The Gaian Spirit: Aife's Return
Chapter 10 – Mirror, Mirror (10.1)
Nuana was at home, lying in bed after a late night of wrangling up some tooth fairies for her Mata when she got a call. Nuana didn't like cell phones but she kept one because it was the easiest way for her Mata and siblings to get ahold of her. The device flashed and buzzed on her nightstand, nearly falling on the floor hadn't she snatched it up right away. With a few practiced moves, Nuana answered the phone and had it pressed to her ear.
"This is Nuana,"
"NUANA!"
She held the phone away from her ear with a wince as Kenzi shrieked her name. Clearly Bo's human was drunk off her ass and had felt the need to call her. Why? Nuana didn't know.
"Kenzi? What are you doing up this late?"
"Drinking! Dyson bit it off with Bo and now we've been drinking away our rejection churn-ey feelings. I wanted to call you so we could drink and curse Dyson with us,"
Nuana rolled her eyes. "I am sorry, Kenzi, but I do not have an issue with him,"
"Yes, you do," Kenzi argued as a crashing sound came over the line from her end. "He's been all friendly and done nothing to get you sexyfied and in his den! He strung Bo along too because he wanted two sugar mamas,"
Nuana rolled her eyes. "Kenzi. Go to bed. Tomorrow you will not remember any of this and-"
"Yes. I. Will. Because he hurt you guys,"
"Kenzi?"
"Yeah?"
"Good night,"
Nuana hung up, letting out a laugh at the thought of the drunk little human worrying over two Fae women. If she were being honest, Nuana like Kenzi very much but sometimes worried over whether Bo was taking good enough care of her or whether Kenzi realized that she was a bit over her head. No matter how puffed up Kenzi was, she was always going to be a human among Fae. Her phone rang again but Nuana ignored it, turning over and settling comfortably into her sheets without another thought of Kenzi.
The next morning, Nuana woke to an uneasy feeling in her stomach and an itchy chest. She didn't think much on it until she was in the shower and her chest started stinging just above her heart. It hurt far too much to be one of the many little tooth fairy bites that littered her body. So she looked down at her chest and found a marking that sent a shock of horror into her heart.
She'd been marked by Baba Yaga.
"Shit,"
She got out and changed quickly, not bothering to walk to the Dal like she usually did. She needed to get to Trick as soon as possible, in the hopes that he would know something for her to do before she had to result to turning to her Mata. If the Norn found out that Baba Yaga had managed to somehow mark one of her own, her mata would be furious at Nuana. So she drove with her foot pressed all the way against the gas, arriving at the Dal in record time.
When she walked in she saw Dyson standing at the bar, looking like he needed a drink. His pale blue eyes looked exceptionally predatory today, scanning the room as if watching for a potential attack that would hit him at any moment. He was an impressive figure as he leaned against the bar, his muscular body easily seen through his grey button up.
"Hey, Nuana," he greeted as she walked up to him, leaning against the bar.
Annoyance suddenly flared in her chest towards him as soon as his voice hit her ears. It was sudden and unexpected but none the less powerful as she glared. "Shut up, Dyson,"
The shifter turned to stare down at her in complete shock. "Sorry?"
"Sorry will not keep you from breaking my heart," Nuana muttered at him angrily. She hadn't realized until this moment how much of an ass he could be. Why couldn't he just shut up and keep to himself? He didn't have to save everyone. The whole world didn't revolve around him. "You do not care about me so stop pretending you do. Do not deny it,"
"What?"
Nuana turned to glare up at him, hating how damned tall he was too. "Who do you think you are, Dyson? Just because you are a damn wolf does not mean you have to make any damn stray apart of your pack. Is that what I am to you? A stray? Just because my mata dislikes me does not mean that you have to swoop in and take pity on me. I can take care of myself," It was only now that she was realizing how much he had been using her. He'd been pitying her this whole time! He'd never actually liked her. It had been all about pitying her. Only now was she realizing that he'd been using her. Why hadn't she seen it before? Before she could punch him in his smug face, she crossed her arms over her chest to try to trap the anger against her chest and keep herself from punching him. "You have just been playing with me for the past year like a cat with a stupid cat toy and as soon as something better showed up, you ran off with the majestic succubus. I should not have expected anymore from a man!"
She reared back and slammed her fist into his jaw, barely knocking him back at all. She went to shove him again but this time he caught her arms, holding her back from hitting him. "What the hell, Nuana?! What are you doing?!"
"Let me go! Let me go!"
"Stop it! What are you doing?!"
"Whoa! Hey, hey, hey! Nuana!"
Suddenly Bo was standing between the two of them, Bo's hand on her cheek where an erotic thrum was working its way through Nuana's body. Never before has she felt the powers of a succubus and she wasn't likely to forget it.
"What's wrong? What did he do?"
"I do not feel well," Nuana whined, closing her eyes to try to focus on the nauseating anger that had been building in her stomach since she came within ten feet of Dyson.
"Nuana… where did you get that mark?"
"I found it this morning," Nuana told her in monotone, keeping her eyes closed as she felt the taint of magic in her blood. "Baba Yaga has marked me as her own… I don't know how or why,"
"Baba Yaga?"
"Apparently we've been cursed," Bo explained to both Nuana and Dyson as she took her hands off of the Gaian. "By Kenzi,"
Kenzi walked over guiltily. "Ta da,"
Nuana opened her eyes and shivered, a little from the residual lustfulness and a little from the magical induced anger that was still simmering inside her. As best she could, Nuana tried to ignore her hate for Dyson, trying desperately to remember how much she loved him and how much of a good guy he was.
"Kenzi, why would you put a curse on Dyson?"
"I'm sorry, okay?!" the human exclaimed desperately. "She's supposed to be a myth!"
"That's why women have been freaking out at me all day?" Dyson groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "Kenzi… Why the hell would you invoke Baba Yaga on me? What are you, twelve?"
"I was drunk okay!" Kenzi exclaimed. "My mind wasn't really working right,"
"Clearly," Dyson snapped.
"Would you shut up, you stupid beast?" Nuana snapped, slowly turning until her hazel eyes met Dyson's, an angry glint to them that no one had ever seen before. "How was the human supposed to know that there was a witch in the mirror? Even if she did, you deserve everything coming at you,"
"Nuana-"
"Just like a man; you care nothing for others. Maybe you should sit back and think about why Kenzi put the curse on you,"
"Nuana," Bo hissed, grabbing her face. "You've got to fight this. Okay? It's just a curse,"
Nuana frowned at her but took a deep breath and tried to focus on burying the magic. It wasn't easy… especially when Dyson was such a manipulative asshole that-
She was going to have to work on it a bit. Nuana nodded to Bo to tell her she was alright and Bo let go.
Trick frowned up at Nuana. "But you've been marked. You shouldn't be affected by her magic in the same way other women are in Dyson's presence,"
"Yes, but I am the Norn's daughter," Nuana told him as if it were supposed to be obvious. "Now that a Gaian has been marked, the crone wants to truly make me hers,"
"Why would she do that?" Bo asked.
"Because, like all Fae- especially powerful Fae- they thirst for more," Nuana told her. "The witch and the Norn are very much alike though they don't like to admit it. They both have their own handmaidens, they are both powerful, they draw their power from their home and they make deals with others that the person comes to regret. They have been rivals since the beginning of time and enemies ever since my Mata proved to be the most powerful,"
"So Baba Yaga created her own dimension to gain power and has arguable grown more powerful over the centuries. Possibly more powerful than the Norn,"
"Oh, goody,"
"However, the crone's powers are based in her own world. If she were to come here she'd be barely more powerful than you or I in comparison to the Norn. But if she were to get one of my kin or I into her world, she could use us to draw power from the Norn to make a connection between her and the Earth so that she could permanently materialize here. And with one of us, she could take our connection to the Norn and draw power from the Norn directly,"
"Like a battery,"
Nuana tossed her head noncommittally. "A little like. With a Gaian, the witch would be more powerful than she already is while she is here,"
"Bad idea," Trick murmured.
"So now that she has marked me as one of her own, she is infecting me with her magic,"
"Can you get rid of it?"
"Not without breaking the curse on Dyson,"
"Great," Dyson growled. "When are you going to stop messing with things you don't understand? You're so bloody human!"
Suddenly tears fell down Nuana's face, surprising everyone in the room. "Nuana? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Nuana crossed her arms over her chest as tightly as she could, trying to keep herself from doing something rash. "I really want to beat Dyson to a pulp right now,"
Bo snorted but tried to get serious when Dyson glared at her.
"Trick," Kenzi pleaded, approaching Trick with wide doe eyes. "Trick, you gotta help us,"
"Out of the question. Baba Yaga dwells in her own realm. A place other Fae can't interfere with, let alone enter. Even if I could, I can't. That witch is-"
"One serious slice of harsh?" Bo tried.
"You have no idea,"
"So what am I supposed to do?" Kenzi murmured.
Dyson slammed a fist down on the bar, breaking nearby glasses, the wolf in his eyes as he glared down at the human. "You're gonna fix it. Now!"
"Shut up, beast, or I will find you a muzzle," Nuana growled. "If you keep saying things like that her magic is going to make me vomit or qi suck you into a coma,"
"Look, I did it and I'll fix it," Kenzi told them, looking between the raging wolf, the annoyed succubus and the Gaian spirit with Baba Yaga sickness.
"How are you going to do that?" Hale asked.
Nuana stepped forward with a sigh. "I will have to call her,"
"Didn't you just say that it is dangerous for you to get anywhere near her?" Bo reminded.
"We have to do something, Bo. And I would rather we do this here and among friends before Kenzi and you go off and get yourselves sucked into her realm with no witnesses about,"
Both Bo and Kenzi conceded the point.
"The Norn won't be happy when she hears what you are doing," Trick warned her. "And I'm not sure this is the smartest way to go about this,"
"Well, if things go wrong, Mata will have no choice but to intervene. Everyone wins,"
"That's what you're hoping,"
Nuana shrugged. "Then let us hope this goes as planned,"
Together, the group gathered everything Nuana needed to call Baba Yaga, the most important of which was a mirror. Together, Nuana, Bo and Kenzi stood in front of the mirror- Dyson, Trick and Hale standing off- as Nuana called for Baba Yaga. First she cut her hand and drew the sign of Baba Yaga on Kenzi's left cheek, then did the same to Bo, drawing the sign of Baba Yaga on Kenzi's right cheek.
"Now I will call for the witch," she warned them all. "If I succeed, Kenzi will fall into a trance that will make her the anchor to bring the crone to the Veil,"
"Is that safe?"
Nuana smiled over at Kenzi. "Not really,"
"Great,"
Nuana knelt before the mirror, head bowed low, her hand over the mark Baba Yaga had made on her heart. "Čarodejnica starých lesov, Keeper of the Dead, Tieň v zrkadle, vaša označené tie, zavolajte na vás cez závoj požiadať o audienciu. Navrhovateľka zmlúv, čarodejnica Underhill, Traverser opony, Underhill a Zem stretnú u Závoje Starého lesa, zrkadlá sa portály a voda teraz chodníky. Všemohúci Baba, voláme pre vás. Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga," (Witch of the Old Woods, Keeper of the Dead, Shadow in the Mirror, your marked ones call to you across the Veil to ask an audience. Draftswoman of Contracts, Enchantress of Underhill, Traverser of the Veil, the Underhill and the Earth meet together at the Veil of the Old Woods, mirrors now portals and water now walkways. Almighty Baba, we call for you. Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga.)
"Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga," Kenzi fell into the trance, grey eyes crossed as she began speaking with multiple voices. "I seek vengeance in Bo and Nuana's names on the one called Dyson,"
"And I made good on dat plea,"
Nuana dropped her head to the ground in a low bow towards the mirror where the silhouette of the old witch could be seen. Slowly the Gaian stood, her eyes not meeting the mirror in a respectful gesture, keeping her hand over her itchy mark.
"Witch of the Old Woods, we meet again across the Veil,"
"Nuana," the crone breathed, seeming pleased at who she saw. The pleasure in her voice made Dyson's wolf bristle. "Child by de Norn… how long it has been zince you called to me last,"
Everyone stared at Nuana's back but she ignored them.
"Witch of the Old Woods, you graciously answered a call from our plane to place a powerful curse on the one called Dyson in another's name and mine. However, this extraordinary curse was invoked without either of our knowledge of it, nor our permission to place it. Humbly and respectfully, we ask you to remove your curse,"
"I can remove de affliction,"
"Oh, good," Bo smiled.
"In exchange for de Gaian and de zuccubus whose names it vas made,"
"What?"
"No," Nuana stood in a flash, no longer bothering with etiquette as she met the witch's eye. She could already feel the surge in the witch's magic through the mirror, gently swathing her and readying to yank Nuana and Bo into Baba Yaga's realm. Nuana couldn't let that happen. "You are the Draftswoman of Contracts and you know that this is an unfair trade. The succubus and I did not invoke this curse and the human did not know better. You cannot take two for one curse,"
"And who made dis rule?"
"You are bound to follow your own rules, crone, and you know it,"
"And you are bound to me now, Gaian… you are mine,"
Dyson snarled at that, his hands grasping the bar in front of him in a white knuckle grip. His wolf entered his eyes in a flood of color at those words that meant so much to him as a shifter. It was bad enough that his Nuana belonged to the Norn… he would not allow her to be claimed by yet another Fae.
"If you do this the Norn's power will be brought down upon you," Nuana tried desperately, now grasping at straws to keep from being taken like she knew would happen. It was only a matter of time.
"She has no power here, Gaian, and you know dis vell,"
"You may live in a pocket realm but she will find you,"
"And until zen, you are mine,"
Baba Yaga's power surged in the bar, a wave that was almost suffocating as it swept through and settled over Bo and Nuana. The two stumbled forward as they were pulled towards the mirror no longer holding the silhouette of Baba Yaga but what looked like her cabin of bones. The only thing stopping Bo from being dragged through the Veil was a strong grasp on the bar behind her and the help of Trick and Hale. Nuana, on the other hand, was stumbling forward with nothing to grab onto beyond the traction in her shoes.
"No!" Dyson roared, vaulting over the bar and surging across the room in an instant. He grabbed Nuana in a vice-like grip, his arms wrapping protectively around her small body and his claw-like fingers digging into her sides. She gasped in pain and surprise as he surrounded her, keeping her from moving any closer to the portal. The wolf was in Dyson's eyes and in his voice as he growled; "Mine," The solitary word made Nuana shiver.
"No! No! Bo! Stop!" Kenzi yelled, jumping in between the two marked women and the portal to Baba Yaga's realm. "I'm the one that invoked the curse and I'm the one that should pay!"
"Kenzi, no!" Dyson shouted.
"I was hoping you vould zay dat," Baba Yaga cackled happily. "I have no need for a zuccubus. But a nubile young girl? Dat I can devour!"
With a final cackle, both Kenzi and Nuana shimmered and disappeared into the mirror.
"NO!" Dyson roared, his eyes a fiery-gold as he charged at the mirror as if it were the enemy. It shattered before he reached it, tiny pieces of glass and silver falling to the floor with the faint image of the two women in the shards.
Author's Note: "I really want to beat Dyson to a pulp right now,"