Night Finds (8 page)

Sebastian kneels down beside me and I forget all about the fact there may be a hostile force greeting us. I close my eyes and listen to what the ground is saying. There is a plea for help that is coming in loud and clear, but I don't know what to do. I am not aware of some special healing ability in my tool belt.

“Let us help,” Sebastian says laying his hand on top of mine. Alex presses one of his hands to my cheek and I feel a tingly sensation. “We haven't really investigated our ability to share power, even after we felt how strong it was in the early days.  I think if we focus it into the ground, maybe it will jump start something.”

It is worth a try. I am not used to strong emotions and I can see myself becoming crippled by the ones I am picking up now. My eyes are still closed and I work to touch the place in my head that houses Sebastian. He can wall me off all he wants, but I am able to access him. Alex is a little harder because we aren't fully mated.

He senses my dilemma and moves his hand to place it over my heart. When I feel its warmth a new section of my brain lights up and a burst of something springs from my hands. I hear a few gasps, but I keep focused on the call from the earth. It probably only takes a minute before the dark cloud over my head passes and peace washes over me.

I feel that my work is done, so I open my eyes to look at a vastly different landscape. Trees that were nowhere to be seen have erupted from the earth. The burnt ground is green again and the air just smells cleaner. I can still feel far off cries of help, but in my direct vicinity, things are looking brighter. I don't know what happened, what I did, and why it magically happened now, but I am pretty sure it was some kind of miracle.

“Not really. We all have the ability to bring forth life from the dead, when need be. The trick is knowing when to use it,” Gabe announces close behind me. I spin around to face him.

“You,” Alex and Sebastian say at the same time. No. That is all I can say or think right now. No.

“It is nice to see you both again. I am also happy that you both helped trigger Nyx's trials. She could have breathed life back into the land without the assist, but the fact that she accepted your offer of help scores bonus points. Most people that earn their angel powers let the influence of the gifts go to their heads. Being able to ask for help tends to be low on their priority scale. Because of that, they have a tendency to burn out in the long run. Carrying the world on your shoulders has that effect.”

“Got it. Step one has started and I am doing great. Let's back up to the part where Sebastian and Alex both recognize you. When did you pay them visits, Gabe?”

“This is your angel?” Alex asks in disbelief. “I guess that makes a little sense. I didn't know his name was Gabe, though. During a dark period in my life, obviously a long time ago, he showed up and stopped me from firing into what I believed was a Collective house. It was a Collective house like my intel said, but the only people in residence at the time were a woman and her child. That was a wakeup call for me and led me to seek your father out. I realized it was time for me to grow up.”

“And look how well things have turned out for you,” Gabe says smiling.

“For me, he showed up just when I was about to move back to Europe for a century or two. I had been here in the States for a while and I was getting bored with the scenery. He introduced me to Night Owl City before it was even called that and told me that the city was going to be key in the future of all paranorms. For some reason I believed him and opened up Sins that year.”

“You manipulated them into staying close to me.”

“Not really. In both cases, you weren't even born. I bet you were a twinkle in your mother's eyes because she loved to plan ahead, but their paths weren't necessarily leading to you. It is just a happy coincidence that you all ended up finding each other.”

“Back tracking just a little again, you mentioned her trials had officially started. The whole bringing the dead back to life seems to be the first step, but I am curious about the others. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that she isn't...um,” Sebastian says hesitating.

“He thinks I am a whale and will have problems with any physical challenges you have in store for me,” I finish paraphrasing what I am sure would have been a very eloquent speech about me being huge.

The remark causes Gabe to laugh. “Whale isn't at all what he was thinking, but the rest of your statement is on track. The issue is a very temporary one and I don't foresee any problems. Sophia will be kept safe.”

Knowing Sophia, she introduced herself to Gabe the second he showed up. She won't talk to her mother, but crazy angel that just pops in is fine. I am going to have to teach her early all about stranger danger.

“Well, you have appeared and told us I probably passed my first trial. How about you fly off, so we can get on with our mission,” I recommend. Having the angel around makes me feel a little edgy.

“I think I should almost certainly stick around. An angel hasn’t been allowed to set foot in Faerie before and we would like to get the lay of the land,” he replies.

“Just all of a sudden like you think the present is a good time for this visit?”

“As the saying goes, there is no time like the present. We have previously been banned from passing through the veil, so any visit for tea has been difficult. With you being allowed entrance, at least while you are here, we can come and go as we please. We angels have a buddy system of sorts that throws out all of the rules in case we need to sweep in to offer assistance. We might use it to our advantage every once in a while.”

“Glad I can assist,” I respond thinking there are a lot of angel rules I will need to learn.

Now that things are more or less in order, I turn to find out just what kind of welcome wagon we received. I hope they brought a band, maybe a few parade floats.

No band. In fact, there are no extra people at all. Weird. I see our full mini battalion all just waiting for word on what they should do next, but no threat. I look to Hilda for answers. Now that is a funny thought.

“Why would you raise your hands in surrender if there wasn't a person standing by you with a gun to your head?”

“What?” she responds clearly confused. If she is going to pretend to be me, it is good that we are already experiencing the same general emotions.

“After you went through, we saw you raise your hands up in the air and it sure looked like someone didn't like you much on this side of the veil. Being the way you are, I thought for sure there was someone over here who didn’t like one of the potions you sold them.”

“Oh, that. I was just trying to reach out and find some help for the destruction. The inherent Fae magic is so weak now that I wasn't getting enough of a current to do anything. You, on the other hand, kicked butt. The remodel job you pulled off is amazing. You might need to stick around for a week or so to get everything back in order here.”

I see that happening never. This is going to be a hit it and get it mission. As we navigate towards our destination, I won’t deny the land my energy, but I am not going to go seeking out the dead spots. I am pretty sure this world is comparable to at least the size of Asia. I don’t have the kind of time right now to take care of an entire continent.

“Don’t worry. I am the only one meeting you, but we snuck a few more angels in the doorway and they will take care of the destruction. Maybe the Fae will finally realize that keeping us out doesn’t work in their favor,” Gabe states.

“How exactly do they keep you out of here? I thought you guys could do anything you wanted,” I say.

“In certain planes that is true. This isn’t one of them.”

“So, Angel Boy, you think you can just pop over and grab the pregnant one’s dad real quick so we can get out of here?” Hilda asks. That is a brilliant idea. We could just turn right around and I wouldn’t have to meet any of the crazy Fae.

“Hilda, I am charmed as always,” he says bowing slightly to show respect. I am hoping it is just something he does. “You know things don’t work that way. We have to sit back and let things play out.”

“I can always dream that one of these days you will take the easy route. I guess her highness should be introduced to more of her loyal subjects. I still cannot believe they let this place turn to crap. I may not get along with the majority of the natives here, but I did enjoy walking the land. Do you guys Upstairs get any kind of reports from here? It would be nice to know what happened.”

Gabe studies the land spreading out in front of us. I follow his gaze and see a large group of butterflies collecting and heading our way. They are just butterflies, so I don’t worry too much about them drawing weapons on us.

“No, we do not have any open lines of communication with this world. I have heard stories from long ago, but nothing recent. To clarify your thought on the butterflies, Nyx, they aren’t butterflies. They are pixies and I wouldn’t be too sure about them not having weapons. They aren’t known to be the friendliest of people.”

From the looks of things, there are at least fifty of the little buggers making their way to us. No matter what Gabe says, I cannot believe they are a threat. I bet Clyde would love to make chew toys out of a few of them. The pixies start making synchronized shapes, which are fairly amusing. It is like watching a marching band from the aerial blimp. I guess I kind of get the band I was requesting earlier. If I listen closely enough, their wings have a good beat.

One of the aerialists separates and flies closer and eventually lands on my shoulder. I don’t like the idea of one being that close, but it would probably be rude to just launch it across the field. Sebastian gets a bit tense, but keeps his cool.

“Are you the one that was sent to save us?” a small female sounding voice whispers into my ear. If I didn’t have super eardrums, I doubt I would have been able to pick it up.

“I have no idea what you mean,” I reply and watch as the rest of her group hovers about three feet away from us. They seem to be waiting for something, but I have no idea what.

“But you made the world green again, yes?”

“Me and my friends did. I hope that isn’t a problem for you. The land wanted to be healed,” I explain.

“She is the savior,” the pixie announces and spirals off my shoulder into the air. The rest of her little friends start cheering.

“Okay, you guys seem happy and that is nice, but I am not a savior, so you can wipe that idea right from your little melons.”

“Let them have their moment. I don’t think things have been happy for them in a long time. You will find when you go around performing miracles, people often think of you as a savior of sorts. Every once in a while it is actually true. It is all about perception and right this second, you are their knight in shining armor,” Gabe says.

“I thought you said they weren’t friendly. They don’t seem all that malicious to me.”

“Oh, he is right on that front,” Hilda responds. “I have run afoul of pixies in my day. It is just the green grass making them high. Come back in a week and they will be back to their normal gruff selves.”

I will just skip that last idea, thank you very much. Now that a welcoming party of sorts has finally showed up, I hope we can get a move on it and meet up with this queen lady. Time is ticking.

Chapter 8

Mmm…nectar

The little winged ones have a different idea of how we are going to be spending the foreseeable future. “Come with us,” one squeaks. “You really should see all of the changes you have caused. We are alive again and the world is beautiful.”

Let’s just take a look at my calendar here. Whoops. Don’t think I have any time for a leisurely walk through nature. How sad.

“Your request is nice, but we do have a strict time table for our visit,” Sebastian says keeping me from being snarky.

“Who said it was a request?” I believe it is the one that landed on my shoulder asking the question. I cannot really tell. Their wings all look about the same. They are iridescent blue and they move rapidly as they keep the pixies in the air. I haven’t seen the people themselves. The wings account for over half of their height so they block everything.

From the sounds of things, I don’t think I will have to wait a week to get a taste of their real personalities. “We are on our way to meet up with Queen Adeline before getting on to what we really came here to do. That includes me kicking butt and getting my dad back from the jerks that are holding him hostage. I don’t know if you have noticed, but I am extremely pregnant here and tend to get moody for just the Hell of it, so I suggest not standing in my way.” If I really wanted to get into it, I would drop fangs and growl, but it is too much work.

“Oh, the savior is feisty. Can we keep her?” another miniature winged person says flying in close. They didn't bring enough backup to try to keep me around. With their petite size, I don't think a thousand of them would do much good.

“A baby,” the original speaker, and apparent leader of this group, says as she flies in for a closer look at my stomach. “We haven’t seen new life born in a very long time. Just how long will it be before you give birth?”

“I don’t see it happening today, so I think you are out of luck. Does anyone know the way to this castle we are supposed to be going to?”

“Just a second, one of you short people said something about being alive again. I am curious what you mean by that remark,” Gabe asks stalling my plans to get on with things. I should have remembered he likes to talk. Maybe I should make the suggestion that it is time for him to head back Upstairs again.

“I don’t think Isabelle stuttered. When the land was dead, so were we,” the ringleader explains. “You don’t expect us to survive when there is no nectar to eat. Savior, do you like nectar? It seems we have plenty to offer you now. We can have a nice meal together. You can tell us more about yourself.”

Now they want me to come over for a meal. Nice. I look around and notice that there are a ton of flowers popping out of the ground. Things were green before, but the flowers weren’t there. They aren’t like anything I have seen in our world. The meadow Gabe has shown me is similar, but nowhere near as vibrant. It is an oil painting come to life. If I was into that kind of thing, I would take a closer look.