Kenneth Irons sat in the rear section of his private jet, making business calls. Nottingham was allowed to sit near the cockpit, far away from his master. His thoughts remained in New York, in his loft with Lilianna. It was only because of all his training that he didn't react in any way when his mother suddenly appeared in the seat next to him. How was this able to happen when the Witchblade wasn't on him? Studying his mother, he decided he didn't care how, he was just glad it was happening.
"You can relax, son. I just thought I'd keep you company during the flight and tell you something about your very mixed up family." She smiled and Christian had the uncanny feeling that she was picturing some kind of future family gathering. He wished with all his heart that there were some way for her to be a physical part of it. "You just pretend to stare out the window, and remember not to answer me. First of all, there's your sister, Elaine, though she unfortunately goes by the name Miss Parker for the time being. Everyone says she looks just like me..."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
New York, NYFriday, August 10, 2001
Lilianna frowned and glanced down at her ring and at Christian's. The Stones were swirling and glowing, and she closed her eyes to let them see for her. A man was following her. Had been since she left the loft. She paled and opened her eyes. She was leading him straight to Gabriel!
She about faced suddenly and ran after the man. He tried to flee, and she let him get as far as around the corner into an alleyway before closing in on him. She grabbed him hard and threw him against the wall, pinning him by both arms.
"What the hell..." He was obviously shocked that she had caught up with him so easily.
"Irons didn't let you in on all my abilities, did he?"
The man, blonde and on the short side, shook his head, then his eyes popped open wider when he realized what he had just admitted.
"Please, I'm not supposed to come in contact with you, just watch you and report back."
"And when he has all the information he wants?"
For all the fear he was showing, the Witchblade let her know that this man wasn't a good man. Not even a decent one. He had killed for profit but more often just for fun, and he beat his wife and their ten-year-old son on an almost daily basis.
He remained silent, and Lilianna sighed. She snapped his neck quickly and took his wallet, hoping to make it look like a robbery gone bad. She didn't bother opening the wallet, wiping it clean and dumping it in a public trashcan when she was four blocks away. She headed back toward the loft. There was no way she could go to see Gabriel now. How much did Irons already know?
If she had put Gabriel in danger, she would never forgive herself. And what about her mother? Irons was going to be very interested in her if she was talking to not only Gabriel, but Sara as well. Her stomach fell to her toes and she stopped dead in her tracks. Dante! She had told the White Bull leader, Irons' lackey, that she was Sara's sister. And Irons, unlike Dante, already knew about Sara's family. Would he think that she was Emily, or did he already know what Emily looked like?
She couldn't do anything about any of it until she talked to Christian. And until then, she had to take her mind off it somehow. Fishing a piece of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans, she skimmed the list of bookstores for the two Sara had not been able to get to yet. The Blade told her that the second one was the closer of the two, so she turned and let the Blade guide her toward it. Six blocks later, she looked up to see the bookstore across the street. M. Rowkoob & Associates. She laughed softly; "bookworm" backwards. Someone had a sense of humor.
A bell jingled softly when she walked in, and she closed the glass door lightly behind her. An older man with tufts of white hair circling his mostly-bald head smiled at her from behind an old wooden counter.
"May I help you, miss?"
"I hope so," she smiled back. "I'm looking for some rather unusual books. I don't have titles or authors. I just need anything you have on demons, alternate dimensions, and demon gods."
However she had expected him to react, it wasn't the way he did.
"You're in luck, we just got a new volume in." He chuckled. "Actually, new is the last thing you'd call it. It isn't for sale, but you're welcome to take notes. I even have a pen and some paper if you'd like."
"Thank you," she said sincerely and followed him when he led her to a small table in the back of the store.
She sat and waited for him to come back when he went in a door marked Private. He came back with a book that was almost as big as the table she sat at and ten times as thick as the table top, staggering under its weight. She got up and took the book from him, quickly transferring it to the table so he wouldn't notice how easy it was for her to carry it.
He got a puzzled look on his face that quickly turned sheepish, "I don't suppose you can read any other languages, can you? There are only a few entries in English."
"Actually, yes, I can read several languages. I had an unusual education."
"Well, I'll leave you to it, then." And he shuffled back to the counter at the front of the store.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Mara paid the taxi driver and tipped him generously since he had put out his cigarette when she asked. She grimaced when she thought of how much time she had already spent traveling to and within the city. Too bad it was so crowded. Sparsely populated cities were easiest to shimmer in; unfortunately, on top of the dense population, there were several entities in this city that would pick up on it if she did shimmer. And she wasn't here to fight them.
She smiled at the little old man she assumed was the proprietor of the store. His mouth dropped open and snapped shut.
"L-Lady Raven! What an honor to have you in my humble establishment!"
He pulled up his left sleeve a little and showed her a rather wrinkled Watcher tattoo.
She frowned, "I didn't know my fam ... I was common knowledge."
"Oh, don't worry, you - and they - aren't. I'm retired, but a few years ago I worked with Lana, and she brought me into the fold."
"Well, in that case, it's a pleasure to meet you. I heard a rumor that you had a book of prophecies regarding the supernatural in stock."
"She's back here with it." He began walking toward the back of the store. "She's already been at it a few hours. The number of languages she can read is astounding. I'm thinking of hiring her to do some translations for me. I'm sure she's too busy, though."
She? Mara rounded the last of the floor to ceiling bookcases to see a young woman bent over an enormous book, a neat pile of handwritten papers to one side, her right hand busily writing on a new sheet. Her left hand reached up to turn a page of the book and Mara's eyes fell on the Witchblade wedding ring on the third finger. She gasped. The prophecy had finally come to pass.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Lady Blade."
Not sure why she was responding to a name she had never heard before, Lilianna lifted her head to see a stunningly beautiful woman who looked about her own age standing next to the owner of the bookstore. George, as she had learned was his name when he had brought her a glass of water two hours ago, squeaked and ran to the front of the store.
Lilianna stood and shook hands with the black-haired, blue-eyed beauty and was flooded with images of a life so long even with the Witchblade's help it gave her a headache to absorb it all. Mara wasn't anywhere near as young as she looked. The Blade also let her know that Mara now knew most of her life story.
"You knew the tribe." It wasn't a question, but Lilianna's next sentence was, "Do you know where the other Witchblades are being kept?"
"No, I'm sorry, I don't. Where is Lord Blade? I'm sorry, where is Christian? And why do you have both Blades?"
"He's in London with Irons."
Mara nodded in response to Lilianna's answer. She looked down at the book and then at Lilianna. "You can read Aramaic?"
"Yes, one of my gifts is languages, though I can learn to read them a lot easier and faster than speaking them. I can only speak eleven, but I read fifteen."
"Well, with the help of the Witchblade and my memories, if the need should ever arise, you'll be able to read, write, and speak over a hundred."
"Wow."
Both women turned to look at George. He grinned sheepishly and gestured for them to sit. When they had, he pulled up a chair for himself.
"I can't believe that both of you are here! Imagine the Lady of Avalon and the Lady of the Blade in my bookstore on the same day."
Lilianna looked around and frowned.
George chuckled, looking pleased with himself, "I closed early. You can speak freely."
Mara smiled gently at him, "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you," Lilianna echoed.
Mara didn't waste any time. "I suppose you're looking for something on Glory in there?"
Lilianna was shocked, and then she remembered that this woman knew most of her life. A scene played through her head like a memory and she realized Mara had dealt with Glory even more than she had. Another thought struck her. She knew where Glory was now! But if Mara hadn't been able to even dent Glory with Excalibur, she had no hope of destroying the demon god on her own. And she wouldn't let her mother risk her life. Realizing Mara was still waiting for an answer, Lilianna nodded.
"That's why I'm here, too. But then, you probably already knew that. I know a spell that will point us to any passages about her."
Lilianna's eyes lit, "Can I do it?"
Mara smiled almost indulgently, "Sure."
Lilianna drew on her new knowledge and uttered a quick spell in the language of Avalon. The book levitated a few inches off the table and began to glow. Pages flipped until the approximate middle of the book was reached. A passage starting at the bottom of the left page glowed slightly as the book settled back down on the table gently.
Mara scanned the first paragraph quickly, summarizing in English for Lilianna and George, "The Beast will come to the prime dimension and inhabit the body of a male vessel, sharing time with her mortal brother. If the forces of good do not protect the Key, all will be ripped apart. The Prophecies of Aberjian must be fulfilled to bring forth the Created One, whose destiny will be to die destroying the Beast." Mara stopped abruptly, her face paling as she flipped the next few pages before she continued, "The next couple pages are names of people who are necessary to the Prophecies. Some are just titles. You and Christian are in here, as well as most of my immediate family."
Lilianna looked at the pages for herself. There were a lot of names and titles there. She and Christian were listed as Lord and Lady Blade, their birth names in parentheses. Susanna was also listed. She would have to tell her sister, this was proof that Susanna was meant to exist. Another set of names caught her eye; Jarod, Elaine, Kyle, Ethan, Emily, Catherine, Margaret, Charles and Angelo were all listed. But who were Demona and David Blake? And how would Kyle and Catherine help? They were dead.
"We have a little problem."
Mara and George both turned their attention to her.
"Kyle Blake and Catherine Parker are dead. In fact, Catherine is my Witchblade Guardian and Christian's mother."
Mara's jaw clenched, "That's not really a problem."
Lilianna was confused, but she trusted Mara. "Alright."
She finished skimming the list, raising her eyebrows, "Looks like Gabriel was right, the Olympians do exist. Athena, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Eros are all listed, but who is Psyche?"
Author's note: yes, I know there is a Psyche in Greek Mythology, but for the sake of my story she is a much more recent addition to the ranks of the Olympians
"I don't know, I haven't seen any of them, other than Ares, for quite some time. Maybe someone had a baby in the last few centuries, but Ares didn't say anything."
"And you just saw him yesterday." Lilianna finished for her.
Mara nodded, distracted by something on the second page. Lilianna followed the other woman's gaze and landed on the name "Angel". The one word caused a cascade of images, all of which were somehow muted, some more than others. She realized after a minute that some were someone else's memories and some were Mara's dreams. Somehow this man, this vampire with a soul, was connected on a primal level with Mara, and they had yet to meet. It reminded her of her situation with Christian and she smiled. She wanted to be there when they did meet.
"Can I ask something?" Both women turned to look at George. "What does it mean by prime dimension?"
"When God created the universe, He populated earth with more than just humans. He realized that the different types wouldn't be able to live in peace on such a small planet, so He fractured reality, creating other dimensions for the other beings to live in, though some also live on planets in other solar systems in this universe. But humans are His pride and joy, His children, so they were granted the prime dimension, and this planet."
"Who told you that?" George asked curiously.
Mara shifted in her seat, "Jesus."
"Mary Magdalene," Lilianna breathed in awe.
"But," George sputtered, "you're untouched. Mary Magdalene was a... courtesan."
"No, she wasn't," Lilianna corrected softly, "she was simply a woman alone with money. She was labeled a courtesan because of the prevailing views of the time."
Mara nodded, a distant look in her eyes. "It wasn't the first time I was mislabeled, or the last."
"Oh my," George muttered. He dug in his vest pocket and took out a business card for the bookstore. "I think one of you should take the book. When you're done with it, you can mail it back to me COD."
"But which one of us should take it?" Mara asked.
"You," Lilianna immediately replied, "if Irons got his hands on this ..." she shuddered. "I already have enough to worry about with him."
"That reminds me, if you want to keep Gabriel safe, you should send him away until you figure things out."
"And if I never figure things out?" Lilianna asked in a small voice.
Mara's voice was reassuring, "You will. But until then send him to this hotel. He'll be the only paying guest, but once the inhabitants know he knows about the supernatural, he'll be welcomed. And he'll be safe."
Lilianna took the business card Mara held out to her. "Angel Investigations", it read at the top, with a stylized outline of an angel depicted on the left side. At the bottom, in smaller print, were an address and telephone number for the Hyperion Hotel in Los Angeles.
Mara frowned thoughtfully. "The sooner you send him away the better. Perhaps it would be best if I helped you get him moved. He can fly out with me in the morning. George, may I use your phone?"
"Of course," the jolly old man replied. He got up and Mara followed him to the front of the store.
Lilianna looked at the book once more. What was a Created One, and how could they let someone come into being knowing he or she was going to die? Well, everyone died; scratch that, she admitted when she thought of Mara's kind, all mortals died, but to "create" someone for the sole purpose of destroying Glory and dying doing it? It felt wrong.
Mara came back a few minutes later, "Are you ready? I called the airline and got a ticket for Gabriel. We should go to Talismaniac now and get him ready. The less time Irons has to do something the better."
Lilianna picked up the book, not bothering to pretend to struggle with it this time. The two women said good-bye and thank you to George on the way out. Mara took the book from Lilianna when they were outside. She passed a hand over it and it disappeared. Lilianna started walking and Mara followed, flinching every once in awhile when a particularly loud vehicle drove by. Lilianna frowned at her.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to those things," Mara muttered. "That's what happens when you stay out of the world for over two hundred years."
"But you wouldn't trade your time with the Dragons for anything, would you?"
Mara smiled. "No, I wouldn't."