The Generator: The Succubae Seduction (88 page)

“I’m sorry, but we’re sworn to secrecy,” I tell Areth for what feels like the umpteenth time after greeting everyone in the large round room. Technically, only Emmet and Alloria demanded secrecy from us, but Brooke and I agreed to keep their secret.

“So you just walked in there, had a long chat with her, and she gave you the token?” Areth flutters in front of me, her hands on her hips. “Did you do something really perverted? You’re really bad at doing perverted things, sometimes.”

I know where she’s coming from, but why does she have to be so loud about it? I see the elf and knight blushing furiously. I hope no one is looking their way.

“Only two tokens left, young generator,” Gaia says, coming up out of the floor. Alloria rushes to the Earth Mother, and gives her a fierce hug. Gaia pats her head, but her eyes are on Emmet. There is no doubt she knows what happened, and that she’s not happy about it. When the elf pulls away, Gaia faces me, and I can see that some of the strain is gone from her eyes. Is that because of the energy I gave her earlier, or because my daughter and Angela are getting a grasp on their powers? “I believe those two may be your easiest ones yet, though I’m a bit worried.”

My heart sinks as I hear those words. “Why? What’s wrong?” I demand.

“Hear her out,” Becky says. I turn to look at her.

“Angela already sent over a token of her power,” Gaia states, holding up a small golden phoenix, “but there has been no word from the new Pillar of Air.”

“Lysa?” I ask, barely aware of Brooke’s fingers entwining in mine. “But you would know if something happened to her, right?”

Mother Earth grimaces, and I see a different weariness enter her eyes. “I can only see what happens on the ground. Air’s demesne has very little ground in it, and I haven’t been able to see your daughter since she left.”

“But wouldn’t you be under greater strain if she was. . . .” Brooke cuts off, looking worriedly at me. I know what she was going to say anyway. If she was killed.

“She’s not dead,” Gaia reassures us. “And I can feel her taking charge of her powers. She hasn’t responded to any of my emissaries, however.”

“That’s because I’ve been busy procuring these,” my daughter’s voice, so like her mother’s sweet tones, breaks the air.

We all spin at once as a slow breeze enters the room. Dirty-blonde hair billows as a thin woman in flowing robes floats in just as we’d been talking about her.

“Lysa!” I exclaim, rushing to her.

“Stop!” she commands, and suddenly I’m bowled over backwards by a powerful blast of air. “Crap, sorry!” she cries as I try to get the room to quit spinning around me. “I’m still trying to get used to my power.”

“Wow, Lyden, that’s your daughter alright,” Jennifer crows as she laughs. “She even avoids swearing like you do!”

“Do that again!” Areth cries right afterwards. “That was fun watching the dolt get blown around.”

Finally I’m able to get my vision straightened out and see what I should have seen before. In Lysa’s arms are a bunch of sword hilts, but there are no blades.

“What are those?” Jewkes asks, pointing to the hilts.

Lysa beams. There is no mistaking her as Lisa’s daughter with that smile. “I had these swords made. The blades are made out of air. There is nothing sharper.” She sets the items on the ground, and I can see that the invisible blades gouge the solid rock of the floor. Before I have a chance to marvel at this wonderful gift, the Pillar of Air’s arms are around my neck, and I’m buffeted from all angles as she hugs me.

“Are you doing okay?” I ask her as my arms enfold her. She is literally lighter than air.

“I was terrified at first,” she confides in me. “But I remembered watching you move on through terrible things, and come out stronger, Dad. I had to do my best.”

My chest fills with warmth as she calls me Dad. Unbidden, my arms tighten around her as I hug her tighter.

“How are you able to leave your own domain so soon after taking the mantle?” Gaia asks.

Lysa actually giggles as she pulls away from me. “I’m a child of two minds,” she states easily. “When I realized it was all a matter of the way I think, controlling this power became easier.” She turns to look at me again, and I see her cheeks turn red. “Sometimes my emotions get in the way, though.”

“Lysa?” a tremulous voice intrudes, and we turn to see Becky approach us uncertainly. The short brunette seems to fight with herself for a moment before finding her resolve. “I’m Becky. I knew your mother very well.”

Becky had been angry with me for creating Lysa, and now I wonder what she’s feeling as she faces her dead roommate’s fully grown daughter.

Looking at the new Pillar, I see a tear slowly roll down her cheek, unaffected by the swirling wind around her. “If it’s not too much to ask,” Lysa says, and she is suddenly just as hesitant as Becky had been, “I would like to call you Mother, since—“

She doesn’t get to finish the sentence as Becky dashes forward and hugs my daughter. “Yes. I would like that!” she cries as the two women hold each other.

I have to fight my own emotions from overwhelming me as I watch the two, until Gaia interrupts my thoughts with a whisper in my ear.

“You have all the tokens you need,” she whispers to me. “Now it’s time to face the Outsider, and your death.”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Chapter 33

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Varun and the Outsider

“You now have all the tokens you need,” Gaia whispers to me. “Now it’s time to face the Outsider, and your death.”

The lead weight that fills my stomach is enough to make me nauseous. I want to sick up. I want to go to my room and just go to bed, forgetting about all the troubles in the world. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to go up against either Outsider, Aldol and its new ally, and likely lose one or more of my friends. I’ve already given up too much. All of the blood, sweat, and tears. Lisa’s life, though I can’t directly tie that to Aldol. All of it seems to weigh me down in this one moment.
It’s too much
, I want to scream.
I never asked for this!

“Everyone gather around,” I croak past a throat that doesn’t want to cooperate. I have to repeat myself to be heard over everyone else, but this time they look at me. Once again my voice flees as numerous eyes look to me expectantly. What am I even going to say to them? How about, thanks for everything you’ve already done, but now I need you to put yourselves at risk while I try to live long enough to take out the light monsters. Monsters that have made my life nearly unbearable.

Thankfully I have these friends with me to help me through.

Looking into Brooke’s loving eyes, Becky’s intelligent ones, Sheila’s trusting gaze, and even Areth’s excited ones, I know I can’t tell them that I can’t live past the final battle. None of them will understand the necessity. I have to die, so that there can be peace.

“Lysa,” I say, facing my daughter. I have to swallow the sudden lump in my throat as her mother’s eyes regard me. “I can’t thank you enough for the gift of these swords.” I gesture to the hilts with invisible air blades.

“Oh don’t be so formal!” Jennifer yells, and there are a few titters of laughter around the room. I can’t help but smile, glad that some of the tension has seeped away.

“You’re right,” I tell the woman whose chest could almost rival the Empire State Building for grandeur. “Now that we have these weapons, and the talismans we need, it’s time to take the fight to Aldol. I, for one, am tired of running from the Outsiders. It’s time we take the fight to them and show them that these are our worlds. Prove to those creatures that we’re not going to idly sit by while they seek to destroy everything we hold dear.

“All of you have already made sacrifices in one form or another,” I say. I can’t help but notice the looks exchanged between Emmet and Alloria, nor how the elf rubs her stomach. I hope those two can cope with what they did. I also don’t miss Areth rubbing her behind. “We’ve lost friends, our ways of life—“

“Lost weight!” Jennifer announces, and I nod to her point. The woman had once been overly obese, but now has the body any woman in the adult industry would kill for. I still wonder how that happened. I’ll have to look into it if I ever get the time.

“Some of us have even lost our sanity for a bit,” I say with a smile, before adding, “or maybe that was just me.” There are more laughs than I think the joke deserves, but I’m still grateful for them. I get a few odd glances from those that weren’t around for my episode with Muramasa. “Regardless, we are here today to prove that no matter what the adversity, the Outsiders cannot win!”

I’m surprised by the volume of the cheering that suddenly erupts as I finish my speech, until I realize that most of it is coming from outside.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Gaia says, gliding forward, “but I went ahead and broadcast your words to every place that had ears to listen through my earth. It seems to have boost their moral. They’ll need it.”

“Then they’ll know we’re coming,” Becky says worriedly.

I pull the short brunette into a tight embrace, her head resting on my sternum. “It already knew,” I tell her. Turning to the dark skinned Pillar of Earth, I ask, “Any idea where the best place to attack will be, or where the monster is?”

The corners of Gaia’s lips dip down, and I already know I’m not going to enjoy her answer.

“The Pillar of Fire is already engaging the Myrmidons in her lands. She doesn’t have the loyalty of her subjects as TanaVesta did, and she’s being hard pressed.”

“Angela’s in trouble?” I gasp, grabbing the grip of Murasame. “We need to help her!”

“Not so fast,” she warns. I have to tamp down my anger at the rebuke in her tone. “Varun is also under assault. It seems the Outsider’s friend has influenced him enough that he is laying waste to his own subjects. Both threats must be squelched if our worlds are going to survive.”

For only a second I’m tempted to say Varun can go to hell for all I care, but I know Gaia is right.

“Why don’t the Outsiders control you?” Becky asks. I swallow a curse as I realize I’d never considered this.

“It’s the nature my mind as well as that of all Pillars takes that can protect us. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying your minds are weaker,” she tells the short brunette. “The very nature of the power we possess, changes us. Only if our minds have been weakened as Varun’s was by TanaVesta, can the Outsiders gain purchase and control. Or when we are new to our powers.” She nods to Lysa, who is wearing her amber colored glasses. “I don’t know how it took control of the previous Pillar of Fire, but Angela and Lysa should remain safe as long as they wear those glasses.”

“What about the Pillars of Light and Dark?” Becky asks next.

Gaia laughs softly before answering. “They are even older than I am. Neither one will be susceptible to the Outsiders. That’s why Aldol had to work through TanaVesta at first, to weaken this world, instead of just commanding us to commit suicide. Its power can seem absolute, but some of you know it can be fought.”

I glance at Becky, hoping she doesn’t still feel bad about how Aldol had controlled her and almost killed me. From the steely determination in her eyes, I see her mind is working through other things, assimilating what the Pillar of Earth said.

“You might be surprised to find that Marchosias is fighting against the Pillar of Water,” Gaia adds in. I have to stop myself from swearing. I still hold a grudge against the demon for what he subjected us to in his nightmare world. “Also, many of the denizens of Darkness have come forward to fight for the Outsider in both realms. The Outsider has either lied to them, or is manipulating them towards its goals. Some of them relish chaos and fight for their own reasons.”

“Do you have any good news?” I snap, irritated more and more as things seem to be getting worse.

“We’re alive and still able to fight,” Lysa says. I turn to my daughter, eyes wide as I realize how much like her mother she just acted.

“You’re right,” I tell her, trying to hold back tears of pride. Whether it’s from the time she spent in my mind, or some supernatural ability of hers, she knows how I feel. I don’t mind the blustering wind as she hugs me tightly.

“Gaia,” I state, turning to face the woman, “can you send some of your forces to buttress Angela?” She nods, and I smile though there is no mirth in it. “If there are any that can help Marchosias, send those to him. I hate that monster for what he did, but as long as he’s fighting on our side, I’ll support him.”

“We should go help Marchosias,” Brooke says, indicating Ondine and Arethusa. “We can act as your eyes and ears there.” She pauses for just a moment before a twinkle enters her eyes. “That is, if you’re okay with that, General Snow.”

General
Snow?

“I don’t think—“ Thomas begins to argue, no doubt about staying with Ondine, but I cut him off.

“Remember what my father taught you, Thomas,” I tell him. “If there is a way for them to take you safely into their domain, go with them. Otherwise I could use your military expertise back here.” My father had told him that Ondine was the type of woman that needs to know her man is there for her, supporting her, not stopping her.

My old coworker looks from me, to Ondine, and back before swallowing visibly. “I didn’t make it very high in the ranks before getting out of the service,” he states, “but I’ll help out however I can.”

“Thank you,” I tell him before turning back to Gaia.

“We’ll go help your succubus,” Jennifer pipes up before I can say anything. “Come on, old man,” she elbows Jewkes in the ribs. “If you perform well enough, maybe I’ll let you get a better look at these tits you can’t stop staring at!”

From the police captain’s face, I can’t tell if he’s looking forward to the prospect, or unhappy about getting busted. Of course, he’s also married, so who knows.

“Blue,” I turn to the dragon sunning herself on the balcony, “go with them and keep them safe.” The dragon snorts in response, smoke coming from her snout, but stands up and waits for them. The randy woman and the hook-nosed man each pick an air blade from the pile to add to their rifle and shotgun, and then climb onto the dragon’s back.