Fire and Ice Ch. 01

"Then there's the rest of us. I can stimulate lust, and very well thank you, with controlled and calculated pheromone releases."

"Amanda, my sweet southern sister, Amanda Marcum, Muse, who could influence decision making with telepathic suggestion that was almost untraceable, even during brain scanning sessions."

"Furie, Betty Paige, whose telekinetic strength almost made her a match for a fucking avalanche."

"Rush, Paul Bell, master at manipulating the chemical balances in the brain that could control and alter moods to any and all extent. Had a cock like a fucking axe handle too. We nearly destroyed each other several times. I miss him."

"Culann Davids, codenamed Venom. His blood was venomous, and he was immune to all types of naturally occurring harmful toxins, either poison, venom, whatever."

"Had injection modules implanted on his wrists. The one guy never to play snap with."

Connie's eyes were wide with disbelief; it sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie. Her uncle sighed. "You're forgetting Steel." There was a creak of wood as the woman leant back in her chair.

"Robert Dellapane. Tumours of organic biometal over his entire body, with his cartilage being solid metal. He's in constant pain, but he's working with Lotus anyway."

"I think he's in love with her. Superhuman strength, steel bones. And then there's you."

Connie held her breath and listened closely. She could hear everything, and waited. "Markus Graham. Marrack as you preferred to be called."

"You can see, and feel the fey lines of power that crisscross this entire world, and you can bend the fabric of reality and summon demons fully onto this plane."

"Oh, yeah, and lets not forget. You just linked yourself to the fey lines and are now one of the most powerful conjuring sorcerers in this entire plane, let alone the planet."

Connie turned around and hid herself against the wall. She poked her head around the corner and watched as her uncle stood up. The other woman stood up as well, and pulled out another cigarette.

"She's the first child of Gen 7. Consider the parentage, and consider the blood lines. She's going to have powers like you could never believe. And she was left in your care, by your dying sister-in-law, I believe. So you have to make a pre-emptive strike here, Marrack."

"You used to be such a badass, and you're going to need to hold onto that. Despite your lack of focus these days, I know that you're all about protecting your niece, but if you don't take down Lotus and her demon spawn, then your niece won't have too much of a world to inherit. Do you understand?"

"Remove the threat, Marrack. I know you'll do that, because it's the right thing. And the only thing you can do left for your brother."

She lit her cigarette, and Marrack moved to the door to let her out. She leant in close to him and blew the smoke down, towards his groin, and smiled. "I really liked you fucking me, Marrack. Maybe we could do that again sometime."

Her uncle didn't smile, didn't say anything, and the woman shrugged invitingly, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Connie stared past her uncle at the woman getting into her car, and Marrack waved once. Musk flicked her hair over shoulder and leant down to turn the ignition.

The car exploded in a massive dirty fireball, black oily flames licking up towards the sky. There were screams somewhere, and Connie stared open mouthed.

Marrack picked himself up off the ground and twisted, seeing Connie's shocked face staring past the doorway at the wrecked mess of Musk's car.

Marrack bellowed at her, but she just stared at him. He moved towards her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Grab your bag, we're leaving." Connie stared at him and her mouth worked silently. "NOW!!" She lurched into action then, numbly following his orders.

They raced upstairs and threw some clothes into their bags, then Marrack grabbed a black briefcase, one that Connie had never seen before, and they ran into the garage.

The firefighters arrived then, and sirens began to whine. The rear door of the garage opened, and Marrack threw their bags into the back of his truck.

Connie ran around and jumped in the passenger seat and pulled her seatbelt across as Marrack turned the ignition. The car jumped to a start, and then Marrack turned to his niece.

"That might not have been smart." Her eyes opened wide at the thought of what could have just happened, and she closed her eyes tightly, wishing the nightmare to end.

There was a hammering at the garage door, and her uncle threw the car into gear.

The big truck roared as they reversed out quickly, and the car tilted as her uncle pulled down hard on the wheel and slammed the accelerator down.

They were blasting along the back road and met a policeman. The officer waved them down, and Marrack leant out the window as they pulled up next to him.

"Mate, there's a fire there, and my girl's spooked. A car blew up or something?" The officer nodded, his vague face relaxing as he figured he didn't have to shoot a terrorist.

"Uh, yeah, you hurt?" Marrack shook his head and gestured to Connie, who was staring straight ahead.

"Nah, but like I said, my girl's spooked. It happened a couple of doors up from us, so we were right there." The officer nodded, and moved aside.

"When you're done at the hospital, swing by the station house, so we can grab a statement." Marrack waved and they moved along. As soon as they were on a real road, Marrack turned south and sped up.

They hit the highway, towards the mountains, and the sorcerer took a breath. He glanced sideways at his niece, who was staring down at her hands, her blank expression gone. It was a rude awakening, but of course it had to happen one day.

He looked down the highway at an upcoming exit, and the truck slowed as indecision slowed him. Connie looked up and Marrack sighed again as he turned into the off-ramp.

"How much did you hear? While you were standing by the stairs, I mean." Connie started at the sound of his voice, and looked at him as she wound down the window and put her hand across her brow.

"You knew?" Marrack nodded.

"Yeah, I figured. You took about four steps on the stairs, or hit them a few times, and there's over a dozen steps to the top level in that house. So how much did you hear?"

"Well I heard the fucking car explode, Uncle Markus."

"Hey." His stern tone brought her up short. "Watch your language."

Connie stared out her open window to the mountains in the distance, getting closer as the houses thinned out around them. "Sorry, Uncle Markus. Uncle Marrack. Are you even my real uncle? I don't understand any of this. I don't even know you."

Her voice was tiny and scared, and Marrack reached over and grabbed her hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it.

"You know me sweetheart. Maybe not everything. But you know me. I'm your uncle. You can believe that. I'm your uncle, and your family, and I love you."

Connie began to cry then, though she kept her face turned away. Marrack winced and held her hand for a moment longer, until she sqeezed it and sniffed, controlling herself.

"Sorry." Marrack shook his head and wound down his own window. The hot air was cooling as they moved towards the mountains.

"I know you don't like to talk about what happened, but maybe just this once, you could let me in. Sparing the melodrama, Uncle Mark... Uncle Marrack, what's going on?"

He didn't answer her for a long time, then they turned off the main road and onto an unmade road.

"I'm taking you to see your parents."

********

The two gravestones were simple, and dignified. Connie knelt slowly in front of them as her uncle put his hand on her shoulder. The night was beginning to close in again, and Marrack looked about them as the stars began to come into sight, one after the other.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Night always seemed to find him in the mountains.

Connie was tracing her fingers along the engraved marble. The first one read "Scott. Beloved husband and brother." There was a simple engraving representing a snowflake underneath it.

The second one had a simple engraving of a flame on it, and read "Kendra. Beloved wife and devoted mother." Connie began to cry, and Marrack leant down and held his niece until the tears stopped.

"C'mon, sweetie, this isn't going to be easy, on either of us." She followed him back to the car, and he sat her down on a smooth rock facing the small grotto, and then walked forwards and knelt down on one knee.

He spread his hands wide, and began to chant in a dark language. Connie looked around them worriedly, and then stared as a thick mist began to form over the graves.

The one over Scott's began to form first, and rose up to form the shape of a huge man, with broad shoulders. The mist lightened and coalesced into a ghostly apparition, and Marrack lowered his arms as the other began to form, too.

Connie stood up as the two apparitions walked forwards. The man was huge, pale skinned and broad of shoulder, with clear blue eyes and long hair, about twenty or so.

The woman was about the same age, dark skinned, with her hair in braids that ran down her back, over her chocolate skinned shoulders. "Brother?" The voice was far away, but Connie heard it clearly.

Marrack stood up and held out his hand, palm towards his brother's ghost, and the two touched for a moment until the ghost's hand passed through.

A shiver ran down Connie's spine, and her hand was over her mouth as she stared at the impossible.

Marrack smiled and looked down at the woman, who smiled back at him. "I've missed you both. I never thought that I'd miss you at all, let alone miss you like this."

Scott reached forwards again and tried to touch his brother, but then he pulled back and stared at his hand.

"Well this sucks. I can't even shake your hand." Kendra's ghost laughed, the same laugh that Connie had, and leant in close against her husband.

"You've changed, Marrack. We hear now and then of some mysterious figure who's moving through the demon fields like some righteous fire. Good to see you've found yourself a good hobby." Marrack smiled and laughed, then held his hands out wide.

"I'm sorry that I haven't brought you back fully, but I'm trying." Scott shrugged, the mist rising off his shoulders for a moment.

"Well, you've been busy. Enough time to think about us often is fine. You should leave well enough alone. We know that you've been trying to change. Redemption doesn't come cheaply, brother. But you've earnt it. You most certainly have. You've changed so much."

Marrack nodded and took another breath. He held his hand out and pointed. "Parenthood will do that to you." Kendra turned quickly, almost losing her shape as her hand moved to cover her mouth in wonder.

The two ghosts stared at their daughter in wonder, and she moved to stand next to her uncle.

"Consequence. This is Scott, your father. And this is Kendra, your mother." Connie shook, tears in her eyes as she stared at the ghosts. Kendra reached out to caress her daughter's face, but couldn't touch.

She gave a sob, and Marrack winced. "I'm sorry."

Connie stared at her mother, seeing her own shaped eyes and nose, and the same clean, silk skin. Her eyes shifted to her father, and vivid blue met vivid blue.

She laughed softly, tears in her eyes, and Scott reached out to touch her, then let his hand drop. "Oh, my girl..." he sighed, and Kendra sobbed again.

"You're so beautiful, darling. Look how you've grown. You're not the baby I held anymore." Kendra turned her head to Marrack, but her eyes stayed locked on her daughter. "Thank you Markus. Thank you so much." Scott turned away and sighed.

"You don't know how happy and proud you've made me, Markus." Marrack stepped back away from the small group and went back to the car. He pulled out the black briefcase and put it on the hood of the car.

The small family in front of him was talking quietly between them, and Marrack's eyes lifted to the stars.

The night's curtain was dark and full, but not a cloud marred the beauty of the starscape. The sorcerer sighed and closed his eyes as he relaxed.

There was a shared laugh of the same tone, and Marrack opened his eyes to see Connie talking to her mother. Scott was moving towards him.

"Markus." Scott stopped in front of him and looked his brother up and down. "You've grown, but not just in muscle, little brother. I can see your years, now." Marrack quirked a grin at him.

"You're MY little brother, remember? You mean I'm no longer the pipsqueak I was. Fair enough. Chasing your daughter around trying to keep her out of trouble has kept me fit." The blue eyes stared at him.

"You have to protect her from what's coming. There's a thousand planes on top of this one, and if a demon child is born, then it will be able to traverse and destroy them all. There's no staying out of this one, Marrack."

The sorcerer flinched at that name coming from his brother's lips. His brother, who had killed him and watched him become resurrected into something dark and evil. The same brother who had loved him and brought him back from all that, too.

"She's not ready, brother." Scott shrugged.

"Neither of you are. But together, you might be. You must finish this." Marrack frowned and waved a hand, dismissing his brother's concerns frustratedly.

"Enough. Enough." He looked back at Kendra, and Connie, then looked back at Scott, who was staring back at his family. "I miss you, little brother." Scott looked up at the sky, and the moonlight that shone through him, illuminating him and giving him form.

"I miss you too. And I miss my daughter, and everything that could have, should have, been." Marrack stood up off the car and walked back towards them. Kendra came to meet him.

Her ghostly arms moved around him, and goosebumps rose on his skin. "Thank you for this, Markus. And thank you for raising my daughter with love." Marrack's lower lip quivered, and he nodded, his eyes wet.

Connie came and hugged her uncle, and her parents looked on. Marrack put his arms around his niece and squeezed her tightly. "I love you Uncle Markus." Marrack sniffed and leant back, smiling.

"I love you too, sweetie. But now we've got some work to do." He held her hand as he raised his, and the ghosts began to fade. "Goodbye, Kendra. Goodbye Scott. I love you both." Connie reached out her free hand and smiled.

"Mom, Dad, I love you both!" The ghosts raised their hand and then faded back into the mist, which sunk down into the ground again.

Connie and Marrack stood like that for several heartbeats and then Marrack led them back to the car. He opened the briefcase as Connie shook her head.

"This is all so unbelievable. I was always scared that I'd never know either of them, and that I'd never know anything about them, and now..."

She trailed off and stared at her hand. "When they were leaving, I almost..." she flexed her fingers and stared at them. "I almost felt something."

Marrack paused as he lifted a dossier from the briefcase and grabbed a small black silk bag. "You did?" She nodded, and he considered that.

"Huh. Well, if anywhere, it was going to happen then. There's powerful stuff in your veins, kiddo. And that's what we're going to talk about."

The moon was bright and well past it's pinnacle when they finished, and by the time dawn came around, they were still talking, but Connie knew so much more about herself that she could barely keep her eyes down for sleep in the cab of the truck.

Marrack had told her everything, from he and his brother to Kendra and how they met, and how Lotus and the other members of the Centre fitted into it all.

He left parts out, and substituted others, she knew, but she figured he had good reasons for that.

She was mature enough to figure out what had happened between her uncle and the woman back at home, and mature enough as well to realise that her uncle's past wasn't nearly quite so clean as he was.

"You'll have a power soon enough, sweetie. And that power will scare you like nothing else ever has. It's going to happen soon. And we need to go somewhere safe, to train and become ready. Are you ready?" Connie stared at her uncle and nodded slowly.

"Where are we going? What happens now?" Marrack slid into the drivers seat and pulled his seatbelt across.

"I'm taking you to someone who might be able to help. An old friend of mine." Connie nodded, and stared at the gravestones as they reversed back down the plateau and turned around slowly.

"And then?" Her uncle nodded slowly, resolve forming on his face.

"And then we finish this."

To be continued...