Chapter 9

Back in the fairy realm, much of the time of the guides was spent in silence as they waited for more news to come. The one spirit guide that they longed to see finally made an appearance.

“Dad!” Meridian shouted.

Meridian and her mother both ran to Caius and greeted him with strong embraces, hanging on as though something was tearing them apart.

The others watched in relief and the sadness disappeared from their eyes.

“I am so glad to finally be with all of you. I am sure from your end there has been much happening. I do want to hear everything, but first I need to talk to you about where I have been and what we all need to do.”

Chance said, “I have already shared everything with everyone except Janus, Cora and Pramlee.”

Warrick looked to the guides who were not told the whole story. His face furrowed and he seemed confused by Chance’s statement but he went ahead with his explanations.

“I did go to Earth, and I was able to track down Talon - though it was not easy to find him. I assumed because he is the father of Aiden that he would be near him, but that was not the case. He was not anywhere near the boy. I went to the usual places the demons go, and I found him but getting him to talk to me was another story. As much as I would have liked to think of him the way we knew him before he was cast out, he is just not there. I thought maybe the casting out and being a demon now would make him the total opposite, and I was prepared for that. But that was not the case at all. I do not think I have ever seen a sad demon, but this is the first. It took a lot of convincing, but he hasn’t made up his mind about my proposal.”

Caius was interrupted by Slaten who was still steaming about his father. “What is your plan, and what do you mean? This situation has gotten completely out of control.”

“I know you must be hurt and angry, Slaten, and I understand why you would feel that way. But this is not just about you. This is about all of us, the entire realm and humankind. Your father sought his position for the wrong reasons, and he leads by self-service and anger. If we do not find a way to stop this, then he will cast us all out, and eventually more guides will be thrown out or punished. He wants Arianna at his side, and my daughter for her gifts. He will get rid of your mother just like he got rid of Talon. I know that he will not want you or Pramlee upset at him or to reject him, and if he believes you are on his side, he will continue to take steps toward what he wants. We do not necessarily need to go at him head-on, and you reject everything about what he does, but we cannot let him continue for too long either. At some point, Slaten, you and your sister will have to stand up to him. I know this has been a lot to take in, but you cannot let your fear and hurt rule your logic. I know you look up to your father, and up until this point you saw him as good, but it simply isn’t true, and you can’t expect any good to come of his plans.”

All eyes were on Slaten as he stared at the floor. His eyes welled up with tears as.

“This is so much to take in, the being I looked up to and love is now someone or something you and Chance are saying is a fraud. I do not want to believe all of this; I am not saying all of you are lying to me either. I cannot just take action against my father without proof from someone who is closer to him. I do need to go back and talk to my mother and get the truth from her. If what you say is true then, of course, I would not let my father’s actions hurt anyone. Pramlee needs to know this but it needs to come from me,” Slaten paced the floor with his arms crossed, held tightly against his chest, as though he was fighting to hold in something.

“Of course, Slaten. Yes, do what you need to for yourself, and we will all understand. I know Farrah will be forthcoming if you ask her about all this. I am sure at this point your mother has some idea of what is going on and that makes me concerned for her. I want Luna to go with you both on your way. She can cast a spell on both of you that will keep your thoughts hidden from Warrick. I want you to take Janus and Cora with you back to the realm. They don’t need to be here for all of this either.”

Caius stopped and looked at his daughter who had sat down at the table next to Relic. Is there anything else I need to know about since I have been away? Why is the room in such disarray?”

Relic was about to explain when Arianna stood up and put her hand on Relic’s arm to stop him.

“Relic disagreed with Kieren, and everything is okay now. He is with the fairies asleep, and that isn’t something we need to worry about now,” Arianna uncomfortably explained as she motioned to Chance to go to the back and get the girls who had been gone for some time.

Caius looked at Relic with one eyebrow up.

“Oh, really? Relic...you and I will spend some time together, and how about we do that now?”

Chance gave the news to Cora and Janus, “Why do we have to go? What did we do?” Cora shouted.

“Look, Caius made it back, and a lot of this is a family matter with some serious history that doesn’t concern you,” Chance lectured.

“We helped break them out. I want to help out,” Cora insisted.

Janus interrupted. “No. It is okay, I understand. How can we help from the other side?”

“I am unsure about that exactly, but I am sure there are some things you can do to help once you go back.”

Without another word, she stormed out before anyone had a chance to stop her.

Across the hall, Caius, Meridian and Arianna stopped talking momentarily to see what the fuss was and watched as Ridge followed Cora out. Once they disappeared, Caius resumed his questioning to his daughter, “Meridian! What were you thinking? How could you be rolling around with some guide you just met at a time like this?”

Meridian stood with her arms crossed and she kept her eyes looking down at the ground, “Dad, you are the reason we are all in this in the first place!” Meridian paused for a moment and then she looked at her father, “Before this, I had a normal existence. I can’t help who I have feelings for, and you are not going to stop me!”

Caius looked sheepish.

“Yes, you are right. I am sorry.” He looked to Arianna with shame as he considered what this situation had created for his family. “There are more important things to be worried about right now then Kieren, I guess. But we will deal with this another time.

Caius turned his attention to Chance as he approached, “Did you explain everything to the others?” he asked.

“Yes, the fuss was about that. Cora is not happy, and Ridge took off to see where she went. I have no clue where she would have gone but you know Ridge, he will take care of it all.” Chance seemed uncertain in his proclamation for Ridge.

“Are you sure?”

Chance nodded to Caius, “Yeah, I think it will work itself out, so what do you want me to do?”

“You must go to Warrick and give him my terms.”

Caius looked over to Relic who still remained at the table alone, “I am taking Relic with me to Earth to go talk to Talon and get his help for all of us.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Relic sarcastically questioned. “Have you been drinking the fairy Kool-Aid? There is no way he will help us. Why would he?”

“Guides that have been cast out as demons aren’t like the other demons,” Caius explained. “Talon is not the only guide on Earth who has been on the receiving end of Warrick’s games and mistreatment. We all know that Warrick is not in the position he is in for the right reasons. Years ago, when the guides voted him in, we fell for his words and believed in him that he was there to serve humankind and lead guides,” Caius explained.

Relic stood up from the table and paced, “I just don’t see how this will work? We are already in debt to the fairies, and there is no telling what they will want in payment from us as it is. I think we are all in deep trouble and we aren’t going to make it out of this with our souls.”

“Relic, Warrick will not want the balance of power to out of balance if demons are involved. The guides who have been cast out still have some of their guide sentiments and thoughts. Most that are cast out are still considered outcasts by other demons. They are viewed as weak and, the way they see it, once good. They could not be of any use to them for their evil purposes. Many times, the cast-out guides will find themselves among the ghosts. Ghosts do not know they are dead and still try to hang onto their human existence. The plane they live in is a lot like the plane the demons are in that are the outcasts.”

Caius was convincing to everyone but Relic. Caius had the faith of his daughter and his wife. As he spoke, they had the look of hope in their eyes and a vulnerability that only family love could hold.

“Balance of power? Help from demons that only exist in a realm around ghosts?” Relic respectfully questioned. “I am not trying to be rude here, but you are going to have to help me work this out.”

“Warrick we know wants power - and Arianna and Meridian. We know that there will be a trial, and I will be found guilty as a veil for why he wants me out. I can bargain myself by using Arianna and Meridian. If I keep them hidden and safe from Warrick, send Chance to Warrick to explain I will not come back unless he grants their safety and everyone else’s for a chance to talk before a trial. In the meantime, if I can get enough support from the other guides and most importantly his children and Farrah, we may be able to push him out of his position and let things go back to the way they once were. If Farrah can get the support of the other head council members, Charity and Brennan, Warrick can be overthrown. We can tell Warrick that the demons have taken Arianna and Meridian. We will tell Warrick that the only way that the demons will release Arianna and Meridian is if they give the cast-out demons the stone back, so they can be turned back and reinstated as guides.”

Relic was still skeptical. “Turned back to guides? What? That cannot happen, and I have never heard of that.”

Caius ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “Yes, they can be turned by using a very rare stone called the fairy quartz, and there is only one of those in existence that was blessed by the ancients thousands of years ago. This stone is found on Earth and guarded by a select special family. The fairies used it thousands of years ago to communicate with the humans along with their spirit animals. We will have to rally support from the fairies and a human that is psychic and in touch with our world.”

Relic stood with his mouth half open in disbelief. Of all this time of his existence as a guide, he had never heard of a stone for this.

“So, let us say we go to Earth to get Talon’s support, we get the fairies support, we manage to get to Warrick and lie about Arianna and Meridian and where they are. How do you know he won’t cast us out then?” Relic questioned.

Arianna interrupted Caius before he could begin to explain again.

“Because, Relic, Warrick has always had a thing for me, and Meridian he wants for her gifts that she will soon develop. We need you, Relic.”

Arianna’s words resonated with Relic, and he could see the desperation in her eyes. Relic looked to Meridian who he loved deeply who remained unusually quiet. She walked over to Relic and embraced him without words. As Relic looked over her shoulder, he looked to Caius and Arianna. With a reluctant nod, he unconditionally agreed to give all blind faith to the only family he really had.

The silence was interrupted by a slamming door with Ridge and Cora coming through fussing at each other.

Relic slowly released the embrace from Meridian.

Ridge joined the group and said, “I found Cora in with Kieren trying to wake him without success.”

Cora stood with her arms crossed and her faced turned away from Ridge.

“Well, if you didn’t wake him then what happened?” Meridian looked right at Cora as she asked the question. Cora glared back at Meridian without words.