Parvenu 4.3: Unsung

Chapter 38

"What are you doing?" Reaper asked cautiously.

"You wanted earth magic, you're going to get it. Brace yourself. Here it comes."

"Seriously. You'd better get ready. It'll be coming your way any second." Dex added in a warning tone.

The low rumbling sound was deep and distant at first, but rose up and permeated each of them, deep in their bones.

"Must leave to safety!" Zarall screeched.

"Stay where you are! Things are moving faster than planned and I may need for you to be here to accept the released magic of the vinculum." Reaper said sternly.

"Too much! Too much!" Zarall and Jael both chirped.

"Shut up! You'll do it because you have no other choice! I will release the magic to you. Whether you make use of it or are washed away by it will be up to you!" Reaper barked.

"The magma rises. The mantle... splits..." Zanner said past clenched teeth.

"Guys! You'd better do whatever you're going to do. He's about to hit the next level... You might want to hold on to something!" Dex suddenly exclaimed.

Reaper flexed all his arms and seemed to grow another foot taller. His corpse-like face took on a less 'dead' appearance, but he somehow seemed even more frightening.

"Mountains rise. Mountains fall, churning, growing, ever changing..." Zanner said distantly, somewhere between spellcasting and a bizarre stream of consciousness.

"Watch out! He's going deep. You'd better hang on!" Dex screamed as he crouched in place to maintain his balance.

The entire room was shaking and rumbling from the sounds of destruction all around them.

"Not safe! Must leave!" Zarall demanded.

"You're immortal! If you get hurt, you'll heal. Don't be such a baby!" Reaper scowled at them, then suddenly fell silent.

Reaper's eyes went wide as an abrupt wave of magical energy impacted him.

The force of it was so great that it was almost visible to the naked eye.

"We should go before he recovers." Jael whispered as it began to back away.

"No. Child of Sword is correct. We stay. We do this." Zarall said firmly.

"That's it." Zanner said in a strangely calm voice.

"That's what?" Dex asked cautiously as he looked around uncertainly.

"That's the level of power that Reaper's going to need me to keep up for him. I just have to hold it here." Zanner said carefully.

"For how long?" Dex asked anxiously, already knowing the answer.

"For as long as it takes." Zanner said simply, just to confirm that they both understood the situation.

"Administering the magic of the earth, I summon that which is stored herein to restore the sanctuary of the Nephilim." Reaper muttered in a nearly trance-like voice. "Father, guide my hand, may it be steady and true as I cast. Father, guide my heart, may my motive be pure and benevolent toward those I affect. Father, guide my thought, lead me to see truth of what my actions cause to be. Father, give me strength, that I may complete my task. I ask not only as your child, but also as Melchior, the Magi of Arcane Knowledge. I entreat you to let it be so."

Dex noticed the cherubim fearfully watching the spectacle.

"Nothing's probably going to happen for a while. The magic won't really take hold until the other two Magi have cast their spells." Dex told them quietly.

"Yes. Is good. We prepare. Much to do." Zarall said determinedly.

Dex smiled at the response, then turned his concerned gaze on Zanner, who was struggling to keep his magical flow constant.

* * * * *

"I can't breathe!" Filipe suddenly gasped.

"Don't panic. The feeling will soon pass. This is simply a manifestation of G assuming control of his natural element." Professor Everstone calmly explained.

"Does that mean that G could take control of our air and suffocate us whenever he wants?" Filipe asked slowly, as he caught his breath.

"Yes. He could do so on a whim at any time, with only the slightest thought." Professor Everstone confirmed.

"One should always show respect for their fellow witches, but that much more for witches who have mastered the pure elements." Dr. Williams quietly added.

"The power he's whipping up is massive." Filipe said in a small voice.

"It has to be for the job that he's been called upon to do." Professor Everstone said simply.

"Milo. You ready for this?" G asked with strain in his voice.

"Yes. I'll be ready whenever you are." Milo said calmly.

"Well, you asked for it!" G called out with almost maniacal delight as he released the magic of the air element.

"Brace yourselves!" Professor Everstone automatically warned.

There was a moment of stillness and silence.

Just as suddenly as the wind had stopped, it began again, only this time in reverse.

Although the blowing of the wind had been uncomfortable before, the vacuuming sensation of being pulled toward the Mikael Spear inspired an entirely different range of emotions.

"Yes. That's enough! Hold it right there!" Milo abruptly called out.

"You got it! This isn't too bad. Do what you need to do and I'll keep it going." G said confidently.

"That's a LOT of magic. Do you need for me to do something to help?" Filipe asked cautiously.

"Just be as prepared as you can for when you have to cast the barrier. What G is giving me is a drop in the bucket compared to what I will soon be releasing." Milo said carefully.

"Do you have any estimate of when you will be ready to release the stored magic?" Professor Everstone asked cautiously.

"I know what the next step is, but there's no way to estimate a timetable. Each stage will naturally occur as a result of what happens before it. When all three Magi have cast their spells, the next stage will begin, but I have no way of knowing when that will be or how long that next stage will take." Milo explained.

"I'm not familiar with this part of the process. What needs to be done next?" Professor Everstone asked cautiously.

"When I feel it is right to do so, I will cast the spell to break the seal on the vinculum." Milo said, even more slowly.

"Do you have any idea of how long it will be before you're ready to do that?" Professor Everstone asked in a leading tone.

"Yes. The time is now." Milo said simply.

There was a long moment that would have been silence except for the sound of the wind stirring and rushing around them.

"Administering the magic of the air and the aether, I summon that which is stored herein to restore the sanctuary of the Wudewas." Milo said in a strong clear voice. "Father, perfect my aim, let me change only that which will benefit. Father, guide my spirit, let it soar with rapturous freedom. Father, guide my wisdom that I may remember lessons learned. Father, lend me power enough to protect my chosen charges. I ask not only as your child, but also as Gaspar, the Magi of Volition. I entreat you, let it be so."

"Is this like when you call on Cernunnos? Or are you calling on your actual father?" Filipe asked cautiously.

"It's better that you don't interrupt him at this stage of things." Dr. Williams said quietly.

"But nothing's happening." Filipe cautiously responded, trying to identify what he was missing about the situation.

"There may be nothing happening right this moment, but when the third Magi completes his spell... we need to be prepared." Dr. Williams said anxiously.

"How bad is it going to be?" Filipe asked cautiously.

"There's no possibility that we would survive if we were hit with the full force of the magical tsunami that will be turned loose. With the way we're planning on spreading the magic over a great number of people... I won't lie. It's going to be tough. But I agree with Professor Everstone. We should be able to manage it." Dr. Williams said frankly.

"And if we can't." Filipe asked cautiously.

"Then, most likely, some people will die."

"Like the Wudewas?" Filipe asked anxiously.

"The Wudewas, the Nephilim, the Brynns, maybe even some of the people of Waxell. It's all so interdependent, if one were to fail, the others might come tumbling down like dominos all in a row. In theory, the chain reaction could destroy everyone within the area."

"How can we keep that from happening?" Filipe asked quietly.

"Be prepared. When the time comes, stand up and cast your spell, knowing that by using our combined powers, we'll be able to remake the Wudewas barrier to protect them for generations to come." Dr. Williams said firmly.

"How do I prepare?" Filipe asked cautiously.

"Come. The three of us will go through the entire barrier spell again. We must get to the point where we will all be able to cast it, no matter how overwhelmed we are by the magic."

"How are you doing, G?" Milo asked as he maintained his concentration on his spell.

"Holding steady. Just waiting on you." G said frankly.

"My part is done. Now we're waiting on the others."

* * * * *

"This is good." D muttered as he watched his son's spellcasting.

"That's the weaving of the spells together, isn't it?" Corabeth slowly asked.

"Yes. Since the spells are based in three elements, that's the best way to combine them." Miss Oaken said instructively.

"So now Paul has to cast his 'water' version of the release spell... right?" Corabeth asked cautiously.

"Yes. At least, that's my understanding of it. To be honest, I've never really had a reason to study about things like this, so I mostly just know the theory behind it all." Miss Oaken said frankly.

There was a long moment of silence, until Corabeth quietly asked, "Is he welling the magic building up to a release?"

"No. The release requires a steady flow... I don't know what he's waiting for." Miss Oaken reluctantly admitted.

"I'm trying to figure out the next spell." Paul said in response to her statement.

"I wasn't trying to rush you. Take all the time that you need." Miss Oaken said hurriedly.

"It's nothing like that." Paul said distractedly, then explained, "As a demon, I have a natural... or supernatural... knowledge of certain spells. So I know what the next spell's supposed to be. The problem is, I can't cast that spell the way that it's written. It would go against what I believe is good and right. But if I change the spell so that I can cast it with a clear conscience, I can't be sure that it's going to work with the other Magi spells."

"Spells will come and go, but no matter what, you have to live with yourself." D told his son solemnly.

"Thanks Dad. That's all I needed to hear." Paul said with a loving grin at his father.

"Administering the magic of water, I summon that which is stored herein to restore the sanctuary of the cursed bloodline. Father of my heart, guide my hand, may it be flawless in precision. Father of my blood, guide my heart, that I may have the will to overcome. Father of my heart, guide my mind to be clear and focused. Father of my blood, give me strength to meet the need. I ask not only as your child, but also as Balthasar, the Magi of Composition. I entreat you to let it be so." Paul called to the distant heavens, with his true emotion carrying through his words.

The words lingered in the air for a moment, somewhere between an echo and a magical chime.

"I don't get what you just did, but I can believe that it wasn't the way it was originally written." Corabeth finally said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Once I got started, the words kinda just came out on their own."

"Did it do something or did you kill the spell?"

"I think something happened, I'm just not sure if it's something good." Paul said hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" Corabeth asked cautiously.

"Look outside."

* * * * *

"What just happened?" Dex suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Zanner asked slowly.

"My connection to the earth, it's changed." Dex said seriously.

"Um, I think there's a really good reason for that." Zanner said hesitantly.

"What's that?" Dex asked as he fought to strengthen his bond with the earth.

"Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore." Zanner said weakly as he pointed at the view through the stone archway.

After a long moment of staring, Dex whispered, "We're not in Kansas, we're not even on earth anymore."

"Where is this place?" Zanner asked as he looked in wonder at the bizarrely colored abstract landscape.

"In some sense, you could say that this isn't anyplace. It doesn't entirely exist. But from what I've been told, some of your people have referred to it as Bifrost, the rainbow bridge." Reaper said informatively.

"But where are we?" Zanner demanded to know.

"It appears that rather than calling additional power into my spell, I somehow transported us to the place where I can ask for the power in person." Reaper said slowly.

"We should not be here. We were not summoned." Zarall said firmly.

"What are you saying? Does that mean that we're about to meet your dad?" Zanner asked cautiously.

"Yes. That is, if he chooses to answer the summons I inadvertently made, that is exactly what it means."

"Is it okay if we meet your dad? I mean, are you going to be ashamed of us or anything like that?"

"No. Of course not. The thing is, angels have a strict social hierarchy and are ranked into choirs by their level of celestial power. Humans and witches don't even exist in their ranking system, so I can't predict how he will react to you... if at all." Reaper said carefully.

"If they don't think of humans as people, then how did the Nephilim even happen?"

"That was a long time ago. A group of angels was sent to a foreign realm to 'civilize' the natives, you know, to get their civilization going in the right direction. Apparently, things didn't end up going as planned and the angels ended up staying longer than expected. Over time, they took lovers and wives from among the mortal women."

"Yeah. I kinda knew that, but I guess what I wanted to know is that if angels look at humans and witches as being lesser creatures... I mean, was it like they fell in love or was it just..." Zanner trailed off uncomfortably.

"...a booty call." Dex timidly added to clarify.

"I wasn't there, so I can only speculate. And even so, it's not my place to judge the motives of angels. We have different lives and follow different rules."

"I don't know. I mean, big strong angel, stupid weak human... it sounds kinda rapey to me." Zanner said frankly.

"It might be best if you weren't to say such things in front of my father." Reaper cautioned.

"Yeah. If you're the 'Child of Sword', that'd make your dad 'Sword'. Just from the name, I don't think I want to piss him off." Zanner said honestly.

* * * * *

"What did you just do?" Filipe asked as he looked around in panic.

"It wasn't me!" G immediately defended.

"I don't think it was any of us." Milo said uncertainly.

"This place, it isn't a place at all." Dr. Williams said cautiously as he looked out the archway at a waist deep dense fog which seemed to go on forever. The white fog was clearly visible, although there was no source of illumination in evidence. Beyond that, there was deep, all-consuming, infinite blackness.

"This is the netherland between the human world and the faerie kingdoms." Milo confirmed.

"How did we imbalance the spell to the degree to bring us here?" Professor Everstone slowly puzzled aloud.

"This room, this vinculum that we're in, was designed to exist outside normal space, so it probably wouldn't be all that difficult to dislodge it... I mean, compared to dislodging any other location from normal time/space." Dr. Williams said speculatively.

"I don't think we did this. I think it was either Reaper or Paul." Milo said slowly.

"Why do you believe that, if I may ask?" Professor Everstone asked cautiously.

"G and I did our parts of the spell flawlessly. There wasn't the slightest fluctuation. Whatever happened here doesn't have anything to do with what we were doing. I'm certain of it." Milo stated emphatically.

"He's right. This isn't us." G confirmed.

"That being the case, there is likely little that we can do to remedy this situation." Professor Everstone said thoughtfully.

"Yeah. In fact, unless you know of something that we can do that might help Paul or Reaper fix it, we should probably do our best to keep our hands off of things. Pretty much anything we do could make it harder for them to sort this out." G said thoughtfully.

"Yes. We will refrain from taking any action unless we can be assured that it will not adversely impact the efforts of others to restore us to our own realm." Professor Everstone agreed.

"What's a matter, Obby?" Filipe asked, noticing the shadow's stooped posture.

"He's missing Shawn." Milo said simply.

"Is being apart from Agent Roberts for so long hurting him?" Filipe asked with concern.

"Only emotionally. Obby's his own independent being now. He doesn't ever have to go back to Shawn if he doesn't want to. But they've been together ever since the first time light fell on Shawn and cast a shadow. Obby left on an adventure for a while, but now he's feeling the absence of what's familiar to him." Milo explained.

"Rhuru-wra wants to know how long it's going to take to get us back to his father and brother." Agent Fastbeck asked professionally.

"At this point, it's out of our hands. As soon as we can do something to help rectify the situation, we will." Professor Everstone said helplessly.

The attention of those around the room were drawn to Mah Zah's growling.

When G noticed everyone looking at them curiously, he said, "Mah Zah just wanted me to know that she has a lot of knowledge and experience when it comes to establishing interdimensional gates. If you end up having to do any kind of magic to get us out of here, she'll be willing to help."

"My own knowledge of the subject isn't quite what it should be, so the inclusion of someone with more recent experience will be a welcomed addition." Professor Everstone said seriously.

G smiled at the words, then told Mah Zah, "If we have to try and fix this ourselves, he'll consult you."

* * * * *

"Paul, we've never really talked about the whole demon thing before..." Corabeth said as she kept the majority of her attention focused outside the archway, "...but now that you've sent us to HELL, I think maybe it's time that we discussed some boundaries."

"I didn't mean... I don't know how I did this." Paul stammered.

"I think the most logical place to look would be at the last spell that you cast. I think that it has the most potential to be the cause of our current situation." D said reasonably.

"Um, yeah. But all I did is change the call to the father. The way the spell was written before, I was calling through my blood to my ancestors, for magic and control to aid my spell. I just thought that rather than do that, I could split the call between you and my biological father. I just wanted for you to be included... I didn't think it would cause something like this." Paul scrambled to explain.

"I think I see the problem. You basically summoned your father with your blood and me with your words. By splitting the call the way that you did, you sort of 'lassoed' us both and pulled us toward you. In doing so, you brought me toward him and him toward me. As a result, the spell reacted with the dimensionally unstable vinculum chamber and threw us out of our own time/space to a place where we are nearest your father." D carefully explained.

"So how can we undo it?" Paul asked cautiously.

"I can think of two ways. The first is rather complicated and time consuming. I don't know if you've covered how to 'dismantle' a spell in your classes yet."

"Yeah. We've done it in basic magic, but not that much. Even undoing a little spell can take hours." Paul said reluctantly.

"That's right. We would have to unweave the spell, bit by bit, strand by strand, until the magic was completely undone." D agreed.

"What's the other way?" Paul asked cautiously.

"Complete the execution of the initial spell. Once your magical goal has been achieved, the spell will be concluded and we might even go back to our own time/space without having to do anything extra." D finished with an expectant smile.

"Maybe I'm just being stupid, but what does that mean? How do I complete the execution of the spell?" Paul asked slowly.

"What was the spell supposed to do?" D slowly prompted.

"Request power from my ancestors to aid in my spell." Paul cautiously responded.

"Complete the request and the spell should be ended." D said simply.

"Complete my request? How? I already asked. What more is there for me to do?" Paul asked anxiously.

"Receive your answer." D answered simply.

"How?"

"Ginh Zah? Can you get a message to Paul's father from here?" D asked seriously.

The little demon gave a quick sharp hiss in response.

"Would you please tell him that Paul's here and would like to ask for his help with a project?" D asked calmly and seriously.

Ginh Zah gave another quick hiss, then looked at Paul inquiringly.

"Go ahead." Paul said anxiously.

Without further bidding, Ginh Zah took flight and flew out the archway toward the nightmarish hellscape on the horizon.

"It's going to be okay." D said as he collected his son into a hug.

"Do you need for me to keep the magical flow going?" Mr. Bentley Brown asked from nearby, then quickly added, "I'm not complaining. I just don't want to keep going if it's pointless."

"From my understanding of what's going on, just as soon as Paul receives an answer from his biological father, all three of the spells to open the vinculum storage are going to open at once. All the elemental magic users will need to be at full power when that happens." D carefully explained.

"Thank you. I understand. I'll keep going." Mr. Bentley Brown said simply.

"I'm sorry if I wasn't very welcoming when you arrived. You're being a great help and we all appreciate it." D said quietly.

"I was due for a vacation and already had my plane tickets and everything when this came up. I might have been a tad bitter about being unexpectedly called in on this job." Mr. Bentley Brown timidly admitted.

"Well, hopefully you'll get to have an even better vacation after going through all of this." D said with a smile.

"The funny thing is, I was going to go to Hawaii to, among other things, go sightseeing at the volcanoes. I have a feeling that the whole thing would be an empty experience after seeing this." Mr. Bentley Brown said as he looked out the archway at the expansive hellscape before them.

"I can't disagree with you there." D said with a smile, then turned suddenly when he noticed a movement in the distance.

* * * * *

"What do we do now?" Dex asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. Are you going to go and see your dad or what?" Zanner asked cautiously.

"Father will do as he will. I would not be so presumptuous as to arrive at his home without invitation."

"Then, are you going to invite him to come here?" Dex asked curiously.

"It would be improper. It is not my place to establish contact with him." Reaper said slowly.

"How do you people get anything done? It's a wonder that you were ever born if you can't visit and can't ask him to visit... how did your parents ever even get together?" Zanner asked belligerently.

"My mother was a bit... unorthodox. She was one who would pursue her desire despite propriety or the lack thereof."

"Do you think that your dad liked that about her?" Dex asked curiously.

"I believe he did. It was one of her more endearing qualities." Reaper said with a slight smile.

"Then maybe your dad wouldn't be too mad if you were like your mom that way."

"Perhaps. Even so, he would be required to respond to the breach of protocol despite his own feelings in the matter." Reaper said regretfully.

"Your family is really fucked up." Zanner said sourly.

Dex looked at him with surprise at the obscenity.

"Well, it is." Zanner said in his defense.

* * * * *

"Something's coming." Filipe said in a warning tone.

"What was that?" Professor Everstone asked cautiously.

"Out there, I can see the magic. It's glowing... well, not literally, but in the same way that I can see inside of spells." Filipe explained with difficulty.

"What do you think it is?" Agent Fastbeck asked as he moved nearer to where Professor Everstone, Dr. Williams and Filipe had gathered to work on the Southseid barrier spell.

"So far as I know, nothing lives in the netherworld between realms." Dr. Williams said thoughtfully.

"That might suggest that whatever or whoever that is might be here as a result of our presence." Professor Everstone said cautiously.

Rhuru-wra bleated a warbling whine in the tone of a question.

"He wants to know what he should do if we have to fight." Agent Fastbeck translated.

"Hold on! You're not going to have to do that." Milo assured them, then quietly added, "I recognize the magic that's approaching. It's my father."

"Oh... Okay. Um, so he's coming here... because you're here?" Filipe asked cautiously.

"Yes. Just the same way that I can sense him, he can sense me here." Milo said quietly.

"Is there anything we should do... or not do around your dad?" G asked somewhat distantly, obviously keeping the majority of his focus on the magic of the spear.

"No. Dad's great. I know he'll love all of you. In fact, if I were going to guess, I'd bet that he's probably going to want one or two of you to go back with him when we have to leave. He just loves meeting new people." Milo said with a tender smile at the thought of his father.

"I guess that's good because he's here."

* * * * *

Paul turned suddenly to look outside as Xaphan, Frederick and Nomia went on alert.

"What is it?" D asked when he noticed their simultaneous reactions.

"Everyone... I don't know if you can feel it, but there's a really REALLY big concentration of infernal magic headed straight for us. If you have any kind of defenses you'd like to throw up, now would be a really good time to get them up and running." Paul said warily.

As D quickly worked a shielding spell for himself, he noticed that Paul's demons had arranged themselves in a row to protect him as well as Paul.

A booming laugh rattled the foundation of the stone pillar room as a sudden ball of flame erupted out of nothing.

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone, leaving an incredibly handsome young man in its wake.

Before anyone could react, Ginh Zah flew into the room through the archway and came to rest on Paul's shoulder.

"Ginh Zah said that you needed my help... but before we get to that, come over here. Let me have a look at you." The man said warmly.

"Are you my father?" Paul asked uncertainly.

"From what Ginh Zah told me, there isn't any doubt. I hear that you take after me quite a bit."

"I... um, I'm doing a spell right now. I have to keep it going or it's going to cause problems." Paul stammered.

Paul's father laughed with delight, then said, "I know. I can see your magic at work. If you lose concentration you'll dislodge three pockets of space/time. Ginh Zah said that you were powerful, but juggling three space/time pockets would be a bit much, even for me."

"It's not just me, I'm taking part in the Assembly of the Magi..."

"Are you Balthasar?"

"Yes. How did you know?" Paul asked curiously.

"That's my boy! The Magi of Creation and Destruction, that's what any demon worth his salt should strive to be."

Paul was surprised to find that the praises from the man who claimed to be his father actually did mean something to him.

"Come here, I need to tell you something." The man said warmly.

"Yeah, um, before I do that, you should know that I have the ability to see spells like you do, and thanks to my brother, I've become accustomed to seeing through sorcery and illusions. I know what you're showing me isn't real.

"I can understand why you wouldn't want to, but before we go too far, I'd like to see what you really look like at least once, so I can better understand who you really are and where I come from."

"I understand. But before I do this, it's important for you to know that your mother never saw my true form. She only ever saw me this way."

"I doubt that I would have thought about that, but I'll keep it in mind."

"I hope you're not too disappointed." Paul's father said as he looked into his son's eyes for a long moment.

Paul gave a slight nod of assurance, then watched as his biological father began to slowly shrink.

It wasn't a dramatic change, but the difference was notable. The man was now about a head shorter than he had been. His cheeks seem to have become a bit fuller and his eyes appeared to be a bit larger.

All in all, the man now looked like a relatively normal twelve or thirteen year old boy. He did look a bit paler than was normal, his lips were a bit redder, his hair seemed to be slightly slicked down, but none of that was so dramatic that it looked in any way 'inhuman' or 'demonic', perhaps just a tiny bit odd.

"This is your 'true' form?" Paul asked cautiously.

"This is my waking form. I have a more traditional demonic form when I'm angry or performing strong magic."

"I guess I get that from you." Paul said as he gave the internal push to go back to his 'human' appearance.

"Come here." The boyish version of his father said as he opened his arms.

Paul moved forward and was pulled into an enthusiastic hug.

As they were hugging, Paul's father quietly said something into his ear very slowly and clearly.

"What's that?" Paul asked cautiously.

"My true name. I'm sure you understand how powerful it is to know that about me."

"Yeah. I'll be sure not to abuse it." Paul promised.

"I can feel the magic slipping away, and we still have to complete the job that you called me here for. Tell me about you. Tell me something about your life, before we lose the chance."

"If we only have a little time, I'll tell you about what's most important. Father, I'd like for you to meet my dad. His name is D."

"Is this some sort of honorary title, or was Beth able to move on with her life?" Paul's father asked curiously.

"Beth and I were married last year. We have a daughter together." D announced.

"Good for her. Our relationship put her in an unfortunate position. I'm glad to hear that she's doing well."

"For some reason I thought that a demon would be more bitter and resentful in a situation like this." D said frankly.

"I suppose it all depends on how you look at things. I mean, while I don't like the way that things turned out with Beth and all that I'm sure she had to go through, Paul is the result so I can't say that I regret the relationship."

D smiled at Paul, then said, "Yes. That makes perfect sense to me."

"Well then, since we seem to be 'of a mind' about things. What do you say we get to work getting everyone back to their proper realm?"

Paul looked from his father to his dad and couldn't help but smile at the feeling of utter contentment.

To Be Continued...

Editor's Notes:

Well, that was very interesting, I think I'm going to like Paul's Father.

I think it is a mistake to assume that just because both he and his father father would automatically be invested in evil.

Of course, I would certainly like to more chapters, At least it seems the magical task has begun. Thanks, MM for another exciting chapter to enjoy.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher