Arkhelios Adventures
"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.
"Actually, it's a little of both."















