I wanted to believe that; I chose to believe that. “Then give me faith to follow where you lead me, and give me the courage and strength to do whatever it is I need to do.”
“What you ask, I will do.” He paused. “I work out all things for the good. But you must continue to do what you believe is good, too.”
“I will. I promise.” As I said it, my head ducked down. My words sounded so weak, coming from someone like me, and all the more because I was saying it to someone like him.
“Why do you ask for this?”
I looked up. “You don’t know?”
“Do you know?” Adonaias was smiling, and at that moment, I thought of how much he reminded me of Martha sometimes, or even Raiya. It was like he was making sure I knew what I was doing, even if he already did. I guess he doubled up in his kingdom as a teacher.
“No, I guess I don’t. I can’t explain why I need this. There is just something inside of me that believes I am doing the right thing.” I looked down again. “You don’t think I make a wrong choice, did I?”
The man placed his hands on my shoulders. “No. I don’t. And neither, I think, does Aletheia.”
“What?”
“Go back to your reality, Hamilton. I will do as you ask; but be advised, I will do it in my own way.”
“That’s okay, it’s probably better than what I had in mind.” I laughed.
Adonaias laughed along with me; he had a hearty, warm laugh, I noticed. I liked this guy. And then the world before me faded, washed away into blinding light.
☼23☼
Confidence
Reality’s return hit me like a punch in the face. I even winced, squeezing my eyes shut, trying to block out the heady mess of humanity. Compared to the celestial realm, the human world was a messy headache.
But as my vision clear a moment later, I looked to see my hand wrapped around Mikey’s wrist–his regular, normal, non-octopus wrist. I pushed up from my knees and straightened, watching as the last of the dark power dissipated from his body.
“Thank goodness that’s over,” I muttered.
“So you were right about him.”
I jerked around at the surprise. “You!”
“I’m surprised you were able to change him back.” Dante Salyards looked at me, meeting me eye for eye, almost as if he was trying to assert his reality over my person. He gave up a moment later and headed over, handing me a syringe. “Here. This is the antidote for the poison we’d given him, in order to sedate him.”
The long needle and the clear liquid, connected by the syringe, made me shrink back for a few seconds. I was no doctor, that was for sure. Still, Mikey needed it. I swallowed hard before injecting the medicine into his body, hoping I didn’t seem like some kind of awkward, uncomfortable intern. Relief ushered in as I finished with no apparent negative consequence.
Dante spoke as I handed him back the empty plunger. “You know who I am.”
“Yes.” What else was I supposed to say to that? For all his knowledge, and from what I knew of his individual training, and what I could guess from his resources, I felt his response was pretty stupid.
“How?”
I snorted. “You don’t seem to know a lot about us, or the Sinisters, or anything. Why does it surprise you that we might have a few tricks up our sleeves?”
Dante’s gaze drifted over to his son’s limp body. “I know more than you think.” He glanced back at me. “I know much about the paranormal, for example. I know you are a kind of warrior. An Astroneshama, in the language of the stars, if I am not mistaken.”
Hearing that made my heart skip a beat. “You know about that?” I asked.
“Yes.” He turned around and began to walk out the door. “Which is why, for the moment, I am going to let you go.”
“Why?”
“The Sinisters, as you call them, are a new breed of supernatural power. Their patterns do not match our registry of alien anomalies or paranormal outliers. Their arrival is even very different from previous encounters of fallen stars–”
“You mean there are more of us?” I asked.
Dante glanced back at me. “You have much to learn, it appears.”
Anger bubbled up inside of me; I knew it was a cold, calculated assessment of my skills, and he was glad to make me upset. The little smirk on his face said it all.
“As I was saying, the Sinisters are a new and dangerous breed of demons so far as we have recorded. We have reason to believe they are the Maybasayla, demons of the highest order, and it is beyond our human power to contain and destroy them.”
“So I’m allowed to leave as long as I’m useful?” I asked. It was the familiar chain of logic I’d seen used in FBI and/or CIA movies.
“You could put it like that,” Dante agreed. Just before he disappeared out of the door, he stopped. He gripped the door frame before he spoke again. “Take care of my son.”
And then he was gone.
I watched him disappear and felt confusion add itself to my frustration. Was I the only person in the world who didn’t really know of the Starlight Warriors or anything else which went with it?
I gritted my teeth. I’d have to worry about it later, I decided. Reaching down, I hauled up Mikey’s lagging behind and tossed him over my shoulders; I was glad to see my flightless wings at last proved useful, as they provided balance and support for Mikey’s body as I carried him. “Come on, Mikey, let’s go.”
Walking out of the black site and into the night-shrouded marina moments later was of very little comfort; I was glad to be free, but I still faced some trepidation in what was next to come.
To say I was a little disoriented at the time would be an understatement; while I’d been held captive, the city’s power had been disrupted. The darkening skies were full of stars and as they cloaked over the shadowed cityscape before me.
Glancing around, I tried to figure out exactly where I was. Elysian had mentioned we were close to the marina, and that was true; looking around, I could see some of Lake Erie’s harbor, as well as some of the Lakeview Observatory.
The observatory.
That was all it took for me to know where I was. I was in the Central Northern division of the city. The observatory had been built on the high, mountainous end of Lake County, about the same time as the Apollo City Time Tower.
As I turned to face the tall, white clock tower, a bright burst of energy lit up the night, like a powerful fireworks show.
“Well, I guess we know where everyone is,” I muttered. I was surprised when Mikey groaned in response. (Then again, I was used to some kind of commentary from my friends after I made my witty remarks. Was it a real stretch that he was semi-unconscious?)
Judging by the distance, it was about eight blocks away.
“Okay, here we go!” I tried for a moment to get my wings to work, thinking for sure this is when they would start to work. And then I would be able to fly, and life would get much easier.
Only to have the same bitter disappointments eat at me a moment later. Nothing! Nothing? I grumbled a bit and frowned up at the night sky, mentally berating destiny for the cruel trickery. There wasn’t even a squad car to try to steal from SWORD nearby.
Another blast of light shot up from the clock tower area. So I decided to grumble about my lack of movie life hacks later, and began running for the Time Tower.
*☼*
When I finally came upon the battle scene, I was an interesting mix of irritated and scared. Not only was Mikey starting to get unbearably heavy, but there were some idiot people craning their necks from behind dumpsters, around alleyways, and through broken windows. Like civilians had nothing better to do!
But as I shoved through a small crowd of bystanders, I could appreciate their stupidity a bit more.
The battle between guns and science fiction had erupted from the pages of fantasy to the horror of reality. Gunshots and surges of power whipped back and forth between the foes. Several cops were trying to keep the crowd of civilians at bay, while SW
ORD agents, much like their FBI counterparts, were in suits and even some had their shades on. Which had to be those night vision shades, all things considering.
I watched in disgust and terror as Celaena licked–yes, licked!–an agent, causing him to fall over as a cotton-like fluffiness protruding from his torso (his soul) was slicked up by the Sinister. Just like spaghetti, I thought. Gross. I am never eating spaghetti again.
Before I could completely formulate a plan to carefully dump Mikey’s body somewhere safe (behind the dumpster with some other goofy civilians would have to do for now), I was distracted a moment later when Elysian yelled. “Kid!”
I looked up to see Elysian ducking down towards me. A rusty rush of adrenaline jolted through me. It was time to fly.
“You’re just leaving him there?” Elysian asked me.
“What? We don’t have time to worry about it,” I declared. “Besides, he’s still in a coma. The best thing to do would be to beat the Sinister who had him under her power, isn’t it?”
“Euh. All right, we can do that.”
I could tell from his tone it wasn’t what he would’ve done, but who cared? I mean, really. All seven Sinisters were unleashing their own little corner of the underworld on the SWORD agents and the rest of the city. We had to act fast. “What? We just have to make sure we don’t let anything hit the building or anything.”
Elysian rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, we’ll do it your way.”
“Good.” I jumped up and grappled with a pair of his horns, letting a sweet moment of brief nostalgia overtake me as we took flight. It was good to be back, I admitted.
Starry Knight was ahead of us, fighting off a number of them with her bow and her other well-honed fighting skills. She nodded when she saw me, sending a rush of awareness down my spine. She turned her attention to the Sinisters above her. I had no doubt her eyes were searching for the sinister who was pulling the puppet strings. “There!” she cried out, pointing to Alcyonë, the green sinister.
Elysian and I exchanged a quick glance and a silent agreement passed between us. I hurried to climb up Elysian’s back and launch myself at the angry-looking Sinister.
Alcyonë was surprised as I tackled her in mid-air; my momentum carried us to a nearby apartment building. I grunted as we smacked into a window. (In movies, the windows usually break, so I was more than a bit upset at this.) We stumbled onto a fire escape and the punches began to fly.
Suddenly, Starry Knight screamed.
That was probably the last thing either Elysian or I had been expecting.
My eyes darted up to find her. I immediately lost focus, and saw two of the other Sinisters, the yellow one–Asteropy–and the orange one–Elektra–had managed to take hold of Starry Knight, one on each side. “Starry Knight!” I called out.
“Don’t be a moron! Don’t worry about me!” she called back.
As if to prove to her point, Alcyonë cackled and managed to push me from behind, sending me over the fire safety railing.
“Kid!” Elysian was shouting at me, but I knew he would be too late.
I grazed across the sidewalk with a sickening scrape. Fortunately I wasn’t too scratched up. “I’m okay,” I moaned, trying to sound strong even though I knew I sounded more like a nincompoop.
“That boy is a complete idiot.” From the tone of his voice, Orpheus had been clearly thinking the same thing.
I flinched. I hadn’t even noticed him.
Starry Knight, while she may have agreed with him, glared at him from between her Sinisters captors. “Who are you to call that judgment?”
“Are you bothered more by the fact that I called him an idiot, or that I was judging him at all?” His dark eyes maliciously glittered as they watched her. “Rumors say that the lovely Lady Justice, the Guardian Star, has returned,” he told her.
Elysian let out a disbelieving roar! at his words, even as he found himself surrounded by four Sinisters who were bent on destroying him. Picking myself up, I stumbled over to him. “What’s your problem, Elysian?”
Before he could explain, Starry Knight laughed before straightening up under the hold of Asteropy and Elektra. “Was that all this was about, Orpheus? You wish to see if I was the one that you were looking for?”
Orpheus felt a fury burn within his gut, but he gritted his teeth and muttered, “You dare laugh at me?”
“Oh, I would not dream of doing so,” Starry Knight assured him. Even from where I stood, I was able to watch as her eyes went from hard to soft. “It is not funny at all that you are in such a state as you are, considering who you once were.”
As Orpheus charged up his own brand of power, his bumbling charges all turned to face him. “What does she mean by that, Orpheus?” Elektra spoke up curiously.
I watched as some of the SWORD agents were using this time to radio in their contacts. Nothing good was coming, that was for sure.
“Yes, I don’t even know what she is talking about,” Asteropy muttered, displeasure emanating from her very words.
Elysian took the initiative. He let out a fiery blast of celestial fire, breaking through their conversation and driving them back. Seeing this as a chance to escape, Starry Knight took flight. “Thanks, Elysian,” she replied as she hovered behind us.
Elysian turned to her. “When this battle is over, Starry Knight, there are questions I would like for you to answer.”
She was about to reply (most likely with a rejection of such a request) when a sonic bomb rang out from the street.
“Augh!” My wingdings curled around my ears, saving my eardrums from breaking. I squinted up to see I wasn’t the only one who was affected; Elysian snarled and swiped out his claws, and the Sinisters were apparently paralyzed by the piercing noise.
The windows to several surrounding building cracked, and the SWORD agents, who clearly had prepared for this, moved into formation.
Taygetay, a moment later, sliced down from the sky, and swiped at the device, setting it off.
“Now!”
Another pop! and an electrified net reached out, covering up her body and sealing it. I barely watched as her reddish arms thrashed helplessly at the mesh.
I released my ears and tried to go and tame Elysian, who was still upset by the echoing attack. “Elysian!” I called, grabbing a hold of his nose and trying to get him to still. “It’s all right now.”
He roared again, and I felt a tug of sympathy despite myself. Good to know he had his own weaknesses, I thought. “Are you okay now?”
The monstrous body of my changeling dragon visibly relaxed. “Yes. Let’s hurry and help Starry Knight,” Elysian agreed a moment later.
“Good idea. The SWORD agents seem to be distracted.” I nodded to the scene behind me. “Looks like they got Taygetay.”
Elysian snorted. “I’ll be surprised if they manage to keep her. She’s the Sinister of Rage, and there’s a reason she is considered one of the more deadly ones.”
“At least they seem to know how to fight her,” I remarked. “You don’t think Starry Knight had the right idea trying to blow up everything, do you?” But even as I said it, I knew I had done the right thing in stopping her. “There must be another way to beat them.”
“You’re right. There is.”
“Huh?” I turned around to see a new face behind me.
In my most honest moments (which were still relatively few), had never thought I would meet anyone quite as beautiful as Starry Knight. And now, looking up at the strange girl who’d appeared before me for no known reason, I still held to that belief. But the girl in front of me came astonishingly close.
Her green eyes were gentle–something that automatically made me like her. Her hair, a pretty shade of blond, was loose and flowing all around her. She wore a glittering circlet of what looked like stars on her head. And when my gaze met hers, she smiled.
I didn't think it was possible at first (I really should have known better by now) she had come to see me. But she looked at me before anyon
e else.
“Who are you? Do I know you?”
The crystal green eyes sparkled in confirmation. “Yes, at last we meet again,” she said. “My name is Aletheia, the Guardian of Memory.”
“I–”
“I know very well who you are,” the girl assured me. “Do you want to fight against the evil in this world?”
“Yes.” There was no question in my mind about that. It just sounded a bit dumbfounded because of the unexpectedness of the situation.
Aletheia nodded. “Do you trust in the power that has been given to you?”
“Hasn’t failed me yet.”
The eyes remained bright, but somehow seemed more serious all of a sudden. Aletheia pulled out. “Then it is my privilege to give you your sword.”
A stream of lightning slashed out from the space between her hands, and lit up in the shape of a sword. Elysian gaped at the sword. “It can't be!” he exclaimed softly, unbelievably.
I just stared at it. It was unlike any sword I'd ever seen in my life. It was so much cooler.
The hilt and blade had a simple design, but an elegant one. The blade was double-edged, very sharp, long and surprisingly thick. There were small, intricate carvings along the blade and down to the hilt; the hilt itself was masterfully created, shaped into a pair of wings.
I reached out and took hold of it. It was light and strong in my hands, perfectly suited to me, almost like it was designed for me (which I remembered, probably was).
“This is the Sealing Sword. It has the power to cut through the darkness, and capture the heart of the Sinisters. You are its master now, a great honor and sacrifice.”
“It’s mine? No strings attached?” I asked as I lovingly looked over my new sword.
Aletheia frowned. “There are always consequences to our choices, Wingdinger–consequences we cannot always fully see.”
I guess that means yes, I thought, slightly aggravated.
Aletheia smiled and looked past me to Starry Knight. I followed her gaze, only to see Starry Knight, broken free from her captors and paused in her fighting, watching us. Starry Knight’s gaze slowly shifted to only me, and then looked away, stricken. Her expression was funny and disturbing all the same; her violet eyes were wide and her lips were slightly parted, as though she could not believe what she had just seen.