Heretical Edge

Something was very wrong with Charmeine. She was diseased, cursed, magically afflicted, possibly even enslaved by some sort of omniscient, mysterious power. Her mind had been twisted, unseen hands working their way through her soul as they bent her to their will. She could feel their endless work shifting her priorities, her memories, her choices toward their own. And yet, though a part of her railed against these manipulations, howling and hissing to be set free, she could no more evade this control than a small mammal could escape its cage by pounding its head repeatedly into the bars. She was trapped, contained within these… these… feelings.

Yes, despite all her efforts otherwise, Charmeine, Olympian member of the Seosten Imperium, an infiltrator and assassin whose list of successful eliminations could easily be matched against that of any other in the entire known universe, was worried about the safety of a human child.

What in the eye of the Void and all of its flailing, screaming lost souls was wrong with her?

Those thoughts and more continued to swirl around the dark-skinned Seosten woman’s mind as she paced back and forth inside the house that she had spent so much of these past few years in. A house she had purchased next door to the Chambers’ own home, while convincing her superiors that it was in their best interests for her to keep a close eye on the girl. Not that long term undercover missions were in any way unusual for her. Particularly now that she wasn’t tied to the Olympus itself. Though now that the… girl had been taken in by Crossroads, there had been a little noise about reassigning her somewhere else. She had, however, convinced them that she needed to continue to watch over Lincoln Chambers in case his wife made contact now that their daughter was being taken in by the Boschers. That would keep them off her back for some time, at least. And if they started getting even more pushy about it, well, she’d deal with that when the time came. If it meant going completely off the grid for a little while, so be it.

But none of that changed the fact that she was having such odd and impossible feelings. A human. A human child. A stupid, ignorant, absurd little human girl, barely more than an infant, had somehow managed to get under Charmeine’s skin. This Felicity Chambers made Charmeine feel things she hadn’t in…. in longer than she could remember. Between her and Sariel’s own daughter being--well, so very Sariel, it was a combination she couldn’t hope to escape. Felicity and Tabbris, two stupid children whom Charmeine shouldn’t even think twice about when they were right in front of her, let alone now that they were off on their own.

On their own. Void, fuck, landīca, those two were on their own. They were alone out there. If anything went wrong, if they were discovered, if they did anything stupid and got caught, it would be incredibly difficult for Charmeine to get to them in time to help before things spiraled too far out of control. Especially given how closely Felicity was going to be watched by multiple groups.

Pacing so much she was all-but wearing a hole in the floor of her own stupid human living room with its stupid carpet and stupid paintings and stupid television in the stupid corner where Felicity and Tabbris had convinced her to use playing games of stupid Mario Kart as a reward system for those times when they actually managed to impress her or showed themselves to be capable of following directions semi-competently, Charmeine almost decided to call the whole thing off and extract Tabbris and Felicity right then and there. It had been two days, two days. They had to have fucked something up by then. What if they were hurt? What if they had been magically contained, prevented from calling for help? What if this whole thing had become a disaster?

Only one thing prevented Charmeine from either doing that, or simply using their established emergency communication method to demand an update. And that was the fact that if she did either of those things, she would be forced to tell those two that she was worried about them. So worried that she had actually broken protocol just to check in. Gods, when she imagined the looks they would have on their stupid faces, it made her want to scream and punch something.

No. There had to be another way, a way to check and assure herself that they were safe without actually seeing that smug look on their faces. A spell. She could use a spell to find out if they were actually in danger, and do something about it if so. Charmeine had never been the most patient with magic, particularly the advanced, non-combat variety. But this couldn’t be that difficult. And it wasn’t as though she had anything else to do with her time at the moment.

Yes, that would work. Giving a decisive nod to herself, the woman crossed through her living room one last time, ignoring the visible circle she had left in the carpet from pacing so much. Her fingers danced over the bookshelf until she found the one she was looking for and plucked it out. But inside weren’t actual pages. Instead, when she opened the book, there was a hollow space with a small crystal nestled within. She took that crystal, which contained thousands of spells that she had managed to secretly store away the last time she visited Manakel’s archives, and ran a search for the type of spell she was looking for. A spell that would allow her to check on those two ridiculous children without them knowing she was paying any attention to them at all.

There, she found it. Even as the images of the spell in question began to fill her mind with various warnings and conditions, Charmeine shut it down and focused on the components themselves. All she had to do was hold the crystal and think about that spell, and the list came into her mind, images of how the runes should be created, in what order, how they should be empowered, and more. And other warnings, but she didn’t care. It was a simple spell. She did check to make sure there was nothing about allowing others to notice her checking in on those two, but the warning was just about ‘locating the correct target throughout the universe.’ Which was idiotic. Of course she could locate the correct target, it wasn’t as though there was more than one Felicity Chambers being possessed by Tabbris, daughter of Sariel. Don’t be absurd.

Over the next hour and change, Charmeine put the spell together according to the crystal’s directions. She had to add a bit of extra oomph to it, since Crossroads itself was located in a pocket universe adjacent to this one. Just to be on the safe side and make absolutely certain she could actually reach that separate space, she made sure to provide the spell with several times as much power as it actually required. Why not? She had plenty stored up in various crystals from the past decades. Again, she didn’t regularly use that much fancy, demanding magic.

Sitting cross-legged in the unused pantry room directly in the middle of the runes she had drawn, Charmeine activated the spell and prepared herself. According to what she had read, the spell would indicate whether Felicity and Tabbris were in danger, and in how much, then give her the option to go directly to them if need be. Not that she honestly expected the latter to come into--

Danger. Life-threatening danger. The feeling, the impression, the certainty of that flooded Charmeine’s mind the very second she began using the spell. Whatever was going on, Felicity and Tabbris were in desperate, immediate, life-ending danger. How--why--what-- it didn’t matter. The absolute certainty that the two of them were about to die if she didn’t do something leapt straight into her head and took over every thought she had. The spell made that much clear. She had only seconds to act, if that. In that moment, Charmeine didn’t consider the extra power she had used, or how odd it was that she would happen to check on them literally seconds before they were killed. She didn’t consider any of that. There wasn’t time for that sort of delay. All she could do was focus on the second part of the spell, the conditional teleport. Whatever had happened, she would scream and rant at those two later, once they were safe. Right now, she had to get there, kill whatever or whoever was threatening them, and pull them out of it safely.

At the instant that the transportation part of the spill kicked in, Charmeine had the abrupt thought that it seemed to be using an awful lot more power than it should have. It had managed to not only use up all the excess energy she had provided already, but it was also pulling from the rest of the crystals she had stored in this home. That wasn't right. Why would it need all that power for what amounted to a simple hop into the adjacent Crossroads space? This was something else.

But she didn't have time to consider that for long. Space twisted around her, and it was too late to change anything. Suddenly, she was falling through a seemingly endless pit. Images flashed around her too quickly to actually process. She saw people, places, stars exploding throughout the sky. She saw worlds spinning through space, and creature-filled oceans passing before her eyes. She saw everything, every possible thing that had ever been or could ever be, in an instant.

It was over just as quickly as it had started. The sensation of falling concluded with an actual fall, as Charmeine dropped through the ceiling of a room and landed on the floor in a crouch right next to the idiot human child she had found herself so worried about. Felicity was there, lying helpless with obviously injured legs. Someone had hurt the human girl quite badly, that much was for certain.

Someone hurt Felicity Chambers.

She barely had time to register that much before feeling the approach of another figure, someone bearing down on Felicity very quickly. They were approaching with the obvious intention of grabbing the girl. That was all Charmeine needed to know. Before anything else could happen, even as the approaching figure seemed to notice her abrupt arrival, she rose and pivoted. The thought of that stupid human being hurt filled her mind with rage and ignited a fire inside the woman. A fire that burned hot in the pit of her soul before erupting into blazing flames that spread into her rising arm. An arm that lashed out and up, fist colliding with the face of the approaching figure. He had frozen at the sight of her, recognizing the woman just as she lashed out at him. He had time to get half of her name out of his mouth before her fist collided with it in a blow that took the much larger figure off his feet and sent him across the room to slam into the far wall.

Charmeine was moving so quickly then, her body following the motions automatically, that her brain had only just begun to process the familiarity of the man's face even as she was already pivoting toward the other threat. A threat that was also familiar, though that familiarity was similarly ignored in that instant. Her hand lashed out, the motion of her fingers summoning a blade that went singing through the air. Like the first threat, this second one was momentarily distracted by her appearance. Too distracted, just for an instant, to evade her knife before it sliced through his shoulder and drew blood. Which was enough for the spell on the blade to activate, transporting the man several miles away, where he wouldn’t be an immediate danger.

Only then, while the first man, and much greater threat, was still crashing to the floor, did Charmeine take in any details of the room. And once she did, she almost froze. This was part of a blood vault. No, it was part of the blood vault, the one her people had been trying to break into for so long. How in the void had Felicity and Tabbris managed to stumble their way into it already? More importantly, how had they drawn the attention of these two? The man she had teleported away with that knife was Radueriel, and the one just now bouncing off the floor was Abaddon. Neither of them were even supposed to be on Earth! This was all wrong. Something very drastic and confusing had happened. But she didn't have time to consider what it could be, or how any of this could've come about. Nor did she have time to consider the true ramifications of what she had just done. She had taken Abaddon by surprise, but when it came to a straight fight, she was under no illusions that she could win. Charmeine was an assassin. Her primary strength came from attacking and finishing a fight before her opponent even knew there was one. Abaddon was one of the strongest frontline soldiers they had. Once he picked himself up, there wouldn't be a chance. She had to grab Felicity and get out of here before that happened. Answers could come once they were safe.

To that end, she grabbed the girl by the arm. A strange expression crossed the human’s face then, hand rising as though to push her away. But Charmeine was having none of that. She held the girl tighter while producing another teleportation knife. Seeing that made the idiot human child start thrashing around even more violently, shouting something about this being impossible.

“Both of you be still!” Charmeine snapped before triggering the spell on her knife. There was no time for subtlety or permission, not when Abaddon was already lifting himself up into a motion to leap that way. He had triggered his own boost, and would be right on top of them in an instant.

There was a part of her mind that registered just how badly these past few seconds had gone. In an instant, she had completely thrown away her life with her own people. Radueriel and Abaddon had obviously recognized her. They knew who she was, who had attacked them. They would tell others. She couldn’t go back to the fleet now, not after stepping in to save Felicity and Tabbris. But then, if she hadn’t stepped in, they would have been forced to expose her involvement anyway. No matter what she did, nothing would be the same now. She’d made her choice, not just in this second, but across these past few years when she had actively worked to help train those two and prepare them for the job of infiltrating Crossroads to eventually save both Sariel and the human woman, Joselyn. This wasn’t how she’d expected her public announcement of that choice to come about, but there was no second-guessing herself now. It was done, and she was moving on.

In her rush, first to identify the room they were in and the immediate threats, then to escape those threats, Charmeine had ignored the other two figures on the far side of the room. But just then, before the transportation spell could take hold, those figures managed to lunge closer. They never would have made it anywhere near the Seosten woman if she hadn't been devoting so much of her attention toward the incredibly dangerous Abaddon. Considering how little time she was planning on spending here, those other two were dismissed as essentially inconsequential.

But they weren't, not right then. From the corner of her eye, just before the transport activated, those two figures lunged into its range. No, she realized abruptly, only one figure was lunging. The other was being dragged along for the ride. Which became doubly true just then, as the spell activated. Just like that, Charmeine, Felicity (with Tabbris inside), and the other two figures were transported out of that vault and sent several miles away, in a different direction than Radueriel.

They appeared in a vacant lot behind some old building. Precisely where didn’t matter. Not when there were a couple stowaways to deal with before Charmeine could get some actual answers.

Even as they arrived, she was already rising, hand leaving Felicity’s arm as she pivoted that way. It was the Lie, the one that had been working with Manakel. That was who had lunged at her and been pulled into the transport, dragging some unfamiliar human girl along with for some reason.

More importantly, this wasn’t just any Lie. This was Kushiel’s daughter, which might present an opportunity, even if that woman had thrown the child away in disgust at her condition. But first, she had to be properly contained before she could do anything to alert Manakel about where they were.

And yet, even as she began to reach for the girl, a hand grabbed her arm tightly. She looked down to find Felicity clutching her with a look on that face that Charmeine had only seen when the girl spoke about what she was going to do to Fossor for taking her mother. It was a look that promised swift, deadly retribution. A look of such righteous anger that seeing it directed at her made Charmeine freeze up. Which was only made worse as the human spat the words, “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

That was enough to make the Seosten freeze up, frowning in confusion while allowing the Lie to pick herself up. Which she followed by helping that other human to her feet, both of them taking a step away before the Lie spoke in a voice that was equal parts curious and rather disturbed. “Does this mean Mama might come back to life in a few months as well? Is this something all members of the Olympus are capable of? Will Manakel follow suit?”

Mama? Manakel? What--why were they--

“How?” That was Felicity again, her voice catching slightly as she rose and stared in disbelief and anger directly at Charmeine herself. “How did you come back? You can’t--you were--you’re dead! You’ve been dead!”

What? Why would--the confused rush of thoughts ran through Charmeine’s mind like water through a geyser. Memory tampering? Could Felicity have been discovered immediately somehow, and spent the past couple days having her memories adjusted? No, that didn’t make any sense. There wouldn’t be any reason to do that, let alone any particular benefit. But why would she think Charmeine was dead, let alone look at her like that, with so much anger and distrust? It was a look that hit the Seosten woman like a blow to the gut. She never wanted Felicity to look at her like that. Not after all they had been through, all the training and preparations. But why…

It came to her then, in a rush. The strange amount of power the spell had used in transporting her, the warnings she had ignored about locating the ‘correct’ person, the reactions from all these people, every unfamiliar aspect of this entire situation. She knew what had happened.

“Fuck my life,” Charmeine snapped, her voice filling the otherwise lingering silence that had settled over them in the seconds since Felicity had demanded answers. “You’re not my Felicity.”

“Your Felicity?” The girl in question couldn’t have snapped those words with more disbelief if she had tried. “What the hell are you talking about? How did you come back? What do you want? Where did you take us? What--?” She was looking around wildly as though only just realizing they were somewhere new.

But Charmeine was barely listening. She was too busy reeling. She hadn’t transported herself to her Felicity and Tabbris, because they had never been in danger to begin with! This was--she had--the spell had simply found some version of those two who were in danger and sent her to them in that moment!

Slowly, she looked around, taking in the people surrounding her as though seeing them for the first time. Felicity, Kushiel’s daughter, and the human girl. All of them were staring at her uncomprehendingly. Of course they were. They didn’t have the pieces of the mystery that she had. And even with those pieces, she still felt lost.

Letting out a long breath, she rose to her full height and slowly cracked her neck while all those eyes were on her. “Felicity,” she began simply while trying to keep her voice as even and nonthreatening as possible (a relatively new experience), “is Tabbris with you?”

Before the other girl could respond, a glowing figure appeared next to her, as the child in question stepped out of her. Felicity quickly grabbed Tabbris to stop her from moving any closer, both of them staring in shock. Sariel’s daughter managed a weak, “How… how did you come back?”

Ignoring that question and what it implied, Charmeine simply allowed herself a moment of relief that this version of Tabbris was safe too. Her next question for Felicity came before she had even considered it. “Were you blood-bonded to me?”

That made the girl do a sharp double-take, eyes widening. “What?! No! What are you--huh?”

“That’s what I thought,” Charmeine muttered darkly. This was a problem. She had no idea how to find her way back to her own world, her own universe. Somehow, the spell she had used had brought her to this other one. She couldn’t even explain exactly how it had done that to begin with, let alone reverse it. And the crystal with the spell knowledge in it was back in that other world.

Dropping her gaze to the ground, she took a moment to consider all that. Then she gave a dark, humorless chuckle before looking up once more. “Well, in that case we have a lot to talk about.

“But if you don’t mind, I’d like to start out by screaming in a corner for a few minutes.”