Curtain Fall - Chapter 16

Jill’s eyes opened lazily and she looked up into the loving gaze of Carol. She gave a happy sigh and raised an arm to caress her lover’s waist from where she comfortably nestled in her lap. “I could get used to this!”

Carol lit up and kissing her fingers, touched them gently to Jill’s lips. “Welcome back love. It looks like you finally found something to actually tire you out!” Seeing confusion begin to form, Carol started brushing Jill’s abundant hair from her face and asked, “You don’t remember the pool? The little girl?”

When the memory surfaced Jill’s face changed to shock and fear and she bolted to a sitting position. With a voice filled with panic for the little girl Jill cried, “Oh God! Mary! It was real!? Is she alive? How bad? How bad was she hurt??”

To Jill’s outraged disbelief Carol started snorting; then laughing. “Oh sweetie! You saved her! Right there in the park. You reached into the pool, caught her and lowered her to safety. Even from here, where ever here is!”

“It was so hard though! It took everything I had to reach her.” She paused a bit and continued, “Why did we see her anyway?”

Jill and Carol speculated for quite a while finally coming to a theory that because she had been reminiscing about an event in her (then his) childhood that it must have made her sensitive to children in similar circumstances. As an experiment, they decided to try it again.

The two went back to the pool and sat again next to it. They settled comfortably down and starting talking again about their lives. While pleasant and giving them a more thorough understanding of each other, something seemed missing and they saw no visions.

“What are we missing?” Jill asked, disappointed.

“Let’s think about it again. They were little children who were playing right?”

Jill nodded, “Yes they were playing a childhood game of ‘Heroes and Villains’. The little girl was even pretending to be m-“. Jill cut off suddenly. “The little girl was focused on pretending to be me!”

Carol’s eyes widened, “Yes! She was thinking of you. Perhaps you thinking of her games and her focusing on you made a connection! Who else might be thinking of you?”

The only people they thought likely were their bond family: Gary, Maggie and Sam. So they were the ones Jill concentrated on next. Unfortunately those efforts yielded little as well.

In frustration, Jill smacked her palm into the water and stared angrily into the disturbed water. Jill started as she splashed in frustration, for when she broke the surface, she heard the echoes of a woman’s wail of fear and despair. With ice water running down her spine, she looked quickly to the pool and through the violent rippling water a scene wavered into view. She saw an man striking a woman and then turning on nearby children. Over this, she heard a plea for someone to protect them, from the woman Jill thought!

Kyle loomed over the whimpering form of his girlfriend, Sandra; his head buzzing from the Meth coursing through his veins. “Damn you bitch!”, he thought. “She just had to be uppity and argue with him, didn’t she. Don’t know why I put up with the slut and her f’ing kids”, he thought as he shook head. In the background two of the brats were cowering in a corner of the room. The oldest was nowhere to be seen. “Why do you have to go and get in my face woman? Sally needs money for a field trip?? If you weren’t useless we’d have the money! You F’ing broke the damn station wagon. We don’t got spare money now!”

Sandra flinched and whimpered, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry honey! Don’t hit any more..”

This plea simply seemed to aggravate him more and he reached down and wrenched her to her knees by her hair. His face grimaced in disgust as he pulled her and exposed the newly broken nose with blood pouring down her blouse. “Damn you ugly slut, are you messing up the carpet!?!?”

As Kyle raised his free hand to punish her for daring to bleed, Sandra closed her eyes in despair. Tensing for the coming blow she wailed silently for someone, anyone to stop or at least distract him. Maybe an angel? The news a couple of days ago had reported that strange story of how Lady Adrasteia had just appeared and saved that little girl Maybe her?

Her world exploded in blinding pain as her cheek rocked from his fist crashing into her face. Barely conscious, she started to go limp and the children in the corner cried out in fright. Kyle turned to them and snarled, “Shut up you shits! Maybe you need some of this too!”

He then dropped the woman and lunged for the eldest child there and pulled him to his feet by painfully wrenching his little arm. “I’ll teach you to make so much noise!”

Before he could strike the little boy, however, the front door burst open and two officers led by Tommy, the eldest of the children rushed in. Taking in the situation the lead officer pulled is weapon and yelled, “Freeze, Police!”

Kyle, snarled and snatched the child into his arms as a shield snarling, “Get the fuck away pigs!”

The scene clarified, and she watched the scene evolve. Watching the man pull a child into his grip and hold him up as he yelled at the police, she realized that the man was not in control of himself and would hurt the little boy he held if not stopped. With rising anger Jill said softly, “No.”

Officer Willis froze as the man, obviously high on something like Meth or PCP yelled at he and his partner and felt real fear for the child’s safety. He knew the crazed man would likely hurt or even kill the child if he decided he was threatened. “Now hold on,” Willis began in what he hoped were soothing tones, “Don’t do anyth-“

His words faded off as he watched what he could only describe as a vision silently appeared. His partner’s, his and even the still groggy woman eyes all went wide as the image of the Fallen superheroine Lady Adrasteia appeared. The apparition uttered the single word, “No.”, that seemed to echo in each person’s mind as she looked with anger at Kyle.

Kyle for his part saw all attention shift over his shoulder and he whirled. Hearing the vision’s declaration as she hovered in the room, and feeling an overwhelming feeling of Adrasteia’s anger he made a choked sound of terror. Had he the chance he might have tried to shield himself from this supernatural apparition, but before he could do anything he felt his vision narrowing and in confusion felt his eyes roll back in his head. Kyle then dropped bonelessly to the floor.

Silence reigned for a few seconds until the battered mother gasped, “My Lady!”

Jill marveled to herself, “Stopping the blood flow wasn’t nearly as hard as catching Mary!”. Aloud she focused on the woman and her face softened as she said, “I heard you cry. He can’t hurt you now. Take your children and get safely away.” She then looked at the officers. “Make certain this.. Offal is dealt with and given justice.”

The scene in the pool then faded back to the dark water and Jill amazingly felt a strange uprising of emotions and energy flowing from those she had seen in the pool. This flow eased the considerable if not debilitating effort of rendering the crazed man unconscious.

Carol, who had watched Jill’s intervention at the pool looked with wonder at her lover. “You did it again. You glimpsed back to our world and you were able to save that family. How did you find them?”

Jill looked back with a similar sense of wonder. “I’m not entirely certain. At first there was nothing. Then all of a sudden I could sense her calling for help. I could feel her fear and panic and it felt as if she were calling to me. I looked and they were there in the pool...”

Carol thought on it and responded with a speculative expression, “It almost sounds like someone back in the real world has to initiate things. That you can’t see the world until someone reaches out to you.”

Jill nodded to that thoughtfully. “You know, that feels right.”

“Speaking of feeling, how are you feeling? The last time pretty much used you up. This time you are doing a lot better. Any idea why?”

“Welll... This time I wasn’t trying to do as much. The last time I had to catch the little girl. She was small, but still 40 to 50 lbs. This time I simply pinched and cut off blood to that monster’s brain.” She shrugged and then added, “Also this time I felt energy from them. A little like the energy I feel from you, Maggie and all; It felt like they fed it to me!”

Carol looked sharply at Jill, “Fed? What do you mean fed? What are you turning into a psychic vampire or something?”

“No, oh God!”, Jill exclaimed shocked as Carol pinned her with eyes, “I’d never take from anyone involuntarily!” Carol noted the response, She’d not said that she couldn’t, only wouldn’t.

“No the energy flow was not my doing in any way. I don’t feel a bond or connection like I have with you. The energy just came to me!” She looked earnestly to her suspicious lover. “I have to admit something though. I can tell I’m gaining sustenance from the energy flow. I. I don’t think I need to eat as much. Or at all!

The love I feel from you and the others seems to be feeding me. You know I heal fast now right? I think it is from the energy I get from you all. The energy from the pool fed me as well...”

“Holy crap!”, Carol exclaimed as Jill’s confession sank in.

“Yeah.”, Jill replied. She then looked at the woman she loved and asked timidly, “What’s happening to me Love, what am I becoming?”

Carol could see the uncertainty and fear in Jill’s eyes and could feel the the worry that she was becoming a monster and reached to pull her into her arms. “I don’t think we can kid ourselves hon, I don’t think your claim to being human is all that strong anymore.” She gestured to herself, “Just like me. Our time here has obviously been changing us. I don’t think either of us can claim to be fully human anymore.” She kissed Jill then. “What I can say, however, is that you aren’t turning into a monster. Even where ever we are, you can’t leave people who need help alone. You can’t stand people who hurt others and you just have to stop them!”

Jill looked searchingly at Carol, “I’m scared. I know things are changing. I’m growing in ways I could never believe. I mean look at me. Look at us! We handle the reality around us like it its clay! Is it this place or us?!?” She then developed a cross look, “AND WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?!?” No answer was forthcoming. In the distance the sound of thunder could be heard.

As days went forward the couple continued on with their interests and pleasures. Carol started ranging farther and farther afield. Where ever she went she was greeted with the verdant forest. She discovered, however, that her connection to this lush terrain was growing ever stronger. So strong, that one afternoon, she ran across a family of skunks. Less carefully than she planned she came upon them and surprised them. One of the adults was more alert than she’d thought and managed to actually spray her. With a shriek of dismay and with eyes watering she retched and coughed and desperately wanted to rinse her face. She stumbled a bit and then tripped over what she thought was a boulder and fell forward into water. Spluttering, she raised her head and blearily looked about only to see she was in the pool. The pool that had been miles away! With amazement, she thought, “What the heck?!”

Somehow Carol had travelled back to their pond with no effort. Was it just here or elsewhere? As an experiment she focused on their sleeping quarters and willed. Now that she was paying attention she felt the connection to the plant life near the chambers and found that by reaching she was pulled so that it felt she traveled through that plant life.

“Well hot damn!”, she said grinning and wasted no time to ‘travel’ to where she could feel Jill.

Jill wrinkled her nose and in a strangled voice said as she felt Carol’s arms suddenly wrap around her, “Good grief! You smell horrible!” After removing the smell of skunk spore with a thought, she turned to her lover. She was confused, as she’d felt that Carol was miles away the last time she’d ‘looked’. “And why are you so excited?”

Carol who was practically giggling with glee, explained her appearance. Hearing her experiences, Jill was amazed and thrilled! Her love could now use the life of the forest as a sort of ‘superhighway’.

“It’s like you’re becoming a Dryad!”, Jill exclaimed. “Can you merge with trees too?”

Carol scrunched her face in thought and said she’d try. She walked over to a large tree and touched it. She tried to feel herself blending into the soothing and patient life force. While she felt closer to it and felt her mind slowing more to the pace of the slow and gentle life of the tree, her body didn’t vanish into it.

Jill watched the attempt. She could see that Carol didn’t physically disappear, but she did sense her take on the feeling of the tree. After Carol stopped trying, Jill explained her observations. She suspected that psychically, at least, she took on qualities of the tree. Someone simply looking about would likely just ignore her due to the psychic camouflage. They came to a theory that perhaps that could be what could give rise to the myths!

“But if I’m becoming something like a Dryad of ancient myth does that mean that there have been people like us in the past? On Earth?!?” Carol eyes widened, “Our powers and changes spring from how the curtain affected us.. Or you at least. Could it be that the Curtain has rolled across the world before?!”

Jill nodded thoughtfully. “That could certainly explain things like the heroes and creatures of mythology. Heracles could have been a Fallen just given immense strength. Centaurs and Lamias could have been blends like we’ve heard about in the news.”

“And those given powers completely outside the understanding of ancient humans. Throwing fire, or lightening. Powers like yours, Telekinesis and powerful empathics; primitive people would likely have even called them gods!”, Carol ventured with a sense of shocked amazement. She giggled, “Maybe we did a better job giving you the name Adrasteia than we thought!”

——————————

David walked into his house tiredly. He’d just finished arranging the last details for transportation of the Tarneerans. They had left this morning. With luck they’d reach their home in a week. The State department had been quite concerned that those in power down there would be angry at how ‘Asha’ was injured, but the representatives on hand assured them that they were blameless.

He pulled off his coat and called out, “Honey, I’m home!”

Initially, there was no response, then “Uh sweetie? Come in here and see this?”, came from his wife in the living room. He followed the voice and walked into see the evening news broadcast.

“Again, This is an exclusive of KOB Eyewitness News 4. We were just given this officer camera video of involving a domestic dispute on Wisconsin Street, South East. In it we will see something truly extraordinary!”

The video then showed an out of control man threatening his family and child until Adrasteia suddenly appeared out of thin air. The heroine rendered the man unconscious as she had done with supervillains several weeks previously. Once subdued the video recorded Adrasteia comforting the victimized wife, then fading away!

David starred utterly baffled as the broadcast shifted to the family with them responding to questions.

The woman, with bandages on her face was focused on the interviewer with her remaining usable eye descibing the event. She related how she’d been convinced that her husband would kill her and her kids and how she’d cried out to “The Lady” for help. Then when she’d appeared she’d reached out in divine fury and struck down her husband.

“Divine Fury??”, the interviewer prompted skeptically.

“You wouldn’t sneer if you’d been there!” She replied with fervor. “Her anger filled the whole house and more! Even our neighbor can tell you!”

David turned and dashed to the phone in his coat pocket even as it began ringing.

“Director Feber!”, came the tinny voice out of the speaker, “A news report has j-“

“Yes I know!”, David said cutting off the speaker. “I just finished watching it! Where is she right now?”

“She and the Tarneeran delegation are supposed to be on the train; a little over half way to Jacksonville sir.”

“Get me Colonel Thompson immediately on a SAT vid phone!”, David barked.

A couple of minutes later, “Thompson. What do you need Director Feber?”

“Joshua,” David began in an intense voice, “What is the status of Asha and the Tarneerans?”

Puzzled, Joshua replied, “I checked with that train car about 30 minutes ago and the situation was perfectly calm. Lady Adrasteia was laying quietly with that feral woman crouched beside the bunk and the other Tarneerans were in the dining car, sitting comfortably. Why?”

“Because Lady Adrasteia was just filmed here in Albuquerque saving a woman from being beaten to death by her companion!”, David barked.

“What the hell?!? I’ll confirm right away now sir! Hang on!” David could hear the Colonel barking orders and moving quickly in the train. Less than 4 minutes later, “Sir! I’m standing into the medical car right now and staring at her body. She remains in a seeming comatose state sir!”

“Then how could she be filmed here in Albuquerque?”, David wondered anxiously. He then spoke quickly to the Colonel, instructing that he needed to speak with the Lady Itimori.
When the SAT vid phone was brought to her, he explained what had been recorded happening. Itimori at first became annoyed as she thought she was being mocked, but when he impressed his seriousness she became quiet. “I don’t understand, director, Asha is here. She can’t be back with you.

“Do you have an explanation for this?”, David asked as he turned the camera on the TV replaying once again the police cam’s capture of the domestic dispute. She watched with increasingly wide eyes as she viewed the scene.

“H- how?!? It really looks like Asha! How is this possible?!?”

David was both relieved and alarmed at Itimori’s response. It seemed truly authentic and therefor suggested that this was not an ability known to this race of espers. On the other hand, if Asha was actually involved, then what might her limits actually be?

He also feared the ammunition this might give Sec. Def. Spears. Wearily he responded, “I don’t know Lady Itimori. I don’t know.”

———————————

That evening after the test Charu had returned to the palace. She had be shaken to the roots of her very spirit. She felt that the horror of even the ‘test’ eroded the foundations of her sanity. Use of a full weapon, one that could cover miles swallowing even a human city in its area of effect, was almost too horrible to contemplate! In an agony of foreboding and even guilt she burst into the meeting room that her mother was holding counsel in.

Kadrapraba, looked up to her stricken daughter and quickly raised her had, silencing her counsel. “Leave us immediately!” She commanded abruptly, “My daughter and I must speak privately.”

Barely able to contain herself until the chamber doors closed, Charu cried out, “No Mother! You must not contemplate this! The ancient weapon is just too terrible! Our predecessors were right to forbid these!”

The High Mother looked at her daughter. Her face reflected one who possessed an unthinkable understanding of the horror. “Welcome to the knowledge that blessedly only a very few have.” She looked down at the table. “Know that this is not a weapon I’d ever think of using except as a last response. One that would be used only if the humans were to use one of their own ‘Great Weapons.“. She then looked up at her daughter with eyes that looked on the landscape of hell. “Yes I know it would damn me to the deepest depths, but it is a cost I’d pay if our people would be destroyed by their ‘sun’ tools. Why do you think I’m trying so hard to reduce our exposure to these humans? Learning about us will only cultivate fear of our abilities.

We are not numerous enough to stop them should they try. We will make them pay for their savagery, however.”

Charu stepped forward aggressively, “No! I say not we cannot!”

The High Mother brought herself to her full height, her eyes flashing a hard edge, “You would defy me? Then challenge my right to lead!”

Charu paused in trepidation. To challenge meant that she would engage in Fea Poldora, the battle of spirits.

Fea Poldora was a dangerous contest that would determine who’s will was dominant. The victor would utterly dominate the loser and could enforce her choices, even to rewriting elements of the loser’s personality. While she knew it unlikely, this restructuring could turn the lesser into simply a pet.

Charu’s Horror at what she’d seen would not let her back down, however. She stood straight and said, “Very well.”

Kadrapraba looked slightly surprised at her daughter’s defiance and conviction but steeled herself. She understood the abomination that the weapon represented but she also understood the monstrous evil that humans routinely practiced and the world destroying devices they could wield. She might never need to use it, but they needed to make the humans pay; were they to unleash their own abominations.

The High Mother, with tears beginning to track down her cheek motioned for her daughter to initiate the contest of wills.

Taking a deep breath, Charu stepped forward til they were almost close enough to touch breasts together and she focused on her mother. Their eyes bored into the other’s, reaching for the spark.

As Charu watched the tears fall from her mother she could feel the love she had for the child who opposed her. She could feel her mother’s grief that this was coming to pass. She could also feel her steel resolve.

Against that resolve she pushed her horror and disgust at what a weapon like the one she’d seen tested represented. She pushed her conviction that using such a weapon would irreparably damage and warp the nature of the people. It would leave them twisted and lesser; ultimately more savage than the diminished humans her mother so feared. For they would not be able to escape part of the backlash this weapon would cause.

Kadrapraba, for her part was rocked by the passion and force of her daughter. She could see and feel the disgust welling in herself at the possibilities. She rallied, however, and pushed back. As she pressed more and more it became clear that her innate will was greater. She forced her daughter to truly see the savagery that she’d seen in those humans she’d harvested. Even the better of them, like her Victoria, were in constant conflict with their animalistic hind brains. They were so intrinsically tribal that any difference was a threat and could be easily whipped up into violent hatred. Even within supposedly unified cultures, they routinely turned on one another. Their inability to connect, their diminished natures made this inevitable. Thousands of years of violence, death and destruction were the result. Finally she forced Charu to see and understand just how different the people would be perceived if they became better known. The fear and jealousy of a people who could truly feel the spirits of others and influence them would be intolerable to those who couldn’t. If her people had enough time, time to grow more numerous. Time to truly bring understanding to the humans, they might coexist. But time was also against them. Humans were as mayflies; they lived but a fraction of the span of the people. As a result, they would not wait to understand but simply respond as their animal natures demanded.
As her mother responded, she could feel the terrible understanding that the High Mother possessed If they had truly been isolated they’d likely been able to work for agreement with the creatures of this world they’d been thrust on. Asha’s presence, however, had likely destroyed that option. Being a child, she did not have the control or wisdom needed to move amongst the humans leaving no ripple. No, instead as but a child, worse one on the cusp of coming into the power of maturity, she wouldn’t have been able to help but reveal her nature in ways to provoke the instincts of humans. Thus they would come to see the people as threats.

Charu slowly lowered her eyes. In a deadened voice, “Forgive me mother. I understand now...”

Kadrapraba, tears still falling, immediately stopped pressing her will and pulled her daughter into her arms. Her heart ached for having done it and prayed she hadn’t injured her daughter in any lasting way. It was just another stone of regret and guilt levied against her soul; and she prayed she was strong enough to bear yet more weight.

In a voice choked with pain, she spoke, “Now we must wait. If our plans for Anarra work, we may still salvage our future...”