Trinity: Origins Ch. 04-08

Riona's eyes focused on her angry cousin as she muttered under her breath. After a moment a pale blue light shimmered around him. Within a blink of an eye the light faded away, leaving one to even question if it was there to begin with. Braeden breathed deeply as a wave of calmness settled over him. He quietly picked up his chair and sat back down.

"Thanks." Braeden murmured.

"No need to thank me." Riona reached over and squeezed his hand. "I know that your heart lies elsewhere, but we both know what the scrolls say. Whether you like it or not, it is your destiny."

"I know." Braeden's hand rubbed across his face. "I just wish things were different."

"Life has dealt you a hand to play, Brae. What you make of it is up to you." Riona opened another ancient book. "I'd suggest keeping an open mind. You never know what may happen."

"I'm going to go meditate." Braeden smiled at her before moving to sit under the open window.

Riona watched as her cousin sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. A soft smile appeared on her face as she observed him. Braeden never saw the small balls of silver light that floated around him when he was able to deeply meditate. Riona knew that even if he did see them he would never believe it. Her cousin had a way of believing only the things he wanted to, even if proof was staring him right in the face.

Riona had hoped she was doing the right thing. Her visions of the Trinity were more detailed than what she told anyone. She knew that secrets had to be kept. The prophecies were finally coming true, and there was no way that she would endanger any of them. Her smile grew larger as she thought of some of the things she had seen. Life would definitely never be the same.

"What exactly does being an Animus mean?" Braeden's eyes remained closed as he asked his question. He strengthened his mind to continue the conversation while he meditated. "If I'm going to be one, you should probably tell me more about it."

"There isn't much I can tell you." Rio sighed. It wasn't the first time her cousin had asked the question. "You know the Council..."

"Fuck the Council, Rio!" The silver orbs vanished a mere second before Brae's eyes snapped open. "I've been kept in the dark too long."

"You're right." Rio kept her smile hidden. She knew the only way to get her cousin to listen was to pique his curiosity. Rio had been dropping hints for weeks, and she was glad to see her work finally pay off. "Being an Animus isn't something that a person chooses to do, it's something they are born to do."

"Obviously. I certainly don't want any part of this, but I really don't have a choice." Braeden stood and stretched his body.

"A loose definition of an Animus would be guiding spirit." Rio pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "It is the Animus's responsibility to help their partner learn and control their powers."

"How would I be able to help anyone if I have no clue what to do?" Braeden growled. "We don't even know what these powers are the legends refer to. That's if it is even true!"

"You'll know what to do because it is your destiny." Rio stood and moved to place her hand on her cousin's shoulder. "You'll be much more than a teacher, Brae. An Animus is a soul mate, two halves of a whole. Whether you like it or not, your partner will mean a great deal to you."

"You KNOW that there is no way that can happen!" Braeden's eyes narrowed. "My heart is my own, and I will not just give it away to some stranger!"

"Just like your destiny, you'll have no choice in the matter, Braeden." Rio gave her cousin a sad smile. "What shall be will be." Braeden turned and started to walk away. "There is one other thing that you should know."

"What's that?" Braeden glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Since you will be bonded to one of the Trinity, you do receive a gift." Rio paused for a moment. "As an Animus your souls are connected, so part of their power will carry over."

"This is too much." Braeden sighed. "I'm leaving, Rio. I can't stay here anymore."

"Time's up, Braeden." Rio's eyes closed for a moment as she felt something shift in her mind. "They have arrived."



"The wings on the plane dip left and right, left and right, left and right." Vanessa sang as their plane streaked through the air. "The wings on the plane dip left and right all through the sky."

"If you don't make her stop, I'm going to kill her." RJ growled as he glared at the back of his sister's head. "Whose idea was it to sing songs anyway?"

"That would have been your idea." Alec glanced back at his brother from his co-pilot seat.

"Fuck." RJ sighed and sunk back against his seat.

"What's with the grouchiness?" Vanessa paused in her singing for a moment. "Did someone not get much sleep last night?"

"He would have got more sleep if he didn't spend half the night sitting up and talking with Alec." Remi smirked at the younger men.

"Hey! That's not my fault. He was the one that kept me up!" Alec laughed.

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time with my chatter!" Reyhen snapped. He unbuckled his seat belt and moved back to the small galley to get something to drink.

Remi, Alec, and Vanessa exchanged a look before Alec unbuckled his seatbelt and moved towards the back of the plane. Remi nodded and moved up into the abandoned co-pilot's seat. Alec's body shivered as he moved towards Reyhen, the back of the plane had a definite chill in the air.

"Bro, what's wrong?" Alec kept his voice smooth and easy.

"Nothing." Reyhen sighed and sat down on the small sofa that was back there.

"Sure doesn't sound like nothing." Alec's stomach felt queasy as he sat down in a chair. He could tell that something was wrong with his younger brother, and his body knew that for certain.

"I said it was nothing." RJ opened the soda and took a long swallow from it. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I'm worried about you." Alec reached out to his brother, but he sighed as RJ pulled away from his hand. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"Stop treating me like a child." RJ's eyes burned with anger. "Since day one you and Vanessa have been coddling me. I'm tired of it."

"Are you pissed off because she wouldn't let you fly the plane?" Alec shook his head. "I don't even get to fly the damn thing. It's her baby."

"Just leave me alone, Alec." RJ's eyes focused on the wall in front of him.

"I just don't understand." Worry and confusion flowed through Alec as he moved back to the front of the plane.

'I can't let you get any closer...if I do, something will happen to you, just like Mom and Dad.' RJ thought to himself. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he never noticed the sharp look Alec gave him.

"Did you two hear that?" Alec leaned forward and whispered to Remi and Vanessa.

"Hear what?" Vanessa glanced back at him for a moment before returning her eyes back to the controls.

"RJ." Alec looked back to make sure their brother wasn't paying attention. "He muttered something about not getting close to us because he's afraid of losing us, like his parents."

"I didn't hear anything." Remi said as Vanessa shook her head. "Just give him some space, I'll talk to him after we land." He poked Vanessa in the arm. "And when, oh mighty pilot, do you think we'll be landing?"

"In about an hour." Vanessa slapped his hand away.

Reyhen's fingers toyed with the tab on the top of his can of soda as he tried to clear out his muddled brain. He had been trying to keep his emotions under control, but there were things that had been happening to him, things he couldn't talk to anyone about, not even Remi.

For the past two nights RJ's dreams had been plagued with nightmares. Dark, menacing dreams that made his bones chill with fear. No matter how the dreams began, they always ended the same way, Vanessa and Alec dying. At first he just put the dreams off as relapses of his old nightmares, but the new dreams were different. He would wake up in the morning and his body would feel the things that had happened.

The connection that had sprung up between himself and his siblings had surprised Reyhen, but it had felt so right he never questioned it. The thought of losing the two of them made him feel sick to his stomach, in fact, the thought of losing his brother and sister hurt more than losing his parents. That was something that confused him even more. How could it be that losing people he had just met would hurt more than the loss of the people he grew up with.

Reyhen knew that he was going to have to talk to all three of them about it. Besides the fact that he had to apologize for being such an asshole that day. He dropped his empty can of soda into a small trashcan and moved back to the front of the plane. He returned the small smile Alec gave him and tried to relax back into his seat. RJ dozed off and before he knew it the plan was making its landing approach. They had arrived.



Rio forced the smile to stay on her face as she led the quartet into the guest home that had been arranged for their visit. Her stomach felt like a pit of snakes as she came face to face with the Triad, the prophesized Trinity. Besides the fact that her cousin had somehow given her the slip. She had asked Braeden to come with her, but he adamantly refused, and Rio had turned just for a second to grab her purse and he had disappeared.

"There are three bedrooms." Rio advised them as they sat down in the living room. She turned to look at Remi. "I apologize that you will have to share. We were unaware that you would be coming." She hurried on as a she felt a shift in his aura. "Not that we are unpleased, it is a pleasant surprise. There just isn't anywhere else for us to move all of you to. Well, anywhere that's..."

"Safe." Vanessa, Alec, and Reyhen finished for her. They hadn't even realized that they had spoken in unison. It wasn't the first time that word had been used since Riona picked them up.

"This is where Covenant Headquarters is right?" Reyhen asked. He continued after Rio nodded. "So how could we not be safe here?"

"Yeah." Alec added. "You told us on the ride over here that everyone in this little village is 'family'. So how could there be any threat to us?"

"Not everyone in our little family believes the ancient legends." Rio sighed and blew a strand of hair off of her face.

"I'm not sure that we even believe it." Vanessa shrugged. "It is kinda hard to take in, ya know?" She glanced at her siblings while flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Ancient powers? I don't think there's anything behind all this mumbo jumbo."

Rio watched in curiosity as Vanessa and RJ argued with Alec and Remi. She noticed that the two pairs were on opposite sides of the argument. The two redheads both felt that there wasn't anything to the prophecy, while Alec and Remi were hesitant but they did believe.

"Maybe I can help." Rio broke in. Four pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on her. "A demonstration?"

"How can you demonstrate?" Vanessa's eyes narrowed. "I thought the prophecy talked about the three of us?" She motioned to Alec and Reyhen. "How would you come into play?"

"Because I'm the Gatekeeper." Rio answered. She held up her hands to stop the bombardment of questions that came at her. "I can explain that in a moment, as well as answer your other questions, but first...a demonstration."

They all watched as Rio moved over and sat down cross-legged on top of the coffee table. The silence in the living room became thicker as nearly fifteen minutes passed and nothing happened. Just as Reyhen open his mouth to say something a cool breeze floated through the room. Which couldn't be possible since all the windows were closed.

As Riona's blond hair began to shift from the wind that circled around her three balls of crimson colored light appeared around her. Four identical gasps of shock echoed through the room. The balls of light hovered in place for a few moments before they began to slowly circle her.

They watched in suspense as the trio of lights began to increase their speed. Within in minutes three blurred strands of light seemed to spin and circle around Riona. The wind increased slightly as Rio started to levitate off of the table. As her body rose into the air her legs stretched out into a standing position. It appeared at first that Rio was simply standing up, but her body continued to rise until her toes dangled nearly a foot above the coffee table.

Rio's body floated back over to the armchair she had been sitting in before. The lights slowed in their pace circling her as she slowly was lowered back into the chair. With a small flash of light each crimson ball disappeared as the unnatural wind faded away. Riona blinked and focused her eyes on the four people across from her.

"Does that answer your question on whether or not these powers exist?" Riona asked with a small smile.

"Fuck me." Vanessa breathed. She gave Remi a threatening look after he elbowed her in the side. "Scuse me, Remi, but after seeing someone float around the room with little balls of light spinning around them, I think fuck me is a good response."

"She does have a point, bro." RJ laughed at his brother's scowl.

"So what exactly does the Gatekeeper mean?" Alec asked before an argument could erupt between his two hot-tempered siblings.

"It means that I will be the one to open the doorway when the time is right." Riona tried to explain as best as she should. "The archives we have are very old, and some of our records that have survived are practically unreadable. When it's time for you to receive your birthright there needed to be someone there to keep any evil at bay because all of you will be very vulnerable." Rio watched the different range of emotions that appeared on all of their faces. "I will also guard that gateway that will open to ensure that nothing evil crosses over to the other side."

"Talk about responsibility." Alec commented. "How can you be so calm about all of this?"

"Because the talent of being a Gatekeeper is one that has been passed down through my family since the beginning." Riona smiled. "I have been training my entire life for this moment."

"Glad one of us has been." RJ grumbled. "So all that will stand between us and any trouble will be you?"

"No." Riona laughed. "Not even I am that powerful. We will have assistance, but I think that's something we can get into later. You must be tired from your trip. I'll explain more after dinner."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I could definitely use a nap." Remi's comment was accented by a fairly large yawn.

"So what should we do about sleeping arrangements?" Vanessa asked. "Obviously I'll get my own room, being the only girl and all."

"Alec can be kinda girly when he wants to be." RJ snickered. "With all the time he spends in front of the mirror sometimes I think he just may be a girl."

"I'm not the one that wears the designer underwear, bro." Alec shot back.

"I think the two of them can share a room." Remi sighed. "This way their arguing can be contained better."

"Hey!" Alec and RJ shouted indignantly.

"Riona, I do have a question for you." Alec glanced at Vanessa for a moment. "Since this is Headquarters, you'd have files on all the operatives, and their whereabouts?"

"Yes." Riona kept her face as smooth as glass. The moment she suddenly found herself in felt very familiar, and she realized she had already foreseen what was about to happen.

"Is there anyway that I could get some information on someone?" Alec rushed through his question. As soon as he found out where they were going Alec knew he had an opportunity to find out where Joshua was. There were so many questions he needed answers to.

"Who?" Rio asked as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Joshua Finnegan, codename Backdraft." Alec breathed out.

Rio nodded and punched a series of numbers into her cell phone. She flipped on the speaker function.

"Please request your function." A warm automated voice came out of the phone's tiny speaker.

"Status." Riona replied.

"Function confirmed. Please stated the agent's name." The computer requested.

"Joshua Finnegan, codename Backdraft." Riona spoke into her phone.

"Status information being reviewed." There were a series of beeps before the voice continued. "Backdraft is not an active agent."

"How is that possible?" Alec demanded.

"Please enter your security clearance code." The computer responded to Alec's question. Rio frowned and punched in another set of numbers. Again there was a pause as a series of beeps from the phone. "Please restate your request."

"Explain the reason of Backdraft's inactive status." Riona spoke into the phone.

Whatever reasoning they had expected to receive in no way prepared them for the answer that they got.

"Backdraft was killed in the line of duty six months ago while on assignment in Southern Africa."

Chapter Seven

Alec sat in silence, not sure whether to scream in frustration or bang his head against the wall. He didn't believe the computer's report. His time with Joshua may have been short but he knew that somehow deep down he'd know if something had happened. Alec felt a gentle pressure on his shoulders and he realized that Vanessa and Reyhen had put their hands on him in comfort.

"No." Alec's hands trembled as he forced the words from his mouth. "That's not true."

"I'm sorry, Alec." Rio hung up her phone. "This has to be very hard on you."

"He's NOT dead!" Alec tried to keep himself calm. "There's no way he could have been killed on assignment. They're lying."

"Alec, maybe she's right." Vanessa hated to admit Backdraft's death because she knew it was killing her brother, but she couldn't allow him to keep his hopes up.

"NO!" Alec screamed as he jerked up from his seat.

Riona felt a wave of energy pulse through the room. The force of it nearly knocked the breath from her chest. She saw that everyone else in the room had a similar reaction, and Riona knew that she had to calm Alec down before anything happened. Riona suddenly knew that she had been lied to because there was only one way that Alec could tap into his powers. Before she had the chance to do anything the fireplace roared to life in an explosion of fire.

"You have to calm down." Riona slowly moved over to stand behind Alec. She noticed the glazed look in his eyes as he stared into the flames. "You need to release the fire."

"What?" Alec blinked and turned to look at her. He noticed that his siblings and Remi have moved to the other side of the room when the fire erupted. "I did this?" He glanced back at the fire burning strongly in the fireplace. "I don't know what to do."

"Damn it, this shouldn't be happening." Riona muttered to herself. She wished Braeden were there because he would have been able to assist Alec in ways that she couldn't. "You need to reach out the to fire with your mind. Feel the heat of the flames inside of you."

"Ok." Alec closed his eyes and attempted to do as Riona asked, but it was turning out to be more difficult than he thought.

"Why can't we just put the fire out?" Remi asked.

"Because Alec called it." She explained. "It will continue to burn until he tells it not to. It responded to his emotions, and until he controls them, the fire will burn."

Sweat beaded on Alec's forehead as he concentrated. He wasn't able to feel anything at first, but then his mind was suddenly engulfed in a tender warmth. A gasp shuddered through him.

"It feels..." Alec's breath left his lungs. "Alive."

"Welcome, young master." A soothing voice slipped through Alec's mind.

They watched as a smile appeared on Alec's face. After a few moments the flames began to grow smaller and smaller. As the last flame finally disappeared the fireplace looked as it had before, like nothing had happened.