(The Hellhound and the Phoenix)
Calliope's mouth hangs open and she turns to Dysnomi, asking, "Is that…?" She points to a corner of the dance floor where a huge black mass is bounding toward them, crossing the dance floor with amazing speed. The shape is so dark, it almost looks like a black hole.
"My gods, I can't believe she's here!" She exclaims. Then she continues rambling while also preparing herself to catch the beast running at her. "You'll love her, Nini, I swear. I'm not too sure how 'Hissy Elliot' and 'Lady Hiss-A-Lot' will react, though, so maybe keep the Serpent Tamer on." Calliope turns toward the door then, opens her arms wide, and – before Nagaveni can even ask what she meant about the snakes – the absolute most massive wolf she's ever seen jumps into Calliope's waiting arms.
All black with piercing ruby-red eyes, the wolf is a menacing sight to behold, but it's actually very gentle. At least, it is after knocking Calliope onto her ass and assaulting her with doggy kisses.
Meanwhile, the phoenix watches them play for a few minutes after landing on the back of a chair, its head cocked curiously. Calliope gets off the floor with a laugh and scratches behind the wolf's ears once more before she passes by to greet the phoenix.
When she pulls her hand away, it's slick with blood, and Nagaveni notices that Calliope has small scratches and cuts on every part of her that touched the wolf.
"Calli, oh my gods, are you okay?" Nagaveni runs up to look at her cuts and notices that the smaller ones are already healing.
"What?" Calliope looks at her hands. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Nanook is a hellhound and she's real friendly, but you gotta pay the price if you wanna pet her. That's just how everything goes around the demon world." She shrugs. "Got her from an ex of mine before we split three years ago. It's kinda bittersweet, but I wouldn't trade her for anything."
"Does it hurt to pet her?"
"Nah, not really. Maybe the way a cat scratch would, but it's worth it, and it's nothing I can't handle."
"Here, Nagaveni, give me your hands and we can pet her together," Dysnomi says, stepping forward and offering his hands to her. She hesitates, looking to Calliope for guidance. Calliope just nods at her, so she takes Dysnomi's hands as Calliope turns to the phoenix.
Calliope sucks in a sharp breath of air, unsure of what to say or do. Phoenixes aren't supposed to exist anymore, but if the legends are true, they're highly intelligent and wise creatures. Calliope awkwardly attempts to bow, and stammers out, "Forgive me, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to greet you. No one has heard of a phoenix being alive in ages… Most people don't believe you exist. I don't know if the legends are true, but if they are, I'm hoping it means you can understand me…?"
The phoenix stares at her with its head cocked, its gaze scrutinizing, before finally, it nods its head at her in a sign of respect, and a heavenly voice rings out inside her head. Calliope gasps, in awe.
"Do not apologize, child. I would not expect you to know the ways of a world which no longer exists. But I shall try my best to answer your questions… and to guide you, if I can."
"Well, I do have a question, actually…" Calliope starts. "How did the Viking berserkers know about you? And why did they decide to send you to me?" Nagaveni and Dysnomi walk up beside Calliope then, both of them giving her a questioning look, while Nanook comes over and bows her head before wandering off. Calliope bows politely to the phoenix a second time, prompting her friends to follow her lead, before introducing them. "Oh, and I don't think I actually got your name…"
Her friends give her questioning looks again, wondering why she's talking and bowing to a bird. And then the phoenix's voice calls out to all of them. "You may call me Wrath. I chose to come here because I can feel power inside you. You are no ordinary siren – you have much more in your blood. The phoenix inside calls out to me. 'Ember,' she calls herself. She is strong – she appears when you are angry, when you need justice, or when you want vengeance. As long as she resides within you, she will not allow you to be hurt by flames. But there is another voice inside of you – 'Lyn,' is her name, the lightning – and I believe one of the gods has already been testing her abilities."
"So that's why Thor struck me with lightning?! I thought he was just being a dick!" She quickly looks up then and follows that sentence with, "Oh shit, I'm sorry, Mr.Odinson! Please don't hit me with lightning again!"
"He never has been the best at explaining his thought processes. But Lyn is strong. Your connections with others, the sparks between you – those are what make the lightning strong. Beware, however, as the lightning can be excruciating. And then there's the siren – you – with your telepathy, levitation, healing, and sonic scream. The shriek is the siren's strongest defense, and it can rival the banshee's in raw power. Yours could level buildings and reach pitches high enough to paralyze humans or some supernaturals, momentarily, and loud enough to blow someone's ears out. That kind of power should not be used unless absolutely necessary, but it can be hard to control… And with all these abilities together, it could create chaos. The phoenix and the thunderbird – they only show themselves to powerful fire users. It is rare for a being such as yourself to have even one of these spirits inside. To have both has only ever been heard of once before, which leads me to believe you must have abilities unlike anything we've seen before… Don't take this the wrong way, but do you know both your parents? ...Are you sure of who they are?"
"My mother is a siren, like me. I… have never met my father. My mother would not tell me about him, though she insisted it was because he just wasn't 'worth' talking about," Calliope says, startled. "I guess I just never thought more about it. But why would they only appear now? I've been alive for 118 years."
"Perhaps you need them now more than ever," Wrath guessed.
"Perhaps… In any case, I thank you, Wrath, for helping me understand myself better," Calliope shares a worried look with her friends when she says this.
"It is my pleasure, child. I would like to help you guide yourself through these new-found powers… if I can. But I believe there is still one question you seek the answer to, is there not?"
"Oh, is there? I, um…" Calliope tries to think, but she can't remember what it could be now that she's got so much more to think about.
"Oh, yes, I remember – how I came to live alongside the berserkers." Wrath's voice sounds as if she's remembering fondly.
"What's a berserker?" Nagaveni asks.
"The Vikings," Dysnomi says. "I must admit, I don't know much about them, other than a handful of stories they told us at that party we went to."
"In history, they're remembered as being the strongest of the Vikings – they're depicted as warriors who would take a lot of drugs on the battlefield, strip naked with only a bear skin around their shoulders, then charge head-first into the battle, cutting their enemies down with two-handed axes. In reality, they're just werebears." Calliope fills in what she knows, then laughs at Nagaveni's dropped jaw.
"That is entirely correct," Wrath replies. "Well… it was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that there was a man who got into trouble and needed help. The berserkers didn't like this man, though. Váli – the leader – did not believe in the phoenix, so he told the man, 'Bring me a phoenix and then I will help you.' Everyone laughed at him, but the man returned three days later with me. Váli had no choice then but to help the man, and I've been with them ever since."
"And… that's why you don't tempt fate," Nagaveni says, and they laugh.
Then, after checking the time, the group decides to go their separate ways and enjoy the rest of the night at the club.
Wrath is the first one to leave, stretching her long red and orange wings, flapping them a few times, then flying out over the balcony railing and into the night.
Nagaveni is next, slipping back into Tartarus, silently closing the balcony door behind her before slipping through the crowds, seeking a few friendly faces.
Next, Calliope stands and stretches. She starts to walk toward the balcony door, swaying her hips back and forth, gliding her hand from the side of her neck and over her throat. Then she traces a line down her chest – over her bare skin at the opening of the deep-v plunge of her dress. When she's sure Dys is hooked on her, she makes an abrupt turn and starts to walk toward the club, leaving him behind with a small, teasing smirk over her shoulder as he stares after her.
Dysnomi's longing to touch her. He's spent two years holding himself back and he can't stop himself this time. Dysnomi grabs her wrist and pulls her back to him. He places his free hand against her cheek and presses a gentle, lingering kiss against her lips.
"…Stay?" he asks her, sounding hopeful. "…Just for a little while?" His voice is soft, sweet, and quiet. He sounds vulnerable for the first time since she's known him.
Instead of answering, she just reaches up, placing a hand on the back of his head and twisting his hair through her fingers. She pulls his head down so his lips will meet hers, and she kisses him again – slow, sweet kisses.
Then he snakes an arm around her slim waist, pulling her into his chest and causing her to let out a slight gasp, which he swallows the sound of with a passionate kiss.
In this moment, he lets his guard down and allows his emotions to invade Calliope's mind. She feels how starved Dysnomi has been for her. She feels that he cares about her, but she also feels that he's accepted that he's going to have to let her go.
'That's strange,' she thinks to herself.
Mostly, his emotions are not strong, and throughout them, she can't tell one feeling from another. She can make out a small feeling of guilt – or maybe it's regret – and a feeling of loss, but most of all, she just feels his desire for her. He feels like he needs her to even feel alive at this moment.
She kisses him back, one hand still tangled in his hair while her other hand slowly trails a line down his throat and chest with her nail, soliciting a quiet, rumbling growl from his throat. He holds her waist tighter with one hand, and uses his other hand to grab her face and kiss her, parting her lips with his tongue, which makes her knees weak. She feels her way down his shirt, working each button open with an intense need, before helping him slide the shirt to the floor. She steps back and admires his muscles for a moment, giving him a roguish smile as she reaches her hand out to touch him – but he grabs her hand instead, holding it mere inches away from his chest while returning her roguish grin.
Before she knows what's happening, he's seized her by the waist and is walking her backward toward a small office behind the bar.
Once inside, Dysnomi kicks the door closed and slams Calliope against it. She allows herself to moan out his name now, her whole body aching for more. "Please, Dys…"
"Beg some more," he tells her, pulling away far enough to flash her that signature smirk of his.
"Dys… Please… I need you…"
He responds immediately this time, flipping her around and slamming her chest-first into the door, pinning her with both her hands pressed against the door on each side of her head. He ducks down to kiss her neck as he fiddles with his belt and the buttons on his pants. He listens to the way she moans for him, and it makes him throb, needing her. He pulls her dress up to her waist, rubbing his hand along her backside before giving it a loud, stinging slap. She cries out, loving the way it hurts. He presses his body into hers, teasing her as she writhes between him and the door. He feels slightly amused when she begs again, whimpering out, "Please, Dys. I need you… Oh, gods. I need you now…"
"You know, if you wanted to get me like this, you didn't need to work so hard for it. All the sexy outfits, the flirting, the teasing… I'd have eagerly obliged at any moment if you had simply asked, Calli," he whispers in her ear. He kisses down her neck again, ending it with a sharp, painful bite that makes her cry out again.
He now takes one hand and runs it down the curve of her back to her hip and grabs hold of her. His other hand tangles in her hair and pulls on it. He feels a deep satisfaction hearing how eager she is for more when he thrusts inside, achieving what he's thought about doing since the day they met…
After being pounded into the door of that tiny office for almost an hour, they break apart with one last desperate kiss. It feels to Calliope that Dysnomi is certain he'll never get to see her again. She remembers the feelings Dysnomi had that flooded her mind earlier – the way he cares about her, yet is content with letting her go… 'He must know something…' she thinks.
After they've fixed their clothes and hair, Calliope leans against the desk, trying to find something to say so it doesn't feel awkward between them. 'He's probably done this with plenty of women since I've known him. I mean, the human women alone fawn all over him and his… magic tricks.'
'Those are just the most disrespectful words for a power as great as he has.'
Instead, the only thing that comes out of her parched mouth is, "…We're friends. We can't…" before she looks away, annoyed with herself. She looks at him and away again, hoping he won't notice, but he does.
"I just hope you know, Calli… I have never used my charms on you. I mean, I tried," he laughs, sounding like just her friend again already. "Oh, believe me, I tried. And it wasn't about trying to hook up… though, I'd be lying if I said I haven't wanted it since day one. It was more… I wanted you to like me, even just a little. You seemed like you couldn't fucking stand me when we first met, and it just made me want to impress you even more." He's pacing across the tiny office now, running a hand through his hair again, and all Calliope wants is to be the one running her hands through his hair, feeling that golden silk slip between her fingers…
"You look very much like… Alucard… Castlevania style, obviously," Calliope jokes, managing to get a shallow laugh from Dysnomi. "I like it," she continues. "And, for the record… I did like you. I just wanted you to stop trying so hard to impress me. I needed you to know the real me, and I needed to get to know the real you. Your tricks don't impress me, Dys. You impress me because you're amazing, funny, and… surprisingly caring for someone who's always pretending to be an asshole."
Despite himself, Dysnomi laughs, and shakes his head. Just like that, he's back to being himself. He cocks his head to one side, giving Calliope a long, scrutinizing look. "Sooo… Alucard… the Castlevania version, huh?" Calliope nods. Dysnomi looks like he's debating with himself about something, and he hesitates at first… But then smirks like he's made up his mind.
The air glimmers around him, light dancing in it, rainbow colors blocking out the view… then… "You have a thing for guys with long, pale-blonde hair, and porcelain white skin?" His voice sounds different, and she squints to see what he's projecting.
"…Whoa, that's honestly amazing, Dys! The perfect Alucard mirage!" She exclaims.
"I'm glad you enjoy it, but we better get back in there," is all Dysnomi says, after a moment of hesitation, transforming back into himself… Dysnomi leads Calliope toward the door, giving her his signature smirk again. "Nanook is gonna kill me for stealing you away from her for so long like… For the record, though, I am not sorry." He looks down at her and winks.
Calliope blushes, then looks away, guilty. "I… I don't want to hurt you, Dys. You know what I am… You know if someone feels strong emotions for me, it sort of feeds me – gives me energy – and if I don't distance myself, I could accidentally take too much from you. That could leave you catatonic, like a lobotomite… or it could just leave you stripped of all emotions, like a sociopath… I don't wanna be responsible for that happening to you."
Dysnomi just looks at her, raising an eyebrow, before throwing his head back and howling with laughter.
"Are you really laughing at me?! Why is this funny to you? Do you care so little about your own health?"
"Calli… you have no idea how old I am... how powerful I've become." He laughs again, harder this time as if she's just a silly child who understands nothing about the world. "You poor, adorably sweet, beautiful young woman." She cuts her eyes toward him as a warning, which he ignores. "I am a trickster, my dear Calli. You can not take anything from me, because all of reality is mine to use how I see fit. And right now, I see it perfectly fit to do… this," he finishes, holding a hand up in front of him. Rainbow lights swirl around his hand, curling around it like they have a mind of their own – turning over each other… then twisting, bending, and helping one another to form… something…
"Looks like he rolled out the red carpet for us, thus securing his place on the throne… as the King of Partying? …Or as the King of Chaos for that dramatic grand entrance?"
She hears her own voice in her head, reminding herself of what she had said about Dys earlier…
"Is that… a dagger?!" Calliope takes it from him with gentle hands. It shines a glorious golden light and stays warm to the touch. The hilt of the dagger is a dark black with beautiful gold plated swirls around it. "It's beautiful, Dys."
"It's for you," Dysnomi whispers, sounding sad. He presses the dagger into her hands, closing her fingers around the hilt. "Let this Blade of Light protect you and guide you… 'my exuberant flower.' You might need it," Dysnomi says, putting on a Transylvanian accent for a moment, imitating the classic Dracula. He lets out a loud laugh when Calliope mock-gasps – putting a hand over her mouth in an exaggerated show of shock – before laughing with him, though she still feels in her gut that there's something he isn't saying. She does feel grateful for the Blade of Light he gifted her, however. "Nagaveni must be worried sick by now. I don't want to make her any more uncomfortable or… more upset than that fight had to…" He shakes his head as if he's confused, then continues on like normal. "Besides… I know for a fact that there is not one more person who needs to see your beautiful face before you appear on stage."
Calliope's eyes light up with a playful gleam at first as they walk through the crowds of Tartarus, practically shoving people out of their way toward a booth in the far corner, where they can barely make out Nagaveni sitting with Nanook, petting the hellhound behind the ears, and nursing another drink.
"Okay, but first…" Calliope starts, light-heartedly. "How dare you use Dracula in such a way." She half-laughs as she says this. "He may be over-eccentric and extremely theatrical like the Phantom of the Opera, but getting absolutely railed on the ceiling was actually so much fun! And secondly…" Dysnomi watches the club lights dancing in her eyes as she talks. He's transfixed on the way her purple eyes shine when she's happy, seeming to glow… Until he realizes she's not happy anymore. "…Wait." She gives him a suspicious glance. "Let's not pretend I didn't notice your wording, trickster."
'Shit. She got me laughing and feeling comfortable just so she could get me to talk. Damn, she's really good,' Dysnomi thinks, half-panicking. He composes himself and chooses his words carefully, hoping that if she sees them as a veiled threat then she'll finally get out of this place and go home before anything bad happens. He's not sure what's going to happen, but he knows of two people looking for her – one with bad intentions – and he has a feeling that he might not see her again. "What exactly do you mean, siren…?"
"You said you would hate to keep Nagaveni waiting… That you'd hate for her to end up more upset after what happened at 'that fight,' but we haven't even had a fight, so why would she be upset about one?"
'Damn. She is good.'
"Now… I feel like you owe me some answers. You said you know for a fact that there is not one more person who needs to see my 'beautiful face' before I appear on stage," she then casts him a knowing look. "And you created a dagger for me – this Blade of Light," she pats her thigh where she strapped the dagger. She stops Dysnomi with the help of her small, manicured hand resting on his arm, willing him not to leave with her gentle touch. "Dys, I'm scared. Please… tell me… if there is not one more person who needs to see my face… then either there is no one who needs to see my face at all, or… something's wrong, and I am in serious danger if I don't avoid someone…" She knows the answer as soon as the words come out of her mouth. It hits her like a one hundred pound weight.
Dysnomi's normally arrogant face falters when he looks at Calliope. His hazel eyes are glistening and his voice cracks when he says, "I've done all I can. I'm sorry, but you're on your own." Before he can duck through the crowd ahead of her, she pulls him to her, wrapping him in a tight, miserable hug, before leaving him with a slight nod of appreciation and watching as he disappears into the sea of dancing people.
'What the fuck am I supposed to do now?' Calliope thinks while trying to push through the dense crowd, attempting to remain calm. The more she tries to find any open space without using her powers, however, the more she gets jostled around. She can feel strong emotions coming from a man somewhere – an incredibly angry man. She can't see who the angry man is, and it's pretty hard to pick out any singular person under the club lights, especially when the crowds are this big. 'Just levitate above everyone and leave! No… I can't do that, I know – it would draw too much attention. What the fuck am I supposed to do?'
She's still trying to push her way through the crowd when a drunk man stumbles and rams into her from behind, causing her to lurch forward, careening to catch her balance. She doesn't fall… that is, until she feels a sudden, sharp jab in her ribs. It feels like someone just elbowed her, but she hasn't had time to look – she's getting pushed around by the throng of party people once again.
She doubles over in pain, clutching her side and trying not to show her fear. She pushes her way through a few drunk human men, ripping her wrist away from one, who she assumes was attempting flirt. She now feels someone slam into her yet again, throwing her into the chest of another man nearby.
"I'm so sorry!" she cries out to the man she bumped into, putting a hand on his chest and pushing herself off him as he steadies her, his hands on her shoulders. She feels the angry man get jealous, though she still doesn't know who or where the angry man is. The emotions of the man she bumped into wash over her like a tsunami as she looks for the angry man – there's desolation, anger, misery, regret, fear, and then a sudden bout of panic when he looks down at her.
Intrigued by all of these conflicting emotions coming from this one man, she cranes her head up to look at him. He's tall and tan – with a chiseled jawline, nice cheekbones, and broad shoulders. He looks as if he was born to play football and work out. His brown eyes flit down to meet hers in a panic – then look away just as fast when they meet hers, feeling guilt eat away at him inside.
'I know this guy…' Calliope's trying to think while feeling his emotions mix, but the other man's seething anger is there, and it's threatening to take over her senses.
'He's getting close!'
She realizes who the man in front of her is now. 'Oh no… It's Amadeo! He was with the demons and cambions last year. Fuck, not the demons. Not the cambions. Fuck, I'm dead.'
Impending doom hits Calliope like a tidal wave, crashing down on her reality when she realizes who it must be behind her now. Of course, the strongest one, the literal Prince of Demons, has come to deal with her himself – he is the one who hates her the most, after all.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Amadeo speaks, trying to sound calm while staring over Calliope's shoulder.
"Please… Whatever she did… I'm sorry, but… She's fucking up my brain! It gets all… fucking scrambled every time she's near! They said I need to take care of her! They said I'd feel normal again!" Asmodeus' voice sounds uncomfortably close, and getting uncomfortably closer with every step. The anger radiates off him, filling Calliope with dread.
Suddenly, something that feels blunt and heavy slams into the back of her head, and she searches for Amadeo as it sends her stumbling. Right now, she's only worried about what will happen to Amadeo because he tried to stop Asmodeus. She knows he'll probably have to fight someone to keep his life… and his position. It will probably be Menoetius he'll have to fight.
Menoetius is the worst of all the demons and cambions combined. He just takes whatever he wants whenever he wants – including women – he even tried to force himself on Calliope when she was dating Asmodeus. He doesn't fight fair, and is far more likely to have his friends jump someone if he thinks there's even a chance he'll lose a fight with them. He'll do anything to make sure his fights end with his opponent's death, and he almost never loses.
All of a sudden, a searing, white-hot pain ignites in the back of her head and tears through her skull, before going around it and down all the way to her jaw bone. Lightning sparks are shooting through her, feeling worse than anything she's ever felt, and she can't stop herself when she lets out a loud shriek – an invasive, hallowing sound. The ethereal scream is enough to exhaust her. She can barely process what she's seeing as the pain takes hold of her, but it looks like everyone in the club is holding their ears and abandoning Tartarus, the building's shaking, glasses of alcohol are shattering off the shelves, and pieces of the building are crumbling around them… Amadeo falls to the floor and his thick, shaggy black hair 'looks wet or… bloody, maybe?' Calliope thinks. Her conscious thoughts come in and out – worrying about Amadeo, thinking about how he shouldn't have stood up for her, thinking – '…he's barely conscious. If not dead… There's blood coming out of his ears…'
Sparks of lightning come out of her once again, darting wildly around her head and flashing out of her eyes as she screams, the bolts hitting randomly in a small area around her until they fizzle… and go out. Calliope sways on her heels now, subconsciously taking a step forward as the phoenix inside – Ember – seeks vengeance from Asmodeus. But she's too exhausted, and she falls next to Amadeo's unconscious form, the siren too weak to fight. Her screams die on her lips when the pain overcomes everything else.
There's a dreadful blackness creeping in through the edges of her vision, and an ocean of exhaustion seeps into her muscles and bones, her knees shaking violently from simply trying to hold herself up.
As the darkness starts to overwhelm her, she notices a flash of red and orange swoop in, fire flying in a high arc before landing on her lap, warming her, and giving her strength to fight the exhaustion that's been overwhelming her. 'Thank you… Wrath.'
Then the loudest thunderclap she's ever heard shakes the club, causing her to jerk from surprise, and she watches Asmodeus look terrified for a half-second before the biggest black-colored bird ever seen by man storms in – lightning darting around its wings as it flies – and lands next to Calliope, cocking its head at her.
"That is a thunderbird," Wrath tells Calliope, as her vision starts to go black again. "A gift… from Thor."