Disclaimer: ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, banana phone . . .
A/N: Don't worry, Kurt's journey is ending soon.
A/N2: I'm not trying to offend anybody by this chapter, with the celestial beings. I'm Christian, and this is not my religious belief; I thought this was the coolest and most neutral way to do this chapter. Don't flame me if you don't agree with my religion. I won't preach Christianity (well, actually I'm Episcopalian, but whatev.) and stomp on your religion (I have friends who are Wicca and atheist); just don't flame me if you don't like my religion. Peace out and have a good day! ;D
A/N3: Last one, I swear, before I quit bugging you: this story now has fanart on deviantart . com! Yeah, it's by me (The author doing fanart. Cheap, I know.), but go to deviantart and search IrisMusicia and behold the Celestial Mare!
The Afterlife
She tossed her head suddenly, catching Kurt off-guard so he pitched forward into her mane and was frozen there, inhaling the floral scent of her fur for a moment before he was released to look up.
Kurt gasped in shock.
Where there had been a shining, barren mountaintop before, stood a magnificent . . . court would be the only word to describe it. There was a large ring of twenty-five-foot stone columns around the edge of the plateau, and the area inside the stark white pillars, brilliant against the black sky, was filled by milling animals of all sorts. The Mare stood shorter than many, and she was the only one with real color. The animals were pearly with faded hints of color, completely silent and not quite touching the moon, as the Mare did, but very solid. They shimmered beautifully, and Kurt found himself mesmerized by the usually fluid cats of prey, but in this realm, they were the pure essence of grace.
The Mare nickered something to Kurt, and he tore his eyes away from the cats, slinking off into the crowd, around antelopes and elephants, dogs, cats, aardvarks, and peacocks. She tossed her head, and between her small, pricked ears, he saw the center of attention.
In the middle of the mountaintop, on a sort of dais, were three magnificent people. Three pillars stood in a row directly behind the people, with the middle pillar and the middle person the tallest. But the people who sat on the dais far outshone all the animals, the moon, and the galaxy.
The trio sat on huge, shining thrones of different colored stone, gazing imperiously out over the court of spirit-animals. There was a commanding presence around them that Kurt had to respect. The middle person, one with a regal look on their face, sitting on a throne of marbled white and black, raised one of their hands, not saying a word, and the whole court of animals fell silent and unanimously turned to face the people. The people to the left and right raised their hands, and the spirit-animals parted so a clear, straight path to the dais.
The Mare started forward, in her snapping, head-bobbing walk. The animals' heads turned slightly as they walked past, creating a ripple that spread out over the mountaintop as Kurt watched. After what seemed like an eternity, the Celestial Mare came to a halt in front of Deity.
"Who ahr you?" Kurt whispered. He regretted it instantly. The eyes of the middle person, Deity, snapped down to look at him, trying to hide himself in the Mare's thick, luxurious gold mane. Deity's eyes were convex mirrors, like liquid silver, or bright, shining opalescent marbles, and despite the lack of pupils, were very piercing.
"Who are you?" Deity murmured. Deity's voice was rather emotionless and the question soft, but Deity's voice carried to the whole congregation. Kurt couldn't tell if Deity's voice was that of a man or a woman, but it was hauntingly musical and harmonious; very enchanting.
A whisper of noise ran through the assembled animal spirits. Deity had spoken – an honor It rarely bestowed on a soul.
"Uh, K-kurt W-w-wagner," Kurt stuttered nervously. The Mare wanted so much to console him, to nicker at the back of her throat, make a comforting motion, noise, to tell Kurt to stay strong under Deity's unnerving gaze.
Deity nodded slowly.
"I am Deity. This is God, and this is Goddess." Deity said, Its mirror eyes flicking to the handsome, pale-skinned people to the left and right as It gestured almost lazily with the twist of a hand. God sat in the ashen throne on Deity's left, and had alabaster skin with a proud Roman nose and deep-set, dark eyes, quite contrary to Deity's mirror-eyes. He pressed his pale pink lips together and inclined His head to Kurt, His light blonde-brown curls shaking.
Kurt's eyes roved over God. Through his devout Christian faith, he had heard much about God, about how He was the great redeemer, about how Jesus was His son . . .
The Mare shifted slightly on her feet, popping one hip and cocking her back leg, a stance of rest. Moving his wide-eyed gaze from God to Deity, Kurt noticed that Deity's features weren't completely masculine. They were strong and handsome as God's, yet elegant and smooth as Goddess's, whom Kurt hadn't looked over yet. It was clear, though, that Deity was the "alpha" of the animal gods and goddesses.
From her onyx throne on the right of Deity, Goddess shifted. She had dark, shining brunette locks that waved gently, framing Her gorgeous face. Goddess had large, dark, almond-shaped eyes and full, pink rosebud lips, and a honey-sweet perfume about her. She smiled at Kurt, and the soul felt himself goggle at Goddess, his translucent cheeks purpling with blush. Deity snapped Its fingers, drawing Kurt's attention back to It.
"Um, what-what is this place?" Kurt stammered, glancing around the animals, staring up at Deity with respect, a few looking over at Kurt.
"What is this place? What is this place?" Goddess laughed lightly. "This, dear Kurt, is the Moon Court of Divinity. Do you know why you're here, soul?"
Kurt shook his head, starting to become uneasy in the presence of so many divine beings, especially Goddess, who seemed kind, until she spoke, with a sort of cruel amusement. Then the thought came to Kurt.
"I keeled people?" Kurt guessed quietly. Trickles, ghosts of his memories were playing at the edges of his consciousness.
"Killed my people," God said, a dark look coming over his face. "Kurt, you were so devout, such a good young man. Where did it all go wrong?"
Kurt's last memories, that of turmoil and rage, confusion, pain and blood, and emotional agony hit him with the force of a hurricane. His whole frame shuddered, and this time the Mare did whicker.
"Margali, z-z-zey k-keeled my mozzer," Kurt sobbed, his breath coming in sharp gasps, tears welling in his gold eyes, his body shivering like a leaf in a thunderstorm.
"Yes. Do you know why?" God asked levelly, not wanting to send little Kurt to Lucifer, but wanting to make him feel remorse for what he did.
"She v-vas s-sor-sorcer-sorceress?" Kurt couldn't even form whole sentences anymore.
"Who told the townspeople she was a sorceress, Kurt?" God pressed, leaning forward on his throne.
"D-d-donno . . ." Kurt cried, tears splashing down his front and wicking off the Mare's fur.
"Another mutant named Magneto did this to you, Kurt. He did this because you escaped him, when you were just a baby. You were to be his new apprentice, a powerful little mutant once he took you from your poor mother and ran the tests. Yes, son of a shape shifter and a demon, you're very powerful." God let his words sink in.
Kurt gave an almighty gasp and dead fainted, slipping off the Mare's back and hitting the ground with a dull thud.
Goddess laughed coldly, throwing back her beautiful head, the pitch of her voice actually causing a thin layer of ice and frost to crackle over all the surfaces.
God and Deity looked on. Tendrils of frost, white and silver, started to curl their ways up over Kurt's spirit when Deity snapped,
"Enough!"
Goddess stopped whatever ice-spell she was weaving with her laugh and looked at Deity, taken aback. Then she raised her chin and shook her curls haughtily.
The Mare, trembling with fear of Goddess, took a step towards Kurt and snuffled him, lipping his translucent indigo hair. Goddess snapped her fingers sharply and the Mare jumped back as if hit by an electric shock.
At Goddess's snap, Kurt's eyes opened, but he didn't see anything but blackness. Then, spots of color appeared, and the shapes of the pearly animal gods and his breath started coming in gasps.
"What are we to do with him?" God asked quietly, aside to Deity. Deity's brow furrowed for a moment, Its mirror eyes on Kurt.
"He felt remorse. He is a good person at heart. Send him back to Dreamland on the Mare." Deity murmured.
From Deity's other side, Goddess heard this and stretched her arm out to pause them. Deity would have to listen to Goddess too. When the universe and the dimensions were created, Deity was the first being. Lonely, It created God and Goddess. God was the solidification of Deity's masculine half, and Goddess was the solidification of Deity's feminine half, meaning Deity was neither a man nor a woman, but something in between; completely fair and unbiased to gender.
"No. Keep him here. He can't be sent to Dreamland; look at him! He's a demon. He'd terrify the other souls; be driven to kill again. In case you two didn't see him kill that whole town, he ripped all their throats out with his teeth and bare hands. That and I'd like to have a little fun," Goddess added malevolently. God looked over at His "sister" disdainfully and frowned.
"We'll keep him here for a little longer, to explain fully where he is and what he is; more about his past." Deity decided, putting both Its hands up so God and Goddess leaned back into their own thrones.
"Vat's going to happen to me?" Kurt asked hesitantly. Deity lowered Its hands.
"For the moment, you're staying here. We need to talk."
"About vat?"
A ripple ran through the crowd of animal gods. This soul was pressing Deity? What nerve!
"Your past. Very confusing, and now you're dead, you need to know."
Kurt looked hurt at the words "now you're dead," but didn't say anything.
"You are the son of a demon and a shape shifter: Azazel, Lucifer's right-hand demon, and Mystique, a mere mutant. When combined, that makes a child with great power. There was another, smart mutant named Magneto, who figured out who your father and mother were; and he took you as you were born. When you were born, though, you had a deformity: you were born with no eyes. Magneto would have killed you, but when he ran his genetic tests, just to see if they worked, those tests had the side effect of bringing out your demon genetics.
"You ended up looking like you do now. When your demon genetics came out, Magneto wanted to keep you for his own purposes. Your mother came in and snatched you, and safely got away. She was cornered on a bridge over a waterfall by a pack of wolves, and threw you over the edge to save you. She survived by shape shifting to a bird and flying away.
"Mystique spent years looking for you, and finally found you in America with the Xavier Institute. She tried to stay around as much as possible, to be there for you, but you rejected her. She went back to Germany to plead with Margali, so she would reason with you and you would accept Mystique as your mother.
"While she was there, Magneto found out she was back in Germany, and realized she could blow his cover by exposing the genetics lab with technology far beyond what even the most advanced labs had. Magneto became scared and had Mystique burned at the stake.
"He did more investigating and found out that in persuading Margali to talk to you, Mystique had told the gypsy sorceress all about your birth. Magneto, once again scared, told the townspeople of Porthensburg that a sorceress lived in their midst. He gave them an easy target, and ordered them to burn her at the stake like Mystique.
"Margali's children, Stefan and Jimaine, wrote you a letter explaining Margali had been killed, and you flew into a rage worthy of apocalypse and stopped at nothing until her killers were dead. You slaughtered the whole town.
"Upon realizing what you had done, you retreated; only to be cornered and killed by Magneto's agent, Milani." Deity finished, waiting for Kurt's response.
"Oh," squeaked Kurt. He looked on the verge of fainting again.
"You didn't need to kill those townspeople. They were only acting under Magneto's word. The people you should've killed were Magneto and Milani. Too late now, though." God spoke from Deity's right.
"Zat vas my life. Vat is here? Vat is now?" Kurt stumbled over the words, still reeling from his life story in sixty seconds.
"This is after death. Heaven, you would call it. Though right now, you're not in heaven. You're at the Moon Court. The Moon Court is where we hold court, and pass judgment on certain souls such as war criminals, murderers, sex offenders, and other such souls. You fall under the murderers category." Goddess said, a nasty grin playing on her lips. Kurt was coming to really dislike Goddess.
"Vat vill you do viz me now?" Kurt asked, looking to Deity and God.
"Send you to Dreamland on Luna Soleil," God replied shortly.
"Luna Soleil?" Kurt cocked an eyebrow.
"The Celestial Mare to you. Only gods and beings of higher power than souls can call her Luna Soleil." God's face became stormy.
"Vat does she do?"
"Luna Soleil takes the souls to Dreamland. She is Goddess's creation, and—" Goddess cut off her "brother".
"I took her from the earth hundreds of thousands years ago. She was misdelivered on the tundras of icy, ancient Siberia. Disfigured, her mother shunned her and left her, wet, tiny, and lamed out in the blizzard on the glacier. The filly's soul interested me, so I went to Earth and took her back to Dreamland. She grew into a glorious mare, but when I instilled my magic in her, she became a true celestial creature. The Celestial Mare. When I instilled my magic, she took it upon herself to start carrying the souls to Dreamland. With such a good power and kind disposition, she deserved a fitting name. Luna Soleil, or moon sun." Goddess explained, extending one hand, as if in greeting. Luna Soleil bobbed over to Goddess's hand, ears flattened in fear, nervous sweat darkening her neck and flanks, her long gold tail quivering. She put her velvet muzzle in Goddess's cupped hand and lipped it, her whole body shaking, sending the wavy rivulets of her tail, feathers, and mane rippling.
Goddess lifted her chin and looked down her nose at Luna Soleil, a superior smile on her lips, smug that she commanded probably the most powerful celestial creature after Deity, God, and herself. Luna Soleil lifted her muzzle from Goddess's hand and pricked her ears at Kurt, eyes bright with her liking of the half-demon soul. Goddess frowned. Her mare was supposed to pay attention to her.
With spite Goddess raised her other hand and brought it crashing down on Luna Soleil's sensitive nose with a loud, resounding smack! Luna Soleil squealed in pain, her legs buckling, the whites of her eyes showing in fear and shock. Goddess's eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared.
Serves her right. She should know by now. Goddess thought cruelly.
Kurt cried out in anger and shock, his fangs bared, eyes blazing, tail lashing, resembling the thing that had killed Porthensburg. No doubt people were discovering the carnage of the ghost town as the souls debated . . .
Goddess looked slightly taken aback, but frowned. Luna lay still and silent on the ground by Goddess's feet. Kurt wanted to run over to her, but he felt rooted to the spot with anger and a streak of something else – fear.
"Why didn't you stop her?" Kurt growl-shouted at God and Deity. God looked away, but Deity held Kurt's eyes.
"Luna Soleil is Goddess's. Goddess may impress her every whim on the Mare." Deity said slowly. Kurt's eyes took on a wide, crazy look. He hissed and suddenly found it in himself to drop to four legs and rush over to Luna Soleil, stroking her neck and shoulders, but not her face. She was head-shy because of Goddess. Goddess didn't want Kurt to touch her precious Mare, but Deity and God warned her to leave him be: he was unstable, and they didn't know if souls could kill Celestial beings.
Out of all the worthless children you've sired, Azazel, I have to say this one seems to have real potential. I couldn't have done better myself. Lucifer turned away from the bloody red fire and smiled horribly at the goat-like demon, showing broken yellow teeth.
Lucifer looked around the low cave he and the demon squatted in. Red sandstone, crumbly, dusty walls encased them, and where Azazel had hacked out niches in the walls, Lucifer had put special souls and rare herbs. There was one causeway out of the cave, a thin, rickety thing stretching over miles of vast, white-hot lava lakes up to Dreamland and the Moon Court.
"What will we do with him?" Azazel asked, gazing into the bright, hot fire, his flappy goat like ears pricking.
Use him to finally take over that smug, smiling, hoity-toity, too-noble Deity! There was a pronounced note of extreme bitterness in Lucifer's half-thought half-growling voice. Lucifer would have paced back and forth in agitation if the cave wasn't so small and the roof so low. He hunched over, sitting on his cloak, mirror eyes identical to Deity staring blankly into the fire where he could still see the imprint of Kurt's snarl.
"Should I go get the souls and ready them to fight?" Azazel said eagerly, shuffling toward the causeway where he could stretch his satyr-like legs. Lucifer waved a hand over his shoulder, still staring at the fire.
Azazel practically leaped up and galloped down the causeway. He always liked fighting. Got the blood up, and who didn't like a little brutal battle to the death? Plus, Azazel had invented fighting to keep a steady stream of souls coming into Lavez—Lucifer's lair hidden deep beneath the limbo under Dreamland, somewhere tucked into the celestial seventh dimension.
There was going to be a good fight, and though the souls and gods in the Moon Court didn't know exactly, they felt it to the very tips of their toes.
Oy vey! I am so very sorry I've been absent for so long. I bet you were wondering if I died! Ok, people, I know how many of you have signed up for story and/or author alerts. Just take a minute and write a review; I do appreciate them. They make me happy inside and make me want to write more!
On a different note, I won't be able to give you chapter 14: Moving On for a while because of the Virginia State Standards of Learning. They're long, stupid tests that are mandatory for all VA students. Euch. Because of these tests, the teachers are piling on the homework and review, so I'm incredibly busy and not able to write a lot. As soon as ch. 14's done, I promise to you, my loyal readers, I will update.
Love, Iris Musicia
PS. Tell me what you think about the summary. I really suck at summaries, so I need you guys to help me with it. If you have any suggestions, put it in your review. Thanks!