Proper Preparation and Planning
"Okay, so after two hours of being on the phone with him, you got nothing?" Dysnomi asks her, running a hand through his hair.
"Not… entirely nothing?" Calliope says, with a hopeful tone in her voice. "He confirmed he did have the book… at one point. He also confirmed that he did go by the name Dmitri at that time. The main problem comes from the fact that he has no idea where the book is now."
"It took you two hours to get that out of him?" Dysnomi teases.
"It took me two hours to avoid us getting stuck at a Dracula party just to find out he doesn't have what we need," she fires back.
"I still can't believe you know Dracula," Xena laughs.
"Trust me, it's not as cool as it sounds. The man's a bit of a drama queen," Calliope laughs. Her laughter soon turns into gasping for breath as tears roll down her face when the pain from her stitched-up stab wound hits her.
"Calli, be careful!" Nagaveni scolds.
"Yeah, yeah." She waves Nagaveni off, then asks, "So what do we do now? My brother could get out at any moment, he's stronger than me, and we don't have the book he's after–the one thing that he could use to steal my powers."
"Yeah… it does kinda feel like we hit a dead-end," says Amarok.
As they start to lose hope, Calliope's phone chimes with a notification. She sighs, picking it up. "It's Vlad," she says. "He… sent me a list of all the vampires that might have the book."
"Well, that's a start. Let's start contacting them," Asmodeus sighs.
"It might take a while," she replies. "I'm pretty sure this is just a list of everyone he invited to his last party. It's like, five pages full of names."
"Eh, text us all a copy. We'll split it into sections," Amarok suggests.
So she does, and to her surprise, it actually does start to move quickly. Within an hour, they've made it through all of them.
"Well, that was a waste of time," Calliope says.
Asmodeus' phone beeps and he checks it. His face falls and he looks up at Calliope with a mix of terror, anger, and sadness on his face. "Menoetius let him out… He has the book already," he says, shocked.
"Oh, awesome," Calliope replies, standing with a grunt of pain. "I assume that means he'll be coming here. There's not much I can do now."
"Don't say that," Nagaveni says, reaching out to her.
Calliope lifts a hand, stopping Nagaveni. "Nini, that book was my only chance. If he really is more powerful than me and if he really does have the book, that's it. I'm going to go enjoy what could very likely be my last night. You're all welcome to join me, but not if you're gonna keep bringing up the issue. I just want to have fun."
With that, she walks out, shivering when the cool night air hits her exposed shoulders and legs.
Life of the Party/Even When Your Hope Is Gone
Calliope walks along the streets until she comes to the crowded club on Bourbon Street. She walks in and heads to the bar, throwing back a shot of tequila. She ends up doing a few more shots, and by the time her friends find her, she's doing a body shot off a random man.
Nagaveni giggles. Calli can make friends anywhere, she thinks.
Calliope finally notices her friends and runs over to them. "So you all decided to celebrate with me?"
"What exactly are we celebrating?" Asmodeus asks. "The fact that you're going to die?"
"We're celebrating my life, buzzkill," she retorts.
"Come on, we don't know that getting your powers taken away will kill you," Nagaveni says.
"Yeah, but I still have a feeling I'm gonna die," Calliope responds. "Anyway, I said I'm not talking about this tonight." She grabs Asmodeus' arm and pulls him to the dance floor, saying, "Come dance with me, grumpy."
He lets her pull him, then sways with her, groaning when she grins against him. "Calli…" He groans. "I'm sorry about all of this. Dysnomi was right. I should have stayed behind to keep an eye on my brother."
"Stop." Calliope says simply. "Please just let me enjoy your company for once. We may not have gotten the chance to see where things would go with us this time, but I love you, 'Deus. I just want to enjoy being with you tonight."
"Te amo también, Calli," he says. He lifts her chin to look into her eyes. The purple color in her eyes is mesmerizing to him. He leans into her, kissing her lips deeply.
She kisses him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He grabs her waist, tightening his grip until she whimpers from the pain.
"Careful," she whispers against his lips. "Don't wanna pop my stitches."
"Mierda," he responds. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, 'Deus." She smiles and hugs him, nuzzling her face into his chest.
He hugs her back tightly. It's as if he's scared that she'll disappear the moment he lets her go.
"Hey lovebirds, wanna drink?" They pull apart to see Amarok towering over them, offering them each a glass. "It's rum," he says.
"Oh. Thank you," Calliope says, taking a glass from him.
Asmodeus takes the other glass, looking uncomfortable for a moment before saying, "Hey man, sorry about calling you a mutt. That… wasn't me. I mean, it was, but…"
Amarok laughs, his chest rumbling. He slaps Asmodeus on the shoulder and says, "It's cool, man. I get it. Your demon has a mind of his own. My wolf does, too."
"Hey, you know what we should do?" Calliope asks. "We should go out. Listen to some street jazz, walk around, and see all the sites."
"I'm in," Amarok agrees.
"I'll find Dysnomi, Nagaveni, and Xena," Asmodeus offers. He takes off, looking for their friends.
When he's out of sight, Calliope turns to Amarok and says, "Hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry if it seems like I used you in any way. You're an amazing guy. I probably should have warned you about 'Deus and Dys. I'm not with 'Deus, but he still gets jealous."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Amarok replies. "I've had fun with you. You're a sweet girl and it seems like you're a great friend. I just wish things would have turned out differently. I wish I could have helped you more."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Amarok. This isn't your fight. I shouldn't have dragged you into it."
"You didn't. I chose to be in this." She hugs him when he says that, and he hugs her back, enveloping her small body with his arms. He tells her, "No matter what happens, I'll always remember you. I haven't had this much adventure in years."
She laughs, though it sounds a little bitter, and wipes a tear from her eye. "I'm glad I could help with that."
Asmodeus comes back with the others in tow, and Calliope runs up to each person, hugging them. With Dysnomi, she places a delicate hand on his cheek, and as he leans into her touch, she says, "You've been an amazing friend to me, Dys, and we shared many amazing moments together. I want you to know that night we shared was special to me, even if I've seemed a little estranged from you lately."
He smiles sadly, then kisses her forehead. "I'll never forget it," he whispers.
She moves on to Nagaveni, and says, "You're the best friend I could ever ask for. You're like a sister to me. I know Hisstopher Walken and Benedict Cobrabatch might not like it at first, but please promise you'll take good care of Nanook. Thora and Wrath will be okay—they usually do their own thing anyway—but I worry about Nanook."
Nagaveni cries softly and responds, "I promise. You know I'll care for her, Calli."
Calliope nods and moves on to Xena. She looks at the monster hunter fondly and says, "You've been a great help. Thank you for all you've done. I've sent you a list of health deities you might want to look into, and I've given my witchy friend Salem your information. If she can find any healing spell or item that will help with your illness, she'll be in contact with you. I truly hope you can find a cure."
"Thank you, Calliope," Xena says. "That means a lot."
Calliope steps back and wipes tears from her eyes. She clears her throat and says, "Alright, that's enough of that. Let's go!" She plasters a smile on her face, leading her friends out onto the streets of New Orleans, taking in the sights and smells of the Crescent City.
They walk along, listening to jazz in the streets. Dysnomi joins some street performers doing magic, conjuring flowers for a young woman who laughs in delight and creating illusions that leave even the magicians speechless.
Nagaveni walks up to a man holding a massive yellow burmese python, and pets it. The python cuddles into her and she talks to it sweetly, as if she's having an actual conversation with it. The man watches, amazed, when the python slithers onto her and back off, and he tells her the snake doesn't normally like other people. She just laughs and strokes the scaly snake's skin—her eyes seeming to glow—as she says, "I'm just really good with animals."
Asmodeus wows a crowd when he levitates–only a few inches off the ground, as to not raise suspicion. He wows them even more when he disappears in a cloud of smoke—which he created using his fire powers—and reappears behind them.
Xena talks to some tourists on a haunted tour, telling them fantastical stories of werewolves and vampires, witches and hunters.
Dysnomi creates a trumpet for Amarok, which Amarok uses to join in with some street musicians who seem to know him. He plays beautifully for a few songs, earning applause from anyone listening.
Calliope dances through the street, catching a set of beads thrown at her from a man on a balcony, laughing and twirling as if she doesn't have a care in the world. Amarok spins her around elegantly, leading her toward a group of performers who are dancing and singing. She smiles, dancing to their voices. She has a particular fondness for one song, and before she realizes it, she's singing along with them. When she finishes singing, she realizes they had stopped and are staring at her in awe. She gets some cheers from anyone listening, and she realizes her stitched-up wound doesn't hurt as bad anymore. It's still there, but seems to have healed a bit.
They keep their party of six going until they all practically fall to the sidewalk, laughing but realizing how tired they are.
Xena and Amarok get up and say their goodbyes, then walk off, leaving the rest of the group to head back to their hotel.
Asmodeus walks Calliope to her room, stopping at the door. He gives her a tight, sad hug and kisses her cheek softly before leaving her. She walks into her room, gets ready for bed, and falls asleep the moment her head hits the pillow.