Return of the Hero 9 - Confrontation

I'll get chapter 10 out tomorrow. After which, we'll start with the once-a-week posting.

***

It was on the news the next day. Lucas sat on the couch watching as the reporter documented one of the fastest closings of a B-rank gate ever - a whopping twelve hours of delving. Body cam footage was still being reviewed, but the actual closing itself was available for public viewing. Lucas sipped his plain iced tea. The flavored stuff was too sweet for him anymore.

Hell looked very much like Lucas remembered. A barren wasteland of red dust, dead plants dotting the barren, craggy landscape. He knew for a fact no plants grew in that part of hell. Whoever ruled the area probably just liked the aesthetic. Rivers of blood and viscera flowed along the landscape, clouds of fire drifted in the sky, dripping with burning, foul emotion. Mountains of skulls, still-screaming despite not having lungs, filling the air with a haunting melody of suffering and pain. The news had dimmed the screaming, muting what they could, but Lucas knew what it sounded like. He'd fought there before, but not against demons.

The Imp Lucas had seen was nowhere to be seen - he didn't blame the little guy, he was a scary thing to see for a little demon like that. Instead, a great, hulking behemoth of twisted flesh and hate, iron nailed into its limbs and flesh to protect the important bits, stood watch. Its lower jaw jutted forward obscenely, fangs curling from the bare bone, while its eyes drooped with flesh draped loosely over its horned forehead.

A guardian. Big, brutish beings of pure malice and hate that represented perfectly the lower aspects of demons - raw, animalistic intent. Yet this one sat placidly beside what everyone called the Source, yet people online called the Dungeon Core. Lucas recognized it for what it was; a stress-fracture in reality. But different from what he was used to.

He was used to jagged edges and wrongness, the kind of wrongness that came with the power of the Unspoken Ones and their minions. Instead, what he saw was a ball of scintillating light, radiating colors like blood red, void black, and furious orange, hovering about head-height with smooth edges despite the angry pulsing of the orb itself.

George and Elizabeth were the ones to approach. They, personally, were the ones to close the Gate, despite the flak Lucas was certain they caught for it. Already some of the reporters were ragging on them for abandoning other duties to come close this one; thankfully, they were few and far between. Most seemed to understand, or focused on "fastest clear ever."

He also got a good look at their official costumes, unfortunately; for George, a tight, green flight suit with tornado motifs, and a Power Ranger like helmet to protect his eyes from the intense winds he generated. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was clad in ice. A crown of inverted icicles rose from her head, a cape of pure snow falling from her shoulders. Her armor was blue ice, her sword was a jagged chunk of ice...she really went all-in on the motif.

Lucas sipped his tea again, scoffing. That was a bit much, wasn't it?

Still...even they were visibly surprised when the guardian did not move as they approached, did not move when Elizabeth flung an icicle into its face, and did not move as they closed the gate, filling the source with power so it righted itself. Then, just as his siblings were about to be kicked out, the guardian spoke.

The language of hell was a guttural language that inspired sin and hatred merely by hearing it. But this time, it carried none of that, probably because the sender knew he'd get mad if they sent a message like that to mortals.

"Azazel says hi," it rumbled. That was it. Just; Azazel says hi. Lucas groaned and buried his face in his hands. Whatever Azazel was planning, it wasn't good, even if it only pertained to him. And it was at that moment his siblings chose to enter.

They weren't in their costumes, thank god, but they looked tired. And seeing Lucas clearly made their postures relax, even if they probably already knew he was ok.

"Yo," Lucas greeted.

"Hey, you alright?" George asked, probably before he could think about how caring that sounded.

Lucas scoffed. "There's nothing on this planet that could hurt me."

"Oh yeah?" Elizabeth asked, clearly not believing him and glancing at the TV. "We got lucky with that gate. Hell-dimensions are not to be trifled with. Even b-ranks are harder than they should be."

"Lucky doesn't even begin to describe it," George protested, shaking his head. "That was downright weird. None of the stronger demons attacked, and that big guy was just...standing there."

"A guardian. That's what they're called." Lucas chimed in.

"George, let's not talk about work right now," Elizabeth complained, voice losing some of that frigidness Lucas was coming to understand was her 'work voice.' "We're all here together for the first time in a while. Why don't we go get dinner? At that steakhouse?"

"I'm a five thousand year old warrior of heaven."

"Which one? There are, like twenty." George pointed out.

"The one where they bring around different cuts of meat? It's like a buffet thing? I think?"

"I could blow up the country if I wanted. In fact, I may just conquer the world. I would if I wasn't on vacation."

"Oh, you mean that Brazilian place." George snapped his fingers in realization.

"I was the one who found the gate." Lucas said, and that finally got their attention. "It felt weird. I think I've figured out why gates open only in cities, too,"

"You - what? Lucas, why didn't you tell us? Are you ok? Nothing came out, did it? They said the newbie what's-his-face found it. The D-rank." Elizabeth said, realizing Lucas was being serious, and sharing a worried look with George. There's that mother-hen thing she does again.

"Yeah, well. Didn't want to cause a fuss. Did you hear me about the gate thing, I figured out why they open almost exclusively in cities?" He pressed. George sighed.

"Yes, we did. No one knows why they open around cities, Luke. Did you see the gate form?" He pressed, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yes. Well, the gates form because cities are built wrong," Lucas paused, collected his thoughts and words, then continued. "Are you familiar with the concept of geomancy? Ley lines? Magical power that flows through the earth? No? Vaguely?"

George and Elizabeth both stilled, frowning a little in a way that indicated they did know something, or he had touched upon a topic they paid attention to. "Yes, vaguely. Our Team Leader mentioned something like that," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms and looking Lucas up and down.

"I didn't know you had a team leader, I thought you two were the big bosses?" Lucas asked, his own curiosity derailing his thoughts.

"We're the heavy hitters. He doesn't really fight on the front line though, he's more supportive." George said quickly. Lucas shrugged, figuring that made sense, and continued.

"Right, well, the cities people have built in the modern era aren't designed with those lines in mind. Geomancy is the art of using stones and spiritual symbols - essentially an upgraded, and actually culturally truthful, version of the hippie crystal healing stuff - to adjust those flows of energy. Weight, on the ground, focuses and twists that energy. The more weight, the bigger the effect. Well, all that weight from buildings and such in the wrong places, projecting the wrong kind of intent into the air is attracting the rifts." Lucas took a sip of his tea, smacking his lips. "Combined with buildings naturally projecting energy by design and intent, and viola, you have a recipe for disaster. Sort of." Honestly, skyscrapers were just beacons of spiritual intent. They hurt to look at, sometimes.

"And what gives you that idea?" Elizabeth asked, taking off her jacket and laying it on the arm of her couch, losing interest quickly.

"Today the land was filled anger and hate energy. Just nasty, low-vibration crap. Made my head swim and eyes burn. The portal that opened felt exactly the same. It was honestly so simple I should have figured it out before I left the hospital." Lucas shook his head. King Solomon would be so disappointed if he ever found out.

"You can feel the energy? I know holy magic is weird, but..." George and Elizabeth shared a look, clearly undecided on whether or not to believe him. That was fine. This was just a lead-up to the actual conversation he wanted to have. Proof that he had knowledge beyond his ken.

Not that geomancy was unknown to this world. The Catholic Church, for example, had built a string of churches along a few ley lines way back in the day, despite claiming witchcraft and stuff from similar practices. The Celtic druids were fairly infamous for it. He had historical examples to back him up, but that wasn't the point of this conversation.

"I can feel your two energies, too," he said softly, meeting their eyes. Elizabeth stiffened as he focused on her, the frigid coldness of her magic almost tangible to Lucas, now that he had his eyes more open to viewing the world. "Liz, come here,"

"Why? Are you planning something weird?" She asked with, admittedly, perfectly reasonable suspicion. Lucas chuckled as he set his tea on the coffee table and shifted from his chair to sit on the floor, back straight and hands on his knees.

"I mean, yes, but not in the way you're thinking. I want to show you something, and I need you to trust me. Sit, please. George, you too. I'll do you both at the same time." he said, gesturing to the space in front of him.

"Luke, look, it's been a long day - "

"Sit." Now he wasn't asking. Lucas met their eyes firmly, channeling every ounce of his inner commander without actually expressing his inner self. They weren't quite ready for that yet.

They hesitated for just a moment, then sat. George slouched. Elizabeth sat with one knee up, resting her chin on it. Lucas held one hand up.

"Sit right, match my posture. Then give me your hand. Place your palms on either side of mine." he instructed.

"Have you been going to church while we've been gone? What is this meditation stuff you're trying to make us do?" George asked, though both of them did as asked, holding one hand on either side of Lucas' own, George on the right, Elizabeth on the left.

"There are seven chakras in the body, and four parts to the soul," he began, golden light flowing from the tips of his lowered hand's fingers. He raised them, pressing his index and middle finger to his forehead, then drawing a vertical line of gold light in the air, that floated there. "Or so they say. Close your eyes. Do not stare directly at the symbol. It is too much for you right now to get too lost in, but its mere presence will help open you up." Each word punctuated a new line being drawn, his siblings watching with rapt attention - he knew what they were thinking.

There was no way he had this much control over simple magic, when he hurt himself not too long ago. Good. That was a good lead-up.

"Eyes." He commanded, finishing the lines in the air with a circle around them, completing the symbol. It wasn't a dharmic wheel, or anything else distinctly recognizable. But he could feel it already channeling the power of Heaven, weak as it was. It'd need a more physical anchor to do what it really needed to do, but this would suffice. George and Elizabeth averted their eyes. "Now, listen to my words. Focus on your self..."

He walked them through the meditation, letting the symbol burn in the air, momentarily keeping away the bad energy and bad thoughts that constantly filled the land, that may twist their thoughts and distract them from what he was trying to show them. He kept his own power carefully contained, watching closely as George and Elizabeth began to relax, their internal energies smoothing out while he talked them through the simple meditation - feeling your consciousness move up and down the 'internal chakras.' The imagery was just as important as the act itself.

"Now, Elizabeth, sitting in your Heart - what do you feel?" he asked, turning to her. Her expression, slack as it had been, stiffened a little. The Heart was where the soul sat, the space the soul filled, and was where magic came from in the mortal body.

"The same thing I always feel, Lucas," Elizabeth said, pulling her hand away. "This is stupid."

"You feel a blizzard," Lucas corrected, narrowing his eyes and keeping the symbol in the air. Elizabeth opened her eyes, and at the same time George opened his. Both looked more relaxed. But neither had the openness to hear what he had to say - that they were not just a raging wind, and a howling blizzard. They were his siblings, and were so much more than just that. The blizzard was merely an aspect of winter. The raging wind was merely an expression of the wind.

"Where did you even learn this trick?" George asked, looking at the circular symbol. Lucas scowled. He'd tried to do this the nice way. Ease them into it. Now it was time to just rip the Band-Aid off, he supposed.

"I told you not to practice your magic without me." Elizabeth chided, standing and rolling her shoulders, her magical aura visibly more relaxed. "This is - "

Lucas sighed.

And the sun rose indoors.

It was neither blindingly bright, nor a flash of light. Simply a warmth that filled the entire penthouse all the way to the windows - banishing shadows wherever they lie. Lamps and lights and the TV dimmed in the presence of true light, as if realizing their purpose was inadequate compared to what shone here now.

Elizabeth and George were frozen in place, the shadows at their feet completely banished, eyes wide as the stared at Lucas.

And all he'd done was sigh.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. The dark of night pressed back against the windows. The dimness of the lamps and ceiling lights flickered back to full power. And Lucas stared at his sibling with a blank expression.

"What - "

"I am not the brother who you remember, just as you are not the siblings I remember," he interrupted, voice completely calm, no true power to it, but a weight that lent credence to every word. A truth that demanded you listen. "We have all changed. And I was not in a coma for six years. Elizabeth, George, I am likely the most powerful person you have ever met. My soul was called away from my body to aid the powers of Heaven in the war that caused these gates to appear on earth. Sit, please. Because I have a story to tell you,"

And despite their incredulity, despite the absurdity of this words, they sat.

***

It took only thirty minutes for Lucas to explain the basics. He soul had bene called to heaven. There had been a war against things called the Unspoken Ones. He had trained with mythological figures. And he was over five thousand years old. He chose not to go into the nitty-gritty details of every battle, every promotion, merely explaining that he was very powerful compared to them and everything else on earth at the moment.

Neither spoke for a time after he was done. Processing. Searching his face for lies. He offered nothing, and opened the floor to questions.

"You do realize this sounds like a cartoon, right? Or a comic?" George asked. Lucas nodded.

"Yet you don't sound too surprised," he pointed out.

"How are you over five thousand years old? That doesn't make sense." Elizabeth said. "And where even is heaven? Why did they call you? Why a coma? If that was the case, why didn't you come back earlier?" That last question was a dagger straight to the chest for Lucas, even though she didn't sound like she was being accusatory. Just curious.

"There was a time-dilation thing. My body on earth remained my physical tether; my soul spent time in realms far afield." He admitted. "As for why I didn't come back...well, it was that, or I abandon my duties and let planets burn because I wasn't there."

"Planets burn." George raised an eyebrow. "Luke, how powerful are you claiming to be?"

"Let's see...by my estimation, by my own personal judgement of power levels, I'm probably mid to high C-rank. On the cusp of B." He paused for dramatic effect. "You would be low F-tier. Everyone else on this planet save for a few s-ranks would fit easily into E. Bottom of the barrel. That is how it goes, right? E, then F."

"And in our method of power levels?" Elizabeth pressed.

"Let's see...S-ranks can destroy cities, right?" He asked rhetorically. Both George and Elizabeth nodded. "Then I'm probably X-rank. Maps have to be redrawn after I am done." Silence. Pure silence.

"But you hurt yourself when you tried to channel magic," Elizabeth said slowly. Lucas nodded.

"Too much power in a weak body, as you said. I spent the past six weeks doing conditioning specifically for this conversation; I can channel some power now without unravelling my physical form. You have to understand - my 'magic' is far beyond what you conceptualize. While everyone on earth is obsessed with the idea of simple 'holy magic,' or 'ice magic,' my power functions on things that are closer to concepts. That was what I was trying to show you with the meditation earlier; you don't have to be just the blizzard or gale.

"You, Elizabeth, could be winter. Holy winter, even." He said, pausing to meet her eyes. "George, the wind. The freedom of the breeze." Neither spoke, processing for a moment, hopefully recollecting every instance of the past few weeks Lucas had tried to lead them to that conclusion. Every little comment about making snowballs, or blowing leaves off of trees, or simply listening to the wind. It had been him trying to break what they thought they believed, or, at least, crack it so he could break it far easier.

"Then what is your magic?" Elizabeth asked. "That light was..."

"The Dawn." He said simply. "Winter passes. The wind can be hidden from. But try as you might, no matter where you hide, you cannot escape the inevitable sunrise." He let that sink in. "But that is also why I rank myself as C in my own scale, as opposed to claiming to be pure S or SSS. The beings that can stop me are ones capable of stopping the sunrise. Gods. God-like entities. Powerful angels. I don't...I don't have the words to describe the kind of forces I had to fight," Lucas said slowly, drumming his fingers against his arm. His siblings looked at each other.

"Can you show us?" George asked after a moment. "You showed us a little, but I need to see. Not just a little light, but..." he said. Lucas thought about it for a moment.

"We'd need somewhere private." He told them slowly. "Where no on will feel it. A gate, maybe. Or deep in the mountains." Elizabeth stood.

"There's a training facility for S-Ranks we can use," she said. "It would be trivial to sneak you in. Or we could visit the old quarry? But that would be a few hours drive, and George and I could be called away before we got there."

Lucas considered it for a moment. "The training facility you mentioned. Would anyone be able to notice or recognize me?"

"No. It's inside a c-rank gate that's been almost cleared. It's kept up for study. There are a few across the world that are like this; this one's a forest planet." Elizabeth explained.

"I'll trust your judgement. I like the quarry idea best," he admitted, but Elizabeth and George were already getting their gear together, slipping on jackets and getting their gear together.

"Let's go to the gate," George said firmly. "It's safer." Lucas sighed ,and nodded his acceptance.

Well. At least he got to see the inside of a ate for the first time.

***

Lucas: MC. Warrior of Heaven. Knows things.

George: MC's brother. Twin of Elizabeth. Has wind powers. Mind = Blown.

Elizabeth: MC's sister. Twin of George. Has ice powers. Mind = Blown.