Gaia's Champion Ch. 13

"Gaia's voice!" Phalmina cried as the power surged through her and into Jason.

A tear found its way onto Phalmina's cheek as she heard the beautiful and melodious voice on the air. It became clearer as the power surged from Jason and into Darren, flaring up within him. The magic that was just a flicker in Darren now became clear and prominent. It burned so brightly that the evil magic that contained it fell away from him, withering away like smoke in the air.

"Oooooh! Aauuuuggghh!" Darren cried out as he clutched his head.

"What's happening to him?!?" Eva cried out, fearful for her son's life as she rushed to him. Darren was embraced by Eva and he thrashed and writhed in her arms for a few minutes before he calmed down. He breathed heavily, taking comfort in his mother's embrace. He then took a few minutes to steady his breathing before he spoke.

"I... was... remembering," Darren told her, answering her question.

"Remembering what??" Eva asked, still hysterical.

"Everything."

With that, he stood up and walked over to his father, pure rage etched into his face. With a snarl, Darren laced into Wayne, his punches coming in a flurry. Everyone was surprised at this, especially Amy and Eva, who had only seen Darren obey his father without question. Jason jumped on Darren, pulling him away from the man before he killed him.

"Hey! Cool off, man! What the fuck is going through your head?" Jason growled as he shoved Darren away from Wayne.

"That man has controlled me for years! He used his foul magic to exert his authority over me when I refused to obey! Turned me into his willing puppet!" Darren shouted, hurling the accusations at the man.

"You refused to obey! You had to be controlled!" Wayne growled back.

"I am no longer yours to control! You are dead to me!" Darren screamed.

"Easy! As much as I want to see you paste the man, we need him alive," Jason said, keeping Darren from reaching his father.

"Why?"

"Two reasons; first, for what he may know about this... order you are all a part of. Second, because he has power that does not belong to him. It must be taken back," Phalmina answered, stepping up to help Jason.

"The first reason, I can provide you. What do you wish to know about the Sons of Caesar?" Darren asked.

"Darren, be silent!" Bruce spoke up, breaking his silence.

"Fuck. You!" Darren spat at him.

"My little brother has balls! Who knew?" Amy commented shockingly.

"Amelia!" Eva groused at her daughter. Amy did look a little chagrined at the comment, but everyone was busy laughing. Even Eva couldn't keep the smirk off her face as she too chuckled a little.

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" Jason said after a brief snicker. "This order is called the Sons of Caesar?"

"That's right. Our history goes back centuries, all the way to the Roman Empire, to Julius Caesar himself," Darren began. "There is a lot of history surrounding my... former order. There is much that history that we have in our archives, if you will permit me to share it."

"Karla, are you OK?" Amy asked, catching the Danish woman's attention.

"No, I am not OK. I have heard of the Sons of Caesar! They are not enemies to be crossed or trifled with!" she stated fearfully.

"You've run into them before?" Jason asked.

"No, but I have heard the stories about them. When you are part of high society anywhere in the world, you hear things about people. About certain groups that should not be agitated. The Sons of Caesar are among the most dangerous!" she replied.

Hearing this, Chad, Bruce and Wayne grinned, knowing that they had at least struck fear into someone there. They sneered at everyone there, thinking they could find their way out on fear alone. Through his pain, Chad opened his mouth to say something, until Elizabeth rushed him, her fists flying. Her fists rained down on the man and he howled in pain as she beat on him without mercy.

"Liz! Get off him!" Amy shouted as she rushed her friend, dragging her away from the beaten man.

"You don't understand! He deserves to fucking die!" Elizabeth screamed.

"What don't we understand?!" Amy raged back, shaking her friend.

"He raped me! Him and his friends!"

"What?!?" Amy yelped in surprise.

"It was after Darren had left school! This guy and his goons caught me walking home junior year! They kidnapped and raped me!" Elizabeth screamed as she cried, falling to her knees. Amy leaned in and hugged her friend and lover, wanting nothing more than to comfort her.

"I believe it. I remember this piece of shit, saying how he did something to Liz. When I spoke to him in the parking lot of the park," Jason rumbled.

His gaze focused on the battered man and on instinct, his Gaian magic came to him. He focused on seeing what exactly Chad knew, and what part he played in hurting Elizabeth. The runes came forward and Jason poured his focus on finding the memory in question. It took him a minute, but he found it, and what he saw in Chad's head horrified him.

Jason fell to his knees as he witnessed every action that was done to her, tears streaming from his eyes. Phalmina walked forward, touching Jason and sharing in the pain he was experiencing, hoping to lessen it. She squealed in pain and then she, too, fell to her knees in anguish. It had lessened the pain of the memory, but that wasn't the worst of it.

The worst part of this memory was that Chad was proud of what he'd done. He had taken great pleasure in violating Elizabeth in the worst possible way. How he enjoyed watching the woman suffer and beg for mercy, only for it to be denied to her. After many hours, they finally stopped, not because they had wanted to, but because they had to. They cleaned up all evidence of the assault and walked away, leaving the poor woman to live with her pain.

Jason finally broke the spell, ending the vision of the memory. He breathed heavily, before he bent over and puked, the sight of what happened to Elizabeth too much even for his stomach. Phalmina flitted over to Elizabeth and hugged her with Amy, weeping with grief for the pain the woman had to live with.

"My memory too much for you?" Chad taunted weakly. Jason's revulsion passed almost instantly and was replaced by hatred. Hatred, for a man so evil, that he was certain that the Hell itself would reject him. He stood and walked over, his skin still gleaming like obsidian as he stopped in front of him.

"What? Do you think you scare me?" Chad laughed.

"You should be scared," Jason growled. "I made a promise that you would die tonight. If what you tried to do to me wasn't reason enough, what you did to my friend, is. When you meet the devil, tell him I sent you."

Without another word, Jason took hold of Chad's head and held it tightly. The man's eyes widened before Jason, then twisted it viciously. A cracking squelching sound echoed throughout the chamber, as Chad's head was now facing the opposite of where it should have been. Jason didn't stop there, and he kept twisting, with more horrendous squishing sounds carrying through the cavern.

Jason finally stepped back and took Chad's head with him, separating it from his body. Bruce cried out in horror as he watched his son die so horrifically. He bounded to his feet and charged Jason, wanting nothing more than to kill the man who had killed his son. Jason saw it coming and backfisted Bruce in the face as hard as he could.

A sickening crunch could be heard the moment Jason's obsidian fist went through Bruce's face. He pulled his fist out of the man's head, blood and brain matter clinging to it, as what remained of the man fell to the ground. Wayne looked at his two most trusted allies in the Sons of Caesar and screamed in disbelief.

"Why?!? Why are you being so cruel?!?" he cried.

"This is justice, for all the evil they and your order perpetrated," Phalmina growled. "Especially for enslaving those who are supposed to serve Gaia!"

"It was my right, as her husband to take her power! My right to do with it as I pleased! YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY OVER ME!" he ranted. His shouting was cut off by a hard slap across his face, which no one saw coming. Wayne yelped in pain and stared up at the form of his daughter.

"You! You dare strike your father?!?" he thundered.

"Yes, I dare! I disown you as my father! My real father died a long time ago!" Amy seethed, slapping him again. "You are nothing to me!"

"Xaera, hold him still, please. We will need him to stay like this," Phalmina instructed. Xaera did as she was asked and clamped down on Wayne to stop him from struggling against what was about to happen.

"Eva, you have the spark to become a Druidess, but you do not hold all the power you should," Phalmina told her.

"A... what?!?" Eva stuttered.

"A Druidess. A wielder of Gaia's magic, a protector of nature and all things green. A champion and sacred guardian of this world. Like Jason is," the fairy woman told her, gesturing to him.

"I can... use magic? Like him?" Eva asked, still wrapping her head around the idea.

"Yes, but as I said, you do not hold all the power you should. To become one, you must take it back," the fairy implored her.

"Take it back? From who? Or what?" Eva wondered.

"Him."

Phalmina was pointing at Wayne in accusation. It was then that Eva put the pieces together with everything Wayne had said and her foggy memories, which were clearing. Eva breathed as she approached her husband, contempt and disgust written all over her face. She looked down at him and no longer saw the powerful, attractive man she had first fallen in love with. Now, he was nothing more than an insect to be crushed.

"What do we need to do?" Eva asked.

"We will need to form a circle and break the shield that lies upon him, before we can take your power back. Because his link to control you has been severed, it shouldn't take much to crack through. Jason will help you with the chant and guide you through it. We will provide you with the power and magic you need. Ladies," Phalmina called to her fairy sisters.

They stood around Wayne, Xaera, Jason and Eva, forming a circle of magic. It was weaker than it should have been, but strong enough for their purpose. The fairies led the chant, bringing out the runes of power to aid Eva in taking back what belonged to her. Jason similarly embraced his power, letting it flow through him as he sought the runes Eva would need to break Wayne's hold over her power.

"Hold my hand with one hand and place your other hand on Wayne's chest," Jason instructed her. Eva listened and did as she was told, touching her husband, although he was revolting. Wayne would have protested this, except that Xaera was not only holding him, she also held his mouth shut.

"Close your eyes and repeat after me. When the magic takes hold of you, don't fight it or try to control it. Just let it flow through you and do what comes naturally," Jason told her gently.

Nodding, Eva closed her eyes and repeated the words Jason said. She felt an odd tingling sensation run through her, which was weird, yet inviting. As they began the chant, Elizabeth, Amy, Darren and Karla watched with awe as they saw the magic forming around them.

It bloomed, almost like a flower, yet flowed as though it was water. The green life-giving magic of Gaia sprung up around them, shrouding everyone there in its embrace. The only discordant part was Wayne, at the center, a blemish of red and angry energy, fighting against the strength of Gaia. The red magic flashed out, trying to drive Gaia's magic back, but it was met with a magical strike from Gaia.

Again, it flashed, trying to drive the magic away, but again, the Gaian magic fought back. It stuck out several more times, but each strike was weaker than the last. In desperation, as though the magic was a living thing, it lashed out more powerfully than it had. It put all its power behind that strike, hoping to weaken and drive back the Gaian magic, and for a moment, it almost did.

The surge caught the magical bloom off guard, but only for a moment. In response, a powerful surge, like it was pure fury, struck back at the corrupted magic. With that, the red magic weakened until it was almost nothing, barely even a flicker. Seeing this chance, it surrounded Wayne and dismantled the shield instantly, tearing apart his power. The man howled in pain and denial at this, refusing to believe it was happening.

Once the shield was broken and had been discarded, the source of Wayne's power was laid bare. In his heart lay a bright green fount of energy, which was now free of its prison. Like a living thing, it sought the person it truly belonged to, Eva. The power abandoned Wayne, as it did not belong to him since he had stolen it from its rightful owner.

Eva's eyes flashed open, and she cried out in ecstasy as she was reunited with her magic. Every vestige of power fled Wayne and bonded back to Eva, happy to be free once again. With this, the chant ended, and everyone fell to their knees from exhaustion. Eva, however, felt rejuvenated, like a part of her had finally returned, much like a long-lost friend.

"Mom? Are you OK?" Amy asked as she approached, helping everyone up as she went.

"Yes, Amy! I am very much OK!" she said as she stood up and faced her daughter. Amy's jaw then fell open at seeing mother, who fairly glowed with Gaia's magic. That wasn't the only reason for her shock, though. Eva regaining her magic had also made her look... younger, as though she had gotten back at least ten, maybe fifteen years!

"Holy shit! Eva, you are... hot!" Elizabeth blurted out.

"You already told me that Elizabeth, but thank you," Eva replied with a blush.

"No, I really mean that you are hot! I'm talking porn star hot!" Elizabeth gushed, taking an eyeful of the woman. Eva scoffed at this, but then saw everyone was staring at her, as though they were dumbstruck.

"What do I look like?" she wondered.

"You look more like Amy's big sister than her mother!" Jason replied.

"Ja! He is right! Here, see for yourself!" Karla stated, handing Eva her smartphone. Eva took the phone in hand and touched the camera icon, then set it so she could take a selfie. The face she saw staring back at her amazed the woman to where she touched it, still in disbelief of what she saw.

"I'm... I'm..." she stuttered, with tears leaking from her eyes.

"Young again!" Amy said, laughing as she walked up and hugged her mother. Eva hugged her daughter back and sighed happily, glad that she was feeling more like herself. She then turned back to Wayne, who was kneeling on the ground, much like he wasn't aware of them.

"And you..." Eva started, grabbing Wayne by the chin, forcing him to look at her. She then shouted out in panic and shock, terrified at what she saw.

"What is it?" Jason asked as he focused back on Wayne, bringing his magic to bear once again.

"Look at him!"

Everyone did, and they were shocked at what had become of Wayne. He was no longer the strong, confident and commanding man he had been. It was as though he had undergone an evolutionary reversal, becoming something... less than human. He had a snively, weaselly look about him, that made you think you couldn't trust this man. His eyes darted around at everyone, but it was as though he couldn't understand what was going on.

"What happened to him?" Jason wondered.

"It almost looks like he's... de-evolved," Karla commented.

"In a way, he did. Because he was in possession of most of Eva's magic for so long, he became dependent on it. He needed it to maintain who he was, both physically and mentally. Without it, he became what he was supposed to be, and because the magic wasn't his, it required him to sacrifice a part of himself to keep it," Phalmina explained.

"So, when Eva took her magic back..." Karla started.

"It also took who he was, or at least the part of himself that he sacrificed to hold the magic," Jason finished.

"Exactly," Daelina replied.

"A fate worse than death. Fitting, for someone who has done so much evil and to his own family no less!" Darren growled.

"Agreed! I'm glad to have you back, Darren," Eva told her son as she hugged him.

"I'm glad to be back, mom!" Darren replied as he hugged her back, crying. "I'm sorry!"

"Shh, shh, it's OK now. I forgive you," she soothed him as she held him.

Darren didn't expect to hear those words, but the moment he did was when the dam burst, and he cried. Amy joined in on the hug, offering her brother her own forgiveness as she hugged him. He had done so much to his mother and sister, that he knew was unforgivable, yet they still forgave him! He cried until he felt he could cry no more, eventually coming back to a calm state where he could speak properly again.

"Let's leave this wretched place," Eva suggested.

"Yes, let's. I don't know why it is, but I'm getting an evil chill just by being down here," Emalia shivered.

"What about him?" Karla asked, pointing to Wayne, who was sitting there dumbly, drooling like he couldn't control himself.

"Let him rot for all I care!" Eva growled and everyone else agreed.

They then left him behind, letting the man amble aimlessly around the cavern. Everyone took the passageway up, leaving behind the mass of dead bodies and the shell of the man who had nearly doomed them all. As they climbed up the stairs back to the abandoned mansion, a ringing sound could be heard. Everyone looked around, wondering where it came from, until Karla held up her cell phone.

"Hey Luke!" Karla replied to the man waiting outside.

"Damn, it is so good to hear your voice, Karla! When you didn't pick up, I got worried!" Luke said over the line.

"I'm all right, Lucas! We're all right!" Karla assured him.

"You found Jason? What happened?" he asked excitedly.

"You might want to come in here and see for yourself," Karla replied, knowing it would take a lot of explaining for it to make sense.

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The Pope sat in his Limousine, growling quietly at the turn of events that had transpired. This chapter had been on the rise to prominence, with many men who believed in their sacred mission. To rid the world of the threat to humanity and their way of life. Now, this chapter was gone, slaughtered by the very monsters they sought to destroy!

The old man calmed himself, not wanting to let his anger and rage kill him. Those monsters almost had though, and if he hadn't fled when he did, he would likely have joined his brothers in death. That was one meeting the Pope had put off for many years, and he wasn't eager to meet that entity soon.

"Holiness, we have reached the airport," his bodyguard called from the driver's seat.

"Good. We must make haste and leave the country," the old man replied.

"Leave?" the man questioned.

"Yes. If tonight has shown us one thing, it is that we will require more than just the order to combat this threat. We will need to search for the Emperor's Implements," the old man replied.

"Holiness, they have been lost for centuries! How will we find them?" the young man asked.

"We must go to the other chapters and speak with them. They may hold the clues needed to find what we seek," the old man said sagely.

"Understood. I will book our flight to London. First class as per your usual, Holiness," the man replied as they parked.

The Pope smiled to himself, glad that he'd thought to bring his great nephew along with him. He served him well, always making sure that his needs were met. The door soon opened, and the young man helped the elder one into a comfortable wheelchair. They were soon on their way out of the parking lot and into the airport.

The old man disliked flying, but it was the fastest way to get anywhere these days, so he tolerated it. Better comforts had been added to the aircraft as the decades dragged on, which he took full advantage of whenever he traveled. His great nephew and bodyguard, Jesse, pushed the wheelchair into the terminal and the old man breathed easier.