Harvest of the Gods (26 page)

Chapter Fifty-Two

Mrs. E and I spent a lot of time in the library searching through spellbooks, with coffee that Kirill always brought us and my constant companion Nick(my gray tabby). There had to be something there, some clue in those god-written pages that could help me find where Odin and Mr. T had gone and I was going to search until I found it. No one really bothered us, just as I'd expected, they were all too happy we'd found a way to deal with our grief together and they left us to it.

We found several references to the void but it wasn't until I found a book penned by Lucifer that I got any good details. Yes, Lucifer, the devil, Satan, the Morning Star, yada yada. I admit I was surprised too which is so ridiculous. Why would the devil be any different than any other god? I was intimate with the Angel of Death ferchrisakes, I should know better. Yet I felt kind of creeped out to be reading a book written by the Atlantean who'd got handed the role of Supreme Asshole. It probably wasn't even his fault.

The book was actually about Hell and the creation of it. How he'd gone around collecting information and allowing Hell to form as human belief forces god magic to but also how he shaped it into what he wanted it to be. The Devil had found the key to working with human belief and I wondered if he'd been the first to do so. I knew that god territories were influenced by humans and several aspects had to be just as the humans believed them to be because of the myths but the gods had found a way to create their own space, like how Hades had made a beautiful home inside his underworld.

The book implied that you could do almost anything if you worked with the human belief instead of just trying to go against it. It was brilliant and it kind of made sense to me that Satan would be so intelligent. He probably had a pretty good gig. He didn't have to do anything beyond caring for bad souls in the afterlife really, cause no one expected anything but evil from the Devil.

Then I remembered what Azrael had said about God, how he preferred to just sit around drinking wine all day. He had angels to do the actual work. So I guess either way, bad or good, in the Christian religion you didn't have to break a sweat unless you were an angel. I felt kind of bad for Azrael, he really had got the short end of the pitchfork.

Anyway besides all the talk about transforming territories, he also mentioned the void as a place where he'd taken inspiration from. He flat out said it was a realm only souls could enter, a place which had inspired not only him to create Hell but the Christian god to create Heaven. Well, he actually took credit for Heaven too, saying God was being lazy again and he had to suggest a few improvements but I wasn't sure if I could really believe Satan when he was taking credit for God's Heaven. I know, I know, I was letting human ideas cloud my thinking again but taking all that credit made the guy seemed kind of arrogant.

Mrs. E had been ecstatic when I showed her and she'd left immediately to see if she could procure any more works by Lucifer. I let her go with a smile on my face and that was how Samantha found me.

“Hey,” she said softly and settled into the couch beside me.

“
Hey,” I looked up and noticed how pale she was and that she had circles beneath her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“
Oh yeah,” she waved away my concern. “I just haven't been sleeping well. The stress of everything I guess.”

Then I remembered. It's funny how selfish pain can be, especially heartache. We forget everyone else we love, even when they're right in front of us and even, maybe especially, when we have the power to help them.

“Shit,” I swore. “Samantha, I forgot about the baby thing.”

“
Oh Vervain, don't even think about that right now.”

“
Honey, I wish I'd thought of it sooner,” I gave a choked laugh. “We could all use some good news and I think I might be able to give us some.”

“
You...” her eyes filled with just the barest glint of hope.

“
I took Demeter's power,” I grabbed Samantha's hands, “and I think I can help you with it.”

“
No,” she pulled away slowly. “Trevor told me the risks. Even if you could help me have a child, you may endanger another Froekn in the process.”

“
Have a little more faith in me than that,” I smirked and took her hands back. “When I took Demeter's magic, it showed me things, possibilities. How would you like to be the first woman to ever give birth to a completely Intare child?”

“
Intare?” She cocked her head at me. “You're going to make me Intare?”

“
No,” I gave her an encouraging squeeze. “I'm going to make your babies Intare.”

“
What?”

“
Every woman is born with a certain number of eggs. We don't make any more of them, they're just sitting there in our ovaries, right?”

“
Uh huh.”

“
So I can change them,” I smiled gently, “alter their basic structure to become a different type of god. Make a cat from a dog, if you'll forgive the base analogy.”

“
Make a cat from a... holy shit, you can really do that?”

“
I think so,” I grimaced, “but I'm going solely on what the magic is telling me so don't get your hopes up quite yet, you're
going to be the first one this has ever been done to.”

“
Okay,” she nodded and took a deep breath. “Do it, please do it.”

I nodded and didn't even think to hesitate. I let my magic rise up and flow through my fingers into her body. The cry of the crane filled me and the green potential of Spring rose up like new shoots through moist soil. I could smell the earth, feel the questing roots, and taste honeysuckle on my tongue. It was a joyous magic and I had the impression that it hadn't been allowed to be such in a long time. I found myself rejoicing along with it, caught up in the happiness of creation.

Then I could see inside Samantha and not in a metaphorical way but in an anatomical way. I saw her womb and went zinging with the magic into her ovaries. I sent the power into those potential babies and told them to change. If they wanted to be born, they had to become Intare, they had to be willing to be more than they were.

And oh how they wanted to be born. What cell doesn't long for more, for life?

There was no emotion in those little cells, just the need to live but that was more than enough. They changed, they accepted my magic and let the power alter them, do whatever it had to do to make life a possibility. The magic which had once belonged to Demeter was bright with happiness, finally back to doing what it wanted to do but I was surprised to find that it wasn't the only power in there. My lioness magic had decided to crash the party. If a new lion was going to be made, she needed to be a part of it. A cord seemed to form, connecting to my heart like all my Intare were connected to me but it hung suspended, waiting for the heart that it would attach to. By making this child Intare I had stolen a part of it and I felt a moment's trepidation that I had done something wrong but then I realized that either way, Intare or Froekn, this child would have been connected to more than just it's parents. It was a child of magic and it needed its source. I was more than happy to be that source.

The cells inside Samantha began to glow and I saw one break free and flow down a tube, waiting for its chance. A flash of light filled my vision as I felt the cord attach, even though life had yet to begin there. My magic knew those little cells were ours already, I was seeing the next Intare before it was even formed. I pulled back then but not before I'd caught a glimpse of a child's face, a child with pale brown skin and bright hazel eyes. Fallon's eyes.

“Your child is going to be so beautiful,” I whispered as I let go of Sam.

Samantha's eyes filled with tears and she launched herself into my arms. I. caught her with a whoosh of breath leaving me. Then we were both crying, and for the first time since Odin's death, it was tears of joy.

“Hey now,” I finally pulled back. “You'd better get to getting busy. Go make love to that fine lion cause I can't wait to see those hazel eyes in person.”

“
Hazel eyes?” She smiled wistfully.

“
Yeah, I know, right?” I laughed. “Fallon's going to be impossible. I can just hear him now going on about how the kid's got his eyes.”

“
Thank you, Vervain,” she kissed my cheek and stood. “You've been a good friend to me but this,” she shook her head, “this is beyond anything that anyone has ever done for me. I felt the bond form and I know that you've essentially taken magical responsibility for our baby. Thank you.”

“
You're very welcome,” I gave her a little push. “Now go get your man, that baby's waitin'.”

She ran out of the room and as she did, I felt the magic inside me expand. It was the first time I'd used Demeter's magic and it was like it had been waiting for that moment. Like all my magic had been waiting. My ears started to ring, my head spun, and I fell to the floor disoriented. My body was shaking, vibrating like a chord had been struck inside of it, and I couldn't make it stop. Then I realized that I didn't want it to stop.

It was like the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place, the final bolt tightened down. My three types of magic came together inside my chest, three spokes of white light meeting at the center. They connected with a resounding clang that set me to shaking all over again as light flared through my body, through every cell I had and even into my soul.

It seemed to hover in my chest, waiting like a star in the sky for something to shine down upon. Then from the shadows came my three beasts, running toward one another with such speed that they blurred into light. That light connected, forming another three-spoked symbol and then the light flared out again into me. When it finally softened, the symbol lifted up and turned till it was aligned with the first, then just kept flowing forward until it melded with the one in front of it, turning just slightly so that the spokes remained separate.

Then this new symbol flew backwards toward a third three-spoked symbol that hovered above my heart. I felt like it was the foundation for everything, that it had been there already, formed and waiting. My three aspects; Goddess, Human, and Faerie. Faerie had helped me accept that I was one being made up of three different races and that acceptance had melded them together, as everything
inside me should have been.

The six-spoked symbol turned and aligned itself with the last so that all the spokes would be separate and when it melded with the foundation, they all brightened to the point where I would have been blinded if I'd been using my physical eyes to see. As it was all inside of me, I could see clearly the separate spokes and how they widened and tapered, finally forming a nine pointed star.

The star settled back into my heart, beginning to pulse with each beat before sinking into the organ and disappearing completely. I knew it was still there though, that all of the pieces which had helped to form it were still alive individually inside of me. I could call them forth one at a time or use their combined force together. Melding hadn't changed them, it had changed me. Nine is the number of completion and the star was just a representation of what I'd become.

Complete.

I was Human, Goddess, and Fey. I was Wolf, Lioness, and Nahual. And now I was finally the Goddess of Love, Lions, and the Land. Three triple aspects. The power of three times three.

I started to laugh, rolling on the floor in merriment, until Trevor walked in and looked down at me with a horrified expression. Then I laughed some more.

Chapter Fifty-Three

So what did being complete mean? Was I more powerful? The supreme being? Insert laugh clip here. Hardly. I mean I had a new magic now but beyond helping Sam and making things grow, I really didn't know what to do with it. Were there responsibilities, things I may be overlooking like with Love? Demeter had hurt people with her power and I knew I didn't want to do that.

I had nightmares about her sometimes, nightmares about torturing her in which I'd remember all those little details that I'd blocked out. I'd see her kill Odin too, again and again but the worst thing about Demeter's death wasn't the nightmares, it was her daughter.

Persephone finally came to see me about two weeks after Odin's funeral. She said she'd been there but I honestly didn't remember. I hoped I'd said something nice to her and not been hurtful. She didn't deserve it and I didn't feel any anger toward her but sometimes grief made you say stupid things. She didn't seem to be upset with me though, so I figured it was alright.

To tell the complete truth, I didn't want to see her. I didn't want to feel guilt or anger or both, and I knew one of those would surely come along with Persephone's arrival. I was wrong though, something totally unpredictable happened instead.

She'd come in and hugged me, whispering that she was so sorry. I'd wanted to comfort her, my friend had just lost her mother after all, and when the thought entered my head, Demeter's magic rose in response. It rushed up to the surface and into Persephone like it had been waiting for her touch. She gasped and pulled back a little and there between us hovered this golden light. She ran her hand through it and it seemed to cling to her. It disappeared into her hand and we both watched it flow under her skin and go straight to her heart.

“
Mommy,” she whispered and smiled.

Demeter had a long time to accept her fate and she knew where her magic would be going. She'd imprinted her love for Persephone into it, so that when I took it, I carried that message of love with me. I'd filtered all of the evil out of Demeter's magic but this wasn't evil, this was her last message to her daughter, Demeter's loving goodbye to Persephone, and I'd delivered it for her unknowingly.

A little of my anger towards Demeter eased with the transfer and so it was healing for me as well as Persephone. It's hard to move on, to get over such a strong emotion as anger once you've killed the subject of your fury. Once someone is dead, they're dead. There's no bringing them back to kill again. There's no hunt to focus on, no drive for vengeance. It's done and you're left feeling deflated and a little cheated. Seeing Demeter's love for her daughter helped ease that away.

“
Thank you, Vervain,” Persephone whispered after she processed the message.

“
You're welcome,” I smiled sadly at her. “Have you gone into her territory yet? Claimed your home?”

“
No,” she sighed. “I can't go back there. You take it, it's yours by rights.”

“
Sephy,” I put a hand to her shoulder and squeezed until she looked up at me. “I would never take your childhood home from you. Demeter's territory is yours, you should have it. I
want
you to have it. You have a power with growing things too, you'll be able to care for it just fine.”

“
The memories there...”

“
I think you'll find some good ones,” I bit my lip. “When we first went in to find her, we looked through her office and I found a picture of you when you were little. I think Demeter did love you very much, she just got twisted around and it affected her perspective.”

“
It's hard to remember those days sometimes. Hard to think about her as the same woman who raised me.”

“
When Torrent took me through the Inter Realm to follow her trail, we had to go through the Aether as well and I saw you there as a child. It was Demeter's memory, her payment to the Aether and it seemed to me to be a very fond memory. I think the Aether takes a copy of the best parts of us when we go through, like a catalog of dreams, desires, and happy memories. I think it's fueled on these positive things and when Demeter passed through, it made an imprint of the best part of her. Persephone, that was you. You were the best part of Demeter and no matter how evil she became, she still had you inside of her. Go claim your home and honor that.”

“
I...” she sniffed and hugged me hard. “I'm so glad you have her magic, that part of her lives on in you.”

“
And in you as well.”

Persephone had left Pride Palace and went straight to Demeter's territory to claim it. I was relieved that the beautiful place wouldn't be lost because as much as I appreciated the beauty of it, I could never have claimed it, never have owned the place where Odin had been murdered.

So back to the subject of my completeness. Supreme being I was not, Milla Jovovich can safely retain the title. I felt pretty much the same as far as power goes, just more right, more me. Though I did feel a little stronger in the way that unity can create strength. I felt like I'd been waiting for that final piece for a long time and if I hadn't had Odin to mourn, I think I would be walking around in a happy haze.

But I did have Odin to mourn and not only that, things weren't finished yet. There was still the matter of Andrasta to attend to.