Chapter Three: Fading Light
The Zimmerman siblings made their way, rather slowly due to Anna's exhaustion and Will's splitting headache, into the alley that the water controlling pirate had originally came from.
There really wasn't much to see considering that the street was flooded. There were two dumpsters near the far end and what looked to be another alley running parallel to the main road. Trash and litter floated on the water and was getting plastered and stuck to an assortment of objects.
The duo split apart to investigate; Anna went further down the main alley while Will took the side alley. Fortunately, the rain had slowed down to a more average rainfall so it was at least possible to keep his eyes open.
Said eyes were scanning every object, scouring each inch, analyzing every little detail he could and attempting to compile all of it into a possible scenario. A fight definitely took place in the alley, much of the water in the area was tinged in red meaning that there was either diluted paint or diluted blood. Given the events thus far, his money was on the latter.
The pirate had been injured but Will hadn't been able to locate any injuries so whatever wounds that had been sustained must have been to the man's back, but what would cause such a massive amount of blood loss in so short a time?
He let out an inaudible grunt of pain when something from above him collided with his head. He looked around, his eyes roaming the water at his feet until something blue caught his attention. The only reason why it had was because it was not the normal shade of blue. It was vibrant and it seemed to sparkle like metallic spray paint.
He knelt down into the water and fished around the gunk to pull out the object. When he finally got it out of the water, all he could do was stare. The sparkly, metallic blue object was in fact...a police box. It had a dark green jewel at the top where the light would have been, the paint was partially faded and revealed a silver coppery surface beneath.
It was something that was worn often and usually in direct contact with skin. The bottom plate was slightly crooked and the words POLICE BOX were engraved near the top. What surprised him though was the slash along one side of it like something incredibly sharp had cleaved it away. Overall the box was intact, missing the chain and being partially damaged but it had survived.
He didn't have to ask his sister about it. He knew what it was, who it belonged to, and what it meant. The blue box was a Tardis...the Doctor's space/time ship. It was worn as a pendant by Artz Lanaria...a physical reminder. It was the promise of her name, the promise of the Doctor...it was a physical manifestation of the woman's soul.
To Will...it was proof, actual physical proof that the woman he had fallen in love with, the woman that had irrevocably impacted his sister's life not once but twice, the woman that faced the absolution of certain death and lived...Artz Lanaria...she was real.
He just stared at the little blue box resting in the palm of his hand. He didn't know what to think, what to feel, and he had no idea what to do now. What was he supposed to do? He was literally holding Artz's soul in his hand...his sister, sweet Menti Celesti...she was right...had always been right...right to believe...right to have faith...to never give up...to never let go.
All these years...not once did he truly believe. Tonight...he saw a man form out of water and wield the rain itself. Tonight...he learned that his beloved baby sister had an extraordinary gift. Tonight...he finally believed...she had been here...he had been so close...if only...if only…
In his own head again, only this time it was his own feet walking on their own that had gotten him into trouble. He had apparently walked back towards the junction that connected the side alley to the main one and his foot was now stuck in a partially removed grate. He barely managed to safely pocket the Tardis pendant before the grate gave way and his leg slid down halfway in before he was able to catch himself.
The water from the alley began rushing in, following the path of least resistance, and the profiler had to fight against a rather strong current...otherwise his other leg was going to get sucked down into the sewer. He pushed the debris and litter following the water out of his way and managed to get his leg almost out but then his hand, which had been supporting most of his weight, buckled and he was submerged, the water feeling so much deeper than just two feet.
The water was murky and it was hard to see, but at least under the water, he could tell what was keeping him from removing his foot from the grate...some kind of chain, similar to the ones that men put on their wallets or attached to a pocket watch. He reached down, hyperaware of the little blue box in his pocket.
He didn't dare lose it. It was far too important and he wanted to return it to her himself...give back her soul. He pulled on the chain but it kept getting caught both on his leg and on the grate, the water still rushing in didn't help either. His lungs were beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen. He needed to surface soon or he was going to drown.
A pair of hands reached around him and untangled the chain from the grate, allowing him to remove his foot from the drain and push away to a safe distance. He surfaced a moment later, turning around to thank his sister...but no one was there. He looked around but the alley was void of people. Where was Anna and who was it that helped him?
He felt a soft touch on the palm of his right hand, a ghostly brush of a single finger, and he looked down. There was a feminine hand reaching towards him, clearly trying to grab something...probably him. He reached down, attempting to push his hand further into the water but it hit something solid and the hand faded from view, still trying to reach and then it was gone.
What the hell just happened? How could someone be deeper than the actual level of the water? He then realized that his hand was on top of a cylindrical object. He picked it up and rinsed the mud and grime off of it. His eyes widened as he recognized the object...a fob watch...the same one the man had worn around his neck when protecting Will as a child...but how could it be here?
"Will?" Anna called from nearby.
"Over here!" He shouted rising to his feet and wincing when he put pressure on his leg.
Yep, he was going to feel that for a while. His sister sloshed over to him with what appeared to be a partially ripped, black plastic garbage bag filled with something heavy, going by how her arms were shaking from the strain. She stopped in front of him and took a moment to catch her breath, setting the bag with a clank on a metal trash bin that had been chained to the wall.
"I found gun shells, large caliber and quite a few of the actual bullets." She informed showing him the contents of the bag.
Large calibur was right...fifty cal to be exact and judging from the bullets and shells...a machine gun, maybe a mini gun. He was pretty sure that the bullets were modified hollow points. You fill up a hollow point bullet and you can blow a complete chunk out of whatever it hits...a very painful way to die and it explained the insane amount of blood in the water.
"Holy shit...he was shot, wasn't he, in the back? He was shot...in the back...with a fucking fifty calibur mini gun...who the fuck can walk away from that...and how?" He asked pretty sure of the event but not the survival.
His sister looked at him with those blasted older eyes and nodded solemnly.
"Poseidon...he was protecting her. I'm sure of it." She answered quietly looking down at their feet.
"Does Poseidon carry some kind of fob watch?" He asked suddenly, only just now remembering that it was in his hand.
Her head popped up faster than he could blink, her eyes wide.
"Yes...yes he...they do. Hook and Poseidon share the same watch because they share the same body. Their marks are the silver hook and blue trident respectively." She answered in a rush.
"Hook?" He echoed his voice skeptical.
Anna scowled at him which only made him laugh because she looked like a drowned kitten trying to be a mighty tiger. He wasn't really doubting her because if Hook was real, then it would explain why his sister had been so pushy about him growing on him.
"Look, I don't know all the details but yes, there is a man with two souls inside him. The first is Killian Jones aka Poseidon. The second is James Hook aka The Captain. The man that we spoke to earlier was Hook." She explained glaring at him.
"Seriously? Hook? Okay...that would explain this then." He replied showing her the black fob watch depicting the trident on one side and the hook on the other.
"Oh my god...it's true. This is a world where the Blood Guard exists. I wasn't really sure…" She started but stopped, taking the watch from him like it was the most precious thing in the world, "It's heavier than I thought it would be. My god...this is really happening, right? This isn't a dream, right?"
Will was surprised that she was asking those questions. She had believed all these years and now there was proof and she was suddenly doubting everything that she believed in so adamantly. He reached into his pocket, his fingers grazing the blue box but he didn't pull it out...not yet.
"No...you're not dreaming. You're too fucking cold and wet for that, dearie." He sassed and the reaction was instant.
She smacked his arm with her free hand, only to shake it like it stung. He smiled, a chuckle escaping his lips, which earned him another smack. His face became serious and she went still, her amethyst eyes watching him curiously.
"I believe you...this time for real, so you can't start doubting now." He stated his tone full of certainty and belief.
Her eyes became sad and distant like all the life was being drained out of her.
"But there's no proof...no proof that she was here. We only know that Poseidon and Hook were here...fighting against the Cabal, but there's no sign of her and I was so sure she was here. Maybe...maybe I was just wishing that she would be here. It's been so long...i can barely remember her at all.
I know that she has short dark blonde hair and forest green eyes, that she was short and got annoyed when someone left out that extra half inch. She was originally overweight but she had lost like seventy pounds because of her custodian job, but i can't remember her voice.
I remember a lot of her stories and almost all of our adventures in real life but my memories are fading...i can't even remember her face...even in my dreams...everything is blurred except for her eyes.
I can't even remember her scent or how it felt to hug her. Everything is slipping away. I had it all written down once but that bastard tossed every bit of it into the fucking fire place because I refused to obey him.
All those years, all those memories and thoughts and emotions...turned to ash. I know she's real, Will, but I'm afraid…" Anna rambled her voice choking with emotion.
His heart ached...his sister had been suffering, dealing with all of this on her own for so long...her memories being erased by time and her efforts to preserve them destroyed by their father while their mother had been in the hospital. His fingers wrapped around the blue police box and he withdrew it from his pocket.
"Amethyst…" He started getting her attention instantly, "...you're afraid that with your memories gone...you could walk right past her and not even know it was her."
His younger sibling started sobbing as she nodded her head in confirmation. He took the fob watch from her and pocketed it before taking her now empty hand and placing his closed fist on top of her palm.
"Even if you can't remember what she looks like or sounds like, if all of that fades away...it doesn't mean that it has for her." He began and he cut her off when she tried to respond, "There are some things so precious, so valuable...that even if the mind doesn't remember, the heart always will...or in her case...I think she might want her soul back."
He opened his fist and placed the Tardis pendant in her palm then removed his hand so she could see what it was. Two decades of waiting...waiting to see that smile again and he got something so much more powerful.
His sister was crying tears of joy, relief written all over her face. The smile on her face was so bright that it was like its own sun. She started laughing and sobbing at the same time...a lifetime of absolute faith in someone that by all rights should not exist...it finally paid off.
She clutched the pendant tightly in her fist before bulldozing her brother to the ground, the water splashing away from the impact loudly. Anna clung to her older brother, all her emotions spilling out, and he just wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and for the first time in his life...he felt like he had done something right...that he could finally say that he was her big brother...that he was actually worthy of that title.
He was never going to doubt his baby sister ever again. Even if she couldn't tell him everything, he would just take it on blind faith. He owed her a lifetime of apologies and he honestly didn't know how he could ever atone for all the mistakes he had made, but he was going to do some research.
Many of Anna's earlier stories had been about Artz's insane plotline for The Star Chronicles. She had spoken at length about several members of the Prism Guard and The Bladeworks. If he remembered correctly, both were connected to the Blood Guard which she has mentioned a few times tonight.
The Blood Guard were supposed to have a very long history. Maybe he could find some proof of that...piece together fragments of their history all across time. It was one hell of a daunting task but he had a feeling that it would not only help his sister preserve her memories but perhaps unlock some of his own.
He wasn't sure how, but he was somehow connected to Poseidon and possibly Hook too. He remembered that watch clearly and that watch belonged to Poseidon and Hook. He had a feeling that he and his sister were more connected to the Guard than they thought they were.
There was something in their past that he couldn't remember and he doubted that Anna remembered either, going by her reaction to the watch. He had to find out. He needed to know, but most importantly...he needed to find the wench...Hook was still an arrogant asshole though.
