An Angel’s Road to Hell

Cassandra Pendragon

Fourteen unconscious, one swearing fey, a dragoness and a vampire close to making out and the dryad had dematerialised as soon as it had started. “Could have been worse,” I breathed against Ahri’s neck. I felt a bit shaky, even my fingers were trembling, and I was grateful for her support.

“I guess it could have. The decorations suffered, though.”

“And the roots. That one’s still smouldering,” Reia added and wrapped my free arm around her neck. I was feeling better with every passing second but her caring offer I’d never have rejected.

“So are my tails, at least it feels like it,” I mumbled. “Who’s going to carry her?”

“She’s you mom, even though…,” Ahri began without finishing her sentence.

“Hmm, she looks about Reia’s age, doesn’t she? Maybe a bit younger.’

“Not exactly what I meant, but…” I understood her perfectly. While we would never be taken for siblings, her hair was just as silver as her tails, her face was… not quite immortal but close enough and with the similarities we had always shared she looked even more like me than Sera.

“That’s going to be a pain,” I groaned. “My mom the adolescent… may the god’s have mercy.”

“What do you mean,” Reia asked hesitantly. “Don’t you… aren’t you happy she’s…”

“Of course I am, it’s just… look, with the way her mind works, her magic and that face…” Frankenstein’s experiments were a joke compared to what I might have unleashed on the world but I could hardly say that, now, could I? “Just wait until she wakes up or, better yet, give it a week or two. You’ll see. I’m wondering if she’ll be able to make herself age. From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t have a pure spark of transcendent power but it… somehow exists in her own reservoirs. Even the magic you shared with her, Reia, became... infected. Can’t wait to find out what she’ll be able to do with it.” I kissed Ahri and squeezed my sister’s shoulder before I carefully retracted my wings and caught my mother in my arms. “Welcome back,” I whispered.

The last unfortunate series of events had ensured that we were all drenched to the bone. There wasn’t a dry spot left in the whole cavern and the pond had lost a good half of its water, enough to reveal the dimly glowing crystals on the bottom. A lot of their lustre was gone, their power consumed by the cataclysmic magic I had unleashed. In a day or two they’d be back to normal, as would the cavern itself, but for now it looked more like a battlefield than anything else.

Charred and blackened lines crisscrossed the ground, almost like scars, in an intricate pattern, mirroring the flow of energy, and the roots closest to us had been burned to a crisp. Where the concentration of power had been highest some of the wood had even crystallised, glowing, pulsing, silvery veins meandering through the gleaming pillars. Despite my best efforts Greta hadn’t escaped unscathed, assuming the entire tree was actually her body.

I breathed in deeply, savouring the complex scents of magic, life and fire, while the slow, sluggish gurgling of the waters and saps, flowing through the roots, filled my ears. For a moment it remained quiet, a serene second we shared, trying to wrap our minds around what had happened. Considering I had only added a fixed pattern to my mother’s innate magic, something much less complex than the changes I had inflicted on the others, the outcome surely had been volatile. But then again, playing around with a partly transcendent existence was bound to have consequences. On second thought, maybe I should have considered myself lucky that I hadn’t blown us all to smithereens… us and most of Free Land. If I had tried a stunt like that before I had been able to manipulate more than just mana, Ahri and I would probably have been the last ones standing in a lifeless, burned out crater. Luckily, all was well that ended well, wasn’t it?

The thought prompted me to look down and study my mom closely for the first time. I tenderly brushed a silvery, almost white tress from her face while I felt Ahri and Reia snuggle up to me, eager to see what she had become. If you had known her before, you would still have been able to recognise the woman she once had been under her new mask, but there was no denying that she resembled an angel more than a kitsune. Her alabaster skin exuded a soft, healthy glow, a little less pronounced than mine but she’d still stand out, especially at night, even though I wasn’t overly worried in that regard. Her features were almost surreally perfect with an elegant but pronounced jawline, a straight and slightly upturned nose, full, curved, deep red lips and large eyes, surrounded by long, white lashes. I wasn’t entirely sure but I thought her ears had grown as well… and so had her tails. This much, I knew for a fact. The nine fluffy appendages looked almost like the train of a wedding dress, swinging gracefully below her. Silvery sparks ignited within her fur from time to time while her eyes moved behind closed lids, her body acclimatising to its changed form and the torrents of magic, racing through its veins. She wasn’t entirely perfect, her nose was ever so slightly skewed and I thought I saw a handful of freckles but she was as close to what an immortal looked like as I had ever seen before. Not even Aurelia resembled us to that degree, even though her draconic girlfriend might, once she was fully grown.

“She’s beautiful,” my sister breathed and I felt a rush of gratitude and warmth for the stupidest reason. Most people… almost all of them, would have sounded envious or maybe bitter, especially a growing girl, but all I heard in her voice was gratitude and happiness. Not even for a second did she feel the need to compare herself to our mother or me. Come to think of it, she never had before, in contrast to my oh so wise, grown up and royal brothers.

With stinging eyes I pushed deeper into her and kissed the top of her head which elicited a confused stare. “You don’t know how precious you are,” I whispered. “I know I have never said it, but I hope you realise how much I actually love you.” Now I wasn’t the only one trying to hold back her tears, even Ahri looked decidedly shaken when she gave us a tremulous, watery smile and wrapped her tails around us.

“Where did that suddenly come from,” Reia inquired but the lump in her throat, she had had to talk around, made the question superfluous. Instead of answering I kissed her again and felt, more than I heard, her add: “I love you, too.” Then she giggled softly. “With her looking like that I might really have to start calling you mom,” she willingly explained.

“Not going to…” I paused and shrugged. “Oh, whatever. I still prefer Cassy, though.” Ahri’s tails and Reia’s arms tightened around me and when I looked up, I found Viyara’s gaze lingering on us, filled with joy. A bubble of happiness rose in my stomach and I didn’t even try to suppress the bright, genuine smile, forming on my face. “Now, let’s have a look how the rest of the world fared, shall we? Come on you two, the day is far from over and I’m pretty sure neither mom nor the rest of them will wake up before dusk.”

“They won’t,” I was interrupted brashly when Greta materialised close to us, her eyes roaming over the burned patches and along her crystallising roots. She whistled through her teeth, patting the sore, reddish spots along her legs, and grinned crookedly. “No pain, no gain, wasn’t it? Girl, you really have gotten powerful. I’d take my hat off to you, if I was wearing one. You needn’t worry, though. They’re all perfectly healthy, just knocked out cold. Once their minds have gotten used to the new sensations they’ll be right as rain. Helena might even be up in a few hours but until then, let them just rest here. I’ll take care of them and call you, in case something happens.”

“Thanks. And what about the ones who passed out? My soldiers, Archy, Estrella, the barmaids?”

“Magical overload. I’m surprised there is even anyone left standing, aside from Ahri, Aurelia and Viyara. Your sister and Erya are really made from stern stuff.”

“Have to be, otherwise I wouldn’t even have arrived here in one piece,” the fey in question piped up, while she finally rose form her granddaughter’s side and glided towards us, tears of joy brimming in her eyes. “And… thank you.” She had reached us by now and with utter disregard for Ahri’s threatening hiss and Reia’s cocked eyebrows, she took my face between her hands and kissed my cheeks. “For everything.” She laughed throatily and added, without letting go of me: “Remember how we met for the first time? It took me a while to realise but I guess you appearing in my prison was the best thing that has ever happened to me. You’ve given me so much… a family and now a child. Cassandra, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Whatever the future brings, know that I’ll never abandon you.” She released me and focused on Ahri and Reia, she even included Aurelia and Viyara with a glance. “None of you. My promises might not be as precious as those of our angels, but this one I’ll treasure until the day I die.” She lowered herself to her knees, the depleted waters reaching up to her navel, and before I could do even more than blink in surprise she bowed her head and added: “I don’t have anything I could offer you in return and I know you don’t even want me to, but this I’m doing for me as much as for you. Cassandra Pendragon, I’m offering you my oath and everything it entails. Are you willing to take it?”

I was torn. Torn between amusement, a heartwarming fluttering that almost felt like nervousness and plain confusion. “Ahri,” I sent, “what…”

“Don’t be daft,” she replied, her thoughts meandering through different episodes from our past with Erya merrily. “It’s not the first time someone has pledged themselves to you, is it? Only… it’s been ceremonial before and you were a bored child. This is real. I… it’s your decision, but I don’t think you should reject her. I know what you’re going to say, you’re looking for friends, not servants, but… Cassy, she’s offering you everything she has, that’s more of gesture than anything else. If you don’t accept her, she’ll…”

“Feel worthless. I know, I just don’t want this to change anything between us.”

“It won’t. Honestly. She’s… I guess as far as she’s concerned this is just a token to show you how she’s been feeling for a while, now. Honey, whether you want to admit it or not, you’re an immortal and a princess. You don’t wear a crown,” the image of my newly acquired headdress fluttered through her mind, “most of the time, but that doesn’t mean others don’t see it on your head.’

Sighing I awkwardly balanced my mom on my arms and placed a hand on Erya’s head. I felt her jerk, but otherwise she didn’t move. Viyara’s and Aurelia’s gazes seemed to burn a hole through my skull but I only focused on the kneeling fey in front of me and the caressing touch I felt deep in my mind, when Ahri’s presence enveloped me completely. “Willingly given, willingly received,” I intoned. “From this day forward your deeds will be mine, my will will be yours...” I felt my voice change, becoming deeper, heavier, words that were much older than the customs of Boseiju suddenly tumbling over my tongue. “Arise, Erya of the Silent Glade, arise. A queen in exile doesn’t bow to anyone, not even to me. Rise and see who you are.” I didn’t know why, nor did I entirely understand how, but once her eyes met mine and she elegantly came to her feet, my magic stirred. Just another unexpected blossom of the madness we had been getting used to for a while

It wasn’t comparable to what I had done to Viyara, not to mention my mother. In both instances I had purposefully used my powers to facilitate a change that would allow them to live. This time, it felt like… something, maybe the world itself, maybe something else entirely, had heard my words and acknowledge my decision. A solitary spark ignited in my left eye, obscuring my vision as it lazily travelled from me to her but she didn’t flinch and when it touched her forehead, the same sign that had appeared on Viyara, when I had saved her, flickered to life. For the fraction of a second a depiction of my wings burned brightly on her forehead until it vanished into her skin. Her eyes rolled up and she staggered, as if in a daze. Ahri reacted immediately and before the fey could fall, she caught her in her arms, a bright smile on her face.

“It surely seems like your soldiers have a new Captain, darling.” With a flurry of movements she was at my side again and tenderly kissed me. “I’m proud of you,” she breathed against my lips.

“What for? I didn’t do much and what little I did doesn’t merit praise, does it” I lamented.

“You accepted a burden you’d have run from, screaming, not a week prior. You did something you don’t like for someone else. That’s… not exactly new but without a knife at your throat it’s still impressive. Given a few years you might yet become the nightmare Michael has always seen in you… the angel I always see in you.” I reciprocated the kiss, cleared my throat and whispered:

“Keep on flattering me and I’ll have to knock out the ones still standing. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“By all means,” she laughed. “I never knew you were this insatiable.” Before I could reply, Reia stamped on my foot, more forcefully than she would have had to.

“Gross… we’re related and I’m still a minor, you know? Could you at least wait until I’m not in the middle of your flirting?” Ahri cocked an eyebrow and shot back:

“You were in the middle of our bed and you didn’t mind. What’s changed?”

“I’m awake,” she answered smoothly but immediately paled. “Don’t tell me…”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to hear the answers to,” I grumbled, even though nothing had happened while she had been around. “Now, as fascinating as it is to see your imagination run wild, could we get out of the pond and preferably somewhere dry?”

“You know, for a mythical creature you surely don’t use magic a lot,” Greta interrupted and lazily waved her hand. The droplets of water rose from the wet walls and puddles of mud the earth had turned into, a cloud of steam billowed from our clothes and with a creaking sound, like old hinges turning, the wood glowed and reformed, covering the crystalline veins in the blink of an eye. “One day I really have to teach you something less destructive and more useful,” she continued, “but for now I think we’re done. You can leave the snoring lot down here, I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“Not quite yet,” I mumbled. “First I want to know what they’ve become and then… I think I’m going to continue. Those two girls, the barmaids, whatever they decide to do, they’ll need something more to take care of themselves, considering what this town might turn into.”

“Do you plan on meddling with them without their knowledge,” Ahri inquired tensely.

“Not meddle… but I do plan on awakening their magic. Nothing more. Maybe I’ll give it a tiny push, but that’s it.” Greta sighed. The demolition of her grotto didn’t seem to bother her one bit.

“If you meant little push literally, don’t do it. It might be helpful short term but it could hinder their development. If you don’t plan on breaking mortal boundaries like you did with the rest of them, just connect them to their reservoirs. If they want to, I’ll teach them. Within a year they can get pretty far on their own, plus if you don’t flush them with your energies they should be alright once they wake up. No visible changes and all that. Just imagine how you’d feel if you went to bed and woke up with glowing eyes or… alright, bad example. But I think I’ve still made myself plenty care, haven’t I?”

“Yes ma’am. No unnecessary showing off. Still, let’s check on our other patients first, shall we?”

“I told you, they’re fine. So is your mother, I think, even though I can’t see past her aura. If you want to check on something head outside and try to find out what’s going on. I can feel people moving around like ants, but I haven’t grown enough yet to perceive the entire square above.”