The Campbell Chronicles

Chapter 24

Nicholas stepped forward, pulling the air into a hardened platform beneath his feet, "Despite your power, you and I both know you can't guard the entire sea, but I'm not here to argue with you over the path you have chosen."

The woman floated forward, her luminescent eyes boring into Nicholas's gold, "Then why are you here?"

Nicholas pointed at the streams of energy that spread across the sky, "The energy that bathed the earth today has given rise to creatures of legend that are throwing off the planet's ecosystem; I would like you to help me terraform Mars to make it habitable. In doing so, you can create a new ocean and safe Sealife and the people that live alongside it."

"People that live alongside sea creatures?"

Nicholas cocked his head to the side, "interesting, even as a water elemental, you haven't run across the Atlanteans."

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" Nicholas turned as Wanda, Pamela, Yolanda, Gaia, and Bailey returned to the platform. "She," he pointed at Wanda, "is a newly christened goddess of magic." He pointed to Pamela, "You should know her as Poison Ivy, an avatar of the green."

He pointed to Gaia, who now wore a red dress with white slip-on shoes and a velvet white bow tied at her back. "She is an avatar of the melt, the energy that flows through the earth, allowing her to manipulate it," he pointed to Bailey. The moon empowers her," he pointed to David, "and he is part of the parliament of vapor, the embodiment of wind that circles the globe."

He pointed to Yolanda, who was staring at the woman made of water in amazement, "She is an avatar of the red, an energy that connects all animal life. She can sense the magical creatures being born in the disruption they're causing to nature. You can ask her if I'm telling the truth."

Mai Miyazaki stared at the people before her. Long before she became the elemental known as Naiad, she fought against Japan's practices that polluted the ocean. She could still remember the people of her village growing sick from eating tainted fish and witnessing children in desperate hunger who would run into the sea and then grab fish slick with oil as they washed up on the shore, despite knowing what would happen.

Her village was gone now, and the oil company responsible for the leak had erased all evidence. In anger, she tried to blow up one of their distilleries, an adventure that transformed her into what she is now. She floated forward, water dripping off her form onto the pillar of salt.

She glanced at them, feeling the way the one named Bailey tugged at her form and the gentle wind swirling around the one called David.

She focused on Yolanda, "Is it true what he says, are creatures of legend emerging into the world?"

Yolanda stepped forward, her Auburn hair flipping in the breeze. She stared at Mai, a film of red over her Brown eyes: "Can you not feel it, Woman of water? Can you not feel the creature's power stirring in the deep?"

Mai closed her eyes and merged her senses with the sea beneath her. Now that the red avatar had brought it to her attention, she could feel the energy in the sky changing certain sea creatures.

They grew larger as their bones thickened, and their flesh turned dense.

Mai turned back to Nicholas, "You speak the truth, but what happens to us after we terraform Mars?"

Nicholas stepped onto the platform, his hands folded behind his back, "Each of you will become something new, for you cannot channel the power needed without being changed."

Bailey stepped forward, her hands balled into fists, "You never told us that!"

"Each of you is already being changed by the divine energy that bathed the earth. I thought that at least by channeling the energies you're already connected to, you would be able to take a bit of control over what you turn into instead of it just being random."

Bailey looked away as Pamela stepped forward, Gaia still clinging to her side, "What are the most likely results?"

"You would most likely become more of what you are. Your connections to the parliaments would be severed, but you would begin generating a similar energy. I think divine energy is trying to find a replacement for what was lost. By channeling these energies in a facet of creation, I think the six of you will be able to fill that void."

David spoke up. "There are only five of us unless you are counting her," he gestured at Wanda.

Nicholas shook his head. "No, Wanda has a part to play, but there is one other elemental we need to gather before we can go to Mars, and I think she will be the most difficult to convince because she doesn't have a sense of duty," he looked at Bailey "or altruism," he looked at Pamela, Mai, and David, "or even a sense of curiosity."

"Who is this person?" Wanda asked.

"A Succubus by the name Jade Tice, thief and girlfriend of the gentleman ghost."

Wanda raised an eyebrow, "You couldn't think of anyone better?"

Nicholas shrugged, "There's not a lot of choice when it comes to the rot."

"Fair, so where is she now?"

"Before that," Nicholas turned to Mai, "Are you in?"

Mai bit her lip. Could she trust these people? She'd been betrayed before, but they were offering her freedom from the ocean and a chance to prevent what happened to her people from happening again by allowing her to help shape a new world.

She focused on the teen beside Poison Ivy, "Girl."

Gaia stiffened as her eyes flicked to meet Mai's for a brief moment before she looked away, "Yes?"

"Can this man," she gestured at Nicholas, "be trusted? Does he speak the truth?"

Gaia glanced at Nicholas before looking back at the woman of water. "I've only known him for a few hours, but the earth says he means no harm to us."

She looked at Nicholas, her eyes glowing. "If what you offer is real, yes, but if you are lying," her hand curled into a fist, and the ocean beneath the platform churned, "You will feel the full weight of the ocean crash down upon you."

Ignoring the water woman's threat, Nicholas turned to Wanda. "It looks like we're heading to Metropolis."

–XX –

Jade Tice phased through the wall of the Metropolis Museum and weaved between the Egyptian antiquities as she made her way toward a rectangular glass case. Inside was a pale white sphere flecked with gold on a red cushion.

She pressed her hands to the glass and closed her eyes against the energy the orb gave off.

The orb of Ra. With this, she and her love could regain a flesh and blood form without giving up their powers.

She glanced up at the skylight, peering through it at the white streams of power dancing through the night sky. Part of her wondered if the sphere's glow had something to do with the energy in the sky, but she shook her head; she wasn't an archaeologist or a philosopher. Her hand curled into a fist; she was a thief, and that's all she would ever be.

Closing her eyes, her grey-skinned hand became translucent as it slipped through the glass and grabbed the orb. A jolt ran through her body as her fingers closed on its surface. Pulling her hand back, she winced as the orb of Ra tapped against the glass.

"Just my luck; the thing I'm trying to steal doesn't become intangible with my hand."

"That tends to happen with magical objects."

Jade released the orb and spun around, finding a familiar woman in red standing a few feet away.

She was 5'7" tall and curvy, with tanned skin and defined muscle. Auburn hair flowed down her back in a wave, and bright green eyes glowed in the museum's darkness. She wore a black corset, tight jeans, and a long red leather coat.

"You're Wanda Nielsen, the Scarlet Witch."

"I've begun a journey that will take me beyond being a witch, but we're not here to talk about me." With a flick of her hand, a spell circle appeared beneath Jade.

The world spun, and Jade was surrounded by seven people on the museum's roof.

A green-haired man stepped forward; his yellow eyes burned into purple orbs. "Hello, Jade. You and I need to talk."

Jade backed away, wisps of black smoke beginning to billow from her fingers, "Who are you people, and what do you want?"

"I am Nicholas Campbell and the people around me," he gestured at the group around him, "are, let's call them avatars of the elements; they are going to help me terraform Mars, but to do so, we're missing the aspect of death."

The black fog spewing from Jade's fingers stuttered and stopped, drifting away in the breeze.

"What?"

Wanda snorted, walking past Jade to stand beside Nicholas, "You really need to work on your sales pitch."

Nicholas ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up in all directions. "It's been a long day, and I want to get this over with," he glanced at Yolanda, eyeing the beads of sweat running down her temples. "I don't know how long the shields I put in place will hold."

Jade glanced between Wanda and Nicholas, "Avatar of elements, terraforming planets, what the hell are you talking about?"

Nicholas released a breath and waved his hand. A blocky cement chair rose from the roof, and Nicholas sat down.

Wanda eyed the display, her lips pressing into a thin line. 'His powers are changing. Does he realize it, or was it instinct?'

Leaning forward, Nicholas rested his head on his knuckles, "I take it you've noticed the energy in the sky," he pointed up.

Jade rolled her eyes, "Of course."

"Wanda speculates that it is from a destroyed divine realm. If so, I think it is trying to create replacements for the power vacuum left behind, but that's neither here nor there. The reason we're here is that energy is causing ecological changes throughout the entire world. Creatures of legend are becoming creatures that the world's governments cannot get their hands on."

"We would like your help to terraform Mars into a place for those creatures and meta-humans to keep them from being abused by the world's governments and live in peace."

Jade's eyes widened as she glanced around at the group, "You want my help terraforming a planet? Do you know who I am? I'm a succubus, I absorb life force, and I'm a thief."

Nicholas leaned back in his chair, "That's what you are at the moment, but you don't have to continue to be that," he gestured at Pamela, "She's an ecoterrorist who killed thousands of people, yet she's here to help."

He pointed to David, "He's a supervillain." He moved to Bailey, "She is a former government agent." He gestures to Yolanda, "She is a farmer." He nodded to Gaia, "She's a teenager from the 1800s." He pointed to Wanda, "She's growing into a goddess."

Jade's hands slid to her hips, and her black lips pressed into a thin line, "What about you?"

"I am a relic from an ancient civilization who woke up in the modern-day, killed two families of mobsters, and is trying to make the world a better place for my people, the meta-humans."

Everyone turned to look at him, but Nicholas waved his hand, "It's complicated. The important thing is, all of us have come together for a greater purpose."

Jade glanced at the little redhead clinging to Pamela Isley, images flashing through her mind the way she used to hug her own mother.

"If you help us," Nicholas began, bringing Jade's attention back to him, "I will give you what you want most."

Jade stiffened, "And what would that be."

"Flesh and blood bodies for you and your boyfriend, James Craddock."

Jade's eyes narrowed, "How do I know if I can trust you?"

Standing to his feet, Nicholas shrugged as the chair sank back into the roof, "You don't, but if I'm lying, it's not going to be pleasant for me with the amount of power gathered." He glanced at everyone present.

Jade turned to Poison Ivy, "Is he on the level?"

Pamela eyed the woman in front of her.

She is 5'7" tall and curvy, with a small bust, short dark hair, purple eyes, and grey skin. Her nails were painted black and seemed to absorb any light that hit them.

She wore a white corset, tight leather pants that showed off her sculpted rear, leather boots with a three-inch heel that reached her knees, and wristbands of dark cloth.

"Nicholas's offer is genuine, and I don't think he means any of us any harm." Pamela's eyes narrowed, "but I'm not sure you would be a good fit."

Jade's eyes narrowed as a tail slithered from her pants to thrash behind her. "Why is that?" As she asked a question, the point of her tail slammed into the concrete, shaving a bit of it off.

"You reek of death, but I get that Nicholas wants to balance the elements, and death is part of that, so we need you. I'm mostly concerned that you are a thief and girlfriend of the gentleman ghost, a man known to have murdered in the past."

Jade snorted, "Don't act like you haven't stolen before, Poison Ivy," she spat the name.

Pamela inclined her head. "I've stolen and murdered before, but it's always been to protect the green and make sure the earth will survive." She raised her hand as Jade opened her mouth to speak, "That does not excuse my actions, and if you were stealing to survive or for a living, I wouldn't say anything."

"However, you are an immortal spirit. You seem to steal for the fun of it."

"That's not exactly true," Nicholas cut in, "She was trying to steal Ra's orb so that her lover could regain a corporeal form and be unbound by the phases of the moon."

Jade's eyes widened, and she stepped back, "How do you know that?"

"You may be a partial spirit, but your mind still produces mental energy, which I can read." Nicholas turned to the others, "What do the rest of you think?"

David shrugged as Bailey moved over to Yolanda, who began to sway. "As long as she doesn't try to sabotage what we're doing, let her join. We've all done things in the past that were not a problem," he glanced at Yolanda and Gaia, "well, most of us."

Bailey nodded as Yolanda collapsed again, her eyes rolling back in her head, "We need to hurry."

Nicholas turned to Wanda, "What do you think?"

Wanda glanced at Jade, "I've never got a report of her hurting anyone, but the last time the gentleman ghost got a hold of that orb, he tried to sacrifice a town full of people to regain his body."

Jade winced. She hadn't been happy about that particular incident, but he promised not to do something like that again, and after everything they had been through together and the things he had taught her, she believed him.

"However, her lover's crimes are not hers, so we should give her a chance."

Nicholas turned back to Jade. "There you have it. Will you help us terraform Mars in exchange for a corporeal body for your lover, James Craddock?"

"Can you really give James a body?"

"Once my powers settle down, and with Wanda's help, I'm sure we can."

Jade nodded, her jaw firming as she straightened, and a pair of black wings burst from her back, "Then I'll help you."

"Demon," Gaia whispered from her spot near Pamela.

Pamela ran a hand through the girl's red hair. "No, dear. She's just a human with special powers like you."

Gaia looked down, "Cursed then."

Wanda strode past the duo, giving the girl a pitying look as she stopped before Nicholas, "Well, we have all our elements except for life…"

"I'll take care of that," Nicholas cut in.

"So, what now?" Wanda asked as if she was never interrupted.

"I need you to teleport us to Mount Kibo?"

"Where is that?"

Nicholas touched her head and began filtering images into her mind.

Wanda's eyes snapped open wide, "Africa!"

Nicholas shrugged, "When the people of Brigadoon landed on Earth, the continents were merged; I just hope the relay point hidden in the mountain is still there."

With her eyes still locked on Nicholas, Wanda called to the others, "Everybody circle up."

When everyone had formed into a loose Circle, Wanda closed her eyes.

The wind whipped across the rooftop as a spell circle burning with crimson energy appeared beneath their feet. Crimson energy flared, and the group vanished, leaving behind a museum with a chip taken out of its concrete.