Satyr Play 03 Pt. 02

Author's Notes:

'Satyr Play 3' was supposed to be the conclusion of my surprisingly well-received first attempt at dabbling in the realm of magic. Once more, throwing caution to the wind, I run wild through the dandelion patch of canon, convention, and tradition, kicking up the fluff that is the Fantasy genre.

Yeah, I know, but whatcha gonna do.

Minimal effort is made here to explain the backstory, so if you've just stumbled upon this story as your first exposure to the tale, I highly recommend you read them in the following order:

• Satyr Play
• A Dark Heart (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 2, Part 1
• Song for a Still River (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 2, Part 2
• Bride in Black (Short Story - for context)
• Satyr Play 3, Part 1
• Satyr Play 3, Part 2
• Satyr Play 4, Part 1
• Satyr Play 4, Part 2
• Satyr Play 5... to come.

All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older. Most aren't even human... or real. Or are they? Dun dun DAH!

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Satyr Play 3, Part 2

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Chapter 24

Henry's condo was a hive of activity on Saturday. While his friends promised to let him rest on Friday after returning from Washington, they began arriving at his place Saturday morning from ten onwards. He was soon hosting the same group he'd had at his housewarming party, the only exceptions being Kali, Yuko, and Jun. This time, the guests brought the food and drinks.

He was pleased to see Siobhan and curious about the mirrored sunglasses she slipped on the moment she entered. When he gestured to them, she smiled and patted his chest as she walked into the living room.

He was asked to recount his side of the events in Washington, and that's where Henry had a problem. His mind shied away from the memories of what happened to him as they were chaotic and horrifying. He wasn't sure he could share them. He remembered too well, but the images in his mind were difficult to examine too closely.

So, he gave a sanitized version of the story, omitting the horrors, covering his run back through the Mall, and waking in the hospital. As his friends kept arriving, he was repeatedly asked to give his story until he finally begged Mahati to take over that duty.

He saw Roy watching him with a thoughtful expression, so he wondered if he'd slipped up during the retelling. Roy's sharp mind caught things like that.

When Meixiu arrived with Sigrid, he greeted them at the front door, immediately noticing how low the Vampire's energy level was, and insisted on feeding her.

"I did not wish to bother you so soon after your troubles in Washington," she said timidly.

Sigrid looked at her in concern. "What were you doing that used up so much energy?"

Meixiu looked embarrassed. "I met two of my kind two nights ago. I may have shown off a little when I left them."

"You met other Vampires? Why didn't you tell me?" Sigrid asked in annoyance.

Meixiu turned to her in frustration. "I planned to, then Henry went missing, and I was embarrassed by how I used up all my energy."

Henry wrapped his arms around the Vampire with her back to his chest and lifted his wrist to her face.

Meixiu's face flushed as she enjoyed being in Henry's arms so much, but a feeding was very intimate, and Sigrid was still standing before her.

"Could... could we have a little privacy?" she asked quietly, and Sigrid snorted in frustration and left to join the others in the living room.

Meixiu pressed her lips to Henry's wrist and paused as something was significantly different. His skin was new. The spot she'd previously fed from would not have scarred, but there was always a tiny amount of dimpling or thickening at the site. Henry had none of these signs on his wrist. She was intimately aware of the nature of skin due to her diet, and she could tell immediately that the skin on his arm was like a newborn's, free of any sign of aging, use, or abuse. Her hunger stopped her from spending more time on this oddity. She numbed his wrist and bit gently. She managed three small swallows and suddenly felt lightheaded from a surge of energy. She just managed to seal the bite before she slumped in his arms, unconscious.

He lifted her easily and carried her to the bedroom once more. This was becoming a thing. Sigrid was immediately at his bedroom door as he closed it.

"What happened?" she asked in concern.

"I don't know. She'd barely started when she passed out. I think she really overdid it when she drained herself," he suggested. "She's resting now, but I'll check on her in a little while."

He took Sigrid's hands in his and looked into her lovely blue eyes. "I'm so sorry about messing up our plans again. We'll have a date night this week. I promise."

Those beautiful eyes blinked at him in surprise, then her cheeks flushed. Unable to resist how adorable she looked, Henry dipped forward and kissed her.

"Mmmmm!" she purred as the kiss went on.

When he pulled back, he heard several gasps from the living room. Sigrid smiled blissfully, then she saw his tense expression and noticed the noises from the next room. She took Henry's hand and drew him after her.

The TV was on, and everyone was staring at it in shock. A shaky and grainy video of the dramatic storm over Washington's National Mall was on the screen. Someone there that night had a functioning cell phone and managed to get a movie of the clouds battling. The scene showed the wide bolts of lightning from the two enormous clouds shooting straight down, then leaping diagonally to strike a dark shape on the lawn... for far longer than normal lightning lasted.

The amateur video was shot a long distance from the impact zone. The network news channel was zooming in, which did nothing to improve the sharpness.

The reporter's voice came over the video as they started the clip once more in slow motion. "The dark shape seen in the center of the lightning appears to be the size and shape of a man. At the beginning, you can see he seems to be standing. By the end, he's prone on the ground, in what looks like a fetal position."

Henry was shaking as his mind drew him back to the moment. He didn't have any clear memories of when he was the focal point of the bolts. A sharp burst of pain, then his nerves were overwhelmed. He hadn't known how bad it was until he saw himself through the eyes of the young Silver Person.

Because he had no eyes of his own. A tremor shook his body.

"Henry? What's wrong?" Sigrid asked as she felt his grip tighten and his trembling.

Roy looked away from the TV to examine him. He stood and walked over to stand before the younger man.

"This is you, isn't it. This is what you weren't telling us," he asked gently.

Henry couldn't speak as his lips were trembling too much. He looked up into Roy's eyes and saw the man's concern. Henry stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the big redhead and felt himself being squeezed by Roy's arms. The tears came then as the horror he'd held at bay finally got loose. Roy hugged him as Henry's shaking became violent, and his silent crying became sobs.

Sigrid looked to Camila and Marisa then they all looked to Mahati, who was staring back at Henry in shock. Obviously, she knew nothing of what he'd actually gone through.

Mary was confused and looked at Tish. "I don't get it. The guy in that lightning storm can't be Henry." Tish shook her head, then watched Henry with tears in her eyes.

"It's impossible! I've seen what happens to someone who's accidentally touched high voltage. I've responded to calls at accident scenes. This," Mary gestured to the TV, "This wouldn't leave anything left."

Roy glared at Mary as he felt the impact her words were having on the shaken man in his arms. She swallowed her next words apologetically.

The news program had switched to an on-the-scene interview with a woman with two young kids and two young men standing nearby. "He was glowing as electricity jumped all over his body," she gushed. "I was frightened of him at first, but he just seemed to want to protect my children."

Henry twitched again, and Roy looked over to Camila and nodded.

"His eyes freaking glowed from within, man, and he commanded us to bring them to safety. We grabbed the kids, and I've never run so fast in my life!"

"Can we turn that off, please?" Roy asked. Camila was closest to the remote and pressed the power button.

Henry released his death grip on Roy and stepped back. He glanced up. "Sorry," he said and accepted a tissue from Sandy. He wiped his eyes as he steadied his breathing.

"It's okay. Can you tell us what happened?" Roy asked calmly.

Henry looked around at the gathered people. His friends, his new family, the people he'd returned from death to be with.

Camila, Marisa, and Sigrid looked like they were seconds from rushing to him to pull him into a hug.

His eyes caught Mahati's look of distress and gave her a small, trembling smile, which seemed to ease her expression somewhat.

Tish, Sandy, Dayshia, and Mary, their eyes full of concern and confusion, this... stuff still completely alien to their Human perceptions.

"I need to sit down," he said as his legs trembled, and Mahati moved over on the couch to let him join her and Tish. He sat between them and took a shaky breath.

When he felt a little calmer, he looked up and saw he had everyone's attention. It felt strange to be focused on so intensely, but he pushed past that, too.

"Mahati and I were in the Mall when I felt the magic-laced rain. I've seen what these false clouds can do, so I got scared and told Mahati to run for the Lincoln Memorial. We were almost there, and I couldn't see Mahati, so I looked back and noticed that woman with the two kids. She... she wasn't going to make it, so I ran back toward her to help her get her kids to safety.

He took a breath, then gripped his knees until his knuckles went white. Tish placed her hand on one as Mahati held his other one. He sucked in a sharp breath, then nodded. He could do this... with a little help from his friends.

"I-I don't know why, but the charge in the clouds was drawn to me. I could feel the power jumping all over me, and I started to glow. Maybe the Wild Magic in the storm was drawn to the Wild Magic in me." He glanced over to see Siobhan nodding, as she obviously believed this.

"I knew I had to get away from everyone, but there were so many people. Some Silver People showed up, and I'd seen them save people before, so I asked them to save them, and they did, just before the two pseudo-clouds hit me with their lightning. It only hurt for a short time, then everything went numb."

His voice cracked. "Could I get some water?"

Sandy quickly collected a glass of water for him, but Kesini plucked it from her fingers and handed it to him as she approached. Sandy gave her hair an annoyed look but retook her seat across from him.

"Thank you," Henry said after he swallowed some to wet his throat. "While I was in the lightning, Xiong reached out to me and asked me to save the remaining Glass People in Kuwait. My mind went there, and I opened tears to drop them into Eden, the other world. Then... then he showed me three more who were being tortured." He looked at the others, his eyes brimming with fresh tears, though it was his rage resurfacing. "They killed a child! They were laughing!" His body began shaking once more.

"What did you do, Henry?" Roy asked.

Henry looked away. "I killed them. I dropped all six of them into a lava flow." A shudder went through his body as he contemplated the violence he'd done.

Roy shared a look with Sigrid.

Meixiu had been listening from the hall. She walked into the living room and saw the looks of sadness, shock, and despair on her friend's faces. She'd heard Henry's confession and knew he'd been justified in his actions, so she wondered why the others were so upset.

She moved to kneel before him. She took his hands, and she looked up into his eyes. She saw they were filled with pain. "It was necessary, Henry. People who could do such awful things would do it again."

He sucked in a shaky breath, hearing her acceptance of his actions.

"Why is your skin new?" she asked. Henry twitched, and several of the gathered made sounds of shock.

He looked from face to face and swallowed hard to force his stomach to settle. "The lightning burned me... badly, as Mary said. Xiong brought me to Eden, but they couldn't help me. I saw what happened to me through the eyes of one of the Silver People. I was charred, my skin completely burned, and my face was gone. I... I had no eyes!" he forced out, and Mahati and Tish cried out and clung to him. He was crying again as shudders shook his body from reliving it.

Meixiu moved to stand next to Sigrid and touched her shoulder to get her attention. She leaned down and whispered in her ear. Sigrid gasped and turned to look into Meixiu's eyes as she nodded.

Roy leaned forward. "Who healed you, Henry?" he forced out.

Henry blinked at him through his tears. "I... I did."

"Henry, that's not possible," Roy said gently. "Was it the witch?"

Henry shook his head and looked up at Roy. "I was dying, Xiong told me they couldn't heal me, I was slipping away, and Baba came to me in the dark. She told me I could just let go." He shook his head slowly as he remembered. "I knew... she was testing me again. I knew she expected me to fight, so I did. I had so much to come back for. It was so hard, but I came back. Xiong and a Glass Person who used to be a doctor implanted a crystal from a deceased Glass Person's brain into mine so I could control magic like a wielder."

"They made you a wielder?" Roy exclaimed as his eyes went wide. Henry nodded, and Roy's mind spun, then shook his head. "Okay, okay, but it's still impossible to cast against yourself. Otherwise, wielders would be turning themselves into gods!"

Henry frowned as he thought about that. It made sense, but... he was proof it worked.

"I did it."

They all looked at him in shock, making him feel uneasy, so he explained.

"I didn't do anything godlike. I just created a... spell that would run autonomously until it completed."

Roy frowned. "Who taught you magic?"

Henry shook his head. "Okay, it was more of a program than a spell, but I think they're roughly the same thing: instructions to perform an action, powered by the energy of magic, and controlled by the will."

Roy's incredulous anger flared. "And how did ya manage ta stay aware during a spell that ripped ya apart and put ya back together again?" he snapped, his accent coming through in his agitation.

"Roy!" Camila and Sigrid snapped in response. He just looked at them in frustration as Henry flinched from the memories.

"I didn't. I knew I couldn't, so I embedded the spell with my will," Henry asserted.

Roy stared incredulously at the boy, messing with things he had no experience with, making assumptions that would get him killed. Roy needed him to understand how dangerous magic was. "It doesn't wor—"

"It worked, okay!" Henry surged up from the couch as he yelled. He panted as his anxiety shook him. "I was dying! I don't know how fucking magic works, and maybe that's good because at least I tried. I never wanted anything to do with magic, but this time, it saved me! I don't intend to use it again."

Roy's chest felt tight as he watched Henry shaking from reaction. He stepped forward and pulled him into another hug. He was desperately afraid for the boy, but he couldn't deny Henry was right. He'd managed the impossible because he didn't know better. As Henry's trembling slowed, Roy cast his eyes over the group with a serious expression.

"No one speaks to anyone about what happened," he said sternly.

The corner of Camila's lips curved up slightly. "You mean about how huggy you've become?"

Henry snorted explosively against Roy's chest, then pulled back to look up at the man apologetically.

Roy shook his head, exasperated, and squeezed Henry's shoulder before stepping back to focus on Camila. "No. I've always been a hugger." That caught Camila and Sigrid off guard, and they snorted, too.

He continued in a serious tone. "We won't speak of Henry's new state of being a wielder. The Hidden Races Council has too many reasons for grabbing the boy as it is. Informing them he's miraculously become a wielder and can use magic in ways no one else can will guarantee an immediate reactionary response from them." He looked to Michelle as the only active member of the Council in their group. The woman nodded with an equally serious expression, and he gave her a nod.

He turned back to Henry, who was once more sitting between Mahati and Tish, both of whom were holding his hands again. "I can't say I'm comfortable about the idea that these Glass People put a crystal in your brain."

"Henry, may I take a look?" Dayshia asked. "I want to see how they grafted crystal to brain tissue."

He squirmed. "Maybe later?"

"Oh! Certainly," she nodded, embarrassed that her fascination made her miss his unease.

"Getting back to the events of Washington, the press is all over this Lightning Man, and so far as we know, the Council isn't aware of Henry's involvement. If they are paying attention to his movements at all, they'll have their suspicions. Henry attracts more chaos than anyone I know," Roy sighed. "For everyone's benefit, no more visits to other cities. Restrict your movements to work and home for a few weeks at least, please."

Sigrid scowled at the man. "Roy, you can't impose—"

"Yes. I would welcome some semblance of routine in my life right now," Henry said, interrupting her. Glancing at the tall blonde, he amended his statement. "As long as we include my friends' homes in the restricted location list."

Roy nodded briefly, and Sigrid tried to hide her smile. She nodded to Meixiu as it was time to get an answer to her earlier question. The Vampire moved back to kneel before Henry.

"Earlier, when you fed me, I noticed another difference. The magic in your blood is far more potent than it was before. I could only manage three swallows before I lost consciousness from the power sweeping through me. Is that due to the lightning or the fact that you're a wielder?" she asked.

He blinked in surprise at her. "I-I don't know! I don't feel any different." He turned to look at Siobhan, but she was facing the window. He could see her eyes were closed behind her shades, so she was still struggling with her magic sight. His face fell as he felt terrible about that. Then he realized he was staring, so he quickly looked away into Camila's all-too-aware eyes. She turned her head to focus on Siobhan as well. Then Roy was watching her until most were looking in her direction.

Siobhan sighed deeply and bowed her head slightly. "Funny how a man burdened by so many of his own secrets can't keep just one from someone else."

"I'm sorry, Siobhan, I didn't mean—"

"It's fine. It was bound to be discovered since I'm wearing these indoors," she sighed as she gestured toward her shades.

"How does Henry's power level connect to your—you can see it?" Camila gasped as the dots connected.

Siobhan nodded. "Please keep it to yourselves as it's a sensitive secret for my folk." She removed the shades and looked around the room without opening her eyes. She named each person in the room as she pointed directly at them.

"You can see our power levels too?" Dayshia asked.

"No, I can see you bathed in the reflections of Henry's power. He's casting off waves of the stuff. Bathing the room in energy, much brighter than before, as Meixiu noted. Can't you feel it? It's hard to imagine you couldn't."