter how strongly she felt about her reincarnated love, Abercius needed to share this moment with his brother. Helle could remember spending time with Ranya a lifetime ago and how precious their time together had been before they'd both grown into adults. If they were able to successfully find the Dean children alive, Helle was looking forward to having that sibling bond again.
"So they're gone for real? It-It looks like they're just sleeping." Brion hugged himself tightly, kneeling on the floor in sorrow. He always thought he'd be braver if this situation happened, and his parents were actually dead instead of what their children had hoped. As much as he was afraid of his parents learning about his lycanthropy, he was even more afraid of carrying on without them in his life. But if anyone would understand death, it would be a former reaper, and Abercius remained convinced that they were gone.
"It's a sleeping plague," Abercius pointed out softly. "Of course they look asleep. They haven't eaten or moved in weeks. Their bodies are dead, but their souls haven't been reaped. They're locked inside their corpses and there's nothing that I can do to change it. I'm sorry, Brion. I wish I could change it."
"How did you reincarnate?" Brion asked, crawling up on the platform next to their mother. Abercius joined his vigil, wanting to be close to support his brother. "Maybe we can get them to reincarnate too. I mean, they'd be babies, but they'd still be alive."
"I don't fully understand how I managed it, but I don't think that reincarnation is possible now that Lordem Lukas knows how it happened. I had to be a reaper, and I had to use energy that held both Life and Death inside it. I'm human now, and can't use any of my reaper skills. It's impossible."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Brion admitted. "I never thought that I'd want Mom to wake up and see me in my wolf form, but here we are. It feels weird. Do you think they can hear us? You would think that all this heresy would have her waking up just to scream at us."
"I don't doubt it." Abercius chuckled softly at the thought. "I don't think that they can hear us. I don't know what the plague is like, but my guess is that they're still trapped in a dream of some kind. Their bodies are damaged, but they haven't succumbed to death completely. The plague uses dream magic, so there must be a dream to keep it active."
"An eternal sleep, just like in the old stories Dad used to read us. Xexys won't stop until we're all eternally sleeping, until every last person regardless of their faith or supernatural genes is under his spell. Everyone."
"And he's after Tredony and their neighbours too," Abercius stated, as if anyone could forget. "Helena and Phuong and their daughter will end up just like this too. We need to end this plague, even if it means losing Mom and Dad. Their souls don't deserve to be endlessly tormented in a broken shell. We need to end this, but I don't know how. Despina's trying her best, but she's barely just begun to use dream magic. We're nowhere near a cure, and even the 'safe' realm we sent Helena to won't be safe eventually. This all feels so hopeless."
"It's not hopeless," Helle assured the siblings, gesturing for them to sit with her on a pew. "It's going to be hard, but we'll get through this. Abby and I have reincarnated to take care of this and bring order back to our realm. The Tredonians will help, and Brion, maybe you could work with the werewolves and see what help they can offer. At the very least, we should know more about their war with the vampires, and if any of the supernatural creatures are also suffering from the plague."
Brion frowned at the idea, though he could follow Helle's reasoning.
"I've never met a werewolf other than Phuong," he stated. "I guess her family would be a good place to start. I was hoping to meet with them to tell them about the baby anyway. She...didn't think that meeting them would be easy though. When we left, her parents were also fleeing for safety. Her aunt and uncle are leaders in the war, so getting an introduction might be hard."
"Hmm. You should try to approach them at night in your wolf form," Helle suggested. "That way, they know for sure that you're one of them and not just a Pryor. I've seen pilgrims and tourists come to my gallery who know of the family names in this settlement. I'm sure that some of the werewolves will know what family you belong to. Take Theo or Adam with you for security. If the Tredonians can't all perform dream magic, then we should take advantage of their battle magic. From what I've seen and what Despina's confirmed, Theo and Adam can defend us against threats that aren't Xexys or the plague. I don't know how strong they are, but they have to be stronger than a few vampires or werewolves."
Brion shot Abercius a weary look.
"She's already acting like she's been coronated, and we're her subjects," he said. "I don't remember swearing to serve a queen. I'll do my best to find information on the werewolves, and I'll even take Theo with me, but I'm not following your orders, Helle. I'm going to do the best I can for my family and see what happens from there."
Helle looked hurt at the rejection of her authority, but quickly replaced that hurt with a practiced smile.
Abercius stared at his brother with eyes so wide and sorrowful, Brion half expected him to burst into tears.
"Of course. I will earn the loyalty of my people with hard work and faithfulness. I merely wanted to suggest a mission that might be practical. You can do whatever you wish with the suggestion."
"Helle is just trying to help," he said softly. "I know that we've been raised to hate the monarchy, but none of us are actually faithful to the Jacobean faith. Helle was prophesied to return and defeat the king's enemies. We're all on the same side."
"Heresy! How dare you pollute this home with your sin."
The teens whirled around, recognizing the voice at once, though it was impossible.
"Dad?!"
The man before them was clearly Alphaeus Pryor. His voice and face were identical to Alphaeus'.
But Alphaeus was still visibly behind them, resting in a broken body next to his wife.
"Hey! She's our mom!" Abercius shouted, feeling especially brave knowing that this wasn't actually his father. Whatever this man was, he wasn't Alphaeus Pryor. "You need to leave!"
"You are going to disturb Damiana's rest! All of you need to leave! You don't deserve to even breathe the same air as her!"
Brion lunged at the man, baring his teeth and claws. For all of the man's earlier confidence, the sight of a werewolf ready to tear him limb from limb frightened him enough to back away.
"I'll be back with enough reinforcements to protect her!" the man vowed, trying to drown out Brion's snarls by placing his hands over his ears. "I won't let you hurt her!"
The man ran out the front door into the night, leaving the three teens baffled.
"What the hell was that?" Helle asked. "Every time I turn around, there's something new wrong with this family. Just how many secrets are there in this one house?"
"I agree, but you could have worded that better," Abercius suggested, reaching for Helle's hand. "We're all frustrated, but this is our family. If there are people who can turn into wolves and deities who can change genders at will, maybe this is some kind of shapeshifter who can mimic people. I don't know why he would take the form of our father, but he did seem focused on Mom. Maybe he's been assigned by the demon to guard her body and prevent people from learning her and Dad's fate. You can't assume Alphaeus is dead if he's walking around the lot telling people that things are fine."
"There's no human shapeshifter here, Abercius," Brion declared. "This isn't the work of any demon, just regular people hiding secrets."
"What do you mean?" Abercius demanded. "Dad is clearly over there, completely unresponsive. He didn't just run out the door!"
Brion sighed, which in his werewolf form, came across more frightening than he intended.
"We need to go upstairs. There's something that I think can explain this. I've never told anyone that I found it because I knew that somehow I'd be the bad one for bringing it up. The adopted child isn't supposed to know the biological family's secrets."
Abercius reached for his brother and gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"No one thinks like that," he assured him. "Maybe Mom or Dad might say that if they were already in a bad mood, but Helena and I would never believe that you're any different than we are. Hell, I'm the reincarnation of an immortal being with a past of my own, so in some aspects, I'm just as adopted as you are. We're all Pryors, no matter how we joined the family."
"Well, you should see what I found before making declarations like that," Brion replied. "It seems like we don't know the Pryor family at all."
Helle, Abercius, and Brion all gathered in Alphaeus and Damiana's bedroom. It was strange to meet in there for the Pryor children, as they were usually forbidden from entering the room. Their parents' bedroom was off limits because parents needed their "privacy" in a household of busy children.
It didn't look any different from any other bedroom that Abercius had seen. It had a bed, a closet, and the spell books given to them by the Proxy to perform their duties with.
"This is a little underwhelming," Abercius noted. "This looks just like our bedroom, just with a bigger bed. I always thought that they were hiding something like money or an expensive vase they didn't want broken. How did you find anything in here, Brion? We're not supposed to be here."
"Easy," Brion replied, rolling his eyes. "I came in here to snoop. I thought that they might have my adoption papers hidden in here, so I went looking for them. It was after my first transformation, and I wanted more information on my birth parents. I didn't find anything about my birth parents, but I did find this."
Brion opened his mother's sock drawer and produced a small framed photo.
"I haven't told anyone, not even Helena. I didn't think anyone would believe me, but I think after our surprise visitor, no one can deny this anymore."
Abercius and Helle stared at the photo, scanning it to see what made it so scandalous. The picture contained four children, all smiling for the camera. It didn't take long for Abercius to spot two versions of his father next to his mother and Uncle Trysten.
"What in the world? There's two of Dad in this picture," he whispered. "Dad has an identical twin? Why have we never heard of this? Why hasn't he ever come to visit?"
"Exactly," Brion replied. "Which is why I never brought it up. Why wouldn't we know if we had an uncle who looked just like our dad? Why hide him? I know they would have lied to us even if I had shown them the photo as proof. Where are our grandparents on Dad's side? I've never met them, have you?"
Brion shook his head slowly, trying to remember their parents even mentioning his paternal grandparents.
"No, I've never even heard Mom or Dad say they were dead. They never bring them up."
"Then why would Mom keep this in her sock drawer?"
Helle reached for the photo, and gently eased it out of its frame. Flipping the photo over revealed some hastily scribbled words.
"We need actual answers," Abercius declared. He completely understood Helle's frustrations with the Pryor family, despite the love he felt for his problematic parents. The stakes were too high for Abercius to meekly stand by and let his parents keep their secrets. He was engaged to a queen, Brion was walking around the settlement as a wolf, and Helena was raising a child with the woman she loved in another realm. The time for secrets had passed; every secret in the Pryor family had to be exposed, even if Abercius didn't like the answers. "We need to talk to the other two kids in this picture. They're the only ones who can tell us who that man was."
"Alphaeus, Trysten, Damiana, Cleopas," she read, giving the photo to Brion to look over. "Well, if I had to guess, it looks like you guys have an uncle named Cleopas. That's at least a start."
Brion nodded in agreement, looking out the bedroom window to the house across the street.
"Their lights are on, and I think I saw a shadow run in front of the window," he said. "I'm sure they saw us come in here, and our mystery uncle leave. Let's go now, before they hide."
"Uncle Trysten will know everything," Abercius stated. A knot was beginning to form in his stomach at the thought of the Tredonians' assumptions about his father's affair partner. Confronting his uncle about the nature of his relationship with his father was the last thing Abercius wanted to do, but this couldn't be helped. Lives depended on them knowing everything they could about Jubilant Accosts.
Abercius tried to will himself to move, but failed. He and Helle had been staring at the front door to his family home for what felt like hours, and still, he couldn't force himself to move. There was caution tape all over the front door, marking this house as one of the first places to be consumed by the plague. It probably wasn't safe to enter. It probably never would be.
The crown on his head was becoming painful to wear after just an hour of wearing it. He didn't know how the monarchs that he'd seen in the other realm wore them for so long.
Helle had suggested wearing it to match the Yacothian crown she wore, so that when they confronted whoever remained in Abercius' home, they would seem powerful and in control of the situation. Abercius didn't really feel powerful at the moment, and he highly doubted that if his mother was really waiting for him to return, that she'd appreciate seeing her son in a crown.
For an instant, Abercius swore that he saw a shadow move in his aunt and uncle's darkened window across the street, but he tried to push it from his mind. He wasn't in danger. Everything was fine.
"You don't have to go in, Abby. You don't ever have to go in if you don't want to. Do you want me to go in and tell you what I find?"
Abercius was tempted by the offer, but he knew that he could never take it. To be by Helle's side, he needed to be brave in order to face what came at them. He was supposedly protected from the plague by an amulet the Tredonians had enchanted, and he had seen every manner of death in his past life. He could do this. He had to do this.
"No, I'll go in," he assured Helle. "I need to do this. This is my home. Maybe James came back here, waiting for someone to come back. Let's go. This is important."
It was easier with just Helle here by his side. The Tredonians meant well, but Abercius didn't want to share his personal grief over his family with them. They saw this plague as a problem to be solved so that they could go back to their own families; this was Abercius's family. It still felt disloyal to his past life to think of the Pryor family as his family, but it was undeniably true. Just as Helle was working on coming to terms with being a member of the Dean family, Abercius was trying to reconcile being a servant of Death with being a boy who was not a boy, in a family filled with secrets.
Walking in the front entrance was easy enough, after tearing down the caution tape. The house was eerily silent. It had never been this quiet in all the time Abercius had lived there. There was always music playing, cauldrons bubbling, or James yelling down the hall at someone. This was no longer a house, but a tomb, and a tomb was exactly what Abercius was afraid of discovering.
"No one's been here in awhile," he murmured, looking at the dust accumulating on the counters. His mother would be horrified to see the house in such a state. "Not even James. He would have torn this place apart on his own."
"Which means that my parents aren't living in the house. They're not living in town or someone would have said something. They had the plague and weren't able to move, so maybe they were sealed in here with the tape on the door to warn people away."
"That could be true," Helle sighed. She reached out to rub Abercius' arm to comfort him. "It doesn't look very hopeful. I can understand if you want to leave now. I think we can guess that's what happened, if you need to leave."
"No." Abercius resigned himself to the answer he'd always known in his heart was true. "They're probably in the sanctuary where we left them."
It shouldn't have been surprising to Abercius, but upon taking a single step into the church sanctuary in their home, he was overwhelmed by the presence of death. It was a feeling that Absydee encountered every single day of her existence, but it was relatively new for Abercius.
His parents were exactly where their children had left them, their eyes white from the plague.
"No," Abercius whispered. "You were supposed to get better. We were trying to save you. We just need more time. We...we need more time."
Helle stared at the bodies laying before them carefully.
"They look fine to me," she offered. "They don't smell and they're not decomposing, so there must still be hope. Surely we can reverse this."
She wrapped her arms around her partner, trying to be reassuring in a situation she didn't know how to navigate. She'd been alone for much of this life, and the throne in her past life was somehow even lonelier. Comfort wasn't a skill of hers.
"You're kind for trying to have hope," Abercius replied, turning away from the bodies of his parents. "My siblings might try to agree with you, but they'd be wrong. I served the realm of Death, Helle, I know what it looks like. Human bodies can't go this long without eating, nor can they stay in one position for weeks on end. They may look alive, but it is a deception of the Demon of Nightmares. They can never wake up, even if we can defeat Xexys."
Helle's face softened. She didn't even try to argue about death with a former reaper. If Abercius knew his parents were lost, despite their appearance, then Helle couldn't disagree.
"What do you want to do now?" she asked softly. "Do we bury them? Do we leave them here? Tell me what you need from me and I'll do it."
"We leave them here," Abercius decided. "My siblings will want to say their goodbyes and...." He held out his hand towards his parents, closing his eyes as he did so. Nothing happened. "I need a reaper. I can no longer do what is needed. I know the steps, but I'm a part of the realm of Life now. Xexys has tangled magic enough that they both cannot pass on their own. If I hadn't have left my reaper team, they might have survived to fix this. There's no one left to help."
Helle could see the spiral of guilt begin, and intervened before it could get any worse.
"Hey, let's leave your parents here to rest then," she said, pushing Abercius towards the door. "Why don't we get some of your stuff from your room and go home? I'm sure there's things that you couldn't take with you when you left last time. We should get them now, so you feel more comfortable. Maybe you could get something of your parents' to help you remember them too. You can take whatever you need, and when we see your siblings again, they can chose something for themselves. The Tredonians will understand. They seem sentimental too."
Abercius returned to the room he shared with his brother, Brion, only to find that it seemed smaller than he remembered. It was always at least a little cramped with two growing teenagers sharing it, but after the relatively short time that they'd both been gone, the room suddenly seemed tiny.
"So this is your bedroom?" Helle winked at her partner, hoping that it might cheer him up, at least a little bit. "It's cute. I like the ant farm."
"Thanks, it was a school project that I couldn't let go of. Brion and I used to watch them for hours. James threatened to dump them outside once, so they live up high where he can't reach them."
"James always was such a charmer," Helle muttered. "Helena was always a bit wild, but you and Brion were always so well adjusted. I don't know how your family ended up with James. The way he acts would make even the kindest person assume that he was one of Xexys' demons."
Abercius smiled wistfully. She wasn't wrong about James, but he was still his little brother. He had a duty to find him and take care of him, no matter how rotten his past behaviour was. James was probably scared or in danger, wondering where his siblings and parents were.
"That's also not your fault," Helle stated before Abercius got the chance to spiral again. "We will find James, and then we'll find Tiffany and Jason. Our siblings are out there and we will find them. You and your siblings did what you could to survive. Helena and Phuong had their own kid to protect and Brion is there to protect them. You came back to find me, to discover where we need to be to help everyone. This is our path, but we will see our loved ones again. I believe that and so should you."
Abercius nodded absently, no longer listening to Helle's comforting words.
"Abby, I can't believe it's you! I thought I'd never see you again! You remember me, right?"
Abercius chuckled at Rani's stream of words. The Timelady hadn't changed a bit in the centuries since they'd last seen each other. If Rani hated you, you couldn't pry more than two words out of her, unless she was asked about her homeland, Ticktop. If she did like you, you would never hear the end of Rani's opinion on any and all subjects. It had taken Absydee nearly a year to earn the Timelady's trust, and once she had, Rani had talked her ear off until the day Absydee reincarnated. Absydee was quite sure that she knew absolutely everything there was to know about Ticktop and how Rani felt about just about every person she'd ever met there.
"Of course I remember you," Abercius laughed, wrapping his arms around the Timelady. "I could never forget someone as important as you. I'm so sorry about what happened to Ticktop. You must hate me for leaving you without even a goodbye. I feel so guilty about what happened to your people, you can't even know how bad I feel. They were so important to you, and now they're gone."
Rani released Abercius, but made sure to maintain eye contact so that he could see her sincerity.
"Nothing could have prevented that, not even a reaper," Rani declared. "My people can bend time, and even we could not prevent it. We were the test run of Xexys' plan. The plague started in Ticktop and ended only when all of us were no more. The assassins picked off any survivors. I had sworn to remain by the Dream Guardian's side after we lost the reapers, so I could only watch it all fall. Without the reapers to collect the souls of my people, I don't know how to help them pass on. I'm glad you're back, Abby. You must know how to help them."
If this speech was supposed to ease Abercius' guilt, it had the opposite effect.
"I-I'm not a reaper anymore, Rani," he replied. "I can't do anything for the dead in this mortal body. I wish that I could, but it's impossible."
"Maybe not that impossible," Lukas murmured to themselves. "I'll have to think about it...Nevermind, we have more important matters to discuss. You and Apophis remember your past now, right?"
Helle and Abercius nodded.
"I'm pretty sure I remember everything," Helle reported. "My childhood, my youth, meeting Absydee, my death, and my rebirth into the Dean family. I saw myself as an infant, being hidden by Winnie Dean. It's my destiny to defeat the Proxy and the Jacobeans who would have sacrificed me to the Watcher."
"Destiny can be interpreted in many ways, but sure, let's assume that you're meant to destroy this whole broken system," Lukas replied, rolling their eyes. "You both need to work to bring Jubilant Accosts back to it's proper state. The Ocean doesn't grant second chances at life, but you've still managed to trick your way into one. You will help me set things right."
"Of course," the two teens said in unison.
"Um, just out of curiosity, will my eye ever go back to normal?" Abercius asked. "People already stared at it in my first life, and I know they'll stare even more now."
Lukas raised an eyebrow at this.
"Do you not know what it means?" they asked. "Izanami should have made that clear, though, knowing how he is, I can see him not going into details. Your eye marks you as a creature of the Creation. You were never mortal or an angel, but you were created along with Life and Death and the universe. You're marked as something ancient and powerful. It's something to be proud of, not ashamed. It is extremely rare to see someone with that mark."
"Oh." Abercius should be flattered, but this news didn't make him any less self conscious.
"I have forms to switch between," Lukas continued. "This is likely your permanent form, one that connects back to your previous life, but uses your reborn body. I doubt that Helle will experience much of a difference going between two mortal bodies, but for an immortal, especially one as old as you, there may be some lingering connections between your two lives. There's never been a single case like yours, except for mine, of course, so I'm not entirely sure how you'll be affected. I'll be watching you two with interest."
"I think your eye is beautiful, Abby," Helle stated. "You should embrace it, especially if it shows how unique you are. Didn't you see other reapers your age with it?"
Abercius shook his head, trying to delve deep into memories he was just getting reaquainted with.
"There weren't many reapers created in the beginning," he said, looking to Lukas for confirmation before realizing that he was somehow older than this deity. "It's a little fuzzy, but I don't think that there was ever more than three of us. I can't remember for sure. The members of my team here were once mortals."
"You two are marked in Death’s list as having 'burning souls' so I'd imagine there will be some overlap from your past life," Lukas advised the teens. "There's an energy surrounding your souls, blazing bright enough to make even a reaper shy away. If you ever leave this realm, a lot of supernatural creatures are going to be very interested in you."
"No, at least, I don't think so," Abercius replied quickly. "Two mortals with the same energy that forced a reincarnation would probably intimidate a number of creatures. Beings with the energy of Life and Death together? It's unheard of."
"Do you think that werewolves or vampires could see this energy burning?" Helle asked. "If they could see it, they might be more easily convinced to accept us as leaders of Jubilant Accosts."
Lukas looked at Abercius, equally as curious as Helle. Abercius tried not to shrink under their stare.
"Well, werewolves are alive," he answered. "They don't cross with the realm of Death until their time is up, but vampires? We don't reap vampires unless they somehow manage to die. They live in a state of living death, similar to zombies, so they may be able to see this burning energy. Their senses are supposedly quite different than mortals'. If anyone could sense the difference in our energy, I would assume it would be them."
"Abby, I should see if that energy can be seen by TimeLords and Ladies. Come with me, and we'll try to work it out." Rani didn't seem concerned about the energy at all, just getting to have some time with her old friend. Before Abercius could object, the Timelady had grabbed his hand and started walking towards a nearby room. Abercius shot Lukas and Helle an apologetic look, but didn't fight against Rani. Talking to a god was intimidating, but Rani? That was much easier, and besides, she had watched the reaper team fall and could provide Abercius with details that Lukas couldn't.
"So, uh, I guess that just leaves us," Helle said nervously. She tried to frame this moment in her mind so that she could paint it later. Reawakening as a queen, meeting the god of Life for real and not just selling a painting to them-it was all a little surreal, which made good art.
"Judging from that crown, I'm guessing that you intend to restore the monarchy?" Lukas asked. "You're ready to try to lead this mess of a realm?"
Helle nodded with the confidence of someone who had previously been born into royalty. She'd never had to gather people to support her cause, but it couldn't be that hard.
"Yes, I believe that Jubilant Accosts needs a strong leader going forward. I don't see free elections working well with the number of people who would try to ruin the system, and most people have followed the Proxy, even if they didn't believe in the Jacobean faith. This realm needs a strong vision and someone to make it happen. I know that I can be that leader. There's already a prophecy declaring that I will return to vanquish my enemies, which only strengthens my case."
"Who made this prophecy exactly?" Lukas replied. "It seems awfully convenient. Are you supposed to defeat the church or the Demon of Nightmares? I'd like some clarity on what this involves and how it's linked to your reincarnation. Who knew that you would reincarnate when they made this prophecy?"
"I wish I knew."
"So can you see the energy I apparently give off?" Abercius asked, already guessing the answer.
"Eh, maybe a little," Rani replied. "The currents of time are a little murkier around you than they used to be. You might be harder to use time magic on, but only slightly."
"Oh, that's interesting." Abercius hadn't expected that his friend would actually attempt to see the burning energy. "I thought that the whole 'burning soul' inspection was a ruse to get away from that god. I'll try to keep in mind that I do appear differently to some people."
"It was largely to escape from them," she laughed. "I just wanted to catch up with you alone. It's been so long and I have so many questions. What was it like to reincarnate? Could you feel the stream of Time? Did you remember everything all at once? Are you attracted to Helle in his new body? Tell me that the romance isn't dead after risking everything on that one chance."
Abercius smiled, remembering just how chatty Rani had been a lifetime ago. She had pried into every detail of Absydee's romance with Apophis, which had given the reaper valuable social skills that Death hadn't taught her.
"I don't remember feeling the stream of Time. Reincarnating was painful and disorienting, and I'm still trying to sort through my two lifetimes. It feels weird talking to you again while in a body that has never seen you before. Helle feels the same way, but there's definitely still that same spark between us. She's just as beautiful as Apophis was, but younger, and unmarried. I don't have to watch Hetepheres glare at me when I want to see Helle."
"I haven't thought about that bitch in years," Rani confessed gleefully. "Oh, I hated that woman. For your and Apophis' sake, of course, though she was a terrible queen in her own right, who lost the monarchy to a literal cult. My people at least lived long enough to see her fall. There were some of us who were hesitant to officially link ourselves to the Yacothian throne, and Hetepheres was all the proof we needed."
"What was the Dream Guardian's opinion of her?" Abercius asked. "I never got to spend a lot of time with him. He always seemed to be lurking behind me like he was trying to startle me."
"Yeah, he was a prankster. I guess looking like a kid made him act like one. I couldn't believe that someone could kill him. I mean, he looked like a kid! Who could hurt a kid?"
"But he wasn't a kid," Abercius replied. "He could have been my age for all we know."
Rani shook her head, disgusted by the memory of losing her coworker.
"I saw the man who killed the Dream Guardian. He had dark hair, and even darker green eyes. There was no light or warmth in them, only hatred."
"I've been working with that man's daughter, Despina," Abercius replied carefully. "Don't give me that look, Rani. She's an innocent and a victim of her father too. She was only born to sacrifice for more power. All of his children are innocent, especially his son with the assassin. They are doing their best to undo their father's work. One of them has even contracted the plague because of the assassin."
"You always did pick up strays," Rani said dismissively. "I'd forgotten that about you. Do you remember that child that spent the day in your office because it lost its parents in a crowd? I thought you were going to keep that forever!"
Abercius shot his old friend a dirty look.
"I returned him after two hours of looking for his parents' names in my work book," he corrected. "I couldn't help it. He wasn't scheduled to die, and I had the means to find his parents. They were all so happy to be reunited. I was jealous of them all, just a little bit. I've always wanted to have a family of my own."
"And now you can!" Rani exclaimed. "You can have a royal family, and I can help babysit. It's perfect."
Abercius smiled wistfully at the thought.
"Yes, I suppose I can. Helle has always wanted a family too, but that's years away, if we can defeat Xexys. I can't bring children into this world with a plague and a demon to fear." He paused. "Did you ever find love, Rani? Some kind of TimeLord or lady, rich enough to make all your dreams come true?"
Abercius expected laughter or embarrassment from the Timelady, but a sadness overcame Rani at the question.
"Loving mortals is hard," she replied. "I haven't found a TimeLord or Timelady worthy of my love, and now I never will. I did experience love though. Twice in fact." She sighed heavily. "But I live much longer than the mortals here. I'm not immortal by any means, like you were, but a Timelady lives long enough to watch her lovers die of old age, disease, homicide...it never ends. So I understand why you did what you did for Apophis, and I would do it myself if I had the chance. Timeladies can't command Death like you do though, otherwise, I'd save my people and the Dream Guardian too."
Abercius smiled kindly.
"I'm glad that you found happiness twice in your lifetime," he said. "You will die one day and be reunited with your loves and your people again, I promise. In the meantime, you may not be able to command Death, but you can command time. I don't know a lot about the abilities of your secretive people, but surely you could do something with time to see them again."
"Don't tempt me, especially with that god around. I find them hard to read. If I could change time, would they be angry for exceeding my mandate or happy that there are more citizens of Ticktop to help us?" She sighed miserably. Thoughts like that had plagued her over the years. "I can't do it though, Abby. The laws of time are clear. We are subject to the whims of Life and Death just like the mortals, and once the names of my people appeared in Death’s book, it couldn't be changed. Even if your team had been around back then, I couldn't have changed it."
"I'm sorry that the laws of the universe are so unfair. I only barely broke one part of the natural cycle of Life and Death, and look at the consequences! I get the feeling that I was extremely lucky that I triggered reincarnation instead of something else happening. Apophis' name was in my book."
"Well, I'm glad that someone got to cheat the system at least. I don't know how we're going to get everything working the way it should be again. We need reapers and the Dream Guardian. I never knew what the Dream Guardian even was, aside from a creepy child who never seemed to age."
Abercius nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that always stumped me too. Where did he even come from? I suppose Lord Izanami might know."
"You and your hero worship," Rani teased. "Either way, we'll figure it out. It's good to have you back, Abby. You don't know how much I missed you."
"That's high praise from a Timelady," Abercius laughed. "I hope that I can live up to your memories of me. Do you still have your golem wandering around or did you take that into hiding with you when the Dream Guardian died?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's around somewhere," Rani replied dismissively. "I'll track him down and see what information he's collected while I was gone. I tried to program him with a decent personality, but by the Watcher, he's boring. Paranoid too."
"They say that a time golem takes on the personality of the one who programmed it, or so I've heard," Abercius laughed. "He's made in your image."
"You just wait til you have kids and those creatures made in your image start acting out. Then, my golem will look like an angel."
"There's always been a prophecy about the old king," Helle stated. "I grew up hearing about the story, but it was always told to scare kids into behaving so that the king didn't come to get them. I never asked who started the story, but it's at least fifty years old, probably even older than that. It's written about in some of the books in the old library."
"Why can't we just kill him?" Helle asked. "I don't understand why we needed to seal him away when he could just die and everything would be okay again."
"So Xexys likely isn't the one behind this story. He would have spread this threat via dreams, and he doesn't stand to gain much from this prophecy spreading. If people interpret it to mean that the king could destroy Xexys, they would only need to wait for this reincarnation to save them. No one would fear him. We need a Dream Guardian to keep Xexys in check," Lukas said. "Whether the prophecy is true or not, we need something to hold him back. Maybe if we can trap Xexys, we can stop the plague at its source."
"Yeah, that sounds easy," Lukas replied irritably. "Why didn't I think of that earlier? Oh, right, that's not how demons, especially old demons work. When a demon dies, it's soul can choose to go to the Void, and from there, after many tries, it can sometimes reappear in the living world by clawing it's way out or being summoned out. Strong demons can repossess their physical remains or even possess other mortals. Why do you think that blood demons and the Great Demons were so hard to fight? It was far safer to just trap the Demon of Nightmares and cut him off from accessing the dream realm completely. Obviously, his breaking free of this realm changes things. I don't know what the solution is, but just sealing him away again obviously won't work. That's what you should be trying think about if you want to rule this realm."
"We weren't asked if we wanted to live in a realm with an out of control monster," Helle snapped. "No one gave us the choice of living free of him, like your realm has. Why couldn't you have just trapped him alone? Why curse a population of innocent people with Xexys?"
Lukas scoffed at the audacity of this young woman, future queen or not.
"That's above my pay grade. I don't ask the Ocean why he makes things the way he does. My role is to obey his rulings and not piss him off, and you should do the same. He told Izanami that this was the way that he wanted Xexys handled, and that's why your people were trapped with him. If I had to guess, you were meant to be distractions for Xexys to play with, to keep his attention away from escaping. I can't prove that's true, but that is consistent with the decisions I've seen him make."
"The Watcher?" Helle asked, suddenly hesitant to confirm what she'd already begun to accept about the god she was raised to serve. "He's...not happy with the sacrifices we make or the worship the Proxy lavishes on him. He doesn't care about us at all. My twin brother died for nothing."
"I don't know," Lukas confessed. Why lie about what they knew about the functioning of the universe? If they did, the teenager was only going to ask more questions. "Maybe he appreciates them, but they will never buy you his favour. Just look at me! My husband is sick in a way I can't fix or even begin to understand. I'm trapped in this incarnation that only reminds me of hate and loss and losing control of myself, and I'm supposed to 'enjoy this stroll down memory lane while it lasts'. The Ocean loves games and cruelty and masterminding some scheme only he can understand. He told Izanami that 'she' was coming, whatever the hell that means! Is it a threat or a promise that someone is going to return to us? My little sister was killed just like your reaper team here, so maybe she's coming back to fix what went wrong in Abysdee's absence. Maybe he meant Absydee herself was coming back. I don't know what the Ocean has planned, only that I don't understand it and you should definitely be afraid of it. I know for a fact that he has a resolution to the problem of Xexys, but will he share that plan? Again, I don't know. Maybe we don't want to know."
Helle paused to absorb this strange theology lesson.
"You have a husband?" she asked. The look on Lukas' face was pained when this was her followup question, but she quickly clarified her question. "I mean, you're two men or you used to be before you became like Abby. Gods can love the same gender without punishment? That is how life outside of Jubilant Accosts truly is?"
"Yes, absolutely," they said with kindness. "I was brought into existence to complete Izanami as his opposite and equal. Your Watcher, as you call him, was the one who made that happen. He might not appreciate Absydee's little act of rebellion, but he doesn't hate anyone who doesn't have the sexuality or gender identity that your Proxy thinks you should have. He might hate you for a variety of other reasons, but never those. Don't take that as a sign that you're safe from his plans though. If you do become queen, you're putting yourself at a higher risk of catching his attention."
Abercius warmed himself by the fireplace in the monarch's bedroom, still a little wary of how familiar it felt to him. Absydee had spent countless hours in this room with Apophis, something Abercius was still working on comprehending.
After their reunion with Rani and the deity she now followed around Jubilant Accosts, Abercius and Helle had decided to retire to their bedroom in the home they were reclaiming. The Tredonians were amused that the two of them were living in an old castle, and had immediately agreed to join them there the next day. The Tredonians had to pack, and Abercius and Helle needed a quiet night to themselves. Too much had happened and they needed to make plans of their own.
"The bed seems fine," Helle announced, giving Abercius a pleased look. "The sheets and blankets too. It's like some kind of magic preserved things inside the castle. Is that possible? I've never heard of that kind of magic, but this place should be in terrible condition, and it isn't. Either way, I guess we can spend our time with other matters if we don't need to set up our sleeping arrangements."
"Maybe it's the castle itself," Abercius suggested. "Nothing has rotted, and the Demon of Nightmares hasn't taken this building as his own. There really could be some protection that we're not aware of."
"Then we should ask the Tredonians to test your theory. If this place is protected, then that might help us with Xexys." She paused to remember Lukas' dire words about the indifference of the Watcher. "We could use any advantage we can get against him. We're going to need it."
"Tomorrow," Abercius promised, pulling Helle towards him. "That's a problem for tomorrow. Right now, all I want to do is enjoy a quiet night with you. I think we've been through enough to deserve it."
"I couldn't agree more. We have several centuries to make up for after all. Plus, the Tredonians will be here tomorrow with their loud noises and dream experiments. We deserve some time for ourselves."
Abercius stared at the garden, hardly believing that it still existed after all the centuries that had passed. The proxies over the years had maintained the landscaping, which baffled Absydee, but Abercius knew first hand that disobedient students were often assigned garden maintenance at the castle. It would dirty the hands of the Proxy and his faithful to step foot on the unholy land, and it was an excellent reminder to the students about the penalties of living a disobedient, sinful life. The Jacobeans had destroyed the monarchy, and left its remains as an example to anyone who might question them. Disobey, and you would face the same fate as Hetepheres and the rest of the royal family.
The gardens were a little overgrown in areas, but were fairly similar to the ones Absydee had walked in during another lifetime. The fragrant flowers comforted her while she and Abercius tried to sort themselves out.
He hadn't gone to see Helle, like Adam believed, and maybe he should feel guilty for lying or not rushing to Helle's side as her partner, but he needed time to process everything. The Tredonians meant well, but they didn't understand the realm they intended to save. None of them knew what it was like to be a servant of Death who somehow followed their love into the realm of Life. They hadn't seen the construction of the world or sat at Death’s side.
Helle could understand somewhat, but it was Abercius who caused them both to reincarnate. He hadn't asked permission from Helle to take her out of the natural order of things. She had never asked to be separated from the dead souls of her family, even if the royal family was dysfunctional at best, or to end up as an orphan girl in a religious society that hated who she'd once been. Everything was strange and confusing now and neither Abercius or Absydee knew how to move forward.
"You still love gardens. I'm happy to see that hasn't changed."
Abercius recognized the voice, but didn't dare turn around to face Helle. Apophis. Both of them.
"I thought that I might find you here," Helle tried again, softening her voice. "I had to climb out the window to escape the Tredonians and their concern. They don't understand, so we'll have to think of something to tell them. Maybe that deity will save us the trouble and catch them up. How likely do you think that is?"
It was a silly question, meant to break the tension between them, but it appeared to only upset Abercius more.
"Life wants me to atone for the wrongs I have done, so I doubt they will do anything to help us. I'm to help them in anyway that I can to restore the realm to the way we left it. Before I broke everything."
"You didn't break everything," Helle assured him. She gestured wildly at everything surrounding them. "The castle is still here. You and I are still here. A god is here to help set things right with Xexys. You saved us. You gave us a second chance at life. We're free to marry and start a family together now. We've learned from our second lives how to fix the mistakes of our first. Abby, you've given us everything."
"You're truly not angry? After I disobeyed the natural laws? I couldn't ask you before I acted. I just couldn't...couldn't imagine spending an eternity apart from you. To have to visit you in an afterlife that I couldn't stay in. To let you go and pursue another love that could never measure up to what we had. I didn't even think about the consequences before I acted. My entire team was lost, and Rani's people...so many people fell because of me. I might have been able to stop it all from happening."
Helle gave him a compassionate look, but she refused to accept his words.
"Abby, you're being too hard on yourself. You're not all powerful, and you will never know if you could have made a difference if you'd stayed in your role. Maybe things would be fine now if you'd stayed or maybe you would have fallen with your team. I can't imagine what I would do if you had vanished like they did. Even a god can't seem to find them, and I refuse to consider a future where I have to languish in an afterlife without hope of ever seeing you again. I won't. I'm sorry that things didn't work out for the best after I died, but I'm not sorry that we are both still here together. I'll never be sorry about that, as long as you are safe and by my side."
"Truly? You've never stood in eternity with the Ocean listing your responsibilities, so you cannot know the depths of my failure."
Helle shrugged.
"I've spent all of this lifetime listening to the Proxy tell me that my existence and feelings were a deep moral failure. You've grown up listening to the same thing. You're afraid of how your mother will think of you for just being your true self, and I understand that. Trust me, this is where we are meant to be, and I will fight any deity who disagrees with me. You belong with me and that's that."
"Apophis. Helle. I don't know what to call you. This is the most confused that I've ever been, which is saying something," Abercius fell into Helle's arms, holding her tightly.
"Don't worry, we'll figure it out together. As for me, I intend to continue on as Helle. Apophis is dead and gone, and if I'm able to restore the monarchy, then we'll need a fresh start with someone who was raised Jacobean. Someone who can lead now that the Proxy is gone."
"Is that what you want? To become queen and rule?"
Helle nodded.
"It's what the prophesy says I'll do, and it's what I know. I know that with a consort by my side who I love, and the Jacobeans scattered and leaderless, I can fix things. You can help Life, like you promised, and I can fix Jubilant Accosts. We can fix it together. That is, if you want to become my consort. I'm sure you remember the dangers and difficulties that come with the position, but I couldn't imagine ruling without you by my side."
Abercius smiled, though it didn't quite fully reach his eyes.
"I admit that I had hoped that we could live our lives away from the throne," he said softly. "It did such damage to our relationship, and twisted your family against the throne in the end. I couldn't bear to see our future family willing to kill for the throne or have their hearts fill with hatred like Ranya's. But, if this is your destiny, I will follow your lead. If you must be queen, then I must be your consort."
"Abby, things are already so different from our previous lives, and I know this time will be different. I'll protect you, just like you'll protect me."
Abercius groaned at the idea.
"Life has commanded me to study magic with the Tredonians so that I can replace my reaper skills. You know how the Proxy limited the Pryor family to defensive magic; I know Helena complained about it to anyone who would listen. She should be the person who should learn forbidden magic, not me."
Helle brushed her hand along Abercius' face, hoping that the action would bring him comfort.
"You can do that just as well as Helena could," Helle assured him. "You're not such a bad warlock. If you're half as good with a wand as you were with a scythe, we'll be fine."
"Maybe I won't be. I've never really studied magic as intensely as the Tredonians do."
Helle immediately wrapped her arms around Abercius, squeezing him tight.
"You're going to be great at it. A god would not ask you to learn otherwise. The two of us are going to fix everything, especially if we have the help of a god and some strange guests from another realm. Anything is possible now. Maybe one day, we won't need to be sealed away from that realm. We have our whole future ahead of us, Abby."
Abercius smiled at Helle's optimism.
"You certainly haven't changed. You always see the best in a situation, even when it's hopeless."
"That's why you love me," Helle laughed, earning a genuine grin from Abercius.
"I guess so," he teased. "Among other reasons."
The inside of the castle hadn't changed much over the centuries. It was like a time capsule, locked away for years, waiting to be opened. Some things weren't exactly as Helle remembered them, but Hetepheres had ruled for a few years before being overthrown and Ranya had made a valiant effort of her own to claim the throne after Apophis' death. Things were going to be different.
Dust had claimed most of the palace, but things were in surprisingly good shape considering how long ago the monarchy had fallen.
"Do you think that anyone's been here since Hetepheres died?" Abercius asked. "I'm trying to remember my history lessons, if we can even trust that the history we were taught was accurate. I've been assigned gardening punishments before for falling asleep in class, but just standing in the gardens of this land was supposed to be unholy. I don't remember anyone being brave enough to even climb the steps of the castle, let alone spending any time inside of it. Have you?"
Helle shook her head.
"No, orphans don't have parents for the Proxy to complain to about their bad behaviour. If I misbehaved, my financial support was cut. You learn to behave pretty quickly when you can't buy groceries for the week."
Abercius gasped in horror.
"Really? How could they? You were a child!"
"That's how the Jacobeans operate, Abby. They want obedience at any cost, and I didn't have parents to scare me into behaving. I'm just lucky that I was considered to be too impure as someone without an established family, otherwise they might have tried to sacrifice me to the Watcher. Lucky for me, the Watcher might not accept me if I had secretly come from an unacceptable family, so they couldn't take the risk. They sacrificed my twin brother because they knew his background. My family in this lifetime has been destroyed. I don't know if I have any siblings left."
"Siblings? Do you know who your parents are? I didn't think that we'd ever know."
"I saw it when my memories awakened. My parents were Winnie and Ezra Dean."
"You're Gabriel, Tiffany, and Jason's sister!" Abercius gasped. "That's amazing, Helle! You have a family! We can find Tiffany and Jason together."
Helle nodded, but kept her eyes focused on the throne room down the hall.
"One lifetime at a time, Abby," she replied. "First, I need to acknowledge Apophis, and then I can look for the Deans. Knowing my family will help get me support to rule, but I don't have the luxury of being Helle Dean at the moment. The throne must come first. Restoring peace to Jubilant Accosts must come first."
Abercius tried to hide the exasperated sigh he'd released upon hearing those familiar words. He may have succeeded because Helle made no comment; she was focused on the throne room. How many times had Apophis declared that the throne overruled everything in his life? How many times had Absydee reminded him of what was appropriate for a king and the consequences that might come from him declaring his love for her?
This time would be different, or so he tried to tell himself. Helle would be his. They would navigate things together. Their throne would come first.
Helle cautiously made her way to the throne room, climbing the steps to the ancient throne like they might collapse at any second. From what she could tell, everything looked safe to use. There wasn't a single loose board or missing nail to be seen.
"Why hasn't Xexys torn this place apart?" Abercius wondered, checking around him for obvious damage. "I mean, I can see why the Proxy didn't want to set on unholy ground, but a demon who's obsessed with ruling this realm? He should be residing here, not at the Proxy's house."
"Maybe there's something here that repels the demon," Helle guessed. "Or the castle isn't to his taste. The church is against all things demonic, so maybe he's taken it personally. It would be lucky for us if there is something repellent to the demon here. We could move the Tredonians here where they could be guaranteed safety."
"That's a good idea. They aren't exactly focused on safety. Despina seems attached to the house though because of her parents. Hopefully, they'll see reason if we find out that the castle is safer."
Helle sat gingerly on the throne, checking to make sure that the ground beneath it was stable. Memories rushed to her mind, slamming into her with an intensity that she hadn't expected.
She remembered the first time Apophis had sat on the throne. Of being coronated. Hetepheres running around the room giggling as a toddler. Of sneaking Absydee into the room late at night for some fun. Listening to the Four Peers give their reports and wondering which one of them was sleeping with his daughter.
There were so many memories, both good and bad. Helle had never expected to find her biological family in this lifetime, and now she'd found two. The crown had manifested for her upon her awakening, and her destiny was clear. Helle Dean was in the place she belonged.
"You look just as regal as you used to," Abercius remarked, drawing Helle's attention from her memories. "A true queen."
Helle descended from the throne to kiss her love.
"You have been remarkably patient with me these many years, and I want to give you something to promise that you will have my devotion for a second lifetime."
Helle dropped to one knee before Abercius. She couldn't interpret the wide eyed look on his face, but she kept going anyway.
"Abercius Pryor, Absydee, servant of the realms of Death, I never want to be parted from you ever again, in life or death. We've spent one lifetime together, and I will spend as many as I have left by your side. I know that you've said that you will be my consort, but I want to make things official in a way that I couldn't a lifetime ago. I know we are young, and we don't have to marry anytime soon, but Abby, will you be my wedded spouse and spend the rest of our days together?"
"Yes!" The words were out of Abercius' mouth before he could even think about it. A year ago, he was trying to juggle hiding his and his siblings' secrets from their parents and worrying about school. Now his family was split between realms, with half of them missing, and he was engaged to the future queen of Jubilant Accosts while trying to use his memories of a different lifetime to fight a demon. Brion and Helena were going to freak out whenever he saw them next.
"Oh, thank the Watcher," Helle said, sighing with relief. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to say no and bolt out the door."
"It is a lot to ask Abercius Pryor, someone who is still afraid that his mother might jump out from behind a pillar to scream at him," Abercius laughed. "Absydee knew her answer immediately, and Abercius agrees. Is that weird to say? I feel like the two are merging into one united person, just slowly. Slower than I'd like."
"I feel the same way," Helle reassured him. "It's a little disorienting, but maybe it's easier for me, going from one mortal existence to another. You always seemed to have all the knowledge in the universe in your head back then. It must be a lot to sort through."
"Maybe I can teach theology when this is all settled," Abercius joked. "I now have the answers to so many history and theology tests that I failed in school."
"I'd like to hear them all," Helle replied. "Do you like the ring? It was my mother's. I would never make such a promise to you with a ring I bought my wife. I don't remember my mother very much, but she's been the only family member I feel I can trust. Someone who cared for me because I was her future, just as I know that you will always be my future."
"I love it," Abercius confirmed, looking at the large ring in awe. "Where did you find it though? Did it manifest like the crown did?"
Helle chuckled, and tapped on a loose brick next to the throne.
"Nothing so spectacular. Do you remember how Hetepheres was acting towards the end? Jewelry belonging to her mother began to disappear, as well as some of my own. In order to protect the items that were precious to me, I hid them in the walls. Some of my jewels are hidden in here, and some in the walls of my bedroom. It looks like no one found this stash at least. I'm glad that I still have something from our previous lives to give you."
"Good to know."
A familiar voice rang across the room. The pair turned to find a very familiar deity watching them beside a woman Abercius knew immediately.
"Rani!"
"Abby! I can't believe I'm seeing you! You don't know how much I've missed our talks." Rani beamed at the former reaper. "We have so much to catch up on."
"I should also catch up with you two," Lukas insisted, shooting the Timelady a weary glance. Abercius was more than welcome to Rani's tiresome presence, but they still needed to address the reincarnated pair first. A deity still outranked a Timelady no matter what realm they were in.
Abercius tried not to wilt in Lukas' presence. No matter how many times Helle told him that he had made the right choice to leave the reapers behind, he was still plagued by guilt. Lukas was married to Izanami and could tell him that he should hate Abercius for Absydee's sins.
But he had to be brave if he was going to be a consort to Helle. He needed to project the same confidence as Helena did when she snuck out of the house to see Phuong. He needed the self acceptance that Brion was developing every time the full moon came and he shifted forms without drawing attention to himself.
"Yes, we should talk about a lot of things," Abercius stated, trying to sound authoritative. "I'd like that."
I look different now. I'm younger than I've ever been; I have a mother and father, and siblings. I just asked out the most beautiful girl I've ever known, only to find out that she once asked me to be with her centuries ago.
When I was a reaper tasked with overseeing the reaper team of Yacothia, I'd forsaken my duties to follow Apophis into death and then rebirth. The defenses of Jubilant Accosts began to fall after I abandoned my post. If I had let Apophis go, would my team have been saved from the end they'd suffered? Would Xexys have have gotten this far out of control?
My mind always goes to Izanami and his love when I think of Apophis. I've watched the two of them through the portal gate when they would come to reseal Xexys and Jubilant Accosts away.
They never noticed me watching them as they were too wrapped up in their own lives. In their own happiness. They were cute to watch together.
Izanami never asked for a report on my team or its activities. He never ventured into Jubilant Accosts for himself.
Now, seeing the memories of his spouse, I can understand why, so I don't take it personally. Izanami didn't check in with a lot of reaper teams. He was either too busy with Lord Lukas during their happy times, or heartbroken over their separation. Death had chosen the same path as I had, choosing his heart over his work, no matter what the consequences were for other people.
"I wish you were dead! I want you to be dead! I don't want to share any realm with you, even if it means living in fucking Jubilant Accosts! You've already ruined any chance of happiness that I had, so piss off and leave me alone! Just leave me alone! We've done our job, so fucking leave!"
I'm glad to have found out that my exalted lords did find their way back to each other after this fight. It was upsetting to watch. From my spot in another realm, I struggled to understand how Lord Izanami had lost his mate's love this badly, considering how happy they had always appeared to be in their previous visits.
"I won't bother you any further. I'll see you the next time we need to reseal this realm". He paused. "It was nice seeing you, Lukas."
I've never heard Lord Izanami sound so miserable. He has always been calm, collected, and very much in control of himself with his reapers. To hear him nearly beg for the Life deity's attention was alarming. It made made my own feelings for Apophis seem like a simple infatuation. My heart broke for him.
There was pain written all over the face of the Life deity as well. Something had broken between them.
The previous deity of Life was a mystery to me. He helped seal Jubilant Accosts and was responsible for the transformation of most of the angels into demons. Most of them anyway. The Demon of Nightmares and the Great Demons were old enough and stronger than most demons. They may have twisted themselves into demons before their Sovereign. It didn't really matter what the timeline was, only that Life, no matter which deity guarded that realm, wielded incredible power. More than enough to make demons bow before them. The equal to the god of Death.
I saw Life linger by the portal, after Lord Izanami had left. They seemed lost and angry even when they were alone. The portal had yet to close completely, and Life was nervously fidgeting with the Life energy swirling around the gate.
"The only place that I can merge myself with him is this stupid door," they muttered to themselves. "Life and Death together. All for what? To protect us from some demon? I can't keep a child, but this door can hold both of us together? A door?!"
"But this door can hold us together!" Lukas exclaimed, their eyes glinting with excitement. "I can create anything except a piece of Death, but there's already a piece of Death fused with Life here. If I could make a body with some of the energy borrowed from the portal...it might work."
I watched as Life drew energy from the portal. It flowed towards them, slowly at first, shimmering in the light of the sun. It pooled in their hand as it began to shape itself according to Life's wishes. A small head formed at the top of it, little limbs following lower down. If it had been able to continue to form, it would, without a doubt, look just like an infant.
But the energy stopped flowing from the portal, and the creature Life was attempting to build in their hands collapsed back into the shapeless form it had started from.
"Dammit! God fucking dammit! I almost had it! It was almost mine!"
Life raged at this failure, picking up rocks to throw at the palace wall and screaming loud enough for all of Pleasantview to hear echo from the cliff. They glowered at the portal, enraged by the swirl of magic that they couldn't control.
"If I can't use this, then take that too," they yelled, lifting their arms and hurling the excess energy they'd made for their experiment at the portal. "Let there be more Life energy than it needs in there. Maybe it will be so much that I don't need to come back to this fucking place for awhile. Izanami can just come here by himself. Wouldn't that be nice?"
I know what you did.
I can hear their voice talk over my memories. They've formed a connection here for when I awakened. They were never here for Helle; this dream, message, whatever was all for me. It was both accusation and admiration.
You used Life to manipulate Death. Not many reapers would even try that. You must love him very much.
"I do," I replied. They nodded approvingly.
You took the extra Life energy and infused it with a dead soul, knowing that it would destroy you. That's bold. Bold enough that Izanami would likely do the same in your position.
"I'm relieved to hear that he might understand. I wasn't certain exactly what would happen, though I had a strong theory. A dead soul infused with Life, especially energy that Life themselves manipulated beforehand- my hope was to trigger a rebirth or even just a renewal of the life he had. I didn't dare hope that I might be able to follow him."
Life energy is unpredictable, just like life itself. Don't attempt it again. I don't intend on leaving behind that same kind of energy, and the portal is dangerously unstable as it is.
"I won't," I promised. "All I wanted was a chance at happiness with Apophis. If we die now, we won't be separated for an eternity or however long I would have served as a reaper."
Yes, it must be strange to be a mortal. How do you like my realm so far? I'm a little biased about it, of course, but for a servant of Death to willingly disobey in order to join my realm? I might tease Izanami about this for the next few centuries.
"L-Lord Izanami?"
Don't worry, I'm sure that he doesn't remember you. He's not exactly attentive to the job these days. If you want to make it up to him, you can help me put this realm back in order.
"Of course. I-I didn't know that things would go so badly. I thought that I'd be replaced. If I'd known, I never would have-"
Yes, you would have, and so would I. But there is a reason that you've reincarnated at this moment. Apophis died centuries ago. You two have come of age during the greatest crisis this realm has faced. Your lover has already been prophesied to return to destroy his enemies, and you have seen the destruction your absence has caused. You have a duty to this realm and you will do everything in your power to help me reclaim it.
"I don't have my abilities as a reaper. I've only been taught mediocre magic in this life."
Then you're going to learn better magic. You have two friends from Tredony who are used to casting extremely powerful magic. Get them to teach you. Your queen is going to need your support.
"My queen? You mean Helle?"
Who else?
Who else? Of course it was Helle. Apophis. The former king prophesied to defeat his enemies. To bring order back to Jubilant Accosts. To retake the throne that had been stolen from him.
I hadn't thought that far ahead. It was enough just to try to balance the two lifetimes in my head. Helle was going to be queen, and presumably, I'd become her consort. Absydee would see this as the chance to become Apophis' spouse and consort; Abercius Pryor saw this as the highest sin against the Proxy, which would also draw an uncomfortable amount of attention to a shy teen who usually hid behind his bolder siblings. If my mother was still alive, she would probably try to kill me herself for restoring the enemy of the Proxy to power.
"Yes, Lordum Lukas. I will serve the realm, no matter the cost. I have my love at my side, and I will do all that I can."
I felt the presence of the deity leave, satisfied with my oath. I was committed now to learning proper magic and standing beside Helle as she reclaimed the throne in a land hostile to the memory of the monarchy. It was my penance for abandoning my duty in the first place.
My siblings would help me through this if they were here. Brion would know what to do, and Helena would insist on telling me what to do. Even James might have something to offer...maybe. How was I going to explain to them that I used to be an immortal creature in love with an ancient king? Maybe a werewolf and a sister who impregnated another werewolf could understand. I hoped that they would. We weren't exactly raised to support the idea of a monarchy, and I was about to help Helle take down the office of the Proxy.
But my abilities as a reaper were gone. The Pryor family hadn't been assigned offensive magic, much to Helena's dismay. We weren't allowed to attend Shadowvale or read the textbooks that Helena's friend would sometimes sneak her. I was allowed to study defensive magic and healing, which I found boring, but it was fine. Helena had a passion to learn darker aligned magic, while I was just glad to be learning something magical at all.
Healing magic felt aligned with the realm of Life, which is where my loyalties lie now, so maybe it will be of some use.
There was one spell easy enough for all children to learn: the Declaration of Identity. I remember composing my declaration shortly after my creation: "Absydee, servant of the realm of Death."
I can also remember sitting in elementary school, composing my first declaration in my beginner defensive magic class: "Abercius Pryor, follower of Jacob." Those Jacobeans started their brainwashing early.
But what was my declaration now? Which statement was stronger? Had anything changed at all?
I extended my arm, summoning the most basic of all magic. To my surprise, this was actually quite difficult. Absydee and Abercius were in a tug of war, causing the energy to flicker in our hand.
I closed my eyes, trying to settle the division in my mind. There wasn't two of us. We were the same soul in two different bodies, we just needed time to sort this all out. Abercius and Absydee were both me. Helle and Apophis were both my love. In both lifetimes, I swore to defend Jubilant Accosts at all costs.
The energy snapped into focus an instant later, blazing a single word for me to see: "Abby."
Fair enough. I could work with that.
"Abercius? Are you back from your errands? I got an important call from Despina. Something's happened to Helle."
My attention snapped to the door. Before I could shout out for privacy, Adam poked his head in the room and smiled when we made eye contact.
"Oh, good, you're here. Despina's worried about Helle. Apparently, she, Helle, and Theo were trying to meditate together to help with Helle's dreams, and Helle summoned a crown? I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds important."
I smiled nervously, thankful that he hadn't linked Helle's dreams about Apophis to the prophesy of that same king being reincarnated.
I didn't know what to do with my hands anymore. Adam kept looking at me, but I didn't know what to say. Did I admit to what I knew about the situation? Couldn't I have just a minute to process remembering an entire lifetime before I had to help console the Tredonians?
"Where's Helle now? How's she feeling, did she say?"
Does she hate me? Can she forgive what I did centuries ago? Does she understand what happened? She must be so confused.
"Theo said that she was hearing voices or something. She went back to her gallery to rest. Theo and Despina are going to go with her to watch over her in case something else happens, but they figured that you would want to come stay with her too."
"Y-yes, I should go. I'm glad she's not alone, since she's my...."
I couldn't finish the sentence. What was my relationship with Helle? I mean, Apophis. No, it's Helle. Was she my girlfriend? My ex lover? The man I'd damned Jubilant Accosts to save?
"Your partner?" Adam suggested. He winked at me. "It's okay to admit it, we all know anyway. You guys are great together. I think that she could really use your help right now."
"I'll head over there," I lied. "Let Theo and Despina know that I'm on my way."
The last thing I needed was to reunite with Helle with the Tredonians watching. We needed privacy to work this out. I needed time to figure out who I was. Only then could I try to figure out how my relationship with Helle/Apophis was going to be.
"Hey, are you feeling okay? Your eye looks a little weird," Adam asked. I didn't need to look in the mirror to know what he was talking about. The only thing I didn't know was if it was permanent.
"I'm fine, it's probably nothing. I'll see you later, Adam."
I was born Apophis Xechasménaeizam, son of Queen Neith Xechasménaeizam. I was once king of Yacothia.
I remember the throne room. The wood, the statues, the beautiful stained glass windows...all of it. I remember when I came of age and accepted the crown. Back then, it was the happiest day of my life, but now, I've definitely known happier.
My mother died early on in my life, and I don't remember her. I do remember the portrait of her that hung in the hall, reminding everyone of who they had lost. Of who I was replacing. I'd like to think that my mother would have been proud of my reign, until the end of it, at least.
I had a sister named Ranya. We were as close as two siblings raised to lead very different lives could be. She tried her best to be a good princess of Yacothia, but even when she wasn't, she was always a good sister.
Ranya married into the lands of Tredony. Not the Tredony that was separated from our realm and became Pleasantview, but the remnants of that separation. The few Tredonian lords trapped here in Jubilant Accosts tried to rebuild their lands and power, and Ranya was devoted to the cause. From what I've read in the history books, after my death, she died brutally after trying to protect Yacothia. She didn't deserve that end. I miss her.
My wife never had my love. I'm not ashamed to admit that, as I know that she felt the same. It was an arranged marriage that produced only one child. My queen was fragile, too frail to have other heirs, but she often stood beside my throne, to remind our subjects that she still lived even if she was not seen very often.
I first met Absydee in a garden. She was working nearby, and decided to take a break to wander through the flowers. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in all my life. I made it a priority to wander through whatever garden I could find, hoping to find her there. In the end, I had my own gardens planted, hoping to draw her in.
It worked. We spent many happy days together, breathing in the scent of the blooms, and being warmed by the sun.
She told me what she was, what she did, but my heart didn't care. She was mine, and I was hers. I was proud of her for defending our realm, for doing a thankless job that never got the same praise as I did for doing absolutely nothing. She often teased me for looking so old, while she looked like a young woman, and was countless centuries older than I was. The old man who had a midlife crisis with a young girl who was old enough to see the night sky be formed.
I loved that woman until the day I died-or I would have, had I properly died. I remember my vision getting dark, feel my breathing hitch and then end...and then the familiar warmth of Absydee next to me. I heard her scream and then cry and then...nothing.
And then, by a miracle, I was reborn as Helle Dean, daughter of Winnie and Ezra Dean. Twin sister of Gabriel Dean. I can see it all now, as easily as reading a book. My mother knew that her family would be targeted by the Proxy one day, and they would take her twin babies and sacrifice them to the Watcher to continue the blessing of Jubilant Accosts. Winnie couldn't bear to lose both of her children to the Watcher, so she hid one of her children.
Under the cover of darkness, my mother took me to the edge of the settlement, where I might be discovered and taken in by the Proxy. There is nothing like the DNA tests they have in Tredony here, and I was taken in without question. I had no vampire fangs or werewolf teeth, so I passed the screening.
Away from my family, I would be safe. I wouldn't know the love of the Dean family, but I would live. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have me over at the house, playing with her other children. I regularly hung out with Tiffany, Abercius and his little brother, Jason.
I even met Gabriel, though I'd never know my connection to him while he was alive. He was kind and sweet, and never teased me for not having a family like some of the other kids did. I wished I had known that he was my brother back then. Maybe I could have saved him.
But I'm different in some way. I'm special. I am the fulfillment of the prophesy of the reborn king. I was born to defeat my former enemies and avenge Jubilant Accosts. It's my job to somehow make things right, but reincarnation is so messy.....
Reincarnation is messy. I was created alongside the universe to serve the realm of Death. From the very first days of the stars, I have been at their whim, and destined to serve.
I was not created with parents or a family. I don't have memories of living a life, dying, and then ascending to be a reaper. Humanity has always intrigued me for that reason. Their lives were fleeting, and then they ended up in an eternal afterlife, longing to return to the brilliant light of the realm of Life. Eventually, my lord, Izanami, allowed dead mortals to ascend and become reapers like me so that some of them had a chance to return to their old realm. So long as you weren't a ruling monarch in your life, the only heir to a title or one of Life's servants, a soul could return as a reaper as long as they were willing to serve for centuries at a time.
It's not an easy job. You see suffering, illness, and lives cut short far too young, and you're powerless to change it. Once a death is recorded in Death’s books, it cannot be undone. Reaping children who could have been saved by any mortal intervention would surely devastate a mortal born reaper; it was hard enough for reapers like me to endure and I had never had a family. Just my coworkers, and our brilliant leader, Izanami.
And then I met him and my whole existence changed.
Apophis was funny, attractive, and sure of himself. He knew what he wanted from life, and he wanted me.
Reapers are designed to fit in among the living in order to do their jobs. We help the living, even if they don't appreciate our efforts. A reaper is safer with a living spouse to hide them, and we were created with this in mind. A reaper can form a powerful attachment to a living soul that binds both parties until that mortal passes into the realm of death. We feel their heartbeat stimulate our own until both organs beat together. We ignore all reason if it could save our partner. We feel them next to us even when separated by great distances. It is a bond too powerful to risk on a fling. It is a sign of true love and commitment.
I loved him with everything that I had, and I know that he did the same. He would often speak of impossible dreams, like him taking me as an official mistress of the king while his wife lived, or making me his queen and removing his daughter from the succession.
He wanted children with me. I told him that wasn't going to happen. Reapers must blend in with the living population and having a member of the royal family who was immortal certainly wouldn't help. I would fired if I became his queen. It went against every rule a reaper lived by, and I had no doubt that I'd be expelled from Jubilant Accosts, forever separated from him if I gave into that temptation. He had my heart, and that would have to be enough.
I had a job to do, and as leader of the entire Jubilant Accosts reaper team, I was very busy. I was friends with the Timelady of Ticktop, despite her snobbish attitude. I often wondered if Ticktop had nominated her for the position just to get rid of her, or if all Timelords and Timeladies were as stubborn as she was. No place was ever as good as Ticktop was, and we could only aspire to become more like them. I know now that Ticktop fell after my betrayal of my duties, and I wonder if she can ever forgive me for it. So many bad things happened to so many people because of me and my failure. I don't know how to set any of it right again. I don't think I ever can.
I warned Apophis that the bonds between a reaper and their bonded soul were strong, though I doubt that he realized just how strong they were. I've seen reapers take a new living spouse soon after their last one had died, and I've seen reapers driven mad by their spouse's passing. There were even reapers who took reaper spouses just to avoid the pain of losing a mortal spouse, only to be driven mad by the power of two reapers trying to join together. Every reaper was different, and no one knew just how they'd attach to a mate. I assumed that I would be one of the reapers who took a spouse every century or so, just to blend in enough to become better at my job. I couldn't have been more wrong about that assumption.
If you asked Rani about my love life, she'd tell you how happy I was with Apophis. She'd listen to every detail I could tell her, and then ask for more. She was always looking for a love of her own, and I hope that she found one when I passed. It would be cruel to ask her to serve so long without the love and support she deserved.
I would often visit the castle, not as Absydee, leader of the reapers, but as the humble maiden, Abby, who spent far too much time in the king's bed to actually be a maiden.
But as happy as we were, the throne always loomed over us. Apophis' sister resented our relationship because she had had to marry for power, and would be executed for taking a lover like her brother had.
His daughter was a nightmare, who acted like she was already the queen of Yacothia, while her father still lived. She had a lover of her own, but unlike her father, she did not have an heir. Apophis arranged a husband for her, who was kind and had deep pockets. He was so kind hearted, he might even turn a blind eye to his wife's lover, so long as their children still looked like his. Herepheres had everything her father could give her, but she lacked basic sense. She managed her money poorly, and flaunted her relationship with a knight of the realm. The few times she allowed me to share a room with her and her father, Hetepheres acted like I wasn't there. Every day, she waited for the day her father would die and leave the kingdom in her unsteady hands.
Until one day, she grew tired of waiting.
Apophis was shot in the back three times while out hunting with his court. As team leader, the reaping assignments appeared in my book so that I could distribute them to the team. I felt Apophis' spirit leave his body before I saw his name engrave itself on the page.
Apophis Xechasménaeizam. Cause of death: homocide. 11:34 am.
The book doesn't tell us who the guilty party is when a death has been ruled as a homicide. That's up to the mortal justice system to discover; we just collect the soul.
I knew what had happened before I even arrived at the scene. It was Hetepheres. Her father's body was barely even cold and she'd already called for someone to confirm the "accident" so that the bloodied crown could legally pass to her.
I had to reap my love, my bonded mate. His name was in Death’s book and that couldn't be changed. There was no way of just stuffing his soul back into his body and hoping he'd wake up. Apophis was dead.
Already, I could feel the physical changes start. Once Apophis' heart stopped beating, mine had nothing to sync to. It lay dormant once more in my chest as Apophis' soul detached itself from his physical remains. In our years together, I'd forgotten how cold and lonely the realm of Death was. No wonder some reapers immediately sought new spouses when theirs died. The silence became unbearable.
I thought of Lord Izanami and my training. This could not be undone.
I could visit Apophis in the afterlife. We could talk and reminisce about his lifetime and our time together, but reapers worked among the living. There are teams of reapers who staff the afterlife, but at the time, no reaper no matter where they were stationed was allowed to be with a dead soul. I hope that rule has been changed in the centuries since, but it was non-negotiable when Apophis died. I had always planned to end our relationship and move on after a number of years with a new mortal. That was the plan, but now that I was here, standing over his dead body, I couldn't let Apophis go.
I was about to despair when my mind recalled something I'd seen concerning Lord Izanami and the replacement Life deity. Some spark of hope, no matter how dangerous or forbidden it was.
It would cost me everything, but I knew how to fix this. I told myself that I wasn't really needed here. My team would select a new leader and perhaps hire a formerly mortal reaper to replace me. My team would support Rani and the Dream Guardian.
I could hear Izanami curse at me in my mind. He would be devastated that I was abandoning my post and responsibilities. I don't think I could even endure the wrath he would hurl at me if he knew what I was doing.
But I had seen the way his eyes followed the new Life deity myself. Even if Life was angry with him, Izanami had fallen for them just as hard as I'd fallen for Apophis. He'd be furious at me, but I know that he'd understand. He would do to same to save his soulmate.
Apophis always wanted us to be together, away from the throne and my responsibilities. Just Apophis and Abby. This would give us that chance. We'd have nothing but each other, but that was exactly what we wanted.
I would find him again. He was the other half of my heart, so I knew that I would find him again, no matter where we ended up. I will always find him.
I broke the laws of the universe itself so that we could be together.
Reincarnation is messy. It's painful, confusing, and when it's all said and done, you don't have a clue who you are anymore. It was easier the first time, when I had my biological parents there with me, using my connection to them to speed up the process.
The second time, I had no preparation. I had barely enough strength left to just start the process. Every ounce of power I'd clung to over the centuries only guaranteed that the energy who made me who I was, my soul, would transfer itself from the corpse I was trapped in. I couldn't choose my form or where I would be born, or choose to reappear as an adult. I was a baby, born into a world that had forgotten me.
My champions were dead, products of a distant past. Izanami hadn't been in the mortal realm since the Demon Wars. The afterlife trembled when I ripped my power unknowingly from the granddaughter who was channeling it. Everyone expected me to reappear as a fully powered adult deity, but I was nowhere to be found. The god of Life was missing.
I was born to a woman I've never known. Suddenly finding herself pregnant with an infant that looked nothing like her and presumably her spouse, she surrendered me to an orphanage. At least, that's what my file said. I don't blame her; she was a victim of chance. I couldn't control where I reincarnated and she never agreed to reincarnate a god. I assume that it was decided by the Ocean, though I've never been brave enough to ask.
My legal name was Rey Gallagher, chosen at random by the orphanage. I don't use that name anymore, as it's not my true name. Besides, Rey Gallagher has a few legal charges that could still be brought against her if the monarchy so chose. Attempted regicide doesn't ever come off your permanent record.
My best friend and foster sister, Paige, was my rock. No matter what happened, she was there for me. We were there for each other. Neither of us were adopted as children, so we decided that we'd be all the family we needed. She never was adopted.
Then, when I was thirteen, my powers began to awaken. Small cracks of my true self began to shine through. An orphan with no one, living in poverty, saw the wealth of the Crystal Cove king and suddenly had the power to take that wealth for herself. I had the castle overtaken, the queen consort comatose, and the living king twisted in the control of the god of living things. They called it attempted regicide despite Liam never being in any real danger. Even though I didn't remember it then, I can't use the power of Life to kill, which I have pointed out to many castle security guards since then. They never seem interested in listening to my side of the story.
I was living what a thirteen year old orphan thought was the high life, until I saw him. A dark, terrifying creature with piercing gold eyes. He sat on my stolen throne, watching me with fury in his eyes.
"What have you done with Lukas? Answer me, and I might let you live."
Not many people can stare Death in the face and still be pissed that he was usurping their stolen throne. I think that's when he first recognized me for who I was. His demeanor changed then from anger to something I can't describe. Hurt maybe that I didn't recognize him? Anger that I had been using my power to damage the living realm? Hope that I hadn't been lost like the world assumed I was? That unlike Riley, I had come back?
In an instant, the castle disappeared, and I was alone with Death in an abandoned house on the border of Crystal Cove. Memories began to trickle in as I watched him. Slowly at first, and then with increasing speed the longer we watched each other.
I was a deity, and so was he. We were two halves of one coin, completely opposite, but both needed to balance the world. I had a family, one that missed me desperately despite how fractured it was. I wasn't an orphan at all, or even female. I had been a not so great husband or father, that much I could remember, though the details were still hazy. I could remember the son who had rendered my second incarnation incapable of sustaining Life. I could remember him very clearly. While I can't truly kill someone as Life, there are loopholes to be exploited. Much like Kamalani Bellamy, Luke Jr quickly found that out once I remembered what he'd done.
My memory of my past life, of my true identity, was incomplete. I was stuck in my teenage body, trying to relearn my abilities and sworn duties while balancing the identity I had been building for thirteen years.
Two reapers officially adopted me so that I could process the changes in my existence in a safe (for the mortals) environment. Paige was upset to see me go, but we still kept in touch. Another nasty side effect of reincarnation is trying to explain to your friends that you're actually a deity who has existed for many centuries and protects the living realm.
And the homework sucks too. I tell all the teens that I interact with that I understand their hatred of homework and they never believe me.
I learned how to drive a car as a teenager. Everyone in my life usually teleports to get where they want, and I'm no exception. There's still something thrilling about feeling the wind in your hair or racing down a highway well past the speed limit. I don't own a car or have a license for that matter (Queen Claudia promised to grant me one in exchange for the safe return of her favourite earrings though). It's something that I want to teach my twins before they go to university. I'd never really driven before this incarnation, probably because my parents both loved cars and driving. It was a reminder of a time when my family was happy. When Riley and Leander were born.
I didn't understand why Izanami was so distant back then. We were clearly meant to work together, just as I was told we had in the past, but he kept me at arms length. We met once a week to go over my duties, and discuss what I could remember of my true self. He always looked hopeful that I might have some breakthrough, but I never did. I was mesmerized by the dark, mysterious deity to the point of obsession, but Izanami always (correctly) ignored my advances, saying that he was not attracted to a teenager, and even when I was an adult, he knew that he would only bring me pain in a relationship. Didn't I remember how things ended between us a lifetime ago?
I didn't. Not for a long time, and when I did? I may have been a little upset that he'd lied by ommission to me. Flames were involved.
Somethings never change from lifetime to lifetime. My best friend and half-brother, Reese, has been a constant in all of my lifetimes. He has a flair for the dramatic inherited straight from our father, but once I recovered my memories of my past incarnations, we picked our friendship up like centuries hadn't passed between us.
I went back to my assigned duties with an enthusiasm I'd never had before. Things had changed so much in the time I was gone, and I was determined to understand every part of my role as Life so that I could never be caught off guard again. I found my creations, still safely embedded in the reaper teams I had left them in
and after a brief incident involving the afterlife offices and fire, I released them into the care of the Grim Reaper. I was stepping back and fixing the mistakes of my past (and of the prior week in the case of the fire). You need to grow from your past life. Don't make the same mistakes and waste the time you're given.
It's hard sometimes to balance the old me, with my old habits and memories
and my new existence. It's taken me more time than you've even been alive to process what's changed, and what's stayed the same. I hope my example can help speed up the process.
But I know that it will take you two a great deal of time to work it all out, because reincarnation is messy.
Helle marveled at her new ability to levitate, while Theo deliberately rose up higher than she had in order to show off. The Tredonians were full of interesting tricks, some of which, Helle was surprised to have picked up so easily. With nothing but mental concentration, she was now a few feet off the ground like she was practicing sorcery.
Helle had gone over to the house to apologize to Abercius, but he hadn't been there. Apparently, he had something else more pressing to do and had left for the day, leaving Helle in the clutches of Despina. The eager witch had recently gained some confidence, and wanted to have another try at fixing Helle's dreams. Abercius had often visited the Dean house with his little brother, so Helle guessed that maybe she would find him sulking there if he was too afraid to enter his own home. Abercius wasn't at the Dean house, but Theo and Despina had still insisted on trying whatever they could to help with her dreams.
"That could be the meditation starting to relax you," Despina replied. "You're in a relaxed state, outside in the sunshine; it has to be working. I know that it will be easier to manage your dreams if you're relaxed better than before."
"No, I actually feel really funny," Helle stated, beginning to worry about how high she was off the ground and how much it might hurt if she fell. "I feel cold and sweaty and a little dizzy. This might be too much for a first try at meditation."
She closed her eyes, but that only made things worse. Images flashed in her head far too quickly to comprehend, aside from the unmistakable glowing eye of Absydee.
Apophis, please. The world would stop spinning if we stayed here together.
"I don't think that sounds right, Helle," Theo remarked. "Not even the meditation we studied in Shadowvale made me feel cold. Maybe you're getting sick."
"No one is sick," Despina declared. "I'm not going to fail this time. We can work through this and get your nightmares under control. Abercius mentioned that they were really starting to impact your daily life."
Helle tried not to cringe, just in case she broke her focus and tumbled to the ground. So Abercius had been upset about the paintings and her rambling about the dead woman she was now obsessed over. At least she now had that confirmed.
You are the king, make Hetepheres obey! She cannot marry a knight, and Watcher help us if she has his bastard child! Do something, Apophis!
A light shone that was somehow even brighter when Helle closed her eyes. First she was dreaming about the past, and now she was hearing voices. She was losing her mind.
Ranya, don't leave here angry at me. You're my sister. We can talk about this.
"It's so strong," Helle groaned, somehow managing to kick out her feet to touch the ground once more. "I think I'm going to be sick. Do you hear the voices too? They just keep getting louder."
"Voices? Are they telling you to marry Abercius or to dump him because they don't like him?" Helle could faintly hear Theo speak if she tried to focus on his voice. "You don't have to listen to them. They're not even allowed to be here. They're just really bitchy dead people for the most part. No one tells me what else they are, but there's definitely a lot of dead people with dumb opinions."
"Despina? Is this supposed to be happening?! My hand feels like it's on fire. Despina?"
Helle extended her arm, shocked to see her hand enveloped in an intense light. If she squinted hard enough, she thought she could make out the outline of an object materializing in her hand.
"No, this is definitely not dream magic!" Despina replied, staring at Helle in shock. "There is nothing written in my book about this! Theo? Is this Jubilant Accosts magic? You must have studied this!"
"They only let me study the demon stuff!" Theo insisted. "Helle's not a demon, so none of that matters!"
Helle could feel the weight of something metallic begin to settle in her hand. As the light faded, she found that the metal was cool to the touch, and encrusted with jewels that shone in the fading light.
"It...it's a crown," she whispered. The voices in her head somehow got louder, until her friends were drowned out completely.
This is yours now, Apophis. You are of age to rule. Guard this crown with your life and serve the Watcher always.
Helle slipped the crown on her head. It fit perfectly over her hair, and despite the weight of it, Helle could move her head easily.
"Helle? Did you just summon a crown?"
Helle looked down the street to the ruins of the Yacothian castle. Over the years, the various proxies had forbidden anyone from entering the area, citing the unholy acts that took place on the land. She had always wondered what the castle looked like growing up. She had no family or land aside from the gallery the Proxy gave to her, and there was a huge castle just sitting empty on the hill where people could live.
Were the sins of the royal family too great for the land to ever be reclaimed again? She didn't remember sinning all that much, though Hetepheres could have done anything when she took the throne. Her daughter was a case too hopeless for even the Watcher, she feared. No! He feared. Apophis feared. And yet-Hetepheres was also her daughter. Helle's. Apophis'. The same person, one soul in two lifetimes.
Ah, you're finally awakening. Good. I promised that I'd walk you through this, so I hope that this transition goes smoothly and triggers all at once. My last reincarnation, I awakened at thirteen, but didn't trigger all of my memories until my twenties.
With all of the chaos twisting her mind, Helle could hear the deity call for her. It took everything she had just to focus on their voice.
Your soul is less complicated than mine, so I think this will be it. Be prepared for a hell of a ride.
Here, follow my memories as an example. That's my dad, Luke. My original dad, not whoever's genetics I had inherited with this new body. Your mother was Queen Neith, but you have a genetic family in this life too, who you may want to connect with. It takes a while to get used to the idea, I know, but reincarnation goes easier if you have a support network.
"Lukas, I'm sorry. I never would have left if I'd known you were in danger. I should have stopped this. I might have fixed this, if...if...I'm so sorry."
Oops. Ignore that. You don't need a lesson in being comatose for several centuries while your ex finally knows what it's like to lose you. It's all jumbled up in my head, and I've never had to explain reincarnation to someone before.
Let's see, where did your ending begin? A love affair with an immortal just slightly less clueless about people than her boss. Someone who might break the laws of what is permitted to save her love.
Murder by your own blood. A soulmate in turmoil. Did she ever tell you just how powerful reaper bonds are with their partners?
Are you ready? Follow me.
Helle clutched her head as a blinding pain seared through her mind, purging everything but the words she could hear repeating over and over.
"Reincarnating is messy. Reincarnating is messy. Reincarnating is messy...."
