Chapter Sixteen: Interference
1321 Words
“No, Bel, just.. no.” Emma held out a hand to stop him. Why was she having flash-backs of her parents? How many times had her father come crawling back to her mother after leaving and she always took him back, no matter how many women he'd had, no matter how long it'd been? Until that last time... Bel had cornered Emma in a darkened section of the library as she closed up for the night, and now he was advancing on her urgently, mumbling about punishments and Claimings. “Stop!” She practically screamed. “Just.. stop.” She tried to gentle her voice. She wasn't her mother, she wouldn't fall for this trap. Emma wrapped her arms around herself, trying to contain the pain. Bel gripped his head and roared in outrage. Emma backed up a step.
“Just... let me Claim you again, so I can protect you, before they catch up to you!” Bel yelled. Emma shook her head.
“No Bel. I can't.. Look, I know you think I'm in danger..” Bel shouted a protest over her and she held up her hand again until he calmed so she could continue. “..but I'm no longer your concern. So I'll handle it. If they want to punish me for meddling with time, then so bit. What could they do that could possibly be worse than-” She slammed her mouth shut. She'd nearly admitted to him that the worst thing anyone had ever done to her was him walking away. She turned her face away so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.
“Emma, these are Gods and-” Bel began, but she cut him off.
“So are you. Were. Whatever. Turns out you're all very human-like. Very petty, spiteful creatures. Just like the legends say. Let them do their worst. I have nothing left they can take!” This time, as Emma threw out her arms, the tears spilled over her lower lids and Bel stepped back, was forced back, by the power of her pain. It was like a physical force, shoving at his very being and he could feel it.
“Emma...”
“No Bel, just go. You've let me go, so let me deal with this on my own, the way I did before you showed up and my life tanked.” Emma snapped. Her hands fisted and she had to restrain herself from using any kind of ability to lash out at Bel and fling him across the room.
“You mean ignore it and hope it goes away?” Bel drawled and Emma blanched.
“Isn't that what you intended to do to me?” She hissed, then tried to shove past him. He grabbed her upper arms and held her in place, pinning her with his gaze.
“You said you had nothing to lose, but they could still take your life, Emma. Or the lives of your loved ones.” Bel said desperately. He hadn't intended to argue with her, he only wanted to protect her...
“Why do you care?” She asked him in an emotionless voice. And it was that, more than anything else, that nearly broke Bel. The lack of emotion on her face and in her voice. He had left her to try to protect her, but now he was beginning to realize, he was beginning to understand.. Bel was relatively sure he had broken Emma, broken his love, and he didn't know if he could ever get it back. Bel fell to his knees as Emma wrenched herself free from his grasp and fled from the library. He didn't know how much damage he had done, but he was certain his own heart had just died in his chest.
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The face that greeted Emma when she exited the library was not Cern's.
“What are you doing here?” She spat at the Chaos God.
“Oh you know, just observing.” He traced the pattern of mortar in the brick wall he was lying on with a long fingernail, not looking at her.
“Get lost. You.. you parasite! Feeding on people's misery! You're not a God! You're just a... a monster!” Emma spun around and ran straight into the Fox's chest. He gripped her arms, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
“That is not how I work at all. Greedy, selfish, yes. Power hungry? Absolutely, but I in no way feed on people's pain.” The Fox shoved her from him as Cern called her name from behind. “And I'm not a monster.” The Chaos God crossed his arms. Cern pulled Emma to his chest.
“Did he hurt you?” Cern's voice sounded worried, and he snarled at the Chaos God as if to make a point.
“No. He was just being an ass.” Emma commented. “Let's go home.” Emma couldn't keep the weariness from her voice as she spoke and Cern looked at her with worry. The Chaos God tsked and vanished as Cern took her hand and led her off. A pen scratched against paper in the shadow of a tree, notes diligently being taken, unawares of the parties involved.
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Rafe jerked awake. Or rather, something startled him from slumber. He slid from bed, quietly padding to the window, then the door, trying to make his physical senses tell him what his other senses had registered.
“Rafe, what is it?” Phoebie mumbled sleepily. She rubbed her eyes and squinted at him in the dark.
“I'm not really sure-” Rafe turned back to look at her and saw the pouch of peridot. He'd never gotten around to scattering it around the house, instead, it sat on their bedside table, and now, it was awash with light. “What the?” Rafe muttered and stalked to the table. He snatched up the bag and dumped the stones into his hand. Instantly they shot away from him and formed a circle around himself and Phoebie.
“Rafe?” Phoebie squeaked. She struggled into a seated position, but Rafe was watching the circle. One section of it was lit up brighter than the rest.
“What the heck did you get us into Healer?” Rafe grumbled, and pulled Phoebie to his across the bed.
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Mercury was keeping careful records of the goings-on of the time-meddlers. At this point, he had trouble getting close to Emma, it seemed the god Belinus was staying close to her side, and wouldn't budge, and unfortunately for Mercury, Belinus was an older God with a little more faith and belief behind him due to his various forms. The only reason Mercury was still hanging around was because his stories were told to school children and his Caduceus was still used in the human's medical practices to this day. It allowed him to linger, because his legends continued to be told. It did not, however, provide him with the power he needed to go against a God who still had humans by the droves believing in him, even if it was in a Fallen Form or Demon state. Mercury shook his head. His superiors were not going to like this. The other two, Rafe and Phoebie, had been given some kind of Warding, alerting them to his presence. If he couldn't sneak up on them, how the Hells was he supposed to do his job properly? Mercury sat on a stone bench outside the library where Emma was working once again. These humans had entirely too many people looking out for them. Mercury's eyes lit up. Perhaps that was the way to get to them....
Mercury bolted from the bench and took off into the sky. A little nudge here, a little nudge there.. Yes, maybe he could work this after all!
- Writer
