The Journal of a Connecticut Yankee Ch. 12

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. I know I wanted the whole nuclear deterrent thing, but I did NOT sign up for something of that magnitude!

He stepped closer and laid a hand on my shoulder, "There is so much more to say. But I fear that we must conclude for now. I... We trust in you and that you will make the right choices."

"I understand," I said solemnly.

"Also if you manage to reunite with your Princess Cheshire Cat, "Arawn began, but then I interrupted him.

"WHEN!" I said firmly. "When I find her!"

Arawn paused and then nodded.

"When you find her. If by chance the two of you manage to reproduce, I just have one request."

"And that is?"

Please do not name any of your children after me. That has already occurred once in my timeline, and the name that was created was an awful one."

The last I saw as my vision faded to black was an unimaginable, mischievous smile.

••••••••••••••••••••

July 9th.

Brain damage. PTSD. Shell Shock. The emotional and physical trauma from having your fucking mind, body and soul go through a blender on the 'This ain't just some shit-this is ALL the shit' setting. Or, simply, as what I'd like to call it: D- all the above.

My luck had ran out. I couldn't move. Couldn't speak, yell for help or anything. Could only just stare up at the white ceiling above my bed. My brain was on fire or at least that what it felt like. It was my own damn fault. I pushed for a longer run, when I was warned over and over, now there was the consequences for it all. At first I fought it, tried to fight it. Exhaustion settled then gave way to panic and in my feverish hysteria ...between the hours, between the unknown span of time, I- I think I hallucinated.

Victoria came to my bedside. She knelt down beside it, took my hand and smiled. She said she was happy I was in her house. With our children. She said that she never stopped loving me. I wanted to cry, to say something, but my body refused to budge. I'm not sure when it happened, but she disappeared.

Romie came after, some time later. She kissed me and flashed her signature Cheshire grin. Said she missed me. Said she was looking for me. Added in that when she finds me, I'm going to be rapped for a week straight. I tried to laugh at that but couldn't. Best I could do was a slight huff of air. But, like Victoria, she also faded away.

The Goddess came last. She sat next to me. Played with my hair and sang me a song in an alien language. It was beautiful. Haunting. She kissed my forehead and whispered in my ear to be strong, that everything would be okay. Her smile was the last I saw before I fell into a dreamless sleep.

Was what I saw real? I couldn't tell you. My grasp on what was and what was not had loosened to the point of anything could have been possible. Were they ghosts? Hallucinations? Or somehow corporal? I wish I had answers for you and for myself, but I didn't.

I'm not sure how, but when I woke, I could start to use my muscles. A twitch here, a bend there, progress at least. I worked and I worked at regaining my motor skills, determined that I wouldn't go down like this. Not this way, not from a dream!

It was late afternoon when I was able to stand and walk around. I opened the door to find a note on it;

Know you're sleeping, didn't want to bother you. We went out to grab some take out. Be back soon.

Love Deanna

The sound of the front door opening told me I was just in time for dinner. KFC was on the menu and I ended up pigging out. God I missed those mashed potatoes and gravy. I learned one of the great things about Deanna was she tended to over buy for food. Usually there are a lot of left overs when she gets food. I made sure that wasn't a problem this time.

That evening on my way back to my own room, I got pulled into Vicky's.

"Come on! Let me see them." She said in hushed but excited tone.

"See what?"

"The magic stone thingies you said you had!"

"There're not toys, you know." I responded slightly annoyed at my granddaughter. I was still sporting a slight headache even with another nap and popping a thousand milligrams of ibuprofen earlier. So far no body showed up to start shit, which was a relief. Luck wasn't exactly my friend but at least it was being merciful to me today.

"I know that! I just wanna see!"

"No."

"Stop being such a jerk and let me see them! Besides, you owe me!"

Fuck, she had me there.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes and reached a hand into each of my pockets.

Opening my palms, I revealed Arawn's green stone in one and the Goddesses- Earth marble in the other to her.

"Ohhh pretty." Vicky coo'ed as she inched forward and touched the emerald colored bauble with a fingertip. It glowed slightly with the contact.

Now that was interesting, why did it react to her?

She then poked the bluish orb and yelped as it let out a powerful shock, sending her flying backwards onto the bed.

"Father fucking, daughter of a nun!"

Wow. I had to pause for that one. Mamono really rewrote the book on profanity.

"Language, Vicky!" Called the voice of Deanna from somewhere outside the room.

"Yes mom," she called back in a groan, "what the hell was that?"

"Are you ok?"

While concerned, I didn't think she was too bad off if she was dropping F-bombs.

"Yeah, but that fucking thing zapped the shit outta me!"

I watched as she sat up and stuck a smoking fingertip in her mouth.

"Hmmm, guess Ilias made the stone resistant to Mamono?"

"What a total bitch move." Vicky remarked as she examined her reddened digit.

"Well, she didn't exactly love you guys." I commented dryly. My grandaughter shot back with a dirty look.

"Anyways... I have favor to ask..."

"Mmmm?"

"I need a ride to somewhere tomorrow night"

"Oookay, and that somewhere would be...?"

I winced painfully as I answered, "Druella's mansion."

"What the fuck for?!" Vicky shot up angrily.

"Calm down and lower your voice!" I hissed, hoping no one heard her, "Remember I told you how my friends were teaching me how to fight and use magic in my dreams?"

She nodded warily.

"Do you also remember when that goat girl showed up at the grocery store?"

"Well I kinda missed her but, yeah."

"I asked my friends about her. She's a power mad psycho that wants to become the new Maou. She was after them back in day to get their power. Now she's after me."

"Fuuuck. Well I mean, you know Alien-Fu now, don't you?" Vicky asked as she reached for a bag of chips by her bed, "Can't you just beat her ass or something?"

"That's the thing, I'm not sure I can. I've gotten pretty strong, but they think she's grown even stronger over the years. Plus I know there are others out there as well, but there's something I can get to maybe level the playing field or even put me at an advantage. Remember when I told you why I was originally sent here? To stop a mutated, super powered Kejourou from killing a whole bunch of people?"

Another nod.

"Well she got her powers from a little piece of something called the Philosopher's Stone. I dug it out of her corpse and returned it to Druella, my friend thinks that I need to add it to my collection. He's talking about me being able using all three kinds of magic- Demonic, Celestial and the Annwyfn.

"So you're going to go steal it from her?" Vicky asked in a whisper.

"Something sorta like that," I tilted my head side to side not exactly wanting to admit that magical item grand theft was on my to do list. I doubted Auntie Dru would just hand it over to me if I asked her, especially with after what happened last time."

I absently rubbed the side of my face in thought.

"Fuck yeah, I'm in! Anything to get back at that cunt!"

A loud click from the window interrupted our little conversation.

"What was that?" I asked

Vicky peered around me and squinted.

"Bird. And I'm going."

"No you're not," I said sternly, "I just need you to drop me off and pick me up later. I don't want you involved in this."

If did get caught and arrested, I didn't want her with me. I might be doing an absolutely amazing job in messing up my own life, but I wanted to shield her as much as I could from my own mistakes.

"What do mean 'you don't want me involved?' From where I'm standing, I'm tits deep in this, Gran-Donnie." She retorted sarcastically.

I glared hard at her. This was some kind of divine punishment, wasn't it? Me being a dick and an asshole all those years on the Mamono home world and what happens? I have a cyclops grandaughter that talks and acts just like me.

Shit, that's just a special kind of cruelty. Still, I was the older one here, and I wasn't going to let her throw her life away on this.

"Okay, And what happens if shit goes south? What if the cops come? Do you want that on your record? Breaking and entering? Do you want to go to jail? I've been there and, trust me, it's not exactly a vacation. Food sucks, you have to join a gang to survive, all that. I absently wondered how the guys back in the pen were doing. Maybe I should write a letter to Juan just to see how everyone was?

"That won't happen." Vicky replied confidently.

"What, you're psychic now?"

"No."

I was resisting the urge to scream at that point. Taking a breath, I calmly asked between clenched teeth,

"So what makes you think everything will go smoothly?"

"Cuz you'll have me with you," she answered with a cocky grin.

"Over confident much?"

"Not when the truths the truth... Grandpa."

I frowned hard at that last statement.

"Fine," I sighed as the whole world was going to hell in a hand basket, I figured I might as well go with, "we'll go tomorrow night. So be ready."

"YESSSSSS!" She exclaimed pumping her fists in the air.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Vicky then turned thoughtful and grabbed and unseen pad of paper from the nearby desk. She began to sketch furiously as I watched.

"Didn't know you could draw."

I sucked at it myself and I think that's a major one that would have held me back in engineering. You gotta be able to sometimes illustrate what the hell you're doing so that other people know and don't give you shit.

"I'm not too good at it, but what you said got me thinking. You're going to need something to keep all those gems, stones or marbles or whatever in, because keeping them in your pockets just isn't cutting it." My grandaughter began as I took a seat back on her bed.

I hated to admit it but she was right. 3 stones, each harnessing a different type of energy and allowing me different abilities. Trying to dig them out of my pants every time I needed one or to switch magics would be a major pain in the ass, not mention be incredibly awkward when fighting.

Hey everyone, time out while I switch magical items. Sure, that'll go over well...

"Okay," I nodded in agreement, "that makes sense. What do you have in mind?"

"This!"

She held up the pad with a drawing of a metallic looking glove. On the knuckles, each of the stones were spaced equally apart, giving it an oddly familiar look.

"It's sexy, it's bold and it says don't fuck with me!" She exclaimed. "I call it the Glove of Infinite Power!"

I took a long, hard look at it. For some reason it reminded me of something I saw before, but just couldn't put my finger on it. Something from a comic book maybe?

"I donno Vicky, kinda seems a little... conspicuous? I'm trying to stay low key when I'm over in England..."

She turned the drawing back to her.

"Really?"

"The whole Michael Jackson thing is kinda out of style too."

"Who?"

Jesus, not king of pop! That one made me cry inside.

"Never mind," I sighed, "what else ya got?"

"That was my one awesome idea." She sighed sadly.

Fuck, now I felt like an asshole. I eyed the pad in her hands. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? Still felt like it would make me seem kinda... super villain-ish? I then noticed a bracelet she was wearing on her wrist and inspiration struck.

"Hey, what about something like that?" I asked, pointing to it.

"What?" She frowned, looking down. "This?"

She held up up the silver bangle.

"Yeah, would you be able to forge something like that to keep all three on one bracelet?"

"Hmm.. wouldn't two be better? One for each arm?"

The girl was obviously smarter than me.

"Sure, but I'd like to keep the Philosophers shard away from the other two, bad things could happen. I mean that is if you could make two of them?" I asked with a frown.

"I'd have to use some kind of energy neutral metal... or maybe carbon fiber..." She mumbled in thought while staring hard at it. I had to smile as I used to see the same look in her grandmothers face dozens of times before. Guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. Vicky grabbed her pencil and began to sketch anew.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, staring at her drawing, "give me a few days and I'll make the sexiest pair of bracelets you've ever worn!"

"You do realized that this thing would essentially hold the power of angels, demons, and of the Annwyfn... Basically they would be the most powerful items in the world. Not fashion accessories." I said dryly.

"I know. And that's what makes it sooo damn sexy." She purred with a grin.

"Okay, fine. Whatever. Thank you." I sighed. Pulling her up, I gave her a hug before heading to bed.

Another thing down. Only a million more to go...

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

The third night.

I ended up back in my favorite Royal Maki pub. This time there was no Arawn and no not-brothers to meet me. But there was a letter on our table...

Donnie,

In the time we have spent, you have grown exponentially in both skill and character. You are the last that posses the knowledge of the Annwyfn and we are happy that the legacy is left to you. If you do gain possession of the Philosophers Shard, than we shall see each other again. If not, I truly believe you to be outright powerful enough with out it, but I do understand your desire to protect your family. The Maou tore me from mine when she summoned me to their world. She then betrayed me and forever lost my allegiance.

I must admit that when we offered to train you, it was not only for your benefit but, shamefully, for our own primitive desire for revenge as well. I hope that you may forgive us for our transgression but I have a feeling that your own desires for retribution aline well with our own. I console you to seek out Lady Mara, the Demon Queen of Southern California. She runs the Iron Foundation, the organization I created upon being sent to Earth. But what she doesn't know is that I had originally intended you to do so, and had left contingency plans to allow you access to resources if ever you decided to show up- 'just in case'.(Funds, weapons, safe houses, etc).

Mara and Druella, despite being sisters, are often not always on the same side of things. Mara eventually learned to grow up and be a mature Succubus. She may aide you just to spite Druella.

A final word, the crystalline matrix housed in the stone shall be your guide for many of your future interests from advanced technology to space travel, may it serve you well. I fear that we may have pushed you too much too far the last night. Take this time to rest and recuperate.

With our deepest regards and love,

Arawn, Tertius, Quintus and Quartus.

The Iron Foundation. Something about a secret war, different sects of monsters and the like fighting each other? I remembered him mentioning it the first time we all met up in my dream but I didn't know he wanted me to run it! So there's a Lilim as head of the thing? Funds, weapons and safe houses? What the hell kind of show did Arawn have going on? Don't tell me he went all Al Capone. Still, it represented resources that I never would have imagined. Resources that may come in handy...

I reread the letter over and over. Why did it seem like he was saying goodbye to me? No, I wasn't going to let those old fucks off so easily. I was gonna get that shard and we were gonna have one last hurrah together.

Around me, the pub faded away and I fell into a deep sleep. No dreams, no fighting, no training, just the blissfulness of a warm dark room.

•••••••••••••••••

July 10th.

I woke up feeling like a million bucks, refreshed and rejuvenated! Haven't felt like this in as long as I could remember. There was certain amount of optimism in me that was missing for a very long time.

I opened my door and saw a small gift wrapped package on the ground. Opening it, I found a folded piece of paper along with two thin black bracers. One had a singular hole while the other had two.

But didn't Vicky say it would take her a few days?

I opened the paper to read;

Took me all night but something told me it was important. Happy birthday Grandpa Donnie ❤️.

She really was amazing...

I snapped the bracers on and inserted Arawn's green stone and Ilias's blue into the right. The left remained empty. That would be for the Philosophers shard. With a smile, I stepped downstairs to greet my daughters.

While I ate breakfast with Deanna in the dining room, Didi strolled in wearing her business work clothes.

"I need to borrow him today, De."

"Oh?" My one daughter replied with a smile.

"I'm going to take him out for brunch."

Deanna and I looked to each other then down to our plates.

"But I'm already eating." I said.

"You eat like a starving Orc, I'm sure you can eat more where I'm taking you." Didi snarked.

Well, she wasn't wrong on that one.

Shrugging, I emptied my dish in a hurry and took it to the sink. Giving Deanna a hug and kiss on the cheek, I followed Didi to her black car. Maybe it was my imagination but something seemed... off?

We arrived at an outside mall called The Pruneyard, and from there to a small place named Lisa's Tea Treasures. It looked to be old English, Victorian if I had to name it. Well at least it was close to a nearby leyline. I debated on putting Winona in the glove box, but something told me to take my lady with me. Tucking her in my back waist, underneath my shirt, I followed Didi inside.

The waiter showed us to a small table in the main room. It was quiet with only a few other people there sipping tea and eating pastries.

"Didn't think you went for places like this." I remarked as we sat down. We were handed small, embroidered thick paper menus as the waiter left us.

"Neither did I." Didi mumbled as she looked around uncomfortably.

"Hmm?"

"Excuse me," she said as she suddenly stood from the table.

"Where you going?"

"...Bathroom." She lied. Watching her walking away, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something was going on.

"You certainly know how to cause an uproar as well as get a girl's attention."

The voice was soft and slightly childish. It was one I had heard a few dozen times before from the past. Turning, I saw it's owner. There across the way, daintily sipping from a tea cup, sat the very person I was leaving to England to hunt down; My mother-in-law, the queen of Wonderland and of its hearts, the Lilim Misrelda. Gone was her crystal crown and royal gown, in its place was a simple red headband that was matched with a red and black dress fit for the 13 year old size she was.

She raised her cup in greeting to me. Son of a bitch. Well daughter of one at any rate. But then that would have meant...

"Does Didi work-"

"For me? No. But I did put in a request to the MBI for her to bring you here. I was told this establishment had excellent tea. Sadly, I was misinformed." She sighed while making a moe. Once a queen, always a queen.

This was unexpected, but great news. I didn't have to make that 11 hour flight all the way to England!

"I was hoping that you would see what happened between Druella and I on the news. It was the only way I figured I could get a message to you that I was here."