"Gemina!" she sobbed.
Axel, worried that something might happen, followed her out. He knelt down next to her, gently brushing her hair from her face. "Sinsa..." His voice trailed off into a soft whisper.
Emily turned curious eyes to her boyfriend. "That was odd."
"As a witch and a Chthonian, that's something coming from you." Nick remarked as she sat on the barstool where Axel had been previously.
The lavender eyed girl let out a sigh through her nose. "I know. But I can't help but get an odd feeling from the two of them..."
"The hell was that?" Dev Peltier, on duty at the door today, growled as Sinsa leaned against Axel's arm.
"Not sure yet," Axel rumbled, frowning.
"So long as whatever insanity she's suffering isn't contagious," the bouncer huffed, glancing around for any troublemakers that might try to take this opportunity to slip into Sanctuary.
"She's not dead!" Sinsa rasped, cutting off whatever reply Axel had been about to make. She gripped his arm tightly, trembling. "I saw her; I know I did! It was her; Gemina!" A harsh sob jerked from her throat. "But how...?"
Axel sighed and brought her against him, running his hand through her hair as he tried to help her calm down.
"Hey, Ax," Dev said gruffly, "you mind moving your little pity party somewhere else?" He kept his gaze on passersby, but it almost seemed like he wanted to give them privacy. "You're scaring away customers..."
He rolled his eyes, but gave a soft smile. "Yeah, yeah, I'll take my scare ass somewhere else." He scooped her up into his arms and started to walk away from Sactuary's entrance.
S-stop!" Sinsa protested, squirming. "I-I can walk f-fine on my own..." She was terribly shaken; even her attempt at her usual sarcasm was forced and weak.
But what she'd seen... After having no other choice but to accept the reality of gods and creatures from myths and legends, she'd thought maybe-just maybe-it hadn't been just a hallucination.
Gemina Daughtry Sinsabaugh had supposedly died while in a collision-induced coma, but Sinsa had never seen her sister's body after visiting her that last time in the hospital. Could Gem have been in some sort of trouble or something, and had to disappear? Had to make everyone think she was dead? Was it gang-related or worse, and any contact with her past life would put others in danger? Sinsa almost wanted that to be true; the alternative was that Gemina... had abandoned her family on purpose.
He snorted. "Not at the moment you can't."
"But...!" Sighing, she yielded. He was probably right anyway; she'd likely fall on her face if she tried to walk right now. At this point, she didn't even care where they were going. She laid her head on his shoulder, pushing all thoughts of Gemina aside for a moment; she needed time to calm down and relax before she opened that can of worms. "...I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Being such a nuisance," she whispered. "I must be cursed to ruin everything I touch..."
He let out a sigh. "No you're not." When she opened her mouth to protest he continued. "If you continue to think like that, that feeling will become worse and worse until it consumes you. Take it from someone with personal experience."
"Personal experience," she echoed bitterly. "You're a god in a family of gods and immortals; how could you ever understand me? If something goes wrong for you, you can fix it with the snap of your fingers."
He gave her a withering glare. "Try ten thousand years of being alone and the only contact you ever receive is from people who beat you, use you, then toss you away like trash." He grit his teeth to fight off the old memories of his past, something he never been yet able to share with anyone. Athena, his best friend and ex-wife, didn't even know the whole story to the past he'd rather forget.
Sinsa winced, hugging herself tightly.
"Sorry..." she muttered, ashamed. How many stories had she read of immortals who'd begged for death simply to end the loneliness? How many more accounts had she heard from elders whose memories were riddled with more sorrow and anguish than joy? She should've known someone like Axel would have more skeletons in his closet just for his toddler years than she had for her entire life.
"You're right," she whispered. "The Fates are bitches..."
He made a noise of agreement. "Being related to them don't make it any better either."
"Ooohh, I don't envy you," she grimaced.
For a moment, they fell into companionable silence. Then Sinsa noticed the St. Louis Cathedral; she had a sudden thought and quickly squirmed out of Axel's arms.
"Wha...?"
"Come with me," she cut in, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her toward the cathedral. At the entrance, she slowed to a respectful walk, and once inside, she dipped her fingers into the holy water font, crossing herself in the purifying ritual before moving to the nearest pew and sliding into it. Bowing her head with clasped hands, she quickly prayed to the saints, more from habit and honoring tradition than need.
Axel himself let out a low sigh and silently slid into the pew next to her, already knowing the God of the religion wouldn't mind if he was there.
When she finished, Sinsa sat quietly, basking in the peace she'd always felt within the walls of cathedrals.
"...When I was a little girl," she said finally, keeping her voice only just above a whisper, so as not to disturb the quiet, "my parents told me a story. How they fell in love in the middle of a warzone and came to the States to get married and have their child, a baby boy. Before they could move back to Africa, my mother discovered she was already pregnant again, and soon after, my big sister was born. Gemina Daughtry. She was the best of my parents; Mom's emerald eyes, Dad's midnight hair, and a perfect mix of her chocolate skin and his bronze skin."
She smiled at the memory, lacing her fingers together and absently twisting the ring on her right index finger.
"Mom said Saint Rose had blessed her with a precious stone worth more than any diamond, so she named the child Gemina. Within a year, another little girl came into the world, an exact replica of Gemina. Dad joked that it was a deja vu birth, and he said that being blessed twice with such beautiful children was more wonderful than he could ever imagine. He named me Maxima, his greatest joy."
Her smile faltered, thoughts flashing to her father's funeral. The dark sky threatening to rain, the bloody colour of the roses, the gaping hole in the earth like a maw waiting to devour his body. Swallowing, she pushed the memory aside.
"Gemina and I," she continued, softer now, "grew up like Siamese twins; wherever one went, the other was sure to follow. She was the only one who followed Dad's example and called me 'little Sin.' We shared everything, food, clothes, secrets; we might as well have been one person." Taking a deep, shaky breath, she prepared to tell someone the story, for the first time; in the past, people had just known, told by gossipers, or alerted by media, and they always expressed their condolences without really caring, without really understanding, and without hearing it from her.
"...I was eighteen," she whispered, "going on nineteen. Gem had left for college less than a year before, and I was still waiting for my acceptance letter. A letter from the college I wanted to go to came two days before my birthday; I was so excited, so anxious, worried it was a rejection, but hoping it was an congratulations. I called Gem and she said she was already on her way back to spend a day or two with me for my birthday. She told me her plane had just landed and she was at the rental place to pick up a car, that it wouldn't be more than an hour or two." Swallowing the growing lump in her throat, she swiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "She said, 'I'll see you soon, Sin, love you,' and hung up. That... That was the last thing she ever said to me..." Sinsa pulled the ring from her finger and clenched her fist tight around it. "The cops said some idiot had been drinking, and tried to run a red light. A semi passing the other way braked and swerved to avoid him, and Gem... Gem collided with the back of the semi, ripping the entire passenger side to shreds and crushing the driver's side around her." A sob wrenched from her throat, but she took a breath, calming herself, and continued. "It took a full hour to get her out, and they rushed her to the hospital. They stabilized her, but she was in a coma, and she... For a month, we hoped, prayed, begged her to come back. She never did."
Lifting her gaze, she looked at Axel, trying to meet his gaze through the sunglasses.
"I killed her, Axel. If it hadn't been for me, she would still be alive."
Axel took off his sunglasses and set them beside him before pulling her close, holding her silently for a few moments before tilting her face up so her emerald gaze met his silver. "Maxima Sinsabaugh. Your sister's death was not your fault. You may think you have but you had nothing to do with what happened." She didn't look convinced.
"Did you make the man get drunk and drive around in his car?" He got a shake of the head. "Did you make the semi driver swerve to avoid the drunk?" Another head shake no. "Did you make the car crush around her like a tin car?"
With a broken sob she replied with a shake of her head.
He gently held her face between his hands to keep her from turning away. "Then there is no reason to blame yourself for your sister's death. I'm sure she would not want you to blame yourself for it. Yes you can mourn, but eventually you have to stand up and move on.
"Treasure her memory in your mind and heart. That's the beauty of memories. They remind us of those times where we are with the people we love and are happy. They are meant to be treasured and held in our hearts to remember our loved ones once they pass onto the next world." He trailed off into a quiet murmur, gazing into her tearful emerald eyes before slowly leaning forward and brushing his lips against her own. Then he pulled back a few inches and wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "So do it for her, Sin, treasure her memory as you walk through life every day. Live like today was your last day."
My last day... The words echoed softly through her mind, over and over, s small symphony of hope and despair, loneliness and companionship, sorrow and joy, pain and laughter. If this were her last day, she knew Gem wouldn't want her spending it like this, hiding in a church and crying her eyes out.
"Yeah," she sniffed, a tiny, thankful smile tugging at her lips. "Let's just hope it's not."
"Is everything alright?" a warm voice broke in, making Sinsa jump. She pulled away from Axel, aware of how disrespectful kissing in a church would be to the priest.
"Ah, yes, Father, thank you," she said quickly, drawing a firm veil across her emotions and smiling at him. The older man returned her smile pleasantly.
"You seem distressed," he noted gently. "Are you sure?"
"I am," she nodded, glancing at Axel. "Everything's fine now." The priest hummed acknowledgement.
"The confessionals are open if you need them, daughter," he said. "If there is anything on your mind, that's where I'll be."
"Thank you," she nodded as he left. Then she turned back to Axel. "C-can I ask a favour? Would you help me find the woman I saw at Sanctuary?"
He smiled a little. He had sensed the priest coming and had put his sunglasses back on before he got there. "I can't promise anything. But we can try." Then he made a face that made it appear he thought of something. "Though I think I know someone who might be able to find her better than me."
"Who?" She led the way out of the cathedral. "Your dad?"
Axel shook his head. "The young woman you met at Sanctuary. She's the daughter of someone who could be considered equal or more powerful than me and my father. And since you two have just meet, you're not personally close to her yet. Meaning she will be able to see who you are talking about." He chuckled at her confused look. "While my father and I do have the power to see anyone's past, present and future, we can't see any of it for people who are close to us. And I mean this in the caring sense. I can not see anything about you because of how much I care for you. And Ash obviously sees you as something of a young niece, so he wouldn't be able to see what you mean either." He gave a small one sided smile as they saw Sanctuary just up ahead. "But Emily can. She also possesses the ability."
"Is she... An immortal goddess too?"
Axel shrugged. "I don't think so. But she's usually not up to sharing what she is, she's at least a demigod. And is recently turned twenty one so she's pretty close to your age."
"Hah! I wish I were that young," Sinsa laughed. "I'm almost twenty-six." then she cocked her head at him. "Although, I guess in your eyes, we're practically babies."
"Point taken. But five years isn't too great a difference." Once they were inside, he let out a relieved sigh to see both Emily and Nick were still there.
Emily had sensed them come in and looked over her shoulder to them as they came to the bar. "Back again, eh?" She smiled a little.
Axel got right to the point. "Can we possibly barrow you for a bit?"
Emily raised a curious brow at his words. "What can I do that you can't?"
"Be able to see the woman I thought I saw earlier." Sinsa explained. The youngster's look turned brooding.
"You know I don't have a full handle on those powers yet."
"I know." He admitted as he ran a hand through his hair. "But at least you can try."
The lavender eyed girl let out a sigh but nodded. She reached out and took one of Sinsa's hands into one of hers and closed her eyes. After a few moments she jumped back with a gasp, but quickly shook it off and wiped the emotion off her face.
"You'll find her in two minutes on a side street three blocks North."
"Three blocks, two minutes?" Sinsa groaned. "At this time of night, the streets are going to be crowded with people going home... Thanks, Em." She kissed the woman's cheek and grabbed Axel's hand. "Come on, or we'll miss her!"
As the two disappeared again, Emily slouched against the bar and let out a long sigh. Nick reached up and ran a hand through her hair, knowing the gestured helped her relax. "You okay?" He asked in slight concern.
She nodded enough to wordlessly tell him she was alright without moving from his touch. "I honestly hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."
Sinsa stopped at the corner of the side-street, panting as she glanced into the alley. Empty.
"Did we miss her?" she huffed, leaning against the wall.
"I doubt it," Axel answered, not even breathing hard. A moment later, a door creaked and slammed shut inside the alley. Sinsa quickly pushed herself around the corner, half praying, half dreading...
Her heart thudded in her ears as she stood face-to-face with the woman. But for the length of the other woman's hair, they could have been twins.
"Sin," the woman breathed, stunned. "How...?"
"...Gem... I did see you; you're alive!" Sinsa threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around... Empty air. She stumbled and fell to her knees. Looking up, she saw Gemina at the other end of the alley, running as if her life depended on it, hand-in-hand with a tall, handsome blonde man. A Daimon.
Axel growled low in his throat. "Just great... Can't go a day without a Daimon around."
"Gemina?" Sinsa stared after her sister, stunned. In all the world, the number of her relatives left could be counted on one hand, and yet, after finding her beloved twin alive, she'd been left alone by the one person who understood her best. "I-it can't be... Sh-she doesn't know; she doesn't know h-he's a Daimon... She can't..." Terrified for her sister, she leapt up and took off, ignoring the now-fiery pain of her scraped knees. "GEMINA!"
Axel scowled and took off after her. Being able to go faster as he was immortal, he managed to get in front of them on the street and cut them off. When Sinsa had come out on the street behind them, the Daimon realized they were stuck.
"Damn it," the Daimon growled, pulling Gemina behind him. "Stay out of the way, Gemmie."
"Hell no!" Gemina scoffed, pressing her back to his. "If you think I'll let you fight alone, you're as stupid as your name, Quandus." The coarse affection in her tone took Sinsa aback.
"If you think you're getting out of here alive, Daimon, you're quite mistaken," Axel rumbled, rolling his shoulders in preparation for a fight.
"We'll see about that, Dark-Hunter," Quandus spat back.
"I've got your six, babe," Gemina promised, eying Sinsa warily.
"Gemina, what are you doing?" she asked desperately.
"Protecting my husband," the older girl snarled. "What's it to you? And how the hell do you know my name?" Sinsa's heart sank.
"You don't recognize me?" she asked, a note of pleading in her voice.
"Yeah, every time I look in a damn mirror," Gemina answered sharply, "I see the same face; don't know who the hell you are!"
"But... You said my name!" Sinsa tried, frantic now.
"What?" Gemina scowled. "You mean back in the alley when I said 'shit'? Hah! And I thought Quan's parents were cruel!"
"No!" Sinsa fought back tears. "You said 'Sin'; Sinsabaugh, our surname!" Gemina barked a sharp laugh.
"Are you fucking high? My maiden name is Gemina Highlander, my married name Gemina Axilla; doesn't even sound like Sinsabaugh!"
Sinsa couldn't believe her ears. It was Gemina, no doubt about it; the way she carried herself, the don't-mess-with-me look she always had when she got angry, the inflections of her voice, and of course her appearance, all of it was her sister's, but the woman in front of her was as much a stranger to her as Emily had been this morning. Whatever had happened to her, this woman was no longer the sister she knew and loved.
Axel smirked as he pulled a Scottish dirk from inside his boot. "Now if you really wanted to do that, sweetheart. You're facing the wrong direction." In a flash he was before the Daimon and shoved the blade into his stomach.
He howled in pain but before he could even try to retaliate, he was turned to Axel's right, then kicked in the upper chest against the wall. "Gemmie! Don't!" But his words were too late as his wife had turned around to undeniably attack the immortal...
Her plan failed when the butt of the blade was knocked against the side of her head, knocking her unconscious. Axel caught her in one arm before she could hit the concrete. Then he turned a killing glare to the Daimon. This one wasn't going to last the night.
Sinsa bit back a cry of dismay as Gemina crumbled; if her sister was anything like she used to be, the woman wouldn't be unconscious for very long, but that wasn't soon enough.
"Axel, wait!" He paused, glancing at her, and she stepped up to Quandus, half terrified, half furious. "What the hell did you do to her?"
"I assume you mean seven years ago, when she was left for dead in a hospital," he growled, glaring at her, his lips curled in a derisive snarl that flashed gleaming fangs. "I saved her life, bitch."
"How?" she demanded, trembling. She wasn't sure if the shudders were from fear, anger, or just plain adrenaline.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He spat at her, the saliva landing almost in her eye. She squeaked, flinching away, and Axel surged forward furiously, obviously intending to finish it. The Daimon shifted back defensively. "Kill me and Gem dies too!"
Axel hesitated for a moment, giving Sinsa just enough time to recover and grab his arm.
"Stop!"
"That's right," Quandus crowed victoriously. "Our lives are bound together; kill one, the other dies with them."
As his hand was still curled around the dirk, Axel clocked him across the face, knocking him out. He was so pissed. More at the situation than anything else. He made a split second decision and flashed them all out of the dark streets of New Orleans into a large dark room somewhere where there were chains along the walls.
Axel's powers chained the Daimon to one part of the wall before he carefully set Gemina down and cuffed her wrists and ankles a few feet away from the other. After that he took a metal chair that sat in the middle of the room and saddled it, running his hand over his face as he tried to think. "Fucking great..." He muttered, unknowing slipping into the Atlantean language and accent.
Sinsa braced herself against the wall, not knowing or caring where they were; she was overwhelmed.
In the past twenty hours, she'd lost someone she'd thought was a friend, found out he wasn't even human, learned there was an entire slew of gods and creatures that actually existed, been hit on by an eleven thousand year-old god, discovered that some of her closest friends in New Orleans were actually immortal, met and hit it off with a witch, saw her sister alive and well, and immediately lost her to a creature she hadn't even heard about until this morning. She was overloading on information, and honestly she was surprised she hadn't collapsed from the sheer weight of the knowledge itself, let alone the experience.
Glancing over at her sister, who was already stirring, she felt so lost, so tiny; there was so much she needed to learn and seemingly no time to learn it. After her apology to Axel, she'd thought she would have a night to sleep on what he'd told her, but it was looking more and more like she'd stepped into a stream only to discover it was actually a raging river that had swept her off her feet and was now drowning her. She had to figure out how to swim, or she wasn't going to last much longer.
Axel noticed the girl was waking up and sighed as he mentally prepared for the bitching she was mostly likely about to start.
He didn't have to wait long...
"The hell...?" Gemina groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. It took her a moment to realize her wrists were chained, but she immediately began yanking on them, glancing around and spotting her husband. "Quandus!" Her sharp emerald gaze fell on Axel and she snarled. "Fucking bastard... I'll kill you!"
"Good luck with that," he said blandly, obviously not in the mood to deal with clichéd threats.
"Gemina," Sinsa said, voice soft with pain. The woman looked at her, disdain in her expression. "What happened to you?"
"What happened to me?" she scoffed. "I'd love to know, believe me; Quan refuses to tell me anything that happened before I woke up in the hospital. Said I'd eventually remember anything important." Sinsa latched on to an unspoken detail.
"He said you were married?" she asked, almost desperate for any little thing.
"Didn't have to," Gemina said, a 'no duh' tone in her voice as she lifted her left hand and wiggled her ring finger, on which sat an impressive stone, one Sinsa recognized as the engagement ring Gemina's boyfriend had been hiding for weeks before the accident, waiting for the right time to propose.
How the hell did Quandus get it?