A/N: The third Jared that appeared is from Of Other Worlds, and they met during A Hero's Journey, and that cameo takes place about fifteen years into the future of that story.
Chapter 14: Hello Darkness, my old friend
Kelly smiled to the cloaked figure, "Long time, old friend." Death pulled off her—actually, she had claimed to be genderless, but she preferred taking the form of girls, so she had the female pronoun—hood and revealed the form of Emilie. Kelly sighed,
"Hey, I put up with the Maeve thing because I had never met her at the time. But you are actually taking the form of my wife right now. Could you not?" Death chuckled,
"You haven't changed, Kels." Her face started to shift and she took the form of a young woman slightly shorter than Kelly and had short brown hair and bright turquoise eyes, highlighted by a splattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, "Better?"
"Thanks. You always have taken a liking to girls with light hair and eyes." Death shrugged,
"The female form interests me, and that is generally what the masses find attractive from what I've observed." She walked over to the cabinet and poured two glasses of red wine, "So what did you need? Surely this isn't for old times sake, because we could always go to my domain for that like normal."
"Actually…there are a few things I needed to talk to you about." Death looked up, intrigued. She was one of seven 'Deaths', a system used to ensure one Death didn't pull cause an apocalypse, so power was divided among seven. Grim Reaper for humans, Lady of the Lake for the Fae, and this Death for magical creatures. Kelly had never met the others, so he was unsure of their identity.
"And what would that be?"
"Today, I was in a private jet, and…I saw Morrigan Blackwell's Familiar. But that's impossible, because the bird died when she did, and I watched Mor die. Yes, I know a crow is an omen of death, but the fact it was this bird is what bothers me." Because Death had turned towards the window and wasn't facing him, he didn't see the look of pure dread appear on her face, which vanished when she shrugged.
"Raven? The bird has an attachment to you, always has. You almost died in that plane crash, I almost had to reap you if it weren't for the quick thinking of your daughters. The bird must have followed me. And yes, crow means omen of death, but you lived with that bird for ten years and yet here you stand. Don't worry about it."
"Okay…" He took a sip of wine, looking towards Death, "The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is that I want to cash in that favor." Death clapped gleefully,
"Oh good. I was wondering if you would do that. I mean seriously, last time you thought about using it was almost twenty years ago." She smiled, "Would have been a waste, using it to keep Zoe from dying. Regardless of Maeve having her at twenty weeks, she was destined to survive."
"She's my daughter. I would have done it."
"Ah yes, but destiny is never left to chance. Sure, prophecies can be changed, but true destiny can't be; if it is, it just creates another timeline. All I do is guide souls to their proper place, and help them find peace when they move on." Death sat on the bed, "So what will it be? In exchange for a year of being my reaper, you earned a favor." In actuality, that year was the price for him not dying when his Miraculous was destroyed, and he asked for Death to ensure Harrison and Amelia didn't get hurt, so he got the favor as an apology when Amelia died. Death pulled out a scroll,
"Reminder of the rules. No contradicting the favor of others. Nothing self-destructive. No time travel. No killing Death Entities."
"Right." Kelly nodded, "I need exact locations of the remaining Negojre stones and the way of accessing them."
"Really?" Death frowned, "I thought you would at least wish for Iku to be out of your kid. Can't kill her because she is a Death Entity, but I can get her out."
"As much as I want that," he explained, "Iku is contained well enough in Joselyn. While you could get Iku out, she would just take another vessel, and likely someone more dangerous than Joselyn. I love my daughters more than anything, and hate seeing her suffer, but she would understand. Joselyn would never forgive herself if Iku left and caused terror to the Multiverse."
"Good answer." Death nodded approvingly, "I knew it was a good idea to give you a favor. Still pure of heart." She created a small leather journal, "Here, this has the locations and methods to get the stones, as well as which stone it is and the power it houses."
"Thanks Death." Death punched his arm playfully,
"No problem. At least now I don't have to worry about you going batshit crazy and using the favor to cause issues." She smirked, "It's always been a fear of mine. You're shifty." He laughed and rolled his eyes,
"Death, you know me. You don't have to worry about that. But now that my favor's been spent, are you gonna still be around?"
"Yeah. I'm the Queen of the Afterlife of Magical Creatures." She noticed Kelly was still frowning, "What is it?"
Morrigan's crow was staring at them both from the window.
Death sighed, "Come on Kels, I'll show you the afterlife."
"GAH!" They both turned and saw Quantic Jared gaping at them. Then Kelly remembered he had soundproofed the door, but didn't lock it. So this little Jared was looking between Kelly and the woman and making noises that made it clear he was confused and scared.
"Z-Zoe w-an-wanted me t-to tell yo-you d-dinner is r-ready." Death shrugged,
"Well, you get to see too."
And Kelly found himself in a small suburban town. People were walking around and overall really happy.
Quantic Jared looked around, "What is this?"
"The afterlife." Death explained, "Come on, I'll explain."
Walking through the town, people were very happy and smiling. Generally they were eerily happy.
"So in my domain, it's a normal world, where everyone has what they need, and nobody hurts anyone. The people are placed in neighborhoods where they will interact with the others better. Close families are in the same neighborhood and so on."
"What about the bad people?" Kelly asked, "Like Mara or Regina or someone." Death sighed,
"Ah yes…the bad ones. Well, I don't have a Hell system. I have a Rehabilitation. A world cut off from the good, where nothing is unfair, and it helps those driven to evil due to injustice or revenge. The damn demented ones have their memories wiped and are placed in Rehabilitation. The people suffering from true insanity have their own neighborhood and the help they need."
"That sounds too good to be true." Quantic Jared looked around, "This can't have lasted."
"Well, I've been 'Death' for almost forty living years, which means over four hundred dead years. And things have gone perfectly."
"Wow." Kelly breathed, "Where are the Blackwell sisters?" Death smiled,
"Morrigan is in her Rehabilitation—trauma induced—so we can't access her. Most of the sisters are spread out. Some are evil. I'm actually walking to Makane's place." She knocked on the door to the small house and Makane opened the door. She was still huge and muscular in a way that would make Psychic Jared jealous, but she was now wearing an apron and the smell of cookies overwhelmed Kelly's senses.
"Kels?!" Makane's eyes widened, "What are you—!?"
"Relax." Death assured, "I owed him a favor, then decided to show him the afterlife." Makane sighed in relief.
"Oh thank god. Kels, you had me worried there. I left the scrying bowl for ten minutes!" She looked to Quantic Jared, "So the chipmunk came too." She wrapped an arm around Quantic Jared, who mewed in terror, "Come on chipmunk, cookies are ready."
"How did you know what Zoe calls me?" Kelly turned,
"What?"
"She's started calling me 'Kawaii Chipmunk' and I have no idea what that means."
Makane put the cookies down, "It means you are adorable like one of those stupidly cute anime schoolgirls. You are too precious for the world, and therefore your death flags are raised." She pulled out a white bowl full of glowing water, "I've been watching for a while in my bowl."
Kelly hugged her, "Long time, Makane." Makane nodded,
"Wish I could have been there for that badass final battle. Though Eli got to kill Mara, and that's a win in my book. Too bad I can't beat her up now."
"Why not?"
"Because without her memories of mother's influence, she's nice!" Makane pouted, "That bitch killed Morrigan, Amelia, made our lives hell, and yet one look at her now and you have no idea those two could be the same."
"Dang." Quantic Jared took one of the cookies, "When Zoe told me about her, I thought she was evil to the core."
"It was mother." Makane said, "Though with mother, since she's actually Fae but works as a witch, our Death and Freya have jurisdiction battles from time to time. Right now Regina is off burning in hell where she belongs since Freya took control."
"Freya?"
"The Lady of the Lake." Makane clarified, "She's a little jaded after doing that job for a thousand living years, but she's cool." She turned to Kels, "Anyway, I want to talk about those kids of yours. I see you taught the eldest like I taught you."
Kelly smiled, truly smiled—and people who really knew him also knew that was not a common thing, "I did learn from the best."
They talked for hours before going back to the hotel, where it had only been five minutes.
"So…" Quantic Jared turned, "Are we keeping that between us?"
"Yeah."
OoOoO
Eli was taking a nap when Aelin crawled into bed with him.
"Daddy…" she shook him, "Daddy, where's Mommy?"
"She's off saving the multiverse again." Aelin pouted.
"We're all bored. Uncle Gabriel refuses to tell us any more stories about his time as Hawk Moth, so I came to ask if you have any stories." Eli sat up,
"I have so many stories." He picked up his eldest daughter, "Come on, story time."
He walked into the living room and saw Gabriel ignoring the pleas of begging children. Eli smirked. This was his revenge for the bastard hurting his wife all those years ago—he had sworn revenge on Hawk Moth, and this was how he was gonna do it.
"So kids," he took Danielle and bounced her on his leg, "What story do you want to hear? Zoe has told me her perspective on all the stories." Gavin raised a hand,
"Was there ever a time where the villains and the heroes worked together, other than Mara." Gabriel and Eli paled.
"Yes." Gabriel said, "Turns out Zoe is common ground between us."
Four years earlier
"Pound it!" The team of heroes fist-bumped. Fireheart was looking wistfully at where the lollipop monster had been, because she had wanted to eat it. And then Miraculer showed up. Fireheart's choker beeped,
"I'll be back in a minute!" She ran off, changing back behind the carousel and feeding Blazze, where she gasped to see Miraculer take the power of Cataclysm and use the activation phrase. How did things go to shit in the thirty seconds she was gone?!
And then she got an idea. Transformed or not, she was a superhero. Besides, she had a plan that would make sure the heroes and villains cooperated…assuming she was right. And she saw Mayura waiting by the hotel, but also close to the park.
She sprinted in front of Chat, unknowingly using her Worldbender abilities to become faster, "Chat!" And took the Cataclysm to the ribs, sent flying backwards into the fence.
"ZOE?!" Came from everyone, including Mayura. Mockingjay was the first to her side, followed seconds later by Chat and Tigris.
"Zoe, hey, can you hear me?"
The pain took over a portion of her brain, as if dealing with it was energy expenditure enough, without the effort of new thoughts. It was the sort of pain that burned, as if some invisible flame where held against her skin. The emotions of loss are that way, right? Death, abandonment or betrayal, they all led here.
She didn't know what to expect from that pain, but they had tested Cataclysm on a rat they found in an alleyway, so they all knew Cataclysm took about an hour to kill. Didn't make it any less excruciating.
At some point, she was in Mockingjay's arms, and she could hear his racing heartbeat.
"Get her out of here!" Tigris ordered.
…
"No!" Hawk Moth screamed to himself. Seriously?! Why was it only when he cared about her did she end up in mortal danger! "Mayura, get her back here so we can heal her! Abandon the plan! I'll make sure Miraculer keeps the other heroes busy so it's one on one for you."
"Of course, Hawk Moth. But what will we do when we have her? Only Ladybug can save her."
"We don't know that." He replied, "The Black Cat is equal to the Ladybug, so the chances aren't great of that power being able to be reversed when used on a living being. But I could akumatize you to heal her."
"Alright."
…
Mockingjay landed in an alleyway, looking down at his girlfriend with teary eyes. Her shirt had been destroyed, leaving her in her bra, jeans, and cardigan. The wound was sickeningly black and burned, and he could tell her ribs were broken.
"Z-Zoe…Stardust…" she looked up with tired eyes,
"Hm?"
"Why…?" He asked, "Why didn't you wait or let us handle it?"
"Chat's my brother." Zoe replied, coughing, "And I wasn't gonna watch him get hurt."
"You weren't transformed! If Ladybug doesn't defeat Miraculer soon then you'll—" He couldn't say it. He couldn't. He loved her too much to watch her die. If he had to tear apart Paris to find a cure, he would do it. But she was his life, and he wasn't gonna give her up. A world where he was a superhero who couldn't save the one person that mattered was not a world he wanted to live in.
"Hero…I just need to rest." She closed her eyes to sleep, but he shook her,
"Nope. Not until you're healed."
"Mockingjay…please…" she looked up at him, "I'll be fine. Go help the others…"
"NO!" He shook his head, "No, Fireheart, I am not leaving you like this!" She coughed, and Mockingjay saw the blood was let himself scream, emerging from the alleyway and running to the manor. He didn't care anymore. Douglas could go fuck himself, secret identity be damned, he had medical supplies—because you don't survive being whipped, starved, raped, locked in a closet, and all of that shit without some serious medical knowledge.
He was surprised to be intercepted by Mayura. He had expected the peacock villain to be going towards the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, not him. Then he remembered all the attempts on Zoe's life and wondered how he forgot for even a second.
"Give her to me." Mayura said, "Hawk Moth and I can heal her." He wasn't going to believe that for a second, holding his girlfriend closer,
"Fat chance! Need I remind you of the attempts on her life before this? How do I know you won't just finish the job?" He didn't notice his damaged Miraculous start tapping into his bound warlock powers, which had him glowing and floating. Mayura held her hands up,
"Believe it or not, she doesn't have until the end of the hour. We don't know if Miraculous Ladybug will heal her, so taking her to Hawk Moth is the best bet." Mockingjay looked down at Zoe, who was even paler than normal and he was getting flashbacks.
"Fine." He said after a moment, "But if I think for even a second that you will hurt her, I will not hesitate to flay you both alive."
"Deal."
Mayura placed a blindfold on his eyes and guided him to the lair, where Hawk Moth was waiting.
"Set her down!" Now, Mockingjay would normally kill these two and retrieve the Miraculouses and make this whole mess end, but his role as terrified boyfriend overpowered that. Hawk Moth closed his fist, and the Miraculer akuma purified and returned to the source.
"So…now what?" He asked, "Aren't you gonna heal her?" Hawk Moth sighed,
"I was going to do this by having Mayura detransform. However, we can't reveal our identities, so…" he looked down at Zoe, "I guess we could blindfold you." Mockingjay detransformed,
"Just do it." Eli held his hands out, "I care about her more than I do my identity." Hawk Moth and Mayura gaped, before the former grabbed an akuma, and Eli transformed into Healer, and used the newfound power to heal Zoe—again unknowingly tapping into his warlock abilities. The Cataclysm mark healed, not completely, but stopped spreading and some color returned to Zoe's face.
And Eli knew no more.
…
Hawk Moth and Mayura looked to each other. While they had both wondered the identity of Zoe's boyfriend, neither had expected him to give it up so easily when she had outright told them he refused to protect her. What made knowing Eli's identity dangerous?
"Mayura, can you take him home?" He asked, "Just drop him off." He bent down and looked at the Miraculous. He could feel it was damaged, but it clearly wasn't gradual like the peacock's had become. Maybe he would be able to help with Emilie…
No. He didn't want to drag the kid into this. Though at least it now made sense with how this "random kid" had managed to freeze Paris.
"Yes, Hawk Moth." Mayura took Eli and left, using her fan to hide his face. Hawk Moth looked at Zoe, who was just starting to wake up.
"Hawky?" She sat up, gasping in pain. Hawk Moth detransformed and helped her sit up.
"You shouldn't have pulled a stunt like that." He said, "If your boyfriend hadn't been desperate, you would have died."
"Mockingjay?" She raised an eyebrow, "How am I here? I don't remember anything outside the alleyway."
"Mayura intercepted him and brought both of you here. He gave up his identity so I could give him the power to save you."
"WHAT?!" Her eyes widened, "He said he couldn't say his identity! You better not hurt him!"
"Relax." Gabriel assured, "I won't hurt him. But I will tell you that you know him outside the mask, and won't be disappointed. If that's what he is afraid of, then he doesn't have to worry."
"Right…I just can't believe he would give that up to save me."
"He loves you." Gabriel helped her up, "Come on, let's get you into bed." Miraculous Ladybug didn't work because he renounced the akuma, and Ladybug didn't know about the healing. So he helped her to her bed.
"Why aren't you trying to kill me?" She asked, "I get we bonded in London, but I thought that would've changed by now." Gabriel paused,
"You mean a lot of many people. Besides, you understand my goal. If I weren't desperate, I would just work with you for a safer method. And I would rather be off my son's shit list." Zoe chuckled,
"Fair. Can you fetch me a shirt? I've been exposed far too long." He grabbed a baggy shirt and she put it on. When he came up with some food after tending to Natalie, he found her asleep.
He smiled.
OoOoO
Mockingjay slipped into Zoe's bedroom to find her sleeping. She looked healthy enough. Still, he had to be sure. He lifted up her shirt and saw some bandages along her ribs.
"Hey Hero." She said sleepily, "Didn't take you as someone who would watch me sleep." Mockingjay flushed,
"No! Nothing like that! I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Mayura said you were, but I trust them about as much as I like them." Zoe sat up with a wince,
"I'm fine, thanks to you. Hawky told me you gave up your identity to save me." He froze.
"H-He told you that…?!" She nodded,
"And that I wouldn't be disappointed with your civilian identity. Though really, assuming you really are the age you claim to be, I can't think of a way I could be disappointed."
His mood darkened, "I didn't tell you because I'm dealing with some dangerous things. I don't think it's safe yet. But who cares if two villains know and I get to keep you alive? If they get sucked into my bullshit, then I don't care." She kissed him,
"Still, thank you. I know it had to be hard."
"Anytime, Stardust."
Present Day
"And then you fucked?" Amren asked. Eli spit out his drink,
"WHAT!? Why would you think we did that!?"
"Because that's how fairy tales end." Amren replied with a cheshire grin matching her mother's. Eli shook his head,
"No. We had only been dating a few months at the time. And she was injured. And I wasn't ready for that kind of thing. And so many other things that make me wonder why a three year old is asking that." Amren just smirked.
Danielle was chewing on a cinnamon roll until it was gone. She looked at her Dad and gestured to say she wanted another. He sighed,
"We're out, Dani." Danielle pouted, then there was a loud crashing noise outside.
Eli ran outside and saw their gate had been dented by a truck. The guy came out,
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Gabriel was mumbling to himself and Eli just smiled.
"No problem. No harm no foul." The guy walked into the truck, and put a sticky note on the box.
"Here's my number for insurance, and a box of cinnamon rolls as apology?" Eli gaped, but nodded, walking back inside.
Elaine gawked at the box, "How?! That's complete and utter—"
"Bullshit!" Danielle said gleefully, clapping her hands together. That had been her first word and was by far her favorite word.
The kids groaned. Danielle's "Bullshit Powers" were infamous at this point. She was practically breaking the laws of reality with the power of sheer luck.
"It's Dani." Roxas said, having been reading Braille in the corner, "You never really know what's gonna happen." Harrison giggled,
"No. You really don't."
OoOoO
Sam was sitting in his room as the archmage of Innistrad, reading all the books on Iku and the Negojre stones. Beside him were Dausi and Connor. They had claimed to have a business and that was the reason for them being gone, but they were really helping him with this. He had sensed Iku for years. Like Jacob in Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, he could see the monsters. He'd met Joselyn while on his quest to find Zoe and Eden all those years prior, and immediately sensed something wasn't right. He had also sensed something wasn't right with Maeve. But he didn't realize this was a superpower until he was banished to the Dark Realm.
Right now, they had realized an issue.
"The Negojre Stones were created by the Original Six 'Deaths' to contain the entity known as Celestial, which split into Iku and Vita last time the stones were used." Connor read aloud, "Manipulation of the mind prevented the two from getting along, but they will merge again if they can get passed that magic. Power of Life and Death in one being."
"That sounds bad." Dausi said, and Connor continued reading.
"These stones were later altered by Vita to trap Iku into the Shadow Tree. If one gets a vessel and not the others, it unlocks the prison. But Iku would still need a vessel between a magical being and a Darkling." Sam paled at that,
"Needs a vessel? Magical being and a Darkling?!" Kelly was the partial vessel for the Mind Peridot, and sired Joselyn with a Darkling. He had expelled the Darkling part of the girl's blood, but Iku must have followed him to Earth and…just watched until Regina turned Maeve? That would have been over ten years!
Did Regina have anything to do with this?
No. He shook himself. There was no way Regina planned that far ahead. Her goal was to kill her siblings and take over the Multiverse…but she had recruited Anti-Dausi…No…
"Sam…" Dausi put a hand on his shoulder, "I think Regina really did plan that far ahead." He ran a hand through his hair.
"Regardless, Regina is dead. At least we have an idea of how Iku latched onto Joselyn. But how do we kill the bitch? Vita seems against her as well, so we shouldn't have to worry about the Celestial thing."
"It says she needs to be killed inside and out." Connor said, "Her vessel needs to kill her from inside, and the Negojre Stone wielders need to hit her from the outside. But…whoever kills Iku…" he looked up, "Their soul will vanish forever. No afterlife. No resurrecting. Just…gone. And then someone else would have to take Iku's place as Underworld Ruler."
"Lovely." Sam muttered sarcastically, pulling out his phone, "Should I tell them that Joselyn has to die for Iku to die?" Dausi shook her head,
"Jared will flip, Joselyn would go for it. Tell Kelly, he will make a plan." Sam nodded, sending Kelly a message.
"Done. I just hope we don't have to lose Joselyn." He turned back to the two, "You guys should go check on Amren." Dausi and Connor left, and Sam stepped onto the balcony, holding up a star made of sea shells.
"It's my lucky charm!" Ten year old Zoe had said, "Be sure to bring it back to me."
He hadn't given it back yet. He tried to when he saw her again, and she just told him to keep it, as it clearly brought him more luck than it did for her, and he still treasured it to this day.
"Guys…" he looked at the moon and the stars that were really hundreds of other worlds, "just be safe."