Chapter 54 – Complications

  “Divine beings are somewhat of a mystery to the average person. Sure, we know a lot of them, their aspects, temperament, rules, domains and so on. But we don’t know much about them. Where did they come from and how? Who is their peerage? Who or what is above them?” – Self-help podcast talking about having a crisis of faith and how to work past it.

  Kurt sat on the couch by the fire, slowly drinking his tea. He could count the number of times he had actually made it himself on one hand, but Kristi had insisted on it rather than coffee that morning. Under the bnket and pressing herself against him was Val. She also was drinking the herbal blend rather than coffee, if that was out of camaraderie or her own decision was yet to be seen.

  She hadn’t let him out of her sight for more than a minute since they woke up this morning. Both girls, for that matter, seemed to be hovering over him like mother hens. They wouldn’t say anything but had insisted that they wait for Jay to arrive, having called him earlier, letting him know they were awake.

  The sun was already well above the tree line when a knock sounded, and Jay could be seen through the little window in the door. Kristi walked over and opened it, inviting him to sit and offering tea, which he happily accepted after learning the blend that was being offered.

  “So, about st night.” Jay began after taking an appreciative sip of his beverage. “I have my point of view, but I was wondering if you could eborate for us.”

  “What do you mean?” Kurt asked.

  “What did you experience? Before you woke up that is.”

  “Umm, I think I met a god?”

  Kristi and Val shared a look as Jay leaned in. “What god?”

  Kurt began to expin his dreamscape encounter with the Avatar. It wasn’t a difficult endeavor since he had perfect recollection of the dream and how things went, like it was a real event. As he shared, he felt Val tightening her arms around him until a wince got her to ease up. For his part, Jay didn’t interrupt, just listening to the retelling.

  After Kurt finished, Jay sat back in his chair and thought for a moment before responding. “Hmm. I don’t think you met a god, well, not a ‘living’ one anyway.” He saw the look on Kurt’s face and eborated. “What you think of as gods are very powerful beings that currently reside in a higher pne of existence. They have their agents on Earth and other realms, but they rarely interact with us.”

  “But st night you said that there was one.” Val said from Kurt’s side.

  “Yes, I did.” Jay agreed. “It appears as I was mistaken.”

  Kurt had a burning question and asked it before the demon could get much farther. “How do you know anything at all?”

  Frowning slightly, Jay set down his cup. “Ah, that. Well, I put a ward on you. It just lets me know if anyone from the higher realms is peeking at you or if they come for a visit. It is something I do for all my agents and their teams, even you two.” He gestured to the girls. “I put it there to know if we were going to have more divine issues.”

  Barely pausing, Jay continued by summoning a tablet and handing it over to Kurt. “Then there is this. Your nanobots reported some very strange findings. I am not sure if you can see there but it is showing a graph of your mana absorption over the past week. It is normally pretty steady, and you level off at an unusually high level, but I think its because you are part elf and have the lycan thing going for you.”

  Scrolling the graph, Kurt saw it suddenly spike around eleven the night before. “What is this then?” he asked while turning the tablet around. Val and Kristi both leaned in to look as he scrolled from either side of him.

  “That would be when the Avatar, as you called him, established his connection. I am not sure who or what the second presence was, but I have a feeling it will come to light sooner than ter.”

  “You say that like you know better.” Kurt mused.

  Jay nodded. “I do, because I remember when that story was first being told. There was an incident involving a man from Earth and a certain divine being who cursed him over some nonsense. In all reality, I think it was a particur god’s experiments that got a little out of hand.

  “The story changes based on who told it when, but the facts remain that a god decided to make a man with some inherent magical properties, it ended up making him into a shapeshifter. What the god didn’t intend was for that ability to be spread, via a bite.” Jay summed up the information quickly.

  “Are the other were-creatures also part of this… god’s meddling?” Kurt asked.

  Giving a shrug, Jay answered. “Likely, its also possible that there was a mutation at some point so its hard to say. What I can tell you is that there was a great deal of effort put forth to bring that original being to an end.” He gave them each a look. “This next part does not leave this room.”

  “We agree.” Kurt said after a look to both Kristi and Val.

  “I think there have been several instances when gods have interfered with the lower realms to suppress us. There is evidence of concves…” He pulled out a book and set it on the table. “Agreements…” another book. “And workings of great magics that affected all the lower realms.” While all the books were old, the st one was in surprisingly good condition, its pages still their original color and not yellowed by age.

  Jay continued. “At some point in our past, there were several great, realm wide, spells being cast. You might be particurly interested in several of them. The veil, the stigma, the siphoning and of course, several sealing spells.” Jay said the st one while looking at Kurt. “I uncovered some of these decades ago and have been working at them for a while now. My little ‘project’ within the Order is part of this work I am undertaking.”

  “You broke through the stigma on accident.” Kristi said, making the leap in logic before either Kurt or Val. “That’s why your teams are only poputed with hybrids and half breeds.”

  Making finger guns at Kristi, Jay continued. “Tsk. Got it. Yes, I uncovered it and that information is what broke it for me. Before that I was just as racist towards hybrids as everyone else. Once I found out what had happened, the spell broke. The only other ways I know to break it is to sire a hybrid or to be one, either will result in the stigma being broken.”

  “That’s why our parents seem unbothered by us but everyone else is unsettled.” Val said, realization dawning on her. “The bond of parent and child is probably too strong for the magic to interfere with.”

  “Yes, but back to the task at hand with our sometimes-furry friend.” Jay said and went back to Kurt. “The Avatar managed to preserve himself in some sense, living as a sort of hive mind or genetic memory in those that were infected with the wolf version of lycanthropy. Lycaon, or that’s the only name we have for him anymore, was a very clever boy, much like you. It seems, that you are kindred spirits in more ways than one.”

  “Is that why he titled me?” Kurt wondered aloud.

  “Say what now?” Jay asked, blinking rapidly at the question his cup pausing half way to his mouth.

  “Yeah, when he bit me, that’s why I changed. He said that I now carry the divinity or title of Lupus Rex. He said it was his gift or blessing, honestly, it’s hard to expin with words.”

  “Is that why you doubled in size?” Val asked.

  Kurt shrugged. “Only thing I can think of.”

  They had talked about it earlier that morning, while still in bed. Kurt had woken to both girls pressed against him, a fact he was deeply touched by, given the horror of the night before. He had told them exactly what had happened and what he felt, taking an hour to expin before they even thought of leaving the bed.

  “Hmm.” Jay scratched his chin for a moment. “Can I try something?”

  “Sure, why the hell not.” Kurt said.

  Making a few hand gestures, Jay cast a spell. Kurt couldn’t tell what kind of spell, since the casting was very different from his own. After a moment the demon’s eyes went wide, and Kurt felt him cut the flow of mana. “Well, its official, you have a slight bit of divinity.”

  “So, I’m a god now?”

  “No, well, not yet at least.” Jay said and returned to his original position. “Let me research this. I will see what else I can possibly find on Lycaon and his situation.” He then smirked. “I have been meaning to raid the Vatican library again.”

  Before anyone could say much more or follow that up with questions, Jay stood and began making his way to the door. “Take the rest of the day but let Penny know if you won’t be up and about tomorrow.” He then quickly exited, vanishing down the breezeway and through the portal to the order.

  “Well, that was sudden.” Kurt commented.

  “Yeah, so what do we do now?” Val asked.

  “I need to make breakfast and eat. Then I am getting a shower. then clean the mess in the bedroom. Then I think I am going to take a nap.” Kurt said but was almost immediately overridden.

  “No, we can make breakfast, and we can clean up.” Kristi said. “YOU. Can rest and recover.” She put some emphasis on the ‘you’ part and accentuated it with a pointed finger. Kurt looked to Val for support, but she was nodding along and climbed off the couch before tucking him back in.

  Kurt was told to sit and wait as the girls made breakfast. He did find it humorous watching them both try to work the stove and arguing over pans. It was almost as funny as the ridiculous spread they id out in front of him. Eggs, toast, bacon, hashbrowns, waffles, sausage and a variety of fruit began appearing before him in no particur order, like some sort of random food generator.

  After stuffing himself on food and waiting for the girls to eat, he was treated to a shower with both of them. This time there wasn’t any funny business, and it was strictly getting the remains of the blood off him. Most of it had come off in the bath the night before but there was still a little pink tint to the shampoo as it was rinsed out.

  He did find it oddly endearing how they doted on him that morning. While he was still a little sore and more tired than usual, he wasn’t exactly infirm. But he also knew there was still some mental trauma that came with the event, both his and the girls.

  He wasn’t pleased when Val had told him what Jay said the night before, about how he might not come out the victor in the struggle for dominance in his own body. Apparently, the thought of him not only turning into a mindless monster but also having to be ‘put down’ was too much for her to even consider a possibility.

  After the shower, the girls put him in bed, completely naked for some reason, and went to try salvaging what they could of the other room. Kurt did his best to y there, which wasn’t hard with his condition. He briefly heard them moving around as he dozed off and wondered what he would wake up to.

  *****

  Kurt once more found himself in the forest. He knew instantly that this was different than the st time. This time it was his own ‘dream’ that he was in and not the domain that he was pulled into. He spun around, looking for the other wolf and found it sitting nearby, watching him.

  The other wolf stood and turned, beginning to walk deeper into the forest, making Kurt follow along in his now much rger werewolf body. He briefly thought about the previous night and hoped he wasn’t wrecking another bedroom at that moment.

  After following The Avatar or Lycaon, whatever his name was, they eventually came to what looked like a cave set into the side of a cliff. The other wolf didn’t say anything as they walked, only leading silently as Kurt followed along. After passing through the mouth of the cave, the wolf stopped, and Kurt saw what was inside.

  The cave was actually the interior of a temple, giant marble columns stretching into the darkness above and running down an infinitely long tunnel. Each column held a candebra, suspended from a horizontal post by chain. Unlike what he expected, the candles were actually lightbulbs that glowed and flickered like candle fmes.

  The strange mix of settings and technology was really beginning to give Kurt a strange feeling and it was only a sudden brightening of light that drew his eye to the temple wall. The entire section of wall was suddenly illuminated from behind like a modern television but depicted a fresco that would be at home in ancient Greece or perhaps Egypt. Kurt tried to approach, to get a better look at the scene depicted but was stopped by a sudden force.

  He turned to the other wolf as it spoke in its rasping voice. “Not now. Shown for ter. Return when healthy. Learn when ready. Act when able.” Kurt noted that the voice wasn’t imparting any extra meaning and seemed to be a lesser version of the wolf he had met the first time. As it spoke to him, the entire cave faded to bckness, not letting him make any reply.

  *****

  “Oh… well fuck me then.” Kurt said as his eyes opened to the afternoon sun streaming through the windows. Sudden movement to his right caused him to turn his head. Bck fox ears flicked, and light brown eyes stared at him from just above the covers.

  “What’s wrong?” Val whispered as she stared at him, running a hesitant hand over his chest.

  “Just a dream. I think there is more to this title than I first realized.” He whispered back and pced his hand over hers, giving a squeeze as he smiled softly. “Hey Val?”

  “Yes?” Her voice sounded nervous and unsure.

  Fighting an odd resistance, Kurt rolled over and cupped her cheek before leaning in and giving her a kiss. One that began hesitant but was soon returned with even more passion. “I love you.” He said after he broke the kiss.

  “I love you too.” Val said and he could see a little extra moisture in her eyes.

  Kurt was about to ask where Kristi was but the slight resistance he felt when rolling to Val made itself known once again as Kristi’s tail uncoiled from his waist. He turned over to see her staring back at him with her bright green eyes that were a few shades lighter than her scales. He rolled in her direction and wrapped her in a hug. “Thanks.” He whispered in her ear.

  Kristi returned the hug, being gentle but also wrapping her tail over his hip and running it down his leg. He thought he heard a sniffle as she buried her face in his shoulder. He just held her, running his hand up and down her back. It only just occurred to him that he was still naked when he noticed that both girls had clothes on. Despite it only being underwear, it was still more than he was wearign.

  He rolled to his back and scooted up, sitting upright higher against the headboard. “So, how bad is the damage?”

  “Umm, could be worse.” Val said and shimmied out from under the covers. She tossed him a pair of shorts which he slid on while Kristi also got out of bed. “Probably best if we just show you.”

  Kurt climbed out and followed them across the hall. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t exactly as he had pictured in his mind.

  The bed was gone, well, the bed frame and box spring were gone. The mattress was just sitting on the ground with fresh sheets over top. Both the nightstands were gone, along with the mps, clock and charging cords. The desk that was in the corner was also missing but the chair was still sitting there. The pile of books in the corner marked where a small bookshelf had once been. The fan that had hung from the ceiling was also now just the central hub without the bdes.

  Surprisingly, the pendant lights that hung from the ceiling were still intact along with the dressers. The floors looked to be just fine and there wasn’t any staining or severe gouging that would need to be repaired.

  “Huh, the floor is fixed.” Val said as Kurt looked around the cleaned-up room.

  “Oh, that must be the runes then. The enchantment I have on them might have repaired the damage. But it seems to have been pretty quick?” Kurt asked.

  “Yeah, there was some… staining.” Kristi said. “Also, your cws did a number in a few spots.”

  “Sounds like the runes worked better than I had hoped then.” Kurt said.

  Val went over and sat on the now very low bed. “The mattress is fine, but the bnkets, sheets and box spring didn’t make it.” She said.

  Kurt flopped down next to her. “I think Dan would be more than happy to set us up with another bedroom set.”

  Kristi was still standing there, her tail tip flicking back and forth as she looked down. “Should we go today and see…”

  “No, it’s ok.” Kurt said. “The bed is still serviceable, just a little lower than normal is all.” He patted the spot next to him and watched the expression on her face change in an instant as she accepted the invitation. “So, here is what happened while I was taking a nap.” Kurt began and expined what he had seen.

  Both girls both sat there with him, listening to his much shorter story about the second trip to the forest. He tried to put in every detail and even mentioned the difference between the two wolves he had encountered on the trips.

  “So, what was on the mural, screen thing” Val asked. She had scooted around to lean against the wall and both Kurt and Kristi had copied her decision.

  “I couldn’t see. Honestly, I don’t think I was meant to see.” Kurt said.

  “What does that mean?” Kristi had been hanging on to every word. She seemed especially interested in the reference to knowledge or learning.

  “I think I was only supposed to know about it so I can find it ter?” Kurt hedged. “Honestly, I have no idea. It’s all so confusing right now. Are you alright?”

  Kristi had been squirming a little as he talked about the dream, she had also acted funny when he told the story about the first one too. “Umm. So, you remember I came from a hoard?” When they nodded, she continued. “Yeah, the actual contents of that hoard aren’t gold and gems. Its actually books, tomes, scrolls and tablets. Its every form of written record.”

  “Ok, and?”

  “I think we might be able to find answers there if we can get permission to look in the archives. It might have information that could help.” Kristi expined.

  “Oh.” Was all Kurt could think to say.

  “So, you aren’t mad that I didn’t tell Jay about it?” she asked while hanging her head. “I figured you would want all the knowledge you could get on the subject and my ancestral hoard is probably the best pce to start.”

  Kurt wrapped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her into a quick side hug. “No, it’s ok. I am sure Jay knows and its also not just my secret. I have a feeling we might end up paying a visit there at some point but for now, let’s just let it lie.” He punctuated his thoughts with a squeeze that she seemed to melt under.

  “Right, now the important question.” Val said, getting both their attentions. “What do we do for dinner?” She said with a grin.

  It turned out beer and pizza was the dinner of choice when cuddling on the couch and watching movies. None of them had either the energy or ambition for much more than that.