Nothing's ever as clear cut as it appears, the world runs on 'cause and effect' not convenience. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can work out patterns from the mess but most of the time you just don’t know enough vital information to see past the tangled knots around you. Hannah isn’t immune to that problem either, sadly. Events unfold including but not limited to: John's being responsible (I KNOW, it shocked me too!) Meanwhile Hannah finds out what drowning feels like.

 

“..I’m not talking to you..”

Sarah openly laughed at me despite my very real annoyance at her.
She left me buried under a pile of fighting children for five whole minutes so she and everyone else could amuse themselves at my situation!

I wouldn’t do that to HER damn it!

It’s not fair.
My ribs ache from little feet striking them
My head hurts from loud squealing near my ears when ‘Pos’ and ‘Clo’ started shouting at each other from either side of me over who said what about when or some such nonsense, I wasn’t particularly listening due to their volume if nothing else!

“Oh come on Han, you’ve got to admit it was funny. You can throw magic around like its confetti and rumor has it this ‘Arista’ person was a total evil badass but you got floored by some little kids who called you ‘Mommy’.”

I glared at her for a long moment just to show that, ‘no, I don’t have to admit it was funny’.. but in the end I gave it up with a huff.

I really need to work on holding a grudge against Sarah better at some point.
Even when I was glaring at her openly I had to resist the urge to smile every time I caught her eye as she sat there grinning at me so happily!

“Any real idea of how many kids you actually have yet?”
My eyes tightened in pain and I cupped my hand up to the bridge of my nose to squeeze down hard as my head sank back against the sofa with a heavy sigh.

“Currently nearby, about eighty of them?.. John’s got them all clearing more space in the pocket dimension and moving extra beds in at the moment. Luckily no-one expects me to do anything this time.. I think Gran is worried I’m using too much magic or something, I dunno?”
Sarah watched my free hand fly up in a frustrated shrug but quickly turned back to watching my face with curiosity.

“How many worldwide?”
She seemed to notice my wince and frowned with worry.
“That bad?”

I nodded quickly and closed my eyes for a moment.
Honestly, I needed to gather myself together before admitting to this one..
“How many mages are there on earth do you think?”

Sarah dropped into silence for a second as she did the rough math in her head.
“About.. I dunno.. three-thousand maybe? Including un-awakened ten-thousand tops?”
..nice try but not even close sadly..

“It closer to a million, according to the last worldwide poll of Hub staff and conscription levels..”

Sarah’s jaw went slack in surprise.
I can’t really blame her, even I didn’t think it would be THAT many.
That’s not even taking into account the one’s flying under the radar that the Hub don’t have records of.

From what John said.. after he got free of the dog-pile naturally.. ‘Arista’ probably accounts for about ten percent of those mages by being either their ‘first’ mother or at least their suspected ‘first’ mother.

The worst part is, I think he actually low-balled that figure to some degree for my sanity’s sake?
I dread to think what the REAL percentage could be!

“You look exhausted Han. Why don’t you go to bed early?”

She’s got a point.
I really AM exhausted, between getting no real sleep last night and today’s events it’s taken a toll on me for sure.

“yeah.. you’re probably right. I’ll go check on everyone, then turn in early I guess?”
With a grunt of effort I managed to stagger to my feet but Sarah followed me up and put a calming hand on my shoulder.

“Go to bed Han, I’ll check on everyone for you.. go on.. shoo, be a good little sister and do what your big sister says.”
I was sorely tempted to take a page out of any number of my ‘children’s books and poke my tongue out at her for that comment but doing so would take far too much energy honestly.

“Thanks Sare, G’night.”

We kinda fell into each other in a limp hug for a moment before leaving the TV room, Sarah in search of people and me in search of my bed.

Why does this stuff always happen to me?..
I was going to have a nice calm day with no mess or fuss but NOOO! The universe can’t have THAT can it?!

No, Hannah has to spend her morning being mobbed by strangers of all ages and sizes claiming to be her children.. then all afternoon being pulled from pillar to post as she juggles her mother, sister, best-friend, uncertain werewolf extended family AND the newcomers who couldn’t seem to decide if they were glad to be here or if they just came to pick over old fights with each other instead!

JOHN had to be the RESPONSIBLE one!
Can you imagine just how bad things had to get before THAT was our only option?!

I had to levitate two people into the air, in what I can only describe as a ‘timeout’ for five minutes until they were ready to apologise and more specifically NOT ready to destroy my backyard with magic as they argued over who stole who’s abacus, powers knows HOW many years ago!

It wouldn’t have been so bad if they weren’t both over FORTY YEARS OLD!!

The moment I put them down I SWEAR the look of annoyance on my face was the only thing that REALLY made them stop arguing too?!
They both apologised to me like children who got caught being naughty by their ‘mommy’ and the worst part about it is that, from their point of view, that’s EXACTLY what was BLOODY happening!!

I just.. I just want to go to bed and forget today ever happened, ya know?
I should have known nothing good could come from a day that began with me having nightmares torn straight from history involving me as the loving mother and Eris as the scared, innocent little daughter.
I’m just not lucky enough for THAT to be the low-point of my bloody day!

With a hiss as my head throbbed again from the major league headache I’ve got going on I pushed my bedroom door open and stumbled inside.
Part of me wanted to just collapse on the bed and be done with it but another part, specifically my bladder, disagreed with the idea insistently.

My head drooped down in defeat after a long moment’s indecision.
Stupid tiny female bladder!

======

A splash of water on my face from the bathroom sink helped clear my head a little.
The snap of cold did more than I expected to wake me up, for a moment at least.

My left hand went behind my back to reach the zipper on my dress while my right one reached out to open the door.
As the bedroom came into view I almost screamed in surprise when Eris made her presence known, oh so innocently sitting on my bed with a hopeful look on her face!

I couldn’t bring myself to argue at this point.
My head hurts too much and I just KNOW she’d argue VERY vocally if I tried to get rid of her.

The zipper finally decided to work properly and in a smooth motion the whole dress slid down my arms to pool at the floor.
Rather than pick it up I just nudged it out of the way as I wandered over to my bag in a bit of a daze.

A minor bit of searching and just a touch of magic left me clutching two light bundles of cotton in my hand.
Without much ceremony I tossed the smaller shirt over to Eris and slid the long pastel yellow baseball-tee style nightshirt over my head.

Out the corner of my eye I could see Eris struggle slightly in getting her own dress off but before I could stumble over to help she managed to get it loose somehow.

Quick as a flash she’d pulled my usually ‘small’ T-shirt over her head.
Luckily, due to her relative size compared to me, it draped down past her knees and while the neck was a bit loose it would do for now.

I’m too tired to conjure something new for her and even if I could be bothered my heads hurting so much I’d probably not be able to focus enough if I tried anyway.

With a heavy grunt I fell into bed and pulled the covers up despite the afternoon sunlight peeking through the curtains.
A moment later Eris slid under the covers to nestle herself up against my chest.

She sighed out a breath of relief for some reason.
I was honestly kind of tempted to mirror her but that would take way too much energy.

Sleep!

Sleep will help.
I’ll deal with the fallout of everything that’s happening in the morning.

If it comes to it I’ll just let off a blast or two of ice magic into the tree’s until they all shut up in fear.. or.. or I dunno, run away screaming bloody murder?!
I don’t particularly like being feared or considered ‘crazy’ but it’s better than the alternative at this point..

Eris yawned widely.
That set me off and by the time I’d finished my eyes were half shut while my arms pulled her in a bit tighter like a warm little teddy bear.

..I really shouldn’t find sleeping like this as comfortable as I do..

======

“Ari? Wake up it’s time for dinner.”
For a moment I thought it was Mum calling me but the voice wasn’t right somehow?
I wanted to groan and tell the voice that I wasn’t hungry but apparently my body had other ideas.

Despite my mental protests I sat up from the surprisingly comfortable leather settee I’d been laying on.
A careless hand pushed my hair out of my eyes and I squinted around until they settled on the person who’d spoken.

When did John have time to grow a beard?
It looks kind of stupid on him, like the one he had on that odd wooden picture in-

“Max, how could you let me sleep like that? It’s undignified. A woman of my station shouldn’t be-”

The words coming from my mouth certainly weren’t mine but the voice was, although it had a certain light musical air to it that I don’t think I’ve ever used before?
For some reason it felt a bit like when I hear Felix ‘speak’, the word flow wasn’t quite normal, as if it was translated in some way?

“There’s only us here my little rabbit, no-one to care or tell you off for being human.. mothers in London after all..”

I felt myself blush and a hand covered in a white silk glove came up to cup over my mouth to hide my smile a little.
“Oh Max, you are frightfully naughty. If mother heard you..”

He grinned at me with a smile I recognise more from my John than anything I’d associate with ‘Max’ in the slightest.

It just DID something to me.
My belly burned slightly with what I’d hesitate to call ‘desire’ and my cheeks flushed slightly more in response to that sudden warmth.

“How are the children?”

With a smooth, obviously practiced, motion my body pushed itself up from the settee and I started the awkward process of trying to straighten out my skirts.
For the briefest of moments I flashed just a hint of thigh which seemed to catch Max’s attention ever so delightfully.

Feeling a bit naughty myself I fussed with my petti’s just a bit more causing the skirts to fly once more.
The effort was worth it for the look of surprise and desire that flashed across Max’s regal features before he managed to smooth them out behind his usual façade of socially acceptable ambivalence at least.

“They’re fine, the little ones are with their governesses and the awakened are with their tutors.”

My hands came up to my hips.
It seems wrong to entrust them all with the staff so much.
I’m still too used to the old days when I ran the orphanage practically single handed I guess?

It feels almost like a lifetime since those long tiring days, before Max found me again.

Even his boar of a mother and her rather demanding ideas about what is and is not acceptable for the wife of a noble to be seen doing hasn’t yet soured the joy of being reunited with my love.
It is rather aggravating at times to process my way through the strange ideals and customs of my past lives but at least I have Max to anchor me in reality.

To think, that just a few short years ago I was little more than a guttersnipe fighting for what little I had to support my ever-growing collection of lost ones?
I’m not ashamed to admit that I turned tricks once or twice to keep the orphanage afloat.

The gentlemen of Holborn were never the most appreciative for a poor girl from Seven Dials but they paid well for my time, especially if they got overly rough at times.

I much prefer my Max for such things.
He’s so gentle in everything he does.
His hands are softer than mine and he is ever so good to me with them..

“I know that look.”

My cheeks flared in embarrassment at being caught thinking of such things.
Max didn’t seem to mind though.
His long arms came up to hold me and I practically sunk into him with a purr of enjoyment.

I much prefer my life with my Max now.
He’s ever so sweet.
I feel like a princess every time he looks upon me.
It’s nice.. ever so nice..

..I love you Max..

------

With a jolt I was no longer in Max’s strong arms but standing upon a mountain, bitter wind and rolling snow battering at my cloak as I looked out at the horror’s before me.

For a moment I felt disorientated but it didn’t shake my tight, prideful stance in the slightest.
The feeling passed quickly though and I settled back into happily watching the mayhem as brother struck down brother at my whim.

The smallest of smiles crept unbidden across my thin lips as I watched several magic-less mongrels stab each other in quick succession, all for the glory of their ‘Queen’.

They are like puppets.. MY puppets..
Toy’s to be played with and discarded as I chose.

The magic-less are so unbelievably DULL!
I didn’t even need magic to set them against themselves, they did it all on their own.. maybe with just a nudge or two from me of course..
You can’t blame a girl her pleasures after all?

“ARISTA!”

With a flourish I spun away from the bloody battlefield to stare at him.
There’s no mistaking that voice.
Those cold, hopeless eyes.
That annoying face.

“Took you long enough Maxarimus. I’d expected better from you.. for making me wait I shall have to kill some of your kin..”
A delighted smile crossed my lips as he visibly flinched.
“..not that you have many of them left at this point, I believe your brother Godfrey was just disembowelled by your cousin Simon.. he always was so impressive when playing with his.. sword.”
Just a slight tilt of my head and raise of my eyebrow would tell him exactly what I meant by THAT comment.

It’s always EVER so fun to needle him about such things.

“I believe your sisters are so far free of the battle though? I’m sure I can do something about that in due time, depending who survives the night I might even be able to keep it ‘within the family’ Dearheart.”
He flinched again but tightened his stance in preparation for whatever silly idea he’d devised to stop me this time.
“You always did say that family is important sweet Maxarimus, we should always endeavour to keep things within the family if we can after all..”

“Arista please! I beg you, stop this.. Ari.. please..”

My eyes tightened down in anger.
How dare he use that diminutive with me!

Before he could truly realise the depth of his error my hand arched out and with a silent push a razor thin trail of ice-infused wind cut through the night, neatly removing his head from his shoulders and ending in a virtual fountain of his life blood!

It really was a glorious sight while it lasted but unfortunately his body collapsed far too quickly for my tastes.

Maxarimus disposed of, I turned fond eyes back to the battlefield.
It seems only a few remain standing but they are dedicated to their principles and will not rest until the others lay dead at their feet.

With a wave of my hand and a flicked wrist the compulsions fell over the survivors.
Whoever leaves the field this day will march home proudly covered in the blood of their siblings and slaughter all of their line as they sleep.

Family indeed.. such a silly concept when one can be so easily turned against the fold..

“Bored now”
In one hand I reached down to pick up Maxarimus’s head for my collection, with the other I forced the shadows to raise to my bidding with a giggle.

The warm bite of several demon infested dimensions flew past my eyes and it was ever so fun to watch the great beasts shy away from me in fear.
At least THEY know their place in this world!

They may have their domains and take what they will from the world outside but they know who their mistress truly is this day.

It’s good to be the Queen!

------

The world jolted and I instinctively tried to strike out at whatever stupid corpse had decided to interrupt me as I travelled, but my body would not follow as commanded for reasons beyond me at this moment.

Something felt wrong in so many ways but as the seconds stretched on and I stared up at the thatch above me it all seemed to settle back into place nicely.

I’m not sure what just got into me, the problem was easily forgotten as my love turned upon our bed and threw one muscular arm across my waist.
The fire had died out through the night’s passage so more warmth is always welcome, but even more so when it was his.

He grunted and leaned himself against me more.
I felt his intention before his eye’s had even opened properly.

“Oh Thor, really?.. again?”
His thick red hair shifted and he gave me a lust filled stare more befitting of a beast then a man.
For a moment I considered resisting him but I do so LOVE his touch and he was so well behaved yesterday during Loki’s visit.
“Fine but only until the others awaken, we have much to do today my love.”

Thor grunted at a vocal depth so low that it rumbled deliciously in his chest and through mine in return.
I nuzzled my nose up under his chin to rub at the rough stubble there as he turned his lower body to be better positioned and I couldn’t help but let out a mew of joy.
He always has liked it when I mew and cry for him..

He used his arms to push himself up high enough that he could stare down at me with warm, loving eyes before he lowered himself upon me and-

------

I desperately tried to fight back another mew, this one in disappointment and confusion when the world changed around me, but I needn’t have bothered because I could not seem to vocalise it anyway!

Thor is gone?

Oh well, the brute would only slow me down anyway.
No man could hope to keep pace with me, even dear Arthur and his pet wizard are useless!

“LE FAY!”

I couldn’t help but giggle and roll over in the lakes deep waters so I could see him standing pompously astride the shore in his overly ostentatious golden armor.
I know that gold is magically resistant but he really does take it too far!

“Morning Arthur dearest, come to join me?”
His angry, offended growl was like music to my ears.
“Arthur, Arthur, look, look! Who am I?”

With a push of my arms I sunk below the water’s surface leaving only a single arm hanging high out of the water.
Desperately holding in my amused giggles I folded down all but one finger of my hand and waved it in his general direction before surfacing with a flourish.

Arthur was naturally offended beyond comprehension.
He does have SUCH a soft spot for that boring old draggle Nimue.

Honestly!
The ‘Lady of the Lake’ indeed, tossing enchanted swords around and thinking she’s so special!

This is MY Lake.
She doesn’t even pay me for the indignity but she’s got the world convinced that I’M the trespasser.
I should turn the whole Lake to ice for a summer, see how she likes claiming ownership THEN!

“Arthur, we must hurry, is the sea witch coming or not?”

With a toss of my hair and a wave of my arms the water followed my command.
I rose up on a throne of seemingly solid water, in seconds my body was dry and my hair settled neatly around me in bountiful curls.

“Hi Lance’a-lot-a-yummy-muscles!”

His eye twitched heavily.
I know he heard me.

He can’t pretend to ignore me forever!

Guin thinks she’s so much better than me, getting his attention, but someday he’ll notice me!
I’m the REAL Queen around here, she just got lucky and managed to make it ‘official’.
Non-magicals can be ever so tiresome in their delusions sometimes..

“Le fay, we need your healers touch. A great force is on route to us, Myrddin fears we will not survive the coming battle without you.”

My eyes rolled up to the heavens in exasperation.
That old fool still thinks himself a soothsayer?!

The overgrown pigeon he calls a ‘familiar’ has more of the gift to him then that crazy old coot does!

“I’d love to Arthur, really, but I’m ever so busy. The water-bitch challenged me to a race this afternoon and dear Guin wants my help making her ass look relatively acceptable in her new dress too.”
I couldn’t help but giggle at the silly expressions on both of their faces.

As if Nimue would ‘lower herself to my level’ enough for something as childish as a race around the lake, and Guin hasn’t requested my help in choosing her clothes since the unfortunate incident with the Toga.. as if it’s my fault the silly girl didn’t know how to hold a simple cloth shroud in place!

The pair shared a very obvious look of uncertainty but in the end my darling future-husband Lancelot shrugged to his King for some reason.

“Myrddin said that you would be more willing to aid us if I mentioned a name?.. Maxarimus?
A breath hissed through my teeth in surprise.
My concentration broke, making the ‘throne’ of water I was sitting on collapse, plunging me into the suddenly ice cold water below and yanking a startled gasp from my lips.

By the time I resurfaced, sputtering and bedraggled the pair were both watching me with nervous surprise.
Slowly Arthur continued speaking.

“He comes to avenge himself upon the woman that would steal his love from him?.. truly Myrddin likes to speak in riddles..”

With barely a thought I pushed myself up onto the water’s surface and I started pacing over to the wide eyed men’s side.
The water below my feet froze solid as my anger bubbled deep within my chest.

“We AGREED to a generation long truce!”

That sneaky bastard’s probably spent the time which I’VE spent fooling around with these mortal filth finding more ways to stop me from attaining my goals!

That’s CHEATING!
That’s not FAIR!
That’s.. that’s.. that’s kind of evil?..

Oh Maxarimus.. oh Dearheart.. are you sinking to my level?..
How utterly delightful!

A malicious little grin spread across my face.
It must have worried the men-folk because Lancelot took up a hastily formed ‘ready’ stance and drew his sword to help defend his king.

“Back off Man-Whore, I’ve got more interesting things to worry about.”
My feet met the thin sand at the water’s edge and I stared hard at Arthur with my hip cocked aggressively to the side.
“Well?.. lead on ‘my king’, I’ve got a slimy little bastard to bring to heel!”

They both shared another uncertain look but at Arthurs nod they turned to go back along the trail towards the castle grounds.

“I take it you know this.. ‘Maxarimus’ then Morrigan?”
I shot the silly man in his silly armor a deeply annoyed look and continued towards the castle.

I know Maxarimus.. oh.. do I KNOW Maxarimus!
Fool me into wasting my time will you?!

You’ll pay for that indignity Maxarimus!
Ohhh.. YOU. WILL. PAY!

------

One minute I was taking a step along the dirt path and the next I was held tightly in place?
I felt cold too, how odd?
I don’t tend to feel cold, being an ice mage and all..

Also.. I’m naked?

I’m all for fun and games but chaining me to a rock by the shore while naked?!
Someone’s been naughty!

Without my intention, my eye’s scanned across the harbour lights with worry as night fell across the land but the action itself was enough to settle me soundly back into the world at large.
My breath hitched in my throat and I thrashed against my bindings hard as I realised the true import of what was happening.

Why me?
I did NOTHING wrong!

It’s all mothers fault!
First she organises an arranged marriage for me with my pig of an Uncle Phineus and now, because she doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, I’m tied naked to a rock in the harbor waiting for Poseidon’s stupid beast ‘Cetus’ to come and eat me in some kind of stupid last minute attempt at quelling the water gods anger!

This isn’t FAIR!

The water far off rippled and a large fin broke its surface followed quickly by a head that was twice my size alone, with horribly sharp teeth shining in the sun’s dying light.

I screamed.

The beast seemed pleased with the sound and when its beady snake-like eyes landed on me its wide jaw dropped open in delight.
With speed born of its monstrous size it pushed itself through the water at a frightening pace.

In what felt like moments it had reached the water’s edge and rose almost majestically up, higher and higher!
I couldn’t resist the urge to scream again as its huge head reared back with obvious intent.

As it dropped down to swallow me in one gulp the world seemed to slow to a trickle.
My heart beat away in my chest violently and my body couldn’t seem to decide whether it should be unbearably hot or chillingly cool as the two extremes battled themselves out in my chest.

I could smell the beast’s wet breath on my face and see those razor sharp teeth so close to my face before the internal battle was finally settled.

In the pause between seconds my body was flooded with white hot heat the likes of which I’ve never felt before.

I screamed once more as my head felt like it was going to tear itself apart but I clung on with everything I had, determined to see my end with wide eyes and unfettered breath!

The long second ended and my body exploded.
Fire, as if stolen from the sun itself, poured out from me and struck the beast head on.
It screamed an unearthly death kneel of pain that made some vindictive part of me feel so much better!

With a great wobbling step it slid to the side and partly submerged itself at the water’s edge, little more than a charred husk of what it once was.

From somewhere above me there came the sound of flapping wings and a neighing horse?

With bleary eyes that just refused to focus properly I stared in shock as a man wearing the tattered remains of a cloak and some singed cloth landed at my feet.
He rose to his full height and panted hard as his eyes crossed my naked body with lust but just a touch of something deeper as well..

For some reason a word came to my mind.
It was strange but I felt such a forceful urge to speak it and I was in no position to resist.
“Max?”

His face slid back up to mine in shock and he gasped as our eyes met.
“Ari?”

That word felt familiar too but I couldn’t work out why?
Something deep in my soul told me that I could trust this man.
That he would protect me, save me from this horrid life of mine.

“Get me out of here, far from these people, and I’ll do anything in return!”

A naughty glint appeared in the man’s eye.
His eyebrow rose as if challenging my fortitude in some way.

“..yes, even in THAT way.. if you must.. pervert.”
The naughty glint refused to leave but his eyes softened with something else as he stared at my face for some reason.
Well, he’s better than my uncle I guess?..

“I said get me out of here NOW pervert!”

He sighed heavily to himself but seemed entirely too amused as he did something to the chains at my wrists, setting me free, one restraint at a time.
When my body was finally released from that horribly cold rock I reached out and snagged the tattered cape from my ‘rescuers’ back and forcefully pulled it from him to wrap around myself, covering my shame neatly despite the fact that it left his exposed to all who would look.

“May I at least know your name before we leave ‘hero’?”
My eyes kept wanting to dip downwards as he awkwardly stood there trying to rub feeling back into his neck from where I’d practically choked him while stealing his cape.

“It’s Perseus, or Max if you prefer.. and yours my beautiful sacrifice?”
He sounded so smug as he shot me a charming grin and winked dramatically as if that should mean something to me in some way.

“..Pervert.. my name is Andromeda, I suppose you deserve as much for helping me even if you WERE a bit late about it!”

“Andromeda.. ruler of men?.. how appropriate.”

Feelings of unreasonable anger forming deep in my chest, mostly at the indignities that my life had fallen to, sunken so low that I required saving by a near-naked man of such blatant perversion!

I struck out at him.
Despite his obvious pain when my loose fist struck his nose he seemed entirely too amused about it for both of our sakes.

Our building, if rather one sided, argument was interrupted by the appearance of my father.
I felt a growl form low in my chest just at the sight of him but ‘Perseus’ put his hand on my shoulder which seemed to just drain the fight out of me somehow?

“I did battle the beast, slay it and thus claim this sacrifice as my wife in compensation.”

..WHAT?!..

“WHAT! You can’t do that you- mmph mmm mmph mm!”
The cowardly naked pervert put his grubby hand over my mouth calmly, as if it was only natural, and gave father a winning smile despite my best efforts to argue the point.

I told him to get me out of here, NOT take me as his wife!

Father practically fell at the man’s feet in gratitude for slaying the beast which apparently would appease Poseidon in some way, which I don’t truly understand the logic of honestly..

He fled the scene quickly, the beasts corpse scaring him obviously beyond reason because he shouted out directions towards our home for the marriage ceremony to take place and he left me alone with the pervert!

When father and his men were out of earshot Perseus’s shoulders sunk and he sighed heavily.

On a sudden inspiration I stuck my tongue out and unceremoniously licked his hand causing the so far rather austere ‘hero’ to shriek like a little girl, yanking his palm away from my face and clutching his wrist as if I’d bitten him or something.

“Don’t you EVER put your hand over my mouth like that again!”
I’m not sure if he was listening because he seemed rather busy washing his hand in the seawater beside us but I wanted to make the point clear nonetheless.

“So.. I’m practically naked, your literally naked and father just left for the city with all his horses in tow.. tell me hero, how are we going to get out of here with any sort of dignity?”

As if answering my question the heavy beating of wings came from above us and my eyes tracked up to see what I can only describe as a flying horse.
White as fresh fallen snow and obviously of good breeding, aside from the wings I’d almost say it was a noble steed befitting a ‘hero’, one much better than a pervert of this man’s caliber could possibly deserve at least!

Four hooves touched down lightly on the rocks beside us and the winged demon-thing bowed its head as if offering us passage to ride him.

My head turned slowly to glare at the pervert.
He offered me a winning smile and shrugged self-consciously.

“I’m not getting on that thing.. if man were meant to fly we’d all be throwing ourselves off the tallest towers to prove it!”

The ‘horse’ bowed its head slightly lower and clopped over so that it could nudge against my thigh slightly.
My heart melted a little as its big expressive brown eyes focused on me for a moment but reality quickly snapped me back out of that insanity with a bump.

It’s not a horse!
It’s a monster, a cute monster but still a monster and I’m NOT flying on it!

Perseus obviously had enough of my attitude because in a smooth motion he scooped my legs out from beneath me and tossed me belly first onto the back of the ‘horse’.
Before I could react he’d somehow mounted the thing and with a click of his tongue we were airborne.

I screamed so loud I wouldn’t be surprised if people washing in the Nile could hear me!

In seconds that had to die out though, when my breath became short and I started panting hard to stop myself from vomiting as the horse-bird-thing bucked and swayed in the breeze.

We were just flying over a group of startled onlookers when my stomach finally decided enough was enough.
They all called out in shock and disgust but I just shut my eyes tight and tried to hide against the horses flank.

..so much for getting home with some dignity intact..

------

The world shuddered and everything became dark.
For a moment I marvelled at the ground beneath my feet and the clothing on my back but that cleared quickly as I took in everything around me.

“Queen Arista, we beg you to lift this curse upon our lands.”
I casually flipped my hair and rolled my palm up to let one of my little darlings settle there.
Its body of almost crystalline ice shifted and wavered in the light so beautifully as its little wings flapped lightly against my palm.
“Our deer are dying, our people cannot survive the winter at this rate.”

The darling flapped its insect like wings of pure un-fallen snow and left me to join its sisters flying in formation above us, making the sun’s light cast shadows around the room in startlingly pretty rainbow like shafts.

“My Queen PLEASE..”

With a sigh I shifted my thick white fur’s and rose from my throne to pace over to the grovelling worm.
It took less than a gesture to force the brute to his feet again.
He stared at me with wide frightened eyes as I leaned in closer.

One kiss.

The kiss of the Snow Queen can do so much but this one should be more fun to watch than most.
The fear and desperation fled from the brutes face as my magic worked its icy fingers into his heart and mind.

He would forget.
As they all did, he would forget his lost kin and their suffering so that he may serve only me till his dying day.. just like little ‘Kai’..

“MOTHER!”
Ah.. more entertainment, how utterly joyous!
“Mother, let him go. I beg of you let him go!”

“Eris, dearheart, you are so VERY dull.. your father is happy where he is. He has his wish, to live at my desire?”
My hand came up to wave at little ‘Kai’ as he played blindly on the ice around us making designs and pictures in them with a happy smile.

“Please Mother, see reason?!”

“Eris.. no, you’re not deserving of that name in this form.. Gerda wasn’t it? Your name of birth?”
Before she could interrupt I swept my furs around myself and stared at her coldly.
“I am the Snow Queen, nothing you say or do can change that this day. Go home to your new ‘family’.. foolish child..”

Eri- Gerda fell to her knee’s sobbing as she finally accepted the truth of my words.. after so many years of denial..

I do not need her or anyone else in this life!
I have my darlings, I have my throne and I have little ‘Kai’.. nothing else is that important.

“She can’t stop you.. but I can.”

My eyes shot downwards in shock as little ‘Kai’ rose to his feet proudly.
His face.. his expressions.. he’s.. he’s not..
“..Maxarimus?..”

“For the pain I am about to cause you I’m sorry but you would agree with its need were you in your right mind Ari.”

Tears formed on my cheek and froze before they could do more than stain my perfect flesh.
He doesn’t mean that!
He CAN’T mean that!

“STOP CALLING ME ARI!”

He didn’t say anything more.
With a stamp of his little foot the ice around us lit up in powerful magic.
My eyes feverishly shot around trying to make sense of it all.

His drawings?
The childish scribbles he’s always forming from pieces of fallen ice around us..

“..runes?..”
His eyes winced down in pain at the heartbroken tone of my voice.

He used my own talent against me?..
I was so caught up in my lovely ice that he could use my OWN speciality against ME!

The web of runic patterns around us stretched as far as the eye could see across the ice and then they flashed brightly.
My arms came up in defence but it didn’t work, it could never work..

Something deep in my chest burned like the fire of the sun.
NO!

NO! NO! NO! NO!
NOT THAT!
ANYTHING BUT THAT?!

I barely had a moments respite before the fire inside me peaked and I collapsed to the ice in pain.

Something deep within me snapped.
My body warmed as foreign magic flooded within it and for one brief moment I could see all that I had done with such clarity.

“I’m sorry Ari.. sorry you have to see this..”

The tears on my cheek thawed and started to flow heavily down my cheeks.
My mind was assaulted with thoughts and feelings that weren’t my own.
A deep pool of regret flushed through me as I looked upon what I’d done in this lifetime.

“I’m sorry Eris.. my darling Eris.. I’m so.. so sorry.”
Before either of them could stop me I instinctively pushed some of this new fire within me down towards the ice.
A perfect ring around me melted and my body dropped through into the icy water below.

I could hear Eris scream and Max scramble to reach me but with the last vestiges of my ice magic I froze the hole I’d just fallen through solid above myself and let my body go limp.
With a last breath I cursed out my dark heart with every drop of sanity I’d managed to regain.

..I’m so sorry..

The burn in my chest built again but this time it was from more than magic.
Drowning.. what a simply horrid way to die..

======

I surged up in bed, not even able to scream as my throat instinctively closed itself to hold onto that last desperate gasp of air within my chest!

Before I could gather my wits and work out what was happening Max burst through the door, practically sprinting to my side.
I don’t know how he knew I needed him or how he managed to reach me so quickly but I don’t CARE either!

With a flying tackle I buried my face in his arms and sobbed with deep, painful breaths.
He held me tightly.
Eventually he lifted me into his lap on the bed so that he could rock me as I cried.

Some shuffling sounds to my side brought Eris’s eyes, wide with worry but also painfully curious, into view.
Her gaze broke me all over again with a swell of guilt as something deep down inside me recognised what I’d put that poor girl through in my time as ‘the Ice Queen’.

I’m a monster!

I’m.. I’m a monster?..

“shhh, it’s okay Hannah. It was just a dream.”
John rocked me again and his hand came up to stroke my messy hair out of my face.
I could feel his magic tumble around with mixed emotions but his hand stayed steady.
“It was just a dream, whatever you saw it wasn’t you. You're Hannah Cooper.. you. are. Hannah Cooper.”

My tears wouldn’t stop falling but I could follow that logic.
It gave me something to cling to as thoughts and memory’s that weren’t my own tried to batter their way into my psyche.

I’m not sure how long we sat there.
I lost track of the world honestly.

Nothing mattered but John’s warmth and Eris’s familiar magic as she tucked tightly into my side.

“It’s okay. Whatever you saw was just a dream Hannah..”
He rocked me again to emphasis his words.
I couldn’t do much more then draw in heavy breaths and try to re-find my center for a while but eventually I managed to reach some level of ‘calm’ where I could begin pulling myself back from the edge at last.

“The Ice Queen..”

I could feel John go stiff in my arms and Eris flinched visibly.
I KNEW it!
It wasn’t just a bloody dream!

oh powers.. how can Arista be so twisted?!

One minute she’s a shy but soft hearted ex-orphanage matron and the next she’s this horrible ice-beast obsessed with her own enjoyment without a care for the people she hurts along the way?!

..even the others.. the incarnations in between?..

Some evil Queen that casually killed John and managed to scare DEMONS in their natural habitat, followed by this unassuming but madly in love ‘wife’ of Thor’s!
MORGAN LE FAY! Morgan BLOODY Le Fay!.. and then headstrong but innocent Andromeda?..

It’s like she’s two different people?!
I know I’m schizophrenic, technically all awakened mages are, but this is just getting RIDICULOUS!

Even ‘Max’ seemed to treat her differently depending on the incarnation!
It’s like some incarnations lived in the REAL world and the others all lived in some.. Bizarro world?
A place where evil people are nice and dogs are scared of cats or something?!

I can’t keep it all straight in my head!
This wasn’t NORMAL.. if I integrate a past-incarnation into my mind properly then I get ALL of their memories and full control over how much of them I access!

This.. this was something different?

They’re like the dreams last night about Eris..
They’ve affected me, changed me at my core.. but I don’t remember the lives attached to them?

URRGG!
This is SO frustrating and confusing and my head hurts and I just.. I just can’t..

“I’m so sorry..”
My tears wouldn’t stop falling.

Logically I know there’s nothing I could have done differently.
I wasn’t the ‘Snow Queen’, she was her own person, her own version of Arista.. but..

“..I’m sorry..”

John’s shoulders lost a lot of tension for some reason.
His magic calmed over the course of a few long seconds leaving only determination behind in its wake.

“You have nothing to apologise for. I’ve said it before, you’re nothing like Arista.”

Eris turned her head up to stare between us for some reason.
She seemed confused for a moment but eventually her eyes widened in understanding.

I was completely caught off guard by the happy little giggle that left her lips and the sudden rush she put in to squeeze herself back into my side again.

At my curious look, through still puffy eyes, John didn’t seem willing to offer much help.
If anything he looked a little smug and possibly a bit proud too?

..when did he start having more than one emotion on his face at once?..

“Don’t jump down my throat straight off Hannah but I think we need to leave?..”
Despite everything that’s going on, I couldn’t help but perk up a curious eyebrow at him.

I’m really not following his logic?
Yeah.. I had some crappy messed up memory/nightmares but..

Why would that make him start talking about leaving?

This is my home.. where the hell ELSE could I go?!
I guess we could go to Sarah’s flat or one of my bolt-holes but I just don’t see how that could help matters honestly?

“I was already trying to think of a way to bring up the idea but these dreams make things a bit more urgent.. having so many people that you’re past-lives associated with around you can’t be helping whatever this is in any way and it’s only going to get worse as more people turn up.. powers help us if one of Arista’s husbands decides to show his face!”

I may have made a slight squeak of fear but I refuse to accept it if I did.
It’s just.. at the mention of ‘husbands’, I had a flash of Thor again with his uncovered bulging muscles, wide chiselled jaw and thick untamed red hair as he stared down at me on our bed before he could-

My head swung around violently as I tried to dislodge those very bad thoughts out of there as fast as possible!

I did NOT enjoy the dream with Thor ANY more than the other emotionally scarring ones!
I don’t CARE if thinking of his warm expressive eyes and loving smile makes my belly tingle!

I DIDN’T LIKE IT!
I.. I DIDN’T!!

John’s hands came up and he cupped my face making me reluctantly stop shaking it to stare at him in confusion.

“They were just dreams Hannah, treat them as bad dreams for now, okay?”
My cheeks flushed brightly with a mix of embarrassment, excitement and John’s close proximity.
“The other reason I think we should leave is that the Hub is going to come looking for answers about the ‘solar flare’ sooner or later, Arista’s husbands are already on the move too.. it would be good to let them all sort themselves out a bit before you have to deal with them.”
He hesitated for a moment but continued anyway.
“In the meantime I know someone who’s good with mind magic, she can help you regain some control which you DESPERATELY need..”

His hands didn’t leave my cheeks but they did stop holding my face still so forcefully at least.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bowed my head until my forehead bumped against his chest.
My breath was coming out in short sharp bursts still for some reason, John didn’t seem to notice though as his hands shifted to my shoulders and he pulled me into a tight hug.

..he’s so warm..

“..I think you’re right?..”
He jerked a little in surprise.
I almost giggled at his reaction

I don’t think he expected me to accept his logic so quickly.

He’s got a point though.
I’m in NO state to be dealing with things right now, if it wouldn’t kick off yet ANOTHER game of ‘cat and mouse’ I’d probably just leave on my own at some point soon anyway..

Well.. maybe not alone?
I’m not sure I could leave Eris behind honestly?
Just the thought of it ties my stomach in guilty knots..

“..okay?..”
John hissed a breath of relief out and lowered his head on top of mine for a moment before surging up with renewed vigor.
“Okay, you need to gather everything you’ll need together. We’ll leave as soon as possible, the earlier we go the slower people will be to notice that we’re gone and the further we can be from any potential pursuers.”

With a healthy dose of reluctance I pulled myself away from his warm body and glanced around my room until my eye’s settled on my expanded bag.
I’ve still not unpacked from the farm trip, I didn’t see the point honestly.

“I’m already packed, we can stop off at a store somewhere and grab Eris some clothes or I can just conjure her some temporarily..”
John’s eyebrow rose in surprise for a second.
I huffed out a breath and gave him my best warning look.
“We’re taking Eris with us John.”

It wasn’t up for debate.
He’s my best option for lasting the week with what little sanity I have left still intact but I’m NOT going to leave her behind no matter what he says!

He opened his mouth to say something.
Before he could get it out his attention seemed to shift and his eyes drifted away from my face towards my waist.
My eyes followed his and settled on Eris.

I couldn’t resist the slight smirk that formed on my lips when I recognised the look she was giving him, it seems that I’m not the only one who can give John a ‘warning look’?
..She’s actually worryingly good at it?..

Sarah’s pout mixed with my sneer and Mum’s squinted eyes.
I think she’s picked it up from me sadly.. it’s almost identical to how I must have looked just moments ago..
I kinda HAVE been throwing that same expression around a lot lately I guess?..

“Fine.. she comes too but you’ve got to leave a note behind for everyone, your sister is going to be bad enough when she wakes up with you missing but if someone tells everyone else that the three of us are ‘gone’ without some kind of reason to it they are likely to jump to conclusions which could be.. messy..”

He’s right.

I can’t argue with that logic, I was just going to call Sarah with my phone at roughly the time that she should wake up, but I hadn’t really factored in the nearly hundred-strong army of ‘kids’ we have sharing a pocket dimension with my werewolf extended family at the moment..

Mages can be irrational and, considering how clingy they’ve all been with me in the few hours we’ve had since they came out of the tree’s to swarm our house, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tore the country apart to find me again!

“Fine, I’ll do the note. Give me five minutes to get changed and we’ll be out. How are we gonna get away without getting caught?”
John’s face lit up with a playful smile.
His hand dipped into his pocket and came back up swinging his truck key’s around a finger carelessly.
“Really?.. it’s not exactly a quiet and sneaky vehicle..”

“Silencing charms”
Ah.. well then.. not much I can say to that I guess?

We’ll have to limit our magic use to keep our trail from being too easy to pick up as we travel.. to wherever we’re going?.. but for now it’s not too important, the whole area is saturated with our magic so any new spells will get lost in the background noise around them until we at least reach Klamath Falls proper.

“Right, fine.. good. Leave now so I can get myself dressed without you staring at me.”
Johns face slipped into a blatantly false pout of disappointment and he tried to give me some kind of ‘puppy-dog’ eyed look which REALLY doesn’t work with his sharp features in the slightest.
“Go John-boy! You’ll see me naked over my cold dead body, perv!”

It took a moment for those words to click in my head.
I cringed guiltily and John’s face lost its light playful cast as well.

‘Cold’ and ‘Dead’.. really not a good thing to bring up after seeing what happened to the ‘Ice Queen’ earlier..

With a weak smile John left the room on silent feet.
I turned to Eris and huffed out a heavy breath.
..open mouth, insert foot much?..

“Okay, let’s get dressed then shall we Eris? What do you want to wear?”
Her little eyes lit up with unholy glee.

Why does it feel like I shouldn’t have asked her that question all of a sudden?

..open mouth, insert foot again!..
Damn it!