The house looked exactly the same but Katarina stared at it for the longest time, as if there were some great change to it.
Was that fresh paint? or was it just her imagination?
She sighed as she walked forward, her backpack bouncing on her back.
She couldn't keep her heart from pounding with uncertainty as she gazed at the familiar door made of rowan wood, the swirling patterns grooved into it staring back at her.
Everything was the same, the black triangle roof hiding the sun setting behind it, the walls she'd painted velvet red simply because it reminded her of Casmir, the sturdy front porch steps where so many things had happened, moments of before that shaped Katarina into the person she was now.
She'd been gone for so long that she struggled to remember what it looked like on the inside. The moments from her brief time with Diana's Hunt seemed to override the rest of her memories.
The beauties and horrors of the realms she visited, the creatures and monsters she'd hunted, the thrill and excitement of riding the winds on pegasi and conquering the seas on kraken, the laughter of the other Maidens and the joy of being with them, united after so much time apart; all of it seemed to be right at the edge of her mind just waiting to be recalled in her daydreams.
But though her current experiences threatened to override everything else there were things Katarina could never forget.
For instance, she could never forget meeting Salome Nightshade, the silver haired, blue eyed boy she'd fallen for.
She could never forget reuniting with her brother Casmir who she'd abandoned long ago and lost to death just days after they'd reunited.
She could never forget the hunt for Percival and the friends she'd made on the way; Bloom, Melchior, Marcus, and despite all the hate she'd encased in her heart for gods and demigods, Antony, Sal's demigod half brother, who was the son of the very god that had taken Casmir's life.
Katarina had made sure to visit each of them at least once during her time riding with Diana's Hunt.
All, that is, except one.
Salome.
She walked up the front steps, her boots clicking against the wood as she remembered her last moments with him, subconsciously willing her racing heart to be still.
'I never said I'd hold on forever'
Those were his last words to her, and they'd hurt more than anything this past year with the Hunt.
She'd tried to forget about him, begged her heart to bury the feelings she had for him, but somehow, even as she rode the winds and conquered the seas, he was always on her mind.
The silver lining of the clouds reminded her of his hair and the blue sheen of the sea reminded her of his eyes, he was ever present no matter which realm she went, and it surprised her that as a Maiden of Diana's Hunt, bound by a promise to keep her heart to herself, she had fallen in love, and had let it be taken away.
She sighed and motioned to open the door when she heard someone call her name behind her.
"Kat?"
'Sal?', she thought with a jolt in her chest.
She turned and saw, with slight disappointment, that it was Antony.
He smiled up at her, his crystalline eyes shining as he approached her with plastic fast food bags bunched up in his hands.
He looked different, less godly and more mortal now, he wore a rumpled Starbucks uniform and faded blue jeans and white sneakers. He'd cut his hair like a mortal too, the purple strands curling on his forehead and temples instead of falling over his eyes like they used to.
Katarina didn't know exactly how to feel about seeing Antony. A big part of her still hated gods and demigods, but Antony had proven to be different. They'd fought side by side against an army of undeads raised by Percival, a powerful necromancer and Phantom, and he had practically saved her life back then. Surely things could be better between them, especially when they both cared deeply for the same person.
"Hey Kat" he greeted as he scrambled up the steps toward her. Katarina had forgotten how alike he and Sal sounded at times, it was always infuriating.
"Hey Antony, how are you?"
"I've been fine" he said, then he paused, clearly looking for what to say, "and how are you?" he asked.
"I'm fine, thank you" she said.
There was an awkward silence that followed.
Katarina didn't know why things were so strange. The last time they'd talked, which was when she'd visited one night while he was in school studying for a mortal degree of some sort.
It had been great, fun even, they had talked about many things and Katarina thought they'd finally start getting to the friend stage.
So what exactly had changed?
"And Sal?" she asked, barely able to handle the silence.
"He's inside" he replied curtly.
He walked pass her to the door, fumbled with the knob and then with a sharp turn he pushed it open.
Katarina walked in after him and silently wondered how she could have forgotten this place.
The gray sofas (one of which she'd lain on and told Bloom the half truth of her feelings for Sal) were spotless, the armchair in the corner (where Bloom had listened with that superior look on her face) was much in the same condition.
The coffee table in the centre (where The Advocates coin was placed and warded with protection glyphs) looked recently dusted and the chandelier that Casmir had loved staring at so much flickered with candle light on the ceiling.
The door that led to the kitchen (where Marcus had visited more times than necessary) and further to the pool (where Melchior had spent most of his time) was open, and Katarina couldn't help turning to the stairs leading up to the rooms, the same stairs she and Sal had kissed for the first time.
This was her home, full of dark and bright memories, and no other place in any other realm, no matter how beautiful, could compare.
Antony dropped the plastic bags on the coffee table and faced Katarina, was it just her or was he jumpy, or maybe that was how he acted normally and she'd never noticed it.
"Welcome home" he said with a smile.
She smiled back at him and was about to ask him if everything was alright when she heard footsteps pounding down the stairs.
"Antony, is that you?" came a voice, and this time there was no mistaking him.
It was Sal.
She turned and saw him on the staircase, just a few steps away from the living room floor, standing stock still. He had noticed her and was staring at her, his blue eyes bright as he examined her. She chose to do the same.
She observed with slight fascination that his hair had grown longer, and it fell all around his face in beautiful locks of silver, the tips dyed a light blue that went splendidly with his eyes. He wore a white singlet vest that showcased his arms— dark and slender yet firm and muscular— and very dark blue jeans, he was on barefeet and had put both his hands in his pockets as he saw her.
He was still taking her in, she observed, as if trying to determine if she was real or not.
"Kat" he said, his voice barely audible but audible enough so that her name escaped from his lips not as a whisper but an exhale of breath.
A sigh of relief.
"Hey Sal" she said.
He exhaled in disbelief, his gaze on her calculative, his mind picking his words carefully.
"You're back" he said finally.
She smiled inwardly. Sal always had a knack for stating the obvious, especially in situations when he was tongue tied. Was he tongue tied?, or was she just trying to make herself believe he was?
"Yeah, I am" she said.
"I'm glad" he replied. "Everything's been….. different without you here"
There was a shred of hesitancy in his voice that Katarina wasn't used to, it was so different from the Sal she knew, the one who pieced beautiful words together in his heart and said them with so much of himself that your heart couldn't possibly hold up against them.
"I'm glad I'm back too" she said as she tore her gaze away from him for the first time since she got there. "Anything new happen lately?" she asked, her eyes wandering to the sofa.
"Nothing much" He replied simply, then he looked behind her to Antony.
"Hey Antony, did you get it?" he asked.
She turned to look at Antony, who had a look on his face that she couldn't quite read, pointing at the plastic bags on the coffee table.
"Yeah" Antony said, his eyes met Katarina's for a second and the look disappeared immediately before he focused on Sal again. "Is she awake?"
Katarina would have questioned that look on Antony's face had it not been for the new piece of information that had just found it's way to her ear.
"She?" Katarina found herself asking, unable to keep the strain out of her voice. "Who is "she"?"
"She's asleep" Sal said to Antony, then he turned to Katarina. "Do you like cheeseburgers?"
Katarina quirked an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Do you like cheeseburgers?" He repeated with his own eyebrow quirked.
It looked cuter on him.
"Yes, but…"
"Great!" He exclaimed as he walked down the remaining stairs and picked the plastic bags from the table. "Tony could you, uh, could you check on Lester for me?"
Antony nodded knowingly at Sal, then gave Katarina a smile, before walking out of the house and leaving them alone.
"Come on", Sal said as he began walking up the stairs. "Do you plan on standing there all day?"
"Do you plan on ignoring my questions all day" Katarina said. "I asked you who "she" is and you're refusing to tell me"
Sal turned and looked at her as he ascended, his blue eyes sparkling.
"I'm not refusing anything" he said. "First you eat, then i'll explain everything" Then he vanished up the next flight.
Katarina sighed in frustration. She'd forgotten how stubborn he could be at times, and yet, she missed it all the same.
***
Sal looked once again at Katarina standing on the opposite side of the bed between them, her dark blue hair in a pony tail behind her as she looked down at Julika sleeping peacefully on the bed, her chest rising and falling softly.
Sal had both dreaded and anticipated the day Katarina would come back. He'd thought it would be years before he saw her again and had tried to cut out that piece of his heart that had kept her memory as a part of him.
But now, seeing her here, like a dream come true, Sal could feel that part regrowing itself, and he feared there'd be nothing sharp enough to cut it out the next time she left.
Because there would always be a next time. And it would always come with the same throbbing pain.
"She looks so peaceful" Katarina said, her voice soft.
Sal looked away from her and looked down at Julika, there was a strand of hair caught between her lips and Sal gently pulled it out with a smile.
Sal had grown fond of Julika, had grown fond of watching her sleep and hearing her breathe and tucking her hair behind her ear when it got messy in the afternoons that had become hotter each passing day.
It might have seemed strange to any other person, Shaded or mortal, why a nineteen year old boy would grow fond of the way a girl breathed while she slept, but Sal wasn't just any ninteen year old boy, he was a killer, and Julika wasn't just any girl, she was the daughter of the man Sal had been sent to kill.
The man who Sal had killed.
"She sleeps a lot" Sal said as he tucked the strand behind her ear out of habit. "She still hasn't really gotten used to her resurrection"
"You said she's been awake for a month?" said Kat.
"Yeah" he replied, even he couldn't believe it had been a month, a month since his meeting with the Court, a month since refusing to do what they'd asked, a month since....
"And you said she can't remember anything?" said Kat, her voice peircing through his thoughts like a sharp knife.
"Only bits and pieces, flashbacks" Sal said. "Most of them come at night, but she never tells me what they are"
"Have you tried using magic?"
Sal thought about his wand, a crystal rod that allowed him to draw magical symbols, given to him by Katarina herself.
He'd been tempted to use magic but...
"No, it could damage her mind if I force it with magic" he said.
"Have you tried looking for anything that might trigger her memory?" said Kat.
"I haven't had the time, I've been busy with work, and with Lester being in the hospital....."
"Wait, I'm sorry, who's Lester?" She asked.
Sal sighed, he wasn't surprised she didn't know, Antony was the only one of his Shaded friends that knew about his mortal best friend Lester.
"No one you know, anyway the point is, I haven't done any other hunts, not since Percival"
"Well have you tried asking Lucifer?" she said.
Sal felt dread wash down to his feet. Once upon a time he would have found comfort in just the memory of that name, but now, that was the last person he wanted to remember.
'Lucifer betrayed me, he used me, I can't trust him anymore Kat'
Those were the words he wanted to say, he'd wanted to let it all go for so long, but he didn't, instead he steadied the tremors building in his voice and said;
"Lucifer is….unavailable right now"
Katarina looked up at him, her dark eyes were filled with concern, as if she could somehow sense his distress.
"Unavailable?, for you?" she said. "I thought he was like, you know, your mentor, the one that made you what you are"
'Don't remind me' Sal thought, but he knew she wasn't wrong.
Before Sal was born the Elder's Court, the combination of mala'chim (angels), shedim (demons) and the gods were in the process of making Sal a Phantom, a being with the blessings of a pair of the god's hands, the touch of a mala'chim, and the mark of a shedim on him, a being with incredible power, destined to be a warrior for the Court.
But their reason for making him a Phantom was not because of some great destiny.
They'd intended to make him a Phantom of both blessings and curses, it was a cruel punishment for the sins of Sal's parents who had helped Lucifer when he escaped from his Hell, but before the Court could finish the ritual Lucifer himself had stepped in, and had countered all the curses, therefore saving Sal's life.
He'd been a big help from then on and Sal had been grateful. But that was before he knew who Lucifer truly was.
'I am the Father of evil, aren't I?'
"Sal is everything alright between the two of you?" Katarina asked.
Sal blinked as Katarina once again brought him out of his thoughts.
"Sal you know you can talk to me right?, I'm here now"
'Maybe, I could' he thought as he looked back at her. 'But would you understand?'
"I'm fine Kat" was all he said.
She sighed in defeat, but didn't let her eyes stray from his.
"Sal…"
Sal felt his phone buzz in his pocket and his hand reflexively reached for it, but he held their gazes even as his fingers closed around it.
"Sorry I have to take this, it could be important" he said.
She sighed but nodded with understanding.
He turned away from her and pulled out his phone. The screen lit up and Sal saw a text from Antony.
DOC SAID THERE'S BEEN A DEVELOPMENT, was all the message read.
A GOOD ONE OR A BAD ONE?, Sal replied.
There was no answer.
Sal sighed and shoved his phone back in his pocket.
"I have to go" he said as he went to the bedside table and scribbled a note for Julika on a piece of paper. "Something important just came up"
"I'll come with you" Katarina said as she moved from her position opposite the bed and came to stand beside him.
Sal finished scribbling GOING TO HOSPITAL, SEE U SOON, EAT THE BURGERS ON THE TABLE, and placed the note and the pen on the bedside table.
"You don't have to do that" he said. He walked to the bedroom door and grabbed the handle.
She grabbed his arm and he turned to look at her.
Her eyes were set on his, her grip firm and unwavering.
"Yes, I do" She said. "I can do whatever the fuck I want"
Sal smiled and pulled the door open.
"Damn I've missed you"
***
'She's promising' Bloom thought as she settled into her throne of ice, the leaves on the frosted vines wrapped around it tickling her arms as she looked down at the dew drop fairy in front of her.
The fairy had transparent wings as delicate as a spider's web, glassy hair like threads of clear ice and blue eyes the colour of the waters of Fey Land.
Her name was Selina, a good candidate for the throne, the right amount of charisma, the right amount of brains and an incredible track record.
Promising, yes.
But was that good enough?
"What do you think Melchior?" Bloom asked turning to Melchior who stood beside her with Lamech, his sword, strapped to it's place on his waist, looking down at the dew drop fairy and quietly considering her.
"I think she's okay" he answered finally.
Bloom glared at her soul brother, wondering why she'd made him her special adviser, he rarely did any advicing.
"Okay?" she asked hoping she could coax more of a response from him. "Is that all?"
He just nodded and said, "Yes"
Bloom sighed and looked down at an expectant Selina.
"You may go" she said.
Selina got up looking rather disappointed but bowed and walked out of the throne room not daring to look back.
When Bloom was sure Selina was out of earshot she burst out at Melchior.
"What do you mean she's just "okay"!"
"I mean she's okay" Melchior said as he stepped down from her side and turned to face her.
Bloom couldn't help noticing how much Melchior had grown over the past few years.
His muscles had filled out, though they were not terrifying bulges underneath his armour, they were significant as he crossed his arms over his chest.
He'd added on height as well and now towered over Bloom when they were side by side but looked up at her now as she sat on the throne.
Some of the Fey were saying he'd grown more attractive as well, his ocean eyes brighter, his golden hair, which he'd decided to cut so that it didn't curtain over his eyes anymore, more lush than it had been before.
Bloom personally couldn't see it.
"She's very well trained" Melchior said. "good mannered, showcases suitable leadership qualities, and this is her third petition, which displays her unwavering passion, surely there are very few that could contend against her"
Bloom thought she could feel what mortal's called a headache coming along.
"Then why in Gaea's name did you not just say that before?!" she exclaimed.
"I don't know, I thought you didn't like her, what do you think?"
"I think she's brilliant!"
"Then what's the problem?!"
"I don't know!" She yelled.
Melchior creased his brows in confusion, his eyes trying to figure her out as they stayed locked on her.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
Bloom fell back into her throne in frustration.
She hated this, all of this, this sitting still and looking down on everyone from this godsforsaken throne. She wanted to be normal, to run in the Fey Forests and summersault from tree to tree the way she used to. She wanted to leave, to leave and to live the life she wanted, with the people she wanted to live it with.
She heard Melchior sigh and a moment later felt his scaled hand touch her shoulder, cool and familiar against her skin, assuring her that she could open up, she could tell him everything. And she did.
"Tell me Melchior why life has become so difficult, it never was this way before was it?, It never was so....."
"Complicated" completed Melchior, trust him to take the words right out of her mouth. "It is just one of the many challenges that comes with the honor of leadership"
"Does the honor have to be so overwhelming, I have searched year after year for a perfect ruler for Fey Land and yet I have found none, it is either this elf is too good or that nixie isn't good enough or a fairy is "okay" "
"Why is "okay" not enough?" asked Melchior.
"Because "okay" is not perfect, and Fey Land deserves a perfect ruler"
"Bloomera Nephity", Melchior said, he knew she hated that name, yet he always used it when he was about to give her a lecture, "there's no such thing as a perfect ruler, you are tirelessly searching for something, someone, that does not exist"
Bloom sighed in exasperation and propped her hand on her knees so that they were closer together, strands of her hair fell from her crown that weighed heavily on her head.
"My parents were perfect" she said.
"You and I know that is not true"
"Are you sure about that?"
She stretched out her hands at the crystal ceiling above her and the walls of ice around her.
"Look around Melchior, Fey Land has been thrown into a season of frost because I sit on the throne, my parents may have been foolish, selfish, shallow-minded, but they made Fey Land flourish, they were perfect"
Melchior laughed and looked up at Bloom, his ocean eyes dancing as he locked his gaze on her.
"Bloom, you just mentioned everything that made them imperfect, what does that tell you?"
"That I'm nothing like them?"
"Exactly" he said.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"And how does my being nothing like them help exactly?" she asked.
He sighed and placed a hand on her cheek.
It was these little affectonate touches that made Bloom love Melchior more and more, unlike her, Melchior was unafraid to feel and show feelng. Perhaps that is why they were soul siblings, because they were so very different, and yet they somehow complimented each other perfectly.
"Bloom" he said. "You are different, and you do not need to do things the way they did them, that was their perfect, this is yours, you need not put so much pressure on yourself because of this singular decision"
"Oh Melchior" she whispered.
He talked about pressure but she could see the thin silver lines of scars on his arms and elbows, barely visible over his scales but still there, evidence of his hours of training and the numerous battles he'd fought.
She was sure there were more on his knees and calves, his back and chest, she should know, she cleaned and dressed them herself.
He spoke of too much pressure and yet he couldn't see that it was the same pressure that pushed him to be the warrior he was.
But they were different, and he was right.
As usual.
***
In his mind there was nothing but numbness.
There was nothing but silence.
Nothing but calm.
And then the storm came.
Images began to manifest in the vast inky blankness of his mind, like paintings and ancient depictions on cavern walls.
He saw a black bird rising from the ashes of it's feathers, a golden blade slicing through bodies fashioned out of darkness, red mist curling into the shape of a snake, reed torches crossed and burning with purple fire, and a crown of vines, freezing over, before shattering into specks of ice.
...
Marcus shot up from his bed and landed with a thud on the floor, his breath coming out in short, sharp pants.
He looked around him, trying to acquaint himself with his surroundings, worried about where he was.
Then his eyes fell on the bare walls of the packhouse and the familiar bed in his bedroom.
He took a deep breath, realizing that he was just at home, and stood slowly from the ground.
His room was thick with white curling smoke, the smell of burning was acrid.
He'd been steaming while he slept again, he thought that was over now, but it seemed he'd been wrong.
He sighed and walked to the windows to let all the smoke out.
As he pushed the windows open and felt the cool night breeze rush into the room he raked a hand through his hair and recalled the fragments of his vision and muttered them under his breath.
"Black bird from ashes, golden blade, red mist, crossed torches, crown of vines"
Marcus paused.
'Crown of vines'
He knew what that last image signified, in fact he'd been unable to think of anything else for months.
"Bloom" he whispered.
Marcus hadn't had a vision in months, but the fact that he was having one now, and Bloom was in it, meant that something was about to happen to her.
But of all the days for a vision to occur why did it have to be the day he would make The Choice, the day he would decide if he wanted to stay in the pack or run wild as a Loner after he'd been trained for several months by the werewolves.
"Perfect" Marcus muttered to himself as he looked down at the pack grounds below him, watching the wolves return from their hunt. "The most important day of my life and this is what happens"
He believed this was the Moon's doing, she was influencing his decision, showing him what path to take. The path that led to Sal and the others.
The path that led to Bloom.
He turned from the window and went to the mirror standing at the far end of his room.
He could barely make out most of his features in the dim moonlight filtering in through his room window, but his golden eyes were unmistakeable, and so were the nine fluffy tails swishing behind him.
It had been hard, being a Kitsune and growing up among werewolves, being entirely different from everyone in the pack, even his parents, but it was finally over, and now he had to make a Choice, he just hoped they would understand why this was the Choice he had to make.
He stepped away from the mirror and made his way out of the pack house.
The air was crisp outside and the half moon shining above gave much needed light as Marcus ran to the square, the pack's central meeting place, passing several werewolves who waved and greeted him in a blur.
When he got to the square he was met by all the Betas, the Alpha's advisors, lying in their wolf forms and waiting for him.
He walked pass them, only sparing them a nod and a glance as he went to stand in front of his mother and father, Layla and Morpheus, the Alpha and her mate, who stood at the head of the square in their wolf forms, eyes literally glowing with pride.
'Marcus', echoed Layla's voice in his head. The look in her eyes were sharp and disapproving. 'You're late'
If Marcus were younger he would have apologized and given his mother multiple excuses as to why he was late. But today he just smiled and winked at her.
She glared at him, but then it gave way to a slight smile.
'You have come to the end of your training, Marcus, and now the time to Choose has come'
Marcus stepped forward and Shifted, feeling the power ripple through him as his spine stretched and golden fur engulfed his skin, his snout extending, his tails growing as he took on his true Kitsune form.
A golden furred nine tailed fox.
'Are you ready to Choose, Marcus?'
Marcus remembered the vision and nodded. He'd made his decision long before now, but that vision was a confirmation of what he needed to do, who he needed to be.
'Yes, I am' he said.
'Then state your Choice here and now, before all the wolves and the Moon herself, the Pack or the Wild?'
Marcus projected his thoughts with as much boldness as he could muster.
'I choose the Wild' he said.
There was a ripple of disapproving growls that resounded around him but Marcus kept his eyes on his mother who still had a glint of pride in her eyes.
'Do you swear by the Moon to hold the teachings of the pack close to your heart, to keep the interests of the Other World in your mind, and to engrave the rules stated in the Lex that guides all the denizens of the Other World unto your soul?'
'Yes, I swear by the Moon'
'Then I, as the Alpha of this pack and with the power invested in me by the Moon, hereby declare you a Loner'
There was a sharp snapping sound, not something that could be heard audibly but that Marcus could feel happen inside himself. The Link, the connection he shared with his pack mates, began to fade.
'Know that you will always have a place here' Layla said. 'Now go, before the rest of the pack realizes you are no longer one of us, run like I taught you too Marcus'
Marcus bolted, and as he went through the pack grounds, charging through the Gateway of Shade, and out into the thick of the Sambisa Forest, as he felt falling leaves brush his fur and the humid air caress his skin, as he remembered Bloom and Sal and his vision, he didn't stop running.
And he didn't looked back.