Between Hope and Death

By: ChocolateEclar

Disclaimer: Some characters belong to the magnificent authoress, Diana Wynne Jones. I just borrowed them for a while.

Claimer: I only own Wyn, Aidan, Kamania and Chris Aprilian, Lady Kachioin (and her village), Miss Coca, Mr. Calypso, Professor Weph, Life, Death, Apocalypse, Rhys, and Heulo (aka 'the Sun Spirit of All Knowledge.')

To ness: I seem to have forgot Kamania, haven't I?  ^_-  Truth be told, I wasn't sure what I should do with her after she was 'rejected' by Apocalypse. I think it's time she was taken care of so this chapter features the villainess herself.

As for Rhys, I'm still working out the whole two 'parts' thing. I confuse myself sometimes. ^_^ Seriously though, I think some of your questions will be answered this chapter as well.

Thanks for reviewing. Maybe I'll make this chapter a cliffhanger…Hehe. Just kidding! You'll just have to see for yourself.

Chapter 13: In Which Kamania Meets Heulo

Kamania had long ago left the village of the healer, Lady Kachioin. She had watched it burn at her own hands and when she was sure at least Temal Bateal was dead, she had walked away. Soon after she had went to see the almighty bringer of the eternal end, Apocalypse. The Goddess had ridiculed and had utterly rejected any assistance from the mortal witch, leaving Kamania with nothing but her own lust for revenge.

She knew full well Wyn was older now, but what she didn't know was of Rhys's birth. She soon discovered his existence though, when she secretly transported to the moving castle invisibly. No one but Morgan and Rhys seemed to be there and at first Kamania had mistaken Rhys for Morgan's own child. She soon realized her error and nearly laughed from her hiding place in one of the corners in the main room.

Her presence may not of been detected by Morgan or Rhys, but the ever observant Heulo knew she was there from the start. He shifted from his resting place in Rhys's head and thought, 'So the 'Stalker' I heard about from Wits is still among the living.' He was referring to the great eavesdropper, Whitt-quans. Wits, as he was often called, was a fellow Sun Spirit and well known among them for getting the latest news from all the worlds.

Heulo slowly stood up, careful not to alert Rhys. Unfortunately being almost the same person meant it was very hard to hide something from each other. Rhys 'shot' a thought to Heulo who nearly fell over in shock. 'Whatcha doin', Heulo?' asked Rhys with his newfound name for the voice.

'Urgh! I was just stretching, Rhys!' came the frustrated reply.

'Hey, I may be whittle, but I ain't stu-pid!' protested Rhys, 'You don't need ta stretch anyhow! Ya got no body!'

'Fine! Fine, you've got me,' said Heulo, 'Now I need to do something for a minute so stay here. This is your body remember and you need to watch over it!

'Okay.'

'Good,' muttered Heulo grinning faintly. He sort of took on a faded astral form that only Rhys could see and exited Rhys's head.

'Was I ever like this?' he asked himself amusedly as he glanced back at Rhys. When he was sure Kamania wouldn't expect anything he sort of 'jumped' into her head.

Back over by the fireplace, Rhys-who had been playing 'dinosaur' with Morgan-watched a thin pulsating rope follow the voice's path. It even seemed to leak into Kamania's head, though Rhys couldn't quite see the witch. The cord, Rhys realized, was amazingly strong and if he gripped it in his fingers (making sure Morgan didn't notice) he could 'send' a thought down the line to Heulo.

'Where'd ya go?!' he sent to Heulo.

Heulo did fall this time and laughed. 'I can hear you, Rhys. There's no need to shout,' he 'hurled' back.

'Oh. Okay. What's this stringy thing for?' Rhys inquired.

'Its what links us together if I'm not directly connected to you,' answered Heulo, 'Now that I've fully attached us we can't be separated without serious consequences to us. The worst things would happen to me, considering how much power I've invested in this, but you should just go back to being independent if the cord breaks.

'Before the whole kidnapping incident we could be separated, but now its virtually impossible. It would take Apocalypse herself to destroy this link.'

'Hmm. Okay, but whatcha doing?' questioned Rhys.

'I need to speak with this woman. I'll be back in a few minutes,' replied Heulo.

'K. Bye-bye.'

Heulo sighed and turned back to the mental wall before him. Kamania had protected herself well, but it was nothing compared to the Sun Spirit. He placed both his palms onto the barricade and pushed with his mind and his magic. He could feel Rhys self-consciously assisting him, sending little waves of energy down the line. It made the job go faster and soon the wall had collapsed.

Kamania immediately knew something was wrong. That was when she heard the low dangerous voice accusing her. He said, 'So you're Kamania Aprilian. You may call me Heulo if you wish.'

'Where did you come from, demon?' Kamania yelled silently at him.

'That is none of your concern. I am only here to say I won't harm you as long as you leave now,' Heulo replied.

He said 'now' as if she didn't have much of a choice, but still Kamania protested, 'And what makes you think I should listen to you?'

'Because if you don't I'll be forced to take it you're a threat to my other half, and I will do anything to protect him naturally,' continued Heulo menacingly.

Kamania turned rigid but didn't back down. She glared at the mind intruder and snapped, 'Oh go bother someone else!'

Big mistake. BIG, BIG mistake. Kamania was thrown out of the moving castle and across Ingary faster than you can say 'mistake.'

Heulo watched her go with a slight smirk on his face. He was still in that discolored astral projection form and standing at the end of the vital rope. Eventually he turned around and faded back into Rhys's head as effortlessly as ever. He sat back down onto his usual spot in Rhys's head and sighed. 'That was one way to get rid of someone…'

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Kamania landed after being launched magically threw the air and out of the moving castle without hitting anything. Anything that is, except the ground. It was burning desert sand she hit, sand from the Waste to be exact. She yelped in pain and rubbed her scorched body. It appeared the 'Stalker' would have to lick her wounds again.

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A/N: Kamania will be back, but not until she roasts in the Waste for a while that is…

A/N 2: Anyway, this chapter shows that Heulo needs Rhys now. Without him, Heulo gets thrown like Kamania (except he would go a lot farther). ^_- Hmmm….

Heulo: What are you concocting, girl?

Me:  Who me? ^_^ *using the cute face of death* (You know I haven't used that face in a while…)

Heulo: You're not planning on doing anything that will hurt my other half, are you? *says dangerously*

Me: *nervous* Oh no. Not I! I wouldn't do something like that…

Heulo: Grrrrr…*launches 'ChocolateEclar' across the room and into a wall*

Me: @_@ *dazed and groaning* Oh look at all the pretty stars…

Rhys: I'll finish this for ya! Every-body bets ter review ors Choccy's gonna be mad!

Me: *finally back to 'normal'* Heulo, I'm gonna erase you for this!!! *starts chasing Heulo*

Heulo: *yelps and runs away*

Rhys: *^_^* Bye-bye!