I rushed into Lily's room where she was still fast asleep and shook her awake. "Ouch, what the fuck dude. Why are you being so aggressive right now in waking me." She mumbled trying to pull the pillow over her head.
"I don't have time to explain but you need to get up right fucking now. Your life depends on it. Throw on some athletic clothing and shoes you can run in and grab anything important that you can fit in a backpack. We have to leave immediately." I said rushing around her room throwing together an overnight bag for her and slinging it over my shoulder with mine.
Thankfully seeing my urgency, she didn't protest and did as I asked. "I expect an explanation as soon as you can give me one." She said quickly dressing.
"I'll give you one I promise, I just need you to listen to what I say right now and do exactly as I ask without hesitation." I said seeing fear cross her face. "I'm not trying to scare you Lil and I'll protect you no matter what." I said grabbing her hand and running toward the front door. I swung it open, but we were too slow, they found me. Standing right in front of me was the creature from my nightmare.
"Looks like we finally found you princess. Too bad your friend will have to die too, what a waste of such a pretty girl. Maybe I'll keep her as a pet." Mused the creature as it stepped inside the door. I backed away quickly and pulled Lily with me. She was frozen in fear, and she couldn't even scream.
The red eyed demon was handsome beyond words, but his eyes and fanged smile were unnerving. He saw me admiring his face and winked at me. "If I could keep you too I certainly would. Your beauty surpasses even that of your legend but unfortunately you leaving here alive isn't an option." He'd be a lot more beautiful if he weren't trying to kill me.
I felt for my cuffs, and they appeared again this time creating a shimmering field around me and Lily. The creature's stare darkened. "I see the mythical armor has finally chosen another. I didn't think I'd live to see the day of its return. Looks like I'll have to take you alive for now." He spat at me and lunged.
I dodged him easily then shoved Lily behind me in a corner and moved to fight the 2 creatures in front of me. I quickly scanned the room thankful there didn't seem to be any more of them yet. They lunged again this time attacking together. I dodged the first one but the second one landed a blow. It bounced straight off of me, and I was surprised I felt nothing. It even propelled the second demon back against the opposite wall. This however gave the first demon the chance to try to get to Lily. A rage burned inside of me and then the sword from my dreams appeared in my hand. Too distracted to wonder why, I swung and beheaded the demon before it could touch Lily. She stood there wide eyed and covered in black blood as the body turned to ash in front of her. The second demon saw what happened and went paler than he already was. He began to scramble to his feet and run from me. I didn't care why he ran. Right now I needed to get to Alexander. I pulled Lily to my car and didn't stop until I was parking in front of his door. I grabbed the overnight bags and my traumatized best friend and sprinted toward the door. He'd given me a key before I went home so I didn't bother to knock.
***Alexander POV***
I heard tires screeching to a halt outside the house. What in the hell? I made my way over to the front door prepared for a fight. The doorhandle jiggled and unlocked but instead of an enemy it was Penelope and Lily. They were covered in blood and carrying bags. I rushed over to close and secured the door. I tapped the shield symbol on the alarm system and locked the entire property down with a magical barrier. I turned to Penelope to ask what happened and she was speaking in such a rush.
"Is your house secure from magical creatures?!? Please if it's not we have to leave and get to somewhere that is immediately!" She shouted frantically.
"Yes, it is, this is my personal sanctum. Now please tell me what happened. Why are you and Lily covered in black blood?" I asked taking her in my arms needing to know the answer.
"I'll talk while we walk. We need to get some herbal tea in Lily before she goes into shock." She said leading us all to the kitchen. "Lily I never wanted to have you involved in any of this but since you need to be so I can protect you, you deserve an explanation." She said as she washed her hands and prepared the tea. I noticed she went to the fridge and grabbed a beer for herself. She chugged the whole damn thing before she began again. This must be bad.
"As you've probably guessed after tonight, I am not normal or even fully human." She continued. I cocked my head to the side at this statement. How was she not human? She paused to look over at me noticing.
"I found out some new information and that's part of what happened. It will make sense once I finish the story." She said and then looked back to Lily.
She proceeded to explain the shadow world to Lily as she sipped her tea staying quiet and listening. Once she got her up to speed as much as possible, she moved on to explain tonight's events. When she finished her story, I was both horrified and in awe. She was a fabled Sun warrior. She could walk among the Gods and enter their realm without being summoned and she had Karna's armor. She was the first one it had chosen since Karna himself. It dawned on me that I'd also given her passage to walk in the Shadows. No Sun or Shadow warrior had ever possessed abilities of both worlds that I knew of. I didn't even know that was possible and she was the first.
"Do you think you could show me the shield and the sword?" I asked her. I wanted to see if it was yet another mythical item.
"I'll try but I haven't actually figured it out yet. The only time I used it was when Lily was in danger, and it just appeared in my hands." She said as she backed away from me to try and activate it.
She touched her biceps and a cuff showed up on each one. She closed her eyes willing the shield to activate. In a moment a thin layer of gold covered her body. She explained what she had been told it was and I started in awe.
"This is going to sound crazy but throw something at me." She demanded. I picked up a watermelon from the counter.
"Will this work?" I asked and she nodded. I threw it. I only indulged her because I knew she could dodge it. I watched as the sword she was talking about appeared and she sliced the watermelon in two in the air. My jaw dropped. It was the sword of legend. Leorio's sword and it had been gifted to her. So that was her magical item from the Shadow side.
"Penelope, there has never been another warrior like you. You possess powers from both the light and the dark realms and both of the magical items that chose you have not chosen another since their original owners who used them and fought together to ward off darkness from overtaking the world. I am afraid of what this means for you. We need an audience with Zues, Posiden and Hades now." I said leading her to a locked room I never used. She pulled me to a stop.
"Wait," she said fidgeting in place, "There is another power I have that I didn't get to mentioning yet. I can see things." She stepped away from me and closed her eyes to concentrate and I gasped.
All around her gold light swirled and there were images of everything all at once. She stopped it quickly, swaying a bit in place. I caught her before her legs could give out. "What was that?" I asked in a daze.
"I'm not sure but I can see my past and just now I saw images of shadow hunter history too." She said as she leaned against me.
"Penelope, I don't think that's a typical power. We do need an audience with the big 3 but I don't think you're in any shape to do that right now." I said as I looked down at her with concern etching my features.
"You're probably right and we can't leave Lily by herself either. She looks like she's about to pass out. I know you don't want to involve Nate just like I didn't want to involve her, but I don't think we have a choice anymore. I'm worried they'll find him too and Lily needs him here right now." She said looking over at her friend.
I hated that she was right about this. I'd forgotten all about Lily. My eyes followed hers as I glanced over to check on her. She was barely hanging on to consciousness. I sat Penelope down and rushed over to catch Lily before she hit the ground.
"Thanks, Xander, I'm gonna nap now and escape reality mkay." She slurred into my arm before she went completely under.
Penelope looked like she regained some energy from resting for a few minutes. She stood up and went to get a pillow and blanket from the hall closet for Lily so I could lay her down. She knelt beside her and tucked her hair behind her ear stroking the side of her face. I could see the pained expression she was making from the corner of my eye. She sighed.
"I'm going to take a shower; I think you should call Nate." She said and walked off toward my room to the master suite shower.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Nate's number. "Hey man! How's it going? Did you enjoy your trip?" He asked so cheerfully.
"Um yeah, it was great. I asked Penelope to move in with me and she agreed." I said trying to get the niceties out of the way.
"Congratulations man! I didn't think you'd actually do it, but I guess she's the one huh?" Nate mused.
"She is and she knows things about me that even you don't." I said trying to lead into the conversation I needed that have with him.
"I don't want to know some of those details about you ever dude." He joked.
I laughed but it sounded off. "That's not what I meant. It's actually what I'm calling you about." I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. "Penelope and Lily were attacked this morning. There is a lot more to it than that, but I have reason to believe you aren't going to be safe for long either. I need you to pack for a prolonged stay and come to my house immediately. The girls are already here. I'll explain everything when you get here. I'm sending a car for you." I said waiting for his reaction.
He was silent for a long moment probably deliberating on his response and how serious I was about the situation. "I'll see you soon and you WILL tell me everything." He said and hung up. He sounded angry. I could guarantee he wouldn't stay that way for long when he saw the state that the girls were in. Gods what would he do when he saw mine and Penelope's powers?
I pulled out my phone and dialed Nigel's number sending him to pick up Nate. He was my most trusted shadow warrior friend and I wasn't willing to chance anything happening to Nate on the drive over. As I waited for him to get here, I checked on Lily again and then walked back to the room where Penelope was. She was still in the shower, and she was singing. Despite the situation we were in I found myself smiling at the thought that finding her singing in the shower would soon be a normal occurrence for me. I walked into the bathroom and noticed for the first time since she'd gotten here that she glowed brighter now that her powers had come in. At least twice as bright as I did. No wonder they found her so quickly. The shower doors were clear, and she was faced away from me. I took in the view of her beautiful body and noticed that the glow around her seemed to flicker like it was alive.
"Have you noticed that the light around you flickers?" I asked startling her from her singing and her shield flashed around her.
"I hadn't heard you come in, you scared me. No, I haven't looked closely at anything yet, so I haven't seen it." She willed the shield back down and gazed down at her arm. We both observed the light and wondered what it meant. She dried off, wrapped the towel around herself and came up to me stretching on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on my lips. I welcomed her with open arms and deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I lifted her up. When we parted I set her back down. Unfortunately, this was not the time or place to get carried away. I knew that Nigel and Nate would soon be here. They knew each other already but now Nate was about to finally know everything about me. I left Penelope to get dressed and I headed out to the living room.
When I walked in, I saw that Nate and Nigel had already arrived. Nate was kneeling down by Lily stroking her cheek gently with a gentle gaze on her face. "Tell me how this happened?" He softly spoke as to not wake her but there was anger in his voice.
"There is a lot you don't know about me. I kept it hidden from you because I didn't want you to get hurt by being involved. I am what is called a shadow warrior, and I am something like a Demi God." He looked over at me questioningly.
"I'm sorry, did I hear that correctly or are you messing with me right now?" He said suddenly growing impatient and irritable.
Nigel sensing the atmosphere went to leave the room, but I stopped him. "No, you need to hear all of this too Nigel. There are some important things that are about to happen and some things you won't believe till you see them." I said and he sat back down.
I looked back at Nate, and he was looking at me like I was insane. I didn't know how else to convince him other than to show him so with the snap of my fingers I ignited fire from my fingertips. His face went into a mask of unreadable thoughts. Penelope joined us just then making him and Nigel look over at her. Nigel's eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. He saw the intense glow too.
"Alexander, is she fucking glowing like the sun or are my eyes playing tricks on me?" Nigel asked bewildered.
I chuckled darkly, "She does more than glow Nigel."
For the second time tonight, Penelope explained the events that unfolded and showed us her powers. They were both mesmerizing and alarming. Nate got up and started pacing immediately.
"How the fuck is this even real?!? How would I have not noticed that you shot fire from your damn fingertips after all these years?" Nate exclaimed.
"I hid it well to protect you. My mother was murdered, and her attacker was gone without a trace leaving no clues behind. She was a formidable warrior too. My life is in constant danger and there was no way I was going to drag you into it if I could help it." I said trying to calm him down.
Nate went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. He took a big swig, sat down and stared at the floor holding his head in his hands. "I need a minute to process this."
"I understand." I said, then Nigel, Penelope and I walked into the other room so we could discuss this further without disturbing Nate.