iCarly: iMeet the Relatives, Chapter 21: Return
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Standard disclaimer: don't own, you know.
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Chapter 21: Return
In the Darkness: Brittney slept on, in spite of her pain. Every so often, Devlin would go over to her and draw off a bit of it, to keep her from waking prematurely. Much as he hated to agree with the angel, Gryphon, he was right. When she woke up, she'd wake up to a very different world than any she'd ever expected.
Maybe it would be kinder not to explain it to her, just let her drift off into nothingness.
"Getting a midnight snack?" Sam's voice carried over from the kitchenette, venom dripping from each word. He didn't respond. She meant nothing to him. Not anymore.
She moved over towards them. Good manners required that he permit that, though he had to restrain himself from lashing out at her with what could easily escalate to lethal force. Humans. So self-righteous.
In his home dimension, proper social protocol would have required her to have his permission before approaching him so closely, and in such a familiar manner, unless she belonged to him. But this was not his home dimension. He had to accept that. For now.
There was no one else there, the humans having retired to their rooms to sleep, and Gryphon and Jillian out on a quest to see if they couldn't find a weak spot in the trap they were in. Something, anything, they could exploit. In spite of their natural antipathy, those two seemed to work well together. Surprisingly so, considering.
Devlin sat on the couch, cradling Brittney's head on a pillow in his lap. Every so often, he'd run his fingers lightly across her forehead, drawing off the pain—and the nightmares. Those, and the feelings they produced, were sustenance for him, too. She would be living in a nightmare when she woke up; there was no need for her to be dreaming of one already. Of course, that was the only reason he was doing this. As Sam said, just getting a snack. Waste not… "When she wakes up, I guess I'll have to convince her that she's not delusional, that all this is, in fact, real. That's going to be a hard concept for her to swallow."
"So why should you care? You don't care what people feel, or do. You just feed on their pain."
Excuse me, but did I give you permission to speak to me like that, human? "If it makes you happy to believe that, go right ahead. I feed on emotions and sensations, yes. Both positive and negative. You've seen that, in your own life." Now go away and leave me alone, fleshbag.
"Yeah." She sat on a high bar stool. "You basically vampirized my mind. I'm lucky I can still tie my shoes."
He looked up at her, keeping his face carefully neutral. "Can you still tie your shoes?" The look of uncertainty mixed with fear that crossed her face was completely worth it. He laughed silently as she left the room, trying to seem casual, and ran to her room to see if she could still tie her shoes.
He could still find something to laugh about. Good.
"Devlin?" Carly came into the room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Have you heard anything from Grif and Jillian?" She came and sat down on the far end of the couch.
"No. But that means nothing. When I last heard from them, they were exploring the convention center—well, the illusion of it—where Gryphon originally began to actively take a hand in matters."
"What about Mt. Adams? He really went postal there, I heard. Maybe there's a, a weak spot or, or something there…."
"Because," he answered calmly, "in this particular region of nonspace, there is no Mt. Adams. The limits of this place don't extend that far. Think of it like the virtual reality of a video game: beyond a certain point, although you can see something out there, you can't actually get to it."
Carly gestured towards the sleeping Brittney. "How's she doing?"
"Better. Physically, I mean. What your angel boyfriend did probably accelerated her healing, but it'll still take some time. Time we don't have."
She cocked her head at him, a slight smile on her lips. "You know, Devlin, for a demon straight from Hell, you aren't such a bad guy."
"That just proves you don't know me very well." You don't know me well at all, mortal.
"I know you well enough."
He scowled, not really wanting to get caught up in this discussion. "Well, anyway, I have to figure out what to tell her when she wakes up. Neither Gryphon nor I can sense anything beyond the ordinary in her; she seems to be completely human.
"Which only means that she, like you, will be the first to dissolve in this place, if we don't find a way out."
The Convention Center, or, rather, the illusion of it: the central pylons leaned at crazy angles, and the floor had noticeable bulges and dips in it. Gif and Jillian explored it cautiously, checking for anything out of the ordinary….
Except it was all out of the ordinary. Little things, here and there. Just like the predator-Freddie, no one thing all that different, but all adding up to a completely different place than the Seattle they'd both come to know. The silence of the place covered everything like a shroud. Appropriate, thought Grif. If we don't find a way out of here, funeral shrouds will be in order.
"So, this is where you stopped that bomb, huh?" Jillian carried her trident at the ready, her eyes constantly scanning for shadows that were more than shadows.
"Yes." He gestured over towards a corner. "Over there."
"Did'ja ever think that maybe that brought all this about?"
"Actually, no, I didn't. It was a maneuver of no consequence to our current predicament. More likely, if it was anything I did, it was the detonation of Mt. Adams."
Jillian shook her head. "And they call me hot-headed. You blew up an entire mountain."
He ran his hands over a crooked central pillar. It felt like concrete, but no concrete could have held up a roof leaning at an angle like that. "That thing had hurt my aunt Maggie, Jillian. Tell me you would have responded differently."
"Yeah, well, that's true. I….guess I can understand about…wanting to keep people you care about…safe." She was thinking of Roger Talltree.
And a certain tall, lanky mortal she'd recently come to know. One who knew how to bowl.
She activated her trident, held it up in front of her. The red glow shone throughout the darkened Center, and she waved it back and forth. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Looking. For things that don't fit. For things." Like Grif's, her vision far exceeded anything humans had ever dreamed of, but the supernatural light of the trident's Hellfire could ferret out any hint of abnormality, even here. "But I'm not seeing anything."
"Neither am I…..wait. Jillian, look! Do you see that?"
A golden tendril had dropped down from the blacker-than-black sky, like a rope from a blackened ceiling. "Jillian! That's it! My people have finally found a way to reach us! Quick, go get the others!"
Jillian didn't have to be told twice. She shadowcloaked her way back to the apartment. "Everybody! Come on! Gryphon's people have found us a way out!"
They lined up, even as Devlin gently picked up a still-sleeping Brittney, who frowned and whimpered in her sleep. Carly, Sam, and Spencer were teleported back to the Convention Center, where Grif still waited, the golden tendril hanging in front of him. He kept his hand on it, as though he were afraid it would disappear. There was something oddly familiar about it….
Devlin appeared, carrying Brittney. Grif looked at him, a worried expression on his face. "Devlin, we'll have to climb up this connection, each of us. Can…can you do that holding her?"
"I'm not leaving her, angel," he said. "We still don't know why she was down in the Darkness in the first place. I think that warrants further investigation."
Sam, meanwhile, was making a careful point not to look at him.
"I wasn't suggesting leaving her. But maybe we could devise some sort of sling between the two of us…"
"I think I can manage. You five go on. We'll follow."
Up the tendril they went, Gryphon first, followed by Carly, Sam, and Spencer. Jillian came next, and, without a backward glance at her ninth circle nemesis, grabbed onto the tendril and hauled herself up.
Devlin approached the tendril. How was he going to do this? He settled Brittney against his left shoulder, wrapped his shadowcloak around her, and, grasping the golden tendril, began to shimmy up the line of potential, always careful to maintain his grip on the human girl. His superhuman strength aided him in the climb, but he was careful not to allow too much pressure to be accidently exerted on her. If he wasn't careful, he could cause her almost as much damage as the Darkness could. She began to come to, sensing all the motion, and, seeing the shifting strangeness all about her, gasped and clung to him. Now he had to be careful she didn't dislodge herself. "Wh-what's going on? Where are we?" All she could see was a shifting kaleidoscope of indescribable colors as Devlin climbed up the "rope"—and back to reality.
"It's alright, Brittney. We're going home. Just hang on, okay?"
Gryphon was the first to find himself back in his apartment, the glow from the transportation process still blinding. One by one he helped the mortals out, then turned to see who'd saved them.
As expected, Uncle Jemiah was there, in full Seraphim regalia, his usual grim expression on his face. But totally unexpected…..
"Gryphon!" Aunt Maggie rushed over to him, and caught him in a tight squeeze.
"Aunt Maggie? Is it really you? You're….you're alright?" Carly, Sam, and Spencer gathered around.
"Yes, yes, the renewal process went splendidly. Although I'm told a certain nephew of mine blew up an entire mountain during my absence…." She couldn't keep from laughing. "Really, Grif! A whole mountain?"
He hugged her back. "It was just one mountain. I just didn't see any point in halfway measures, Aunt Maggie. But everything went well? How are you feeling?" Aside from Jemiah, they were the only two angels present, even though he could sense Adriel and Samael patrolling outside. Now it all made sense: it had been Maggie's connection to him, her line of potential, that had reached down into the Darkness to them. Of course, she zeroed in on the illusory Convention Center. That was the last place in real Seattle she'd known them to be all together simultaneously.
Jillian was next to climb out of the transport field, and Aunt Maggie let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a squeal when she saw her. Grif was about to explain about how he'd come into the acquaintance of the demons, but before he could even begin, Maggie rushed over and threw her arms around an extremely surprised demon girl. "Jillian! It's so good to see you! After all these years…and look at you! You're…you're all grown up now! And so beautiful…." Then her expression clouded over, as Jillian stared blankly at her, too surprised to even bring her trident into play. "Wait. I," And Grif could sense Maggie restructuring her mind, her mental processes.
Contrary to popular conception, angels can lie. But in order to do so, they have to restructure their own thoughts so as to make the statement true, or nearly so, in their own minds. "I don't have any library books overdue" becomes "I don't have any library books overdue once I've returned these." A slight alteration, and difficult to explain, but it enables the angel to tell an untruth without the accompanying pain that an outright lie normally produces.
"Do—do I know you, angel?"
Aunt Maggie stepped back, casting a glance at Grif. "Uhm, no. No, I, I was, I was mistaken. I'm sorry." She once again approached the now-wary demon girl, holding out her hand. "I…it's just, you seemed like someone I once knew. I'm Margaret Stryder, Gryphon's aunt." Unsmiling, she gravely shook hands with demoness, who was careful to keep her trident at port arms, between herself and this obviously crazy angel.
Devlin was the last to emerge, still carrying a now fully conscious Brittney, who'd closed her eyes and was pressing her face against the shoulder of her rescuer. A frown of puzzlement crossed Jemiah's face. "So. BenDarian. It seems you've found a plaything."
"Everybody needs a hobby." He paused, adjusting his grip, even as Brittney looked up and blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings, then continued. "She was in the Darkness, for unknown reasons. It might be a good idea to find out why."
"Indeed. I sense nothing in her that would lead her to such a fate."
Maggie approached, cautiously, and Devlin let her examine the girl, who was looking at the assembled angels, demons, and mortals, trying to take it all in, still in a state of partial shock from all the recent events. "Poor thing, what's happened to her leg? Well, bring her on in here; I've just the thing for it." She led the way into the master bedroom.
Grif looked at the others, and got several blank looks in return. Jillian's eyes had followed Maggie out of the room. "Your aunt have a history of mental disorder, angel?"
"No."
"It hurt her," began Carly, "to say she didn't know Jillian. Did you notice that, Grif?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I did."
…..
"…it's some sort of angel balm, or something," Carly was explaining to Brittney. Maggie had treated Brittney's broken leg with the ointment, and an amazed Brittney found she could already put some weight on the limb. "Trust me: don't try to figure it out, it'll just make your head hurt." She thought for a moment. "Of course, there's nothing that says the balm isn't good for that, too." They were in Grif's bedroom, along with Sam, Maggie having stepped out. Jillian was leaning against the wall by the door, on orders from Grif. The angel still didn't totally trust that Brittney was human. And demons seldom trust anything.
"Angels." Carly could see Brittney trying to work her mind around the concept, finally giving up and accepting it at face value. Angels. Angels? Real angels? Where were the wings and the halos? And no-horn demons? Well, okay. She guessed it really didn't matter. "But anyway, now that we're back, we'll see about getting you home," Carly said. Brittney had been pulled, literally naked, out of the Darkness, wearing only some clothes Carly had given her. She had no ID, no cash, no credit cards, nothing on her, as her accident had taken place in her shower, and Devlin had brought her straight to Carly's apartment, not taking the time to get her any clothes or any other personal belongings. All that had been considered of little to no consequence to them at the time, in their haste to get out of the Darkness before it consumed them all.
"That'll be great," Brittney remarked. "You guys have been more than super, but I'm really ready to go home!"
"Don't blame you. Well, as soon as we can-*"
Grif and Devlin entered the room, and Carly could already tell there was something wrong. She felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. "There's…a problem."
Carly groaned, putting her head in her hands. "So soon? I was sorta hoping for a bit of a break."
Grif and Devlin exchanged glances. "Evidently, things have transpired since our…abrupt departure, Or maybe it started at the same time." Devlin fished out a small crystal from a pouch on his belt. Carly glanced at Brittney, who was looking up at the ninth-circle demon with undisguised hero-worship…and maybe something more. Carly smiled; she guessed she could understand Brittney's reaction. "This is a replay of a scene caught by the mortals' satellite surveillance system." He activated the ruby-red crystal, and a three-dimensional image projected up into the air over his palm.
It showed the planet Earth, as seen from orbit. The day side glowed green and blue, with fluffy white clouds in streaks over the western part of the North American continent. He did something, and the picture zoomed in on the Great Lakes area. And Carly and Sam both gasped in shock.
Because in the middle of the blue of Lake Superior was a smallish spot of absolute blackness. It might have been their imagination, but it seemed as though that, as they watched, it appeared to grow, ever so slightly.
Devlin's voice was grim. "This isn't over."
To be continued…