Chapter Seven: Family Affairs
(The God of Thunder and the Lost Girl)
"What the hell happened here?" Asmodeus asks when he steps through the door of The Tipsy Piano. He looks around at the destruction – broken chairs, tables knocked over, blood on the ground – before his eyes land on Calliope. It's now that he notices the blood staining her new pink shirt, spilling out over the hand she has pressed as hard as she can against her stomach. "Calli, are you alright?" He runs up to her, leaning down to cup her cheek with his hand, looking into her snake-like purple eyes. "Mi amor, lo que pasó?"
"This woman with shadows all around her… she attacked us," Calliope stated in a strained voice. "But it was worse than that. The shadows were like, alive."
"Uh, okay… Anyone wanna translate?" Asmodeus asks.
"Yeah, what the hell happened here?" Xena questions, readjusting the armful of tobacco she's carrying.
"And how did Calliope get stabbed?" Nagaveni asks in a small voice, looking concerned for her best friend.
Amarok looks at Xena and asks, "You remember Zorya, right?" Xena nods. "Well, it turns out the shadows she had the power to manipulate were corrupting her. They were from the shadow realm. They drove her mad, convinced her that she needed to kill Calliope."
"She was a fuckin' lunatic," Dysnomi added.
"Wait, so where is she now?" Xena asks.
"Well, I sent out a burst of light and killed all the shadows," Dysnomi replied.
"Yeah, but unfortunately, they had corrupted her too much. She was dying without them," Amarok added.
"I had to call on Baron Samedi," Calliope says, grunting and holding up the tarot card.
"So, she's… dead?" Xena questions. She looks crestfallen.
"Not that we know of," Dysnomi answers.
"She was dying… Baron Samedi took her to the crossroads between life and death. Either she'll stay there and help him… she'll heal and be sent back to the land of the living… or she won't heal and she'll end up in the realm of the dead," Calliope elaborates. "It's too soon to know which will happen."
"That's… wonderful," Nagaveni says. "Calli, are you sure you're okay? Here, let me look at your wound." She walks over and pulls the bottom of Calliope's shirt out from her skirt and pulls it up a bit to look at the stab wound.
"¡Dios mío! That looks awful, mi amor. Why has it not started healing?" Asmodeus questions.
"You worry too much, 'Deus," Calliope replies. "I'll be fine." She pulls her shirt back down, avoiding the worried looks from all her friends, but when she tries to stand, the pain becomes too much for her, and she stumbles backward.
Asmodeus catches her in his arms, steadying her. "Calli, it's bleeding worse now," he mentions, pointing at the blood seeping from between her fingers. "What did she get stabbed with?"
"Silver," Amarok answers.
"But silver shouldn't be too bad for her. She probably just, needs to rest," Dysnomi adds.
"No," Asmodeus states. "No, something is wrong."
"Maybe it just needs more time because it's so big?" Nagaveni offers.
"No, dammit! You're not listening to me. I've seen her get big wounds before. They always start healing immediately. Something is wrong." Asmodeus insists.
"We don't have time for this," Calliope announces, pushing herself to stand on her own once more. "I'm assuming you figured out how to summon my dad?"
"Sure did," Xena answers, holding up the armful of tobacco. "We're gonna take this and we're gonna take some rum and we're gonna set it on fire… outside, of course."
"Awesome. Let's do that now." Calipers steps forward on shaky feet, almost falling with every step until she feels a pair of big, strong arms wrap around her. She looks up to see Amarok steadying her, helping her get to the side door that leads to the alley.
Amarok looks down and smiles, saying, "I figured if you're gonna do this anyway, I may as well help."
They make it outside and Xena sets the tobacco on the asphalt as Amarok helps Calliope lean against the building. Zephyr brings a bottle of rum and pours it on top.
"Thank you," Calliope expresses to Zephyr.
"Of course, chere," he responds.
"So, um… I'm assuming you were told how this works?" Calliope asks Xena.
"First we have to light it," Xena answers.
"I got it," says Asmodeus, stepping up to the pile. He holds his hands out and Calliope can feel anger rise in him as flames start to appear on his hands. He focuses his anger until the flames shoot out toward the pile, setting it ablaze.
"Now, I summon him, I guess…" Xena says. She speaks a few words in what Calliope guesses is Latin, and then repeats, "Shango, I summon you," a few times.
Everyone stands around, waiting for a few minutes, before Nagaveni asks, "Did it work? Did we do it wrong?"
A deep, authoritative voice calls out from the end of the alley, "It worked… Now, who are you and why did you choose to summon me?"
The group all looks toward the voice in time to see a tall, muscular older man step toward them. The man has skin the color of caramel, short black hair, and tattoos covering most of his upper body. He has a tall wooden staff in one hand that he holds inches above the ground as he walks.
Calliope struggles but manages to push herself away from the building to stand tall and proud in front of this man who's supposedly her father, this man who she looks nothing like.
"I summoned you," she starts. "My name is Calliope. I am the daughter of La Siréne."
"The daughter of La Siréne…" the man contemplates with a fond look on his face. "So that makes you the daughter I've never gotten to meet?"
"I suppose so. I mean, I can do this," Calliope answers, creating a ball of fire in her hand for a moment before letting it die out. "I have some lightning magic as well, but it hurts to use it, and it usually only comes out in high-stress situations."
"Yeah, so this is a nice family reunion and all, but we're here for a reason, and Calli needs to rest soon," Asmodeus interjects.
Shango looks at Asmodeus then, anger rising in him, and he starts to say something; however, he stops when he notices Calliope holding her stomach. "Daughter… you are hurt."
"Yeah…" Calliope replies, her voice strained. "That's kind of what I needed to talk to you about. Someone's trying to kill me. And I think it might have something to do with these powers I inherited from you." She relays the entire story while Shango listens intently and her friends wait behind her.
When she finishes, Shango is silent for a while… then he starts to laugh. "Your brother always did have a flair for the dramatic."
"My brother?" Calliope questions. "Raiden?"
"But he should still be locked away," Asmodeus interjects. "I haven't had any word that he's free." He looks at Calliope and continues, "When I said I was trying to protect you, I wasn't lying, amor."
"Wait, you knew he wanted me dead?" Calliope asks.
"No, but I did know he wanted you out of his way. I didn't know why, but I did know that he harbored some feelings of resentment toward you. The reason he didn't like me is not because he didn't approve of you dating a cambion; it's because he knew I was trying to figure out why he resented you so I could tell you. But he attacked me, so I had my demons take him. And all your friends? That was him trying to isolate you. It came to a point where it was just easier to let you believe that I was the bad guy. It left me feeling a lot of hate, and when that letter came, I directed all that toward you. Lo siento, mi amor."
"You should have told me, 'Deus," she replies, wrapping him in a hug. She winces when she presses against him, so he pulls away from her.
"Yes, yes. Not to worry. He's still locked away… for now. I suspect he'll be free soon enough. He got his powers some time ago," Shango interrupts. "I'm certain he'll come to find you, daughter."
"I still don't understand why he hates me," Calliope replies.
"It is not about hate, young one. It is about power. Your brother wants more of it. He wants… yours."
"What? He can't do that, can he?"
"Depends. He may be able to… if he gets his hands on the Book of Powers. Inside the book, there's a section on power absorption. If you want to stop him, daughter, you need to get to the book before he can. Last I heard, it was in New York, in the possession of a… Dmitri. And you should know… your brother's powers are stronger than yours. If you have anything else that will help you, I'd suggest using it. I must go now," Shango tells her.
"Thank you, father." Calliope replies.
Shango nods, turns, and walks a few steps away. Then he stops, turns back to the group, and says, "And daughter? That stab wound needs stitches. Shadow realm silver is serious. Don't let it get infected. You don't want to know what will happen."
Then he's gone. "But… I kinda do want to know what will happen to me if it gets infected…" Calliope whispers.
"C'mon, Calli. Let's get you back inside so you can sit down," says Amarok, putting an arm around her to help.
"I'll get the fire," Asmodeus states, holding his hands out and pulling the fire back into his body. It curls around his arms, licking at the skin, before being absorbed into the skin.
Inside, Amarok helps Calliope sit on a barstool. She whimpers as she sits, the movement hurting her and causing more blood to spill out of her wound. Nagaveni rushes over, pleading, "Please, let me look at it again." Calliope moves her hand and Nagaveni lifts the shirt. The wound is swollen, an angry red color around the entry site, bruised along the edges, and the inside deep enough that Nagaveni can't tell exactly how bad she should be worried. "Calliope, it's bad. You've lost a lot of blood since you got stabbed. You need to go to a hospital."
Calliope grunts before replying, "And tell them what? I got stabbed with a silver dagger from the shadow realm, but it's okay because we may or may not have killed the girl that controls shadows?"
Nagaveni rolls her eyes. "If you won't go to a hospital, at least allow me to stitch it."
Calliope throws her hands up. "Fine, fuck, whatever."
"Thank you," Nagaveni says in a sarcastic tone. "Zeph, can I see the highest content bottle you've got?"
"Of course, ma chérie," he replies. He grabs a bottle off one of the shelves and hands it to her.
"Holy shit, you actually keep absinthe here?" Amarok asks.
"Yeah, brah, it's real popular with the vamps," Zephyr answers.
"Brah, you should have told me about this. It takes a lot to get werewolves drunk. I bet this would make it a lot easier."
"I dare you… to try," Calliope jokes through pained breaths as Nagaveni digs out a travel size sewing kit from her purse.
"Fuck it." Amarok shrugs. Zephyr slides him a shot glass and he pours a shot into it. "Aghhh, I just know this is gonna be awful," he complains before throwing back the shot. He scrunches up his face and growls, "I fucking hate absinthe…" He trails off, blink a few times, and announces, "Hey, that works," before taking a step back and letting himself fall into a seat.
Calliope laughs despite the pain. "Man, you good?" Amarok only gives her a thumbs-up, which causes her to laugh more, then gasp from the pain.
"Okay, that's enough. Give me that," Nagaveni scolds, snatching the alcohol bottle from the bar. She turns back to Calliope. "Hold this," she demands, handing Calliope her shirt to hold up. Calliope takes it with a shaky hand and Nagaveni notices a small bit of sweat on her forehead. "Are you doing okay, Calli?" Nagaveni asks as she starts stitching the wound.
"Yep. Just… fucking… great," Calliope answers through gritted teeth. Her fists are clenched tightly at her sides, and she's wearing a pained expression on her face. She breathes in deeply, trying to distract herself from the pain.
"Alright, all done," Nagaveni announces.
"Awesome," Calliope remarks, then motions to Zephyr. "Hey, can I get something strong, Zeph?"
"Of course, chere," he replies, pouring her a double-shot of whiskey. She takes it and throws it back, sighing and looking content when it starts to hit her, relieving some of the pain.
Dysnomi and Asmodeus walk up to Calliope as Nagaveni puts her kit back in her purse. Asmodeus looks at her with caution before questioning, "Are you… okay?"
"I will be," she replies.
"Are you mad at me?" he asks her, setting his hand on top of hers.
'She should be,' Dysnomi thinks; however, he doesn't say it out loud. He knows Calliope doesn't need even more stress on her right now.
"I'm not mad, 'Deus," she answers, looking up at him with sad eyes. "I just wish you had told me. I feel like I've treated you unfairly… and look where it got us."
"No, you haven't treated me unfairly at all. I've still done awful things… to others… to you… I've hurt you so many times… and I hid the truth about Raiden, thinking it was the best thing to do, but I ended up making things worse."
"No, 'Deus. This situation is not on you. Okay?"
He nods, and then Dysnomi interrupts. "Hey, uhh… so what's the plan?"
Calliope sighs and throws her head down on the bar top. "I don't know!" she wails. "To find the Book of Powers, all I have to go on is a name! And it's not even a full name, it's just the first name! And how am I supposed to stop him if he's more powerful than me? I just… I can't do this anymore," she cries, letting the tears fall down her face.
Amarok pushes himself off his seat to stand next to Calliope's seat. He throws an arm around her shoulders, and leans down to whisper in her ear, "It'll be okay, Calli." She buries her face in his side as he comforts her.
After a moment, Xena – who's been unusually quiet – waves them over, saying, "I think I figured out who has the book." Calliope wipes her tears and hobbles over to Xena while holding her newly stitched stab wound. Xena points at her open laptop. "There ain't much info about him, but… from what I gathered? Well… you're not gonna fuckin' believe this."
Everyone gathers around, staring with looks of amazement. They all start talking, sounding excited.
"Am I the only one who doesn't understand what's so important about this guy?" Nagaveni questions, pointing at the computer screen.
"No! Really?" Calliope gasps. "Dracula?! Fuck my life, I guess I'll send him a text."