Weavings
A/N I do not own TMNT, but I am forever grateful for their existence!
Before I forget, I want to thank you all for nominating me and voting for me in the TMNT Stealthy Stories Competition! "Weavings" in particular did crazy well earning 3rd place in both "Best AU/Crossover" and "Best Multi-Chapter." You guys are amazing and I can't tell you how touched I was to get so many nominations and to receive so much recognition. I know a large part of why I write is self-indulgence in untold stories, but having fans like you guys makes the entire experience a million times more incredible. Every review, every nomination, every fav truly means the world to me and I will never be able to express how grateful I am to have earned such wonderful individuals as my fans!
XIV.
"Okay… This… Is new."
At the sound of his friend's voice, Raphael somehow dragged his mind back to the present. He wasn't sure how, but as he opened his eyes, he knew he was very much alive. Actually, he felt far lighter than he had in eons, which was odd considering up until a few seconds ago he thought he was about to finally check out for good. Apparently, that was not the case.
Groaning slightly as he pulled himself to his knees, Raphael shook his head as though trying to clear it. No amount of shaking could have prepared him for what reality faced him now. It only took five seconds of staring in Zephyr's direction before it dawned on him. Looking down at his hands and then back at Zephyr he moaned, "You have got to be kidding me."
"I was just thinking that same question." Despite all circumstances the minor god still managed to maintain his light-hearted demeanor, "Spooky right?"
Raphael opted to ignore him in favour of examining himself. First, although he did retain a faint semblance of his mutant turtle body, he now was composed solely of light. If he had a mirror on hand, he would have known the only obviously distinct characteristic that he had kept were his bright, glowing emerald green eyes. His terrapin form was further distorted by the seemingly endless threads of light emerging from what was once his carapace forming a striking similarity to wings. Where the threads led was not apparent, as they seemed to simply dissolve into space, but Raphael knew deep within his being that they connected him to every soul in the universe. All that was easy to swallow though compared to how he now towered over Zephyr. Hell, he towered over everything.
As he rose from knees to feet, said height difference became all the more apparent, but so did something else. "Zephyr… I… I feel better!"
"Huh?" Zephyr slowly walked forward quirking his neck as he did so to try and meet The Soul Collector's eyes, "You were that upset about being a shortie before?"
"No, you rain geek-"
"Hey, you and I both know you're better off with me being a rain geek than a rain moron." Zephyr tittered.
Raphael rolled his eyes, "What I meant is everything feels… Okay now." He gestured to himself as he tried to explain, "Before I felt as though I was constantly being pulled in all these different directions and was forever being overwhelmed by soul energy, but not anymore. For the first time since this all began, I feel," His fingers flexed, "In control."
"Okay…" The silver-eyed god ran a hand through green hair, "Um… Sorry for being out of the loop chief, but what exactly did you do?"
"Hold on." Suddenly Raphael's eyes narrowed, "Didn't I put you in a cell?"
"Well… Uh…" Zephyr smiled innocently, "Technically yes."
The Soul Collector folded his arms, "You were playing poker out there again weren't you?"
"Hey it's not my fault you don't put better locks on those things!" Zephyr protested.
"And you're lucky I don't decide to put on better locks." Raphael sighed, "Never mind, that doesn't matter now. What matters is that while you were supposed to be reflecting over your stupidity, I merged with the Soul Nexus Gate."
"On purpose?!" Zephyr cried before muttering mutinously, "And you call me stupid…"
"Can it!" Raphael snapped, "It wasn't on purpose! I was trying to send my family back – which I had to do no thanks to you – and in order to get the Gate's grip off of them I attempted to drain it. Then uh… I accidently absorbed it."
"Wow…" Silver eyes smirked, "Who would have thought eating a giant soul sucking gate for breakfast would result in you turning into… Well…" He vaguely waved towards Raphael, "A giant lightbulb."
As The Soul Collector shot daggers in Zephyr's direction, Tenebris tentatively padded towards them, "Master…"
Feeling her voice in his mind, Raphael instantly turned towards her before frowning. On her thread, of which he knew so well, was something he had never noticed before. His eyes narrowed, "Tenebris, what is this?"
"I am not the only one Master."
"What…?" Feeling a chill run down his spine, Raphael suddenly bellowed, "Familiars! Come to me!"
Zephyr had to jump out of the way as abruptly shadowy creatures of all shapes and sizes swept into the great hall. Through walls, from empty space, and even occasionally by foot, they all rapidly responded to their Master's call. Only then when they were all assembled did Raphael discover each and every one of them had the tiniest of cobwebs coating them. They were nearly translucent and more than difficult to discern, but without a doubt Raphael knew they were not of his work. Wasting no time, the god began to tear and cut through even inch of webbing, releasing his familiars from the spell.
It was as each casting was swept away that the dark aura Raphael had always known to be bonded to his familiars faded away. Instead, although they still all appeared faintly translucent, the familiars each had their own unique mist of light. Hundreds of different colours lit up the hall and finally, Raphael stripped away the final one that he had first discovered on Tenebris. With the spell lifted, the haze dissipated revealing iridescent scales coupled with their own soft and pure white light. Her eyes gradually lost their ruby sheen changing into a near perfect match of his own emerald pair. Not about to waste the opportunity, Raphael examined the final web closely. After a moment he exhaled, "This is a modified silencing spell – a spell of concealment. Whoever placed these on you all did it to hide something."
Raphael startled slightly when Tenebris began to curl around his leg, practically purring, "My Lord you have finally become whole again!"
"Again?" He knelt down to put a massive hand on her back, "What do you mean again?"
Tenebris' eyes became solemn, "As you know, every being has a soul, and thus they have all been subject to both you and The Gate. However, many millennia ago there was no Soul Nexus Gate, which meant all the universe's spiritual energy was solely controlled through one single entity: The Soul Collector. It was he who had absolute authority over every soul, including the souls of the High Gods.
Raphael's voice was low as the weight of Tenebris' words began to take root, "You don't mean…"
"I do. Back then, few entities could even hope to rival your ancestor's former power. Yet, no matter how much they tried, it was never enough. Their souls forever remained tightly in The Soul Collector's grasp and for eons so would it remain. That is until this predecessor made a terrible mistake. You see, someone planted in his head – an idea. An insidious thought which would inevitably result in the experimentation that led to the creation of The Gate.
"My Lord," Tenebris looked up at him with piercing eyes, "I know why you are so vigilant in avoiding conflict with the High Council. It is the same reason why you were so full of fear of offending them with your family's presence. It is because despite what you were told, you did not have the ability to confront them."
Raphael bowed his head in shame, "I knew I couldn't face them. Even if I supposedly had the power to do so, there was no way I could do it. I didn't have the control I needed."
"Do not feel ashamed my Lord Raphael, you have not been the first to be cowed into submission these past millennia by the High Gods. They are the ones who sowed the original seed. The one which would inevitably cripple Soul Collectors for generations to come."
"But if it crippled the original guy so much why didn't he simply reabsorb the damn thing!?" Raphael cried.
"Because my Lord, he was killed before he could do so – before he could share the truth with any future members of his line."
Zephyr, quiet throughout Tenebris' speech commented, "And that's why you all had a concealment spell. The High Gods didn't want you informing future Soul Collectors that all could be made right so easily."
"And they made it strong enough that unless I was at my full power," Raphael folded his arms, "I would have no hope of ever detecting it."
"Exactly. And if any one Soul Collector became too suspicious, the High Council would simply eliminate him."
Suddenly a hot wave of fury rolled through Raphael, "And I never would have been made into the damn Soul Collector in the first place if they hadn't kept axing them! I would still be a mortal and never have had to go through all of this. I would still be with my family. Wait…" Raphael's eyes darkened, "Originally my retainers – my brothers – helped carry the burden of my power as well. Didn't they?"
"It only seemed that way My Lord." Tenebris bowed her head sadly, "In truth, the High Gods devised the use of "retainers" to further hinder an already weakened Soul Collector. That is why your power became so much harder to control after you removed your brothers' immortality. It was not that you were too weak to hold it, but rather you had so much of it and did not have the final vital component of yourself necessary to control it, The Gate. That is why until now you have not truly been whole."
"You know," Zephyr tapped his chin thoughtfully, "That's probably why the Tapestry of Fate started to unravel. It wasn't your fault Raph. It was those damn gods messing with the thing for eons."
Tenebris nodded, "Correct."
Far from relived by their words, Raphael could only feel his ire continue to grow, "Those bastards! All this time I've been going through hell and I bet they've just been laughing their asses off!"
"It's funny." Apparently unperturbed by The Soul Collector's boiling temper, Zephyr remarked casually, "Them moving threads around in the tapestry in hopes of weakening you actually ended up helping you regain a bunch of your power. Then there's the whole having-to-turn-your-brothers-back-into-mortals-indirectly-leading-to-you-accidently-reabsorbing-the-Gate thing." He laughed loudly, "They dug their own graves and they don't even know it!"
"Zephyr," Said god glanced over at Raphael. Although still furious, The Soul Collector directed none of his anger towards his friend, "You're right."
The silver-eyed individual smugly shrugged, "Despite popular belief I'm not totally useless you know."
"One decent thought per millennium can hardly be considered a contribution."
Right as Zephyr was undoubtedly about to throw his own choice insult at Tenebris, Raphael stood cutting him off, "I should let our lovely High Council get to know me better. I'd hate to keep them out of the loop."
"Wow…" Zephyr commented sarcastically, "You really are pissed if you're calling them "lovely.""
Once more Raphael ignored him, "Velox Umbra!"
A small white rabbit with an aura of yellow hopped into view, "Yes, My Lord Soul Collector?"
"Summon the High Council," For the first time Raphael proudly went to his throne, "They have some souls that require my attention."
Tenebris bared her fangs in what could only be perceived as her version of a smile, "The new age has begun."
A/N Lots of background and plot points coming together in this chapter. Hopefully it all made sense and didn't bore you guys! There's a lot more "fun" ahead in future chapters ;)
To my lovely reviewers (several chapters' worth because I forgot last time - my bad):
grungekitty: Sorry! I'm such a jerk for using chapter cliffhangers all the time. Hopefully the suspense between chapters wasn't too terrible. And don't worry! You just taking the time to comment is beyond appreciated! Even if it's short and simple, it is guaranteed to make my day.
DreamStoryWeaver: Haha yeah I wanted to bring him back sooner, but I just couldn't work it in with the way I wanted the chapters to be laid out. He's back lots now though! Thanks for reading!
XxTurtletracerxX: Yay! I'm so glad you are enjoying it! I definitely have a weak spot for writing Raph in such roles and so I'm psyched someone else feels the same! Thanks for commenting :)
Sunny Lighter: I know so many feels. There were definitely times writing those last few chapters were my heart was breaking for him and… there's more feels ahead. I'm so hard on my characters! Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing!
Gwydion: I put you last because I didn't want to make others endure too much reading XD Yeah for Casey I literally thought to myself, "What would be the job I would hate to do more than anything else?" Answer: "Talking to angry people on the phone trying to sell them stuff." Haha, yes summer break at last! You'd think I would have had all the updates by now but alas writer's block has been hitting hard (by my standards), but I think I finally (fingers crossed) have my momentum coming back. So hopefully I can finish writing/editing these last few chapters in a reasonable amount of time. Also… You know I couldn't resist doing a certain something… Don't judge me G! I am weak!