Jerit sat behind an ornate mahogany desk that was over three hundred years old. His office was furnished with priceless paintings, sculptures, and intricate tapestries. His father had furnished the office decades ago as their wealth ballooned to the point where it was just a meaningless string of long numbers.
There was a diamond plaque on the wall behind the desk that read Fortuna saevis favet, or: Fortune Favors the Cruel. Their family's rise to power had started during the prohibition era, when the mafia came into power. Their power was solidified when the US intelligence agencies began to collaborate with them as partners, using their vast network of resources for intelligence gathering and extra-legal actions that didn't require congressional oversight. Over the decades, the line between the mafia and intelligence agencies vanished as the two of them merged together.
If he had harbored any doubts about the blackened state of his soul, the damnable interface that had appeared in his vision a few days ago had made it abundantly clear. His alignment was as far into the red as it could go, earning him the title of Supremely Evil Bastard, with an enormous pile of turds next to his name.
Jerit glanced at an email that had just pinged his computer. He frowned as he looked at the macabre sight of half a dozen men with no limbs or genitals. Their faces were filled with so much horror that his father would have applauded whoever arranged the brutal transformation.
He glanced down at the message below the images.
These were the teams that were used to send a message to Rhapsody. One of them said he had a message for the ass hats in charge (exact words). The message said, "Here's a preview of what awaits you before the day is out."
Jerit felt a cold chill as he stared at the images with a sense of dread. There was no way any of it could be traced back to him. Everything they did was oblique. They never came out and explicitly ordered hit squads. A simple phrase expressing their opinion that someone should send a message would be interpreted correctly by their contacts, who would be just as circumspect in their communication with anyone they contracted. Funds were never tied to their fortunes in any way, leaving no paper trail or possibility that anything could be traced back to them. However, there was that damnable interface. Who knew what it was capable of observing.
They were dealing with someone that clearly had access to resources beyond human ingenuity. Who knew what she might be able to discern.
Jerit pressed the page button on his desk and waited for the suited security officer to enter the room.
"Get everyone with a gun in here ASAP," Jerit commanded, barely keeping the sudden fear out of his voice. "Anyone entering this room that isn't on the security team gets a bullet."
The man nodded quickly and began speaking into his cuff mic. A few minutes later, the room filled up with armed gunmen. They ranged from handguns to fully automatic Uzis and M16s.
Jerit sat at his desk, staring at the email with horrified fascination. Would she be able to find him? If so, was she really bullet proof? How much firepower could she withstand before something broke through whatever she was using to shield herself?
The security team stared around warily, clearly unnerved by their sudden addition to the normally forbidden room. There were over twenty armed men spread out in the large, windowless room.
"Hello, ass hat number one," a cheerful voice greeted him from behind.
Jerit jumped in surprise as he slowly swiveled his chair around. All of his men were frozen in place, completely immobilized. Their eyes were still moving, staring at him in sudden fear as they realized they were dealing with something non-human.
There was a woman of fantastical beauty behind him. It wasn't Rhapsody—she was a lot taller than Rhapsody and had dark hair. Her eyes stared at him like he was a worm—no, less than a worm. He had never been truly afraid of anything in his life, but as he stared into her merciless eyes, he knew the same kind of fear he had instilled in so many other people.
"I would imagine you thought you were careful enough with your machinations to stay hidden," the woman noted with an amused smile that never reached her eyes. "You just have no idea who you are dealing with. I took a look at your life record. You're not a regular piece of shit—you're an extra special piece of shit. I hope you enjoy what's left of your life as helpless as all of the people you have harmed. There will be no more patience for your interference. I might have been merciful if you had tried to come after me. You went after children though, and that is where you crossed the line. Goodbye, Jerit."
Jerit felt a chill go through his body and suddenly he was tumbling out of his office chair to land on the floor as everything went black. He couldn't hear or see anything. His heart rate spiked as his fear hit new levels of terror. He couldn't feel his arms and legs. All he could feel was his head and torso. He let out a scream of terror that he couldn't hear as he perceived a future dwelling in his own personal hell of solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
XXXXX SCENE BREAK XXXXX
Vice President Adams sat behind a large desk with her arms propped up on the surface, resting her chin on steepled fingers. She stared at the two agents sitting on the other side of her desk, noting their irises were larger than normal. On their last call a few minutes ago they had informed her that they had learned how to teleport and offered to have the meeting in person. Her Secret Service detail had been extremely uncomfortable when they learned of the two agents' ability to teleport anywhere they wanted. The Secret Service was already dealing with a nightmare due to the President's disappearance. Now they had to worry about regular humans who could appear out of thin air as well.
"What's going on with Rhapsody?" she asked crisply, trying to feel like she was still in control of the situation, in spite of the rebellion taking place in the Presidential Cabinet and congress. "Has she said anything about when the president will be returned?"
"We were told it would be a few days," Agent Black replied calmly, appearing completely unfazed with being in front of the second most powerful person in the country. Of course, she had been in the company of someone who made her power look like a line of sugar ants. "Melody accepted Rhapsody's offer to become a world tree and went through the initiation process. We were told they were waiting until Serenity and Aurora were older before allowing them to become world trees."
"What else have you learned during your time in the ring?" Vice President Adams asked intently.
"They spend most of their time making entertainment for themselves," Agent Monroe answered with a faint smile. "All of the magical creatures that live inside of the circle are immortal entities. Not only do they live forever, but they are also invulnerable to any kind of physical harm. While they have a great deal of power that is outside of our understanding, they have very little interest in the affairs of humans unless those affairs affect them. It's our understanding that the CIA sent some mercenaries to kill some of Serenity's friends and their family as a way of sending a message to Rhapsody. Rhapsody had to bring them back to life and wipe their memories. The people responsible for ordering the operation were… dealt with."
Vice President Adams sighed in frustration. She hadn't heard anything about any operations or repercussions from said operations. She knew that she and the President were mainly figure heads, but it still rankled that factions within the government could act with impunity and without oversight. All politicians learned early on to stay clear of the factions who were considered untouchable. Presidents who had disobeyed orders ended up dead or roughed up. She still remembered a few presidents who had supposedly fallen off their bikes or tripped while running.
"I don't suppose she could be convinced to clear all of them out and return our government to an elected government," Vice President Adams asked with a disgusted shake of her head.
"I don't think so," Agent Black replied regretfully. "She seems uninterested in the world of humans unless they interfere with her directly."
"We have world leaders requesting access to speak with her," Vice President Adams informed them wearily. "They think we have access to a super power that should be shared globally."
"Just tell them they'll have their own fairy soon enough," Agent Monroe suggested with a grin. "After all, the other world trees are all over the world. They'll have access to the equivalent of Rhapsody soon enough."
"That's a whole other headache in congress," Vice President Adams declared sourly. "They don't want these other fairy rings to power up and provide magic, or whatever it is, to these other world powers. They feel like they have access to a resource that gives them political clout, so long as our country is the only one to have a fairy ring—in spite of the fact that they have no power over it."
"Well, I'm afraid they're going to be disappointed then," Agent Monroe observed wryly. "Because their desires definitely don't factor into Rhapsody's plans. Not to mention the fact that the world will end if she doesn't get the other fairy rings powered up."
Vice President Adams sighed as she watched the two agents, feeling a sense of regret for what she was about to do. She liked the two women—as much as she ever liked anyone. However, they needed someone more objective inside the ring. These two were clearly under Rhapsody's influence and their loyalties to the United States government was questionable at best.
"Thank you for your service, Agent Monroe and Agent Black," she said in her most business-like voice. "We appreciate everything you have done for us. Your final duties for this assignment will be to convince Rhapsody to allow a replacement diplomat to take your place. I don't think I'm wrong in my estimation of your loyalty to our country. Do you have any questions?"
The two women looked stunned, then hurt as they stared back at her with expressions of betrayal. She hadn't felt guilty for any of the decisions she had made in a long time, but as the two agents looked back at her like puppies that had just been kicked, she felt a twinge of guilt.
"Actually," Rhapsody's voice spoke up a moment before the fairy appeared next to her desk. "I have my heart set on these two as diplomats. It's them or nobody."
The Secret Service agents immediately pulled their weapons out and started shouting at Rhapsody to get down on the ground. She rolled her eyes and a moment later the room was silent as all of the Secret Service agents stood as still as statues, their eyes the only part of them able to move.
"As I was saying," Rhapsody continued as if nothing had happened. "I like these two. I already told them that I'm picky about who I'll let into the circle. You lucked out by sending these two in the first place—I wouldn't have accepted anyone else. Their souls are old and filled with compassion."
Vice President Adams swallowed as she stared at the creature with god-like powers standing in front of her. She wasn't broadcasting the same overpowering aura she had the last time she had seen the small woman. Last time, Vice President Adams had been teleported into Special Agent Burns's office, along with the Presidential Cabinet and several members of congress.
"I want to like you, Amanda," Rhapsody told her with a sigh. "I know that you're a young soul and still have a lot to learn about compassion and selflessness. There isn't a lot of time left for you to figure it out. The Creator of this universe has modified the way your afterlife works here. Those of you who fail to learn compassion will be doomed to reincarnate until your soul has been through enough of the meat grinder to finally learn. If you ever want to see the Light Realms and escape the reincarnation cycle, I suggest that you start trying to learn what compassion is."
"Are you from this universe?" she asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"No, Amanda," Rhapsody replied with a small shake of her head. "I'm from a place far far away from this universe. I'm here because I received a request to help save your world from destruction. You have less than twenty years for us to succeed. If we do not succeed, I'll still make sure this planet survives, but there won't be very many humans left alive to enjoy it."
Vice President Adams shivered as she stared into the large lavender eyes of an alien entity. She wasn't just some kind of magical creature from Earth—she was from an entirely different universe. She suddenly realized she was dealing with a being so far outside of her power scope that there wasn't even a comparison. All of their political machinations and intrigue were so far beneath this entities concern that it could just ignore them entirely. She hadn't felt small since she was a child, but she felt very small right now.
Rhapsody turned to Agent Black and Agent Monroe with an expectant smile. "Shall we?"
The three of them vanished. A moment later, her Secret Service detail stumbled as they suddenly regained the use of their muscles.
Vice President Adams leaned back into her chair, a troubled frown on her face. She had never given any attention to the concept of souls or the afterlife. She suddenly felt a strong urge to start looking at the state of her soul.
"Agent Davis," she addressed one of her Secret Service agents pensively. "What do you think 'Immortal Entity' means?"
"Are you referring to the species of the two agents, ma'am?" Agent Davis asked with a troubled crease to his brows.
"Yeah," Vice President Adams nodded slowly. "Did Rhapsody turn our agents into immortals? If so, why?"
"She seemed pretty attached to them," Agent Davis noted with a shrug. "Maybe she's rewarding them for some reason."
"They looked younger," she observed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I have a feeling the Cabinet and congress are going to suddenly want to be friendly if they think she can grant immortality."
Agent Davis gave a neutral grunt, but she could see the doubt in his carefully blank expression.
"I don't think she would ever offer it to any of us anyway," she smiled humorlessly. "But just the knowledge that she could, will probably change a lot of attitudes. I'm curious to see how the President behaves upon his return tomorrow."
XXXXX SCENE BREAK XXXXX
Harmony let out a gasp of pleasure as the light filling the chasm soaked into her body, purifying her mortal form and moving her ever closer to an ethereal body. She and her mother were soaking up a lot more of the energy than they had the first time, by a significant amount. The growth seemed to be exponential, with each immersion causing a significant increase in their rate of growth. It was still nowhere near what Rhapsody consumed.
Rhapsody finished soaking up the last of the energy before speaking.
"You're about to hit your first growth spurt," she informed the two of them with an excited sparkle in her lavender eyes. "After that, I'm going to need to keep you close all the time. You're going to have so much power bursting at the seams that the power will start arcing when you are around other magical entities, resulting in a magical overload that could harm them. I'll need to teach you how to maintain control before it is safe for you to be on your own."
"Wasn't it supposed to take months or years for us to reach our first growth spurt?" Harmony's mother asked with a frown.
"That was a rough estimate," Rhapsody replied with a rueful sigh. "It's going far quicker than they expected because of who you were. I tried to use what Rhapsody knew of this process to gauge the timing, but she must have underestimated our growth potential by quite a bit."
"What did you think?" Harmony asked her sister with a grin as Melody's glazed eyes slowly returned to normal. "Pretty intense, right?"
"Yeah," Melody breathed in a stunned whisper, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe how wonderful that was."
"Everything in my life became exponentially better after meeting Rhapsody," Harmony told her with a radiant smile. "It's going to be wonderful for you from now on too. I promise."
Melody smiled back at her with happiness burning brightly in her eyes. Harmony marveled at how different she looked. She was so similar to Harmony in appearance now, that the others kept confusing them for each other. Harnketi had slipped up behind Harmony and wrapped her arms around Harmony's waist with a whispered 'I love you' a few hours ago. Melody had been talking with her daughters a few feet away when it happened. It was the look on Melody's face that made Harnketi realize her mistake. She had jumped back from Harmony like she was a live coal while Rhapsody and Mystery dissolved into a fit of giggles as they stared at the blushing Harnketi and stunned Harmony. Melody had glared at Harmony with mock outrage and demanded that she stop trying to recruit more women into her harem.
Harmony felt a sense of soul-deep contentment as she saw the happiness in her sister's eyes. She had been through so much horror in her life. If there was anyone who deserved to experience real happiness, it was Melody.
"So what's going on with you and Harnketi?" their mother asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you just trying to make things work, or are you actually feeling something there?"
"Oh, there's definitely no pretending involved," Melody purred with a dreamy expression. "I thought I would have a hard time trying to be attracted to another woman, but there is just something so alluring about Harnketi. She's bold enough that it doesn't feel awkward or forced at all, but she's so gentle and respectful at the same time. It is so different than anyone else I've ever been with. Maybe Harmony's right and I should have been playing for the same team all along."
"Well, I can't give any advice based on my track record," their mother commented ruefully. "But I think it has more to do with finding the right person, regardless of which team they play for."
"Speaking of the right person," Harmony said tentatively as she watched her mother with concern in her eyes. "Are you ever going to give relationships another try?"
"No, I don't think that I will," her mother shook her head firmly. "Some pits are just too deep to dig yourself out of."
Harmony shared a worried look with Melody before turning back to her mother. "Mom, if you're talking about Dad, you know that none of that was your fault."
"It's not a matter of fault," her mother sighed wistfully. "It's a matter of something so monumentally important being broken. I'll never trust another partner again—not in this life, anyway."
"Were you ever happy with Dad?" Harmony asked softly. "I relived a memory when Melody was in the hospital when I was two, and you didn't seem to like him at all."
"It seemed like there was something special there for a few years," her mother answered quietly, her eyes distant. "I was attracted to his high-energy personality and success. It wasn't until after Melody was born that I started to question our relationship. He was a classic psychopath. He could fake emotions convincingly, but it wasn't until after you were born, Harmony, that I realized that he had been faking almost everything he claimed to feel. He could be charming and convincingly caring, but after twelve years of living with someone, you start to see behind the curtain. I had seen enough instances where it was clear he was wearing whichever emotion he thought was required for a situation that I realized they were all fake. He had no empathy whatsoever. That became abundantly clear after what he did to the two of you. It's hard to see the early years as special with the knowledge of what he really is coloring everything in hindsight, but I thought those years were special at the time."
Harmony pulled her mother into a hug. "I'm so sorry you ended up with such an asshole, Mom," Harmony whispered around a golf ball in her throat. "I wish you could have experienced something truly magical."
"It's fine, Harmony," her mother assured her with a pat on the back. "I wouldn't have changed anything if it meant missing out on you and Melody. I just wish I would have been more suspicious early on, before he hurt you and Melody so much. Even knowing what he was, I had a hard time believing anyone could be so evil."
Harmony could only nod her agreement. Who would suspect a parent of torturing their own children in a lab for the sake of medical research? It really did take a special kind of asshole to feel no remorse or empathy for what he had done to them.
"Thanks for saving us, Mom," Harmony whispered through the tears forming in her eyes. "You really are the best."
Melody joined them, wrapping her arms around the two of them. "Yeah, Mom, thanks for saving us. I don't think I've ever properly thanked you before."
"I would say you're welcome, but I'll never feel like what I did is deserving of thanks," their mother answered sadly. "I was your mother, and it was my job to protect you. I moved the bar for failure to new depths with my misplaced trust."
"Joline, this was not your failure," Rhapsody informed her with a deep sigh. "We came here with the knowledge that we would be watched over by our family through every step of our mortal lives here. There was a problem with… well, call it reality. Our family was stuck in a place where time flowed significantly slower, which resulted in twenty years passing without being able to protect you. I was unaware of this issue, or I would have been checking in on you constantly. None of this would have happened if there hadn't been a perfect storm of failures. There were significant layers of protection that should have prevented this. In the end, we all owe Joline our thanks for saving the two of you when we couldn't. More than anything, I wish time travel were a thing so that we could change the past. Maybe time travel will be possible at some point, and we can fix the past."
"No," Harmony shook her head firmly as she released her mother. "I am the person I am today due to how life has shaped me. I'm happier now than I ever thought would be possible and I don't want anything changing that. We had bad things happen to us, but we are here now. Let the past stay in the past. Mom, I'm not going to accept you giving up on relationships. Somehow, you are going to be swept off your feet someday and experience true bliss—and you will learn to trust again. I will accept nothing less."
"Are you where Serenity is getting this new bossy personality from?" Harmony's mother asked wryly.
"I'm pretty sure it is," Rhapsody observed with a fond smile at Harmony. "She wasn't like this before."
Taxti suddenly appeared in front of them with a look of exasperated amusement on her face.
"We've got a new addition to the circle," Taxti announced, her lips twitching.
Rhapsody stared at her in shock for several seconds before she suddenly burst out laughing so hard that she had to lean on Harmony for support.
"So… what's going on, Taxti?" Harmony asked with a raised eyebrow.
Taxti gave her a slow, sensual smile in return, then deliberately licked her lips in the most erotic way possible. "What would you like to be going on, Harmony?"
Harmony's synesthesia sent the sensation of a tongue licking her lips straight into her libido. Her breath sped up as she stared at Taxti with sudden longing.
"Taxti, that was cruel," Melody gasped in an unsteady voice.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Melody," Taxti apologized in a contrite voice. "I keep forgetting that we have two of you with synesthesia now."
Rhapsody walked over to stand in front of Taxti.
"I could have sworn that I told you that Mystery and Aria were mine," Rhapsody declared with a pointed stare at Taxti.
"Yep, they are ours," Taxti agreed with a suggestive wink at Rhapsody.
Melody frowned as she looked at Harmony, then back at Rhapsody.
"Mystery and Aria?" Melody repeated slowly, turning to look at Harmony again with a look of recognition in her eyes. "Oh my god, I remember. You're a Seraph!"
"Way to go, Rhapsody," Taxti congratulated her with a small clap. "Her name is Harmony, remember? I swear you are purposefully saying their real names and pretending to mix them up."
"How much do you remember?" Rhapsody asked Melody in a resigned voice.
"I don't know," Melody replied, her eyes wide as she stared at all of them. "Clarice? Why are you two people?"
Rhapsody ignored the question and turned to Taxti.
"Well, she's old enough now that we won't get in trouble," Rhapsody told Taxti conversationally. "Harmony, Aurora, Serenity, Michael, and Mystery are the ones that we're going to get into trouble with. Harmony has been good at distracting herself any time soul memory comes up."
Melody sucked in a breath as she looked around at all of them.
"Oh," Melody breathed, her hand going to her mouth. "Oh yeah. The plan."
"Who's this new addition to the circle you were talking about?" Harmony's mother asked curiously.
"Hmm, how to put this in a believable story format," Taxti murmured thoughtfully as she eyed Harmony and Mystery. "Okay, here goes. We found a girl that was lost outside of the circle. We found out that she's an orphan suffering from amnesia and so we decided to take her under are wing, so to speak."
"That's supposed to be believable?" Harmony asked dubiously.
"Why don't you come up with a better backstory then?" Taxti asked challengingly, her dark eyes full of mischief. "You're the author, after all."
Harmony looked at Taxti speculatively.
"Who's the person that's supposed to believe it?" Harmony asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Serenity and Aurora," Taxti replied, biting her lip as she tried to keep from smiling.
"How old is she?" Harmony asked, fighting off the wild urge she had to ask her sister about this plan she spoke of.
"Coincidentally, she's twelve," Taxti replied dryly. "Just a few months older than Serenity."
"Okay, why not just make her a distant cousin or relative of Shelley or Jessica?" Harmony suggested with a small smile. "We brought her here to keep her safe from the CIA hit squads."
"Okay, that could work," Taxti nodded approvingly. "But we should probably leave those two out of it. Mystery, do you have any distant cousins?"
"I think so," Mystery nodded slowly. "We'll have to get Michael to go along with it too."
"Okay, let's go with the saving a favorite cousin story then," Taxti decided with an eager smile, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "This is going to be fun. She's going to be a mess with the bond winding her up."
Rhapsody started laughing as Taxti finished and the two of them shared a wicked smile.
"You haven't changed at all, Clarice," Melody declared with a rueful shake of her head.
"Okay, I'll take Mystery over to Michael and make sure he knows the story," Taxti offered with a wink at Mystery. "Don't introduce her to Serenity until I get there, I don't want to miss it."
"Would someone mind explaining what the hell is going on?" Harmony's mother asked plaintively.
"They're sneaking an angel into our group," Harmony explained to her mother with a challenging look at Rhapsody.
Rhapsody groaned at Harmony's words. "You weren't supposed to guess that yet, Harmony."
"It's getting kind of obvious at this point," Harmony noted dryly. "I didn't dig into soul memory though, so I haven't broken any rules. Just simple deduction."
Harmony felt her bones hum, indicating that someone was using magic nearby. "Is that her I can feel?"
"Come on out, Lexi," Rhapsody ordered with a smirk. "Let's get introductions out of the way."
A girl that looked around Serenity's age suddenly materialized in front of Harmony and the others. She had long blonde hair and a face that was somewhere between cute and beautiful. She was only about an inch shorter than Serenity. She had a huge smile on her face as she stared at them.
"Hi, everybody," Lexi greeted them with an exuberant wave. "I'm Lexi. I know you don't remember me right now, but we are all family where we come from. I'm here to help keep Serenity from figuring everything out too fast."
"That, and you just couldn't stand to be away from her any longer, eh?" Taxti asked with a suggestive leer.
"Not the leer!" Lexi cried out, shielding her eyes with her hands. "Clarice, I thought you would have given up on the leer down here."
"I've been saving up all my leers just for you, Lexi," Taxti grinned at her as she walked over and pulled her into a warm embrace. "It's wonderful to see you, Lexi."
Melody had been staring at Lexi wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open almost comically. As Taxti released her, Melody rushed over and threw her arms around her, tears flooding down her cheeks.
"Oh Lexi, it's so good to see you," Melody half-sobbed. "I missed you so much!"
Lexi held the taller woman comfortingly in a tight embrace. "It's so good to see you again, Arturiel. I'm so sorry for what happened to you."
Harmony felt like another puzzle piece had just fallen into place as she stared at the two of them. She hurriedly looked at Rhapsody and Taxti in an attempt to distract herself from her soul memory. Rhapsody was staring at her with a smile filled with promise. It was exactly the distraction she needed, sending heat flooding throughout her body as she thought of all of the things they would do later.
"Holy shit!" Lexi gasped in a strangled voice as she continued comforting Melody. "Can you tone the passion down a little bit? You're going to send me over the edge at this rate."
Harmony frowned in confusion, staring at Lexi before switching her gaze to a wincing Rhapsody.
"Um, yeah," Rhapsody began in a sheepish voice. "Do you remember how I mentioned that we had a soul bond? Well… there are four of us in the soul bond. Things can get kind of awkward, depending on the setting."
"She's in for some awkward times then," Taxti declared with a wicked smile.