The intonation echoes throughout the precinct, high-pitched and loud. True to its nickname, the Weeper sounds less like a metal object and more like a mournful scream. Louder and louder, the sound builds until Daniel struggles to keep his hold on the handle–he knew there was no chance he could bind it to his will, but his knuckles turn white just to keep the damn thing in his hand.
The intonation echoes throughout the precinct, instantly drawing a reaction from the Dead. Some of them scurry away, scattering like cockroaches; others kneel in place, as if begging for forgiveness or pause. A few just freeze in place, resigning themselves to their fate.
The intonation echoes throughout the precinct, caring not for the wishes or actions of those who hear it.
The intonation echoes throughout the precinct; the distant gate rips itself open like a tear in reality, and the waters of Death surge, catching everyone in its wake. Daniel. Thryl, and Audrey are caught up in the swell along with the dead, catapulted into the gate and then through it. The next two precincts pass by in a blur of dark haze and dark fire, each ripping apart to usher the newcomers into them and through to the next gate.
Throughout it all, Daniel’s fingers remain locked around the bell’s handle. Whether through magic or determination (probably the former) he can’t guess, but every second in the current’s grip leeches more than just his body temperature.
Finally–eternally, thankfully–the wave subsides. The Eight Gate deposits them into an ankle-deep puddle that stretches out as far as the eye can see.
The waters of Death fall still beneath them even as the wave deposits them into the Ninth Precinct. The current is gone, replaced by a mirror-smooth reflection of the sky above.
A teal nebula of stars shimmers overhead, illuminating the precinct. Something about the realm seems to draw one’s eyes upwards–if not by instinct, then due to the admittedly beautiful reflection beneath them.
Daniel hacks out a mouthful of water with lungs that feel far more ragged than they should. Panic sets in as he fully regains his senses. "Thryl?! Kid?!"
A new, louder noise is added to the commotion that is already there. The mournful scream of Daniel’s bell drowning out all other sound. The undead were already unhappy with the chaos Aathryl had unleashed on them. Now they were reacting with abject terror.
The circle lessens as the smaller creatures already torn by the chaos, no longer have stomach for the fight and flee in all directions. Others just stop, no longer looking with hungry eyes at Aathryl and her charge. Their eyes only for the bell tolling their doom.
Then it starts, initially a small increase in the current rapidly building. The woman has only seconds to detach the limpet from her leg and squeeze her to her chest, holding on tight with all their arms. Audrey continues to scream in terror. The inane thought that “deafness was a small price to pay to save this little girl”, ran unbidden through her mind as the pair were rushed through the Seventh and eighth gates to be unceremoniously dumped into the still waters of the Ninth Precinct.
*The ripples of their landing and Aathryl standing settle. She is still clutching Audrey to her chest, her screams had finally calmed to a continuous sobbing, muffled, her face buried in Aathryl’s cleavage. She can’t help but being entranced a moment by the beautiful image of the sky above being reproduced in the calming waters at her feet. *
Behind her a cough and a call. “Thryl?! Kid?!”
On turning she looks towards Daniel and just stares, a surprised “The f^<k?!” her only response.
Yeah, that about summed things up.
Dead things briefly splash in the water around them, many frantically scrambling to find the 8th Gate as they recognize how far into Death they have been flung. To their misfortune, it closed and vanished shortly after spitting the crowd out, and one by one their eyes are drawn upwards.
One by one, they die the Final Death.
Audrey rises nearby, and Daniel hastily secures Astarel’s clapper with two fingers. The young spirit clutches her rabbit with one hand and Thryll’s leg with the other. Daniel reaches out, but she recoils for some reason, half-burying her face against the older woman’s leg.
“You okay, kid?”
Audrey nods shyly. “I’m sorry … you look different. Are you Santa now?”
Daniel stares blankly at the girl, then looks to Thryll for an explanation, but her shocked expression speaks volumes. He looks down into the still waters to his reflection, then takes off his sunglasses and rubs his eyes.
His hair and beard are as white as his grandmother’s hair. What few wrinkles his face once had were now there in abundance, deeper and more numerous. He looks to the hand holding Astareal and sees something almost devoid of muscle. Hell, even his legs feel shakier beneath him, and it takes enough effort to try to rise that he compromises by kneeling for now, heedless of the waters of Death soaking his jeans.
“So that’s what it does.” He uses both hands to secure the bell in his bandolier with the methodical care of one putting the pin back in a grenade. “Old rule with new context, don’t ring the big one unless we have to.” He looks to his companions apologetically. “I didn’t know what it would do. Outside’a Death, it’d kill everyone who heard it. We were already in here, so it looks like it skipped a few precincts.”
For a price, he didn’t add. F^<king hell, he looked older than Dresden…
Aathryl’s attention is immediately drawn from Daniel by the splashing and scrambling in the waters about her and Audrey. This quickly quietens as the accompanying dead start to gaze upwards and once they have looked up, they are just gone.
Audrey wriggles in her arms and Aathryl unconsciously puts her down, the girl conscious of her safety reassured by the feel of the girl’s arm about her thigh. Daniel has struggled to his feet and holds a hand out to Audrey, who recoils a little, even using the hand holding Comet as she tries to meld with Aathryl’s leg. The grip on her leg loosens as she says, “I’m sorry … you look different. Are you Santa now?”
Aathryl looks again. When they first landed in the nineth precinct she had been surprised by how at a distance his hair and beard appeared snow-white. Now that he’s closer she’s shocked to the core at new physical appearance. He appears to have aged by a number of decades. To shocked to speak she points to the still waters.
Whether it was this or him simply thinking of the same thing at the same time, he looks down and on seeing his reflection he drops back to his knees. Initially he tries to stand again and fails. Apparently too frail to force the issue a second time.
Aathryl had arrived in Agartha when she was chronologically 12 years of age. Like her sisters she already looked much older than she chronologically was and now eight years later she appeared to be anywhere from her late teens to her early twenties. Notwithstanding the fact that she’d already not physically aged for a number of years. And at the sight of the effects the magic of ringing the big bell had had on Daniel, she quickly looks at her own reflection, inwardly sighing in relief at the apparent lack of physical effects on herself. She nods as Daniel explains what had happened, as far as he knew.
The surprise had had her reach down and hold Audrey comfortingly as the girl held onto her leg. Looking back to Daniel kneeling in the still waters of this precinct, she noted how he still had the wherewithal to still the bells clapper while he secured it in its position in his bandolier.
“I don’t want to sound callous but let’s finish helping Audrey and then we can spend some time seeing if we can work out what’s happened to yo–"
Unexpectedly her attention is caught by a soft glow beneath the water a little off to Daniel’s left. “What’s that? Is that normal for here?”
Daniel waves a hand. “Nah, ya’re right, she’s almost home fre–”
He and Audrey both look down as well; he was about to dismiss it as a reflection of the nebula above them, but realized it was the wrong color. He reaches a wizened hand into the water and pulls out the glowstick he’d dropped in near the 5th Gate. However, the outer plastic looks cracked and faded, as if it had been sent down a waterfall years ago. Some part of him was afraid he’d rupture it just by looking at it the wrong way.
“Looks like everythin’ winds up here in the end,” he says, half to himself. A dozen questions ran through his head, then fell silent when he saw Audrey staring at him.
“Sorry, kid–Thryll’s right, let’s get ya sorted.”
Audrey hugged Comet against her, swaying side to side. “Are we there? You said we were gonna take me to Mommy, but I don’t see her here.”
“Yeah, this–this is the farthest Thryll an’ I can go, but we’re at the end of the line.” Daniel feels his throat tighten, wrestling with what to say next. He buys himself a few seconds by taking off his hat and running a hand through his shock-white hair, stalling as long as he can before meeting her eyes again. “Ya gotta go through the 9th Gate on ya own, but it’s not scary, I promise.”
“Are you sure?” Audrey asks. “The last gates were really scary, I don’t wanna be alone if it’s like that!”
“I promise,” Daniel says again. Every muscle and bone in his body aches as he rises to kneel and give the girl’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “All ya gotta do is look up. Th’way this place works, if it’s ya time t’go, ya rise up an’ the Gate’ll guide ya from there. No monsters, no glyphs, no tricks.”
“Okay.” Audrey sighs in relief, then surprises Daniel by wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug that Daniel returns after a brief pause. “Thank you for helping me. It’s been lonely and scary, and I know I made things scary for the people at the hospital. I didn’t mean to…”
He’s about to tell her it’s okay when she looks down at the doll in her hand. The rabbit survived the journey rather well despite its age and the chaotic journey, seemingly needing little more than some time to dry out. “Thank you for being with me, Comet. I love you.” She hugs the doll tight again and kisses its forehead, then offers it to Daniel.
Daniel stares at her, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo, ya don’t have t’pay me or anythin.'”
“Mommy got Comet for me so I wouldn’t be lonely while I was getting better, and to help me feel brave when I was scared. But I’m gonna go see her now, and you gotta go back through that scary stuff, so he can help you be brave.”
“Kid, I can’t–he–he’s your doll–ya friend, right? I can’t take him from you.”
“It’s okay. He helped me, and now he can help you–you can bring him when you come and visit.” She puts the rabbit in Daniel’s hand, smiling for the first time Daniel could ever remember. Daniel’s words catch in his throat, and Audrey turns to give Thryll a hug too. “Comet said he can be your friend too, and help you feel brave when you’re scared.”
Aathryl stands quietly by as Audrey and Daniel talk. Her eyes widen when he picks up the corroded glowstick. She doesn’t have time to consider the obvious ramifications this finding has, as the subject of girl and the man’s talk becomes clear.
She covers her mouth with her hands and small tears escape the corner of her eyes at the little girl’s words. When she’s hugged her tears fall freely and her voice slightly husky. “Thank you Audrey … I know he will, and I’ll help Daniel keep him safe too.”
Audrey is ready and releases her hug after a second big squeeze. Aathryl is a little reluctant to release her straight away, finally she does holding the little girl by the shoulders. “You listen to Daniel, and do exactly as he says, and it will be okay. It was lovely to meet you Audrey and I’m glad I was able to help Daniel help you.”
With a final kiss to Audrey’s forehead, Aathryl turns her around to face Daniel as the tears run down her cheeks.
Her farewells said, Audrey looks to the nebula above them, her eyes shining in wonder. “It’s so pretty here… You said Mommy’s here? I wanna make sure I go to her. Where is she?”
Daniel swallows, then squeezes her shoulder and points upwards towards a lone star in one of the dimmer areas. “She’s right … there, see that one on its own near that bright cluster?”
Audrey doesn’t reply. Daniel frowns and looks over to see her expression having gone blank, eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape, though curled in the ghost of a smile. The the 9th Gate had taken its hold. Her feet leave the water as he lets go of her shoulder, and she gently rises into the sky as if pulled up by some invisible harness. Eventually, she vanishes from sight.
A new light winks into existence in the night sky; the lone star is alone no more.
How much time he spent after with his head in his hands, he couldn’t guess. With their task do–no, with having helped Audrey move on–the full weight of the journey comes crashing down on him. His body ached beyond his years, and he felt so emotionally exhausted he didn’t even have the energy to cry.
Something nudges against his hip. He manages to bring his eyes back into focus to see Kibeth and Saraneth in the water next to him, almost as if in support. Whether the artifacts had found their way to him or been there all along was anyone’s guess, and frankly he just didn’t care enough to ask.
“Everything comes here in the end,” he muses again in a hoarse voice, idly noting that Thryll’s missing pistol isn’t far away either. He slots both of the errant bells back into his bandolier and gestures to the pistol with a frail finger. Once she has secured it, he reaches into his jacket pocket for the stack of glyphs. They had thankfully survived the fight intact, though he suspected that was due to their connection to the bells.
Aathryl looks to where Daniel pointed in the sky and when she looks back Audrey was already ascending and finally vanishes from sight.*
She watches over Daniel as he grieves even though she suspects there is o need to at the moment. When he retrieves his bells, she starts looking around to see if her pistol had also managed to find its way here as well. Finally guided by his shaky hand she retrieves the precious firearm.
Now she’s no longer looking out for the lost ghostly child, the full calamity of Daniels suffering caused by using the large bell sinks home. He looks like a man deep into his eight decade. Pale, yellowed, withered skin wraps about his now skeletal features. His hair and beard white with age not the silvery grey usual with age, but snow white.
He is frail and his body trembles with the effort he is putting into trying to rise. Re-holstering the pistol she rushes to help him stand as he fumbles about in his clothing, retrieving the wad of sticky notes he’d been using to traverse the gates.
As she helps the suddenly very old man to his feet and puts an arm about him for support, her voice somewhat anxious, “Gods Daniel, what has happened to you? What can I do to help? Are you strong enough to return us to the living?”
It’s been said that there are 4 stages in a man’s life: he believes in Santa Claus, he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, he is (clandestinely) Santa Claus, and he looks like Santa Claus.
Daniel seems to have skipped Step 3.
He accepts Thryl’s help without protest, though a few of his joints pop in complaint as he rises to his feet. “One thing at a time, one thing at a time…” Despite his condition, he manages a tired grin. "Kids these days…
“First answer: apart from th’obvious, I have no damn idea. Nobody’s ever rung Astareal before an’ come back t’write about it.” Comet remains firmly gripped in his right hand as his left fishes out the corresponding glyph for the 8th Gate. “Third answer: yeah, s’long as we can get back to the First Precinct I can get us back to Life–we’ve cleared out enough Greater Dead that it should be a straight shot back.”
He holds the glyph up and the paper seemingly sticks to empty air. A rift opens in the serene eternity before them as the path to the 8th Precinct reopens, and as they pass through, Daniel finds himself leaning on Thryl more heavily than he would have liked. “Second answer: just … gimme a hand, yeah?”
As predicted, the precincts were deserted of any Greater Dead on the journey back to Life. Hell, apart from a few recently departed who slipped past them in the waters, Daniel and Thryl were completely alone. All things considered, that suited him just fine.
He found himself leaning less and less on Thryl as they got closer and closer to Life. The years slowly dropped away from Daniel’s body as they went–at the Fifth Precinct he only leaned on Thryl to counter his vertigo at the bilateral dropoff, and by the time they were ready to enter the Third Precinct, he had just enough vigor to race against the oncoming wave. (Good thing, too–he suspected she could make the sprint while fireman-carrying him if she needed to, but he also suspected she’d never let him hear the end of it.)
After what seems like an eternity and no time at all, they arrive at the First Precinct. Though the way out is lost to the eye, a faint breeze ripples the water, and it’s by tracing it to the source that Daniel finds their exit. He withdraws the second bell from his bandolier again and nods to Thryl.
He starts his mantra, pauses, then starts it again. He’d chosen it carefully as a reminder of what his new line of work entailed, but now … it carried a different weight, more somber than before.
He pushes that thought down for later, though probably not for much later. It was time to get out of here.
“All is dust.”
Mosarel’s harsh, dissonant tone echoes in Daniel’s hand, and once more the world spins around them.
Aathryl is very anxious at how frail Daniel has become, terrified that if she should forget her own strength for even a moment, she may crush the life out of him by accident. Still, she responds to his attempt to ease the tension, “I promise I’ll try and stay off your lawn.”
Nodding as he answers her initial barrage of questions and places the first square of paper in the air in front of them. Arm about his waist she draws a pistol with the other, just in case. She is happy to take as much of his weight as required to help him forward.
As they ascended through death getting closer and closer to Life, Aathryl re-holstered her pistol and finds she has to take less and less of his weight as his strength recovers. There was one gate where she suddenly had to take a firmer hold as he suffered a bout of dizziness at the drop off.
Regardless, his vitality seemed to have recovered enough to sprint through the third precinct between the waves. Despite this, she didn’t sprint away but maintained a position at his side just in case they weren’t fast enough.
Finally, the last gate … or where she expected to see a last gate but looking about nothing. Then Daniel headed off and she followed walking into the faint breeze that was present. Relieved, they reach a familiar shimmer in the air and Daniel reaches for a bell, giving her a nod.
At the last second she remembers that at the hospital they will be expecting him to be accompanied by a nun. The air shimmers about her and again Daniel is accompanied by the middle-aged woman dressed in a black nun’s habit.
A moment later there is the harsh tone as he rings the bell named Morasel
The two of them reawaken in Life once more, still seated with their legs crossed. A thin layer of ice covers both of their bodies, a side effect of crossing over. Daniel raises a hand to clear it away, then pauses.
A well-worn homemade rabbit rests in his right hand. A few of the edges have frayed over time and some of the cotton stuffing has started leaking out, but nothing a little TLC couldn’t fix. Black button-eyes stare back at him, along with an encouraging little smile stitched beneath them.
Daniel uses his left hand to rise to his feet and brush himself, off, mindful not to do any more damage to Comet than time and desperate hugs already had.
He takes a moment to check his reflection. Though no longer looking like death warmed over (boy there’s a choice of phrase), he has more white in his hair and beard than red. His face fared a little better, but still looked well north of 40 rather than in his mid-30s, lines now prominent around his eyes and cheeks that hadn’t been there before.
The two of them head back into the main area where seemingly half the night crew had gathered, though it looked like Isaac and the other security guards had wisely kept everyone back. “Sounds carry outta Death while you’re in there,” Daniel mutters, heading off Thryl’s question. “Usually it’s just muted, an’ just th’bells, but with all th’rounds we popped off it probably sounded like th’OK Corral.”
The commotion died down as the two emerged back into the harsh, sterile lights. Isaac turned around to greet Thryl and Daniel, and did a double-take when he saw the latter. His eyes flicked from Daniel’s face to his hair, the doll in his hand, the wet and half-frozen condition of his clothes that were impossible in a lukewarm room, then back to his face and hair.
“What the f^<k happened to you?!”
From the various murmurs behind Isaac, he was clearly not the only one who had similar questions.
Aathryl also stands and brushes herself off. Although she probably didn’t need to because by the time she was standing it appeared that her Habit, veil and crisp white coif, had just come from her convent’s laundry.
Looking at Daniel, she is relieved to see he still has Comet and that most of the aging he’d suffered had been reversed. She leans her head to him as he explains about the sounds that the ones who had remained here may have heard, nodding her understanding.
Looking to Isaac at his spirited question, she offers a small smile to the security guard and responds, “What the f^<k, indeed.”
Isaac swears under his breath at swearing in front of a nun again, then swears again for swearing in front of a nun for swearing in front of a nun.
For his part, Daniel stares at the crowd for an uncomfortable length of time before settling on an answer. “I sorted ya ghost problem. Ya won’t have any more problems.”
He moves through the crowd before the murmuring can restart in ernest, eager to get outside and be done with things. To his credit, Isaac part helps him clear a path outside, leading the way through the crowd with Thryl taking up the rear. He waves two of his fellow guards over and has them keep the crowd away from the retreating duo as they go to Daniel’s car. Only once they reach it does Isaac’s demeanor shift.
“Okay man–level with me, just what the f^<k was that? Shit went flying, then I bailed but came back, then you two were…”
The questions die on his lips as Daniel ignores him. He carefully sets Comet on top of his car before securing his bells in the trunk with the methodical care of an EOD technician; that done, he picks the rabbit back up before opening the driver’s door and pulling out his cell phone. Isaac’s own phone buzzes a few seconds later.
“Th’Paranet’ll let you know who to talk to for payment an’ whatnot,” *Daniel says. His wrinkled eyes struggle and eventually fail to meet the guard’s. “Lemme know if somethin’ like this pops up again, yea?”
“Um–right. Thanks for your help.” Isaac rubs the back of his head, looking between the hospital’s two recent guests.
As the burly guard shuffles awkwardly in place, Daniel spares Thryl an apologetic look. “Sorry, just–can you give me a minute? Or a few?”
Aathryl silently accedes to Daniel’s request with a nod and turns to stop Isaac as he starts to leave.
“Please forgive his gruffness, he has been through a lot tonight and restless spirits can carry some baggage. This one was no different and it may take a little time for him to … umm, process what he’s experienced. In any case bless you Isaac for your help.”
Daniel leaves them to whatever Thryl has in mind to distract the hapless security guard. He slumps against his car and slides down, phone in one hand while the other hugs he stuffed rabbit close. He gulps down air as he struggles to keep his breathing even, something Comet’s presence against his chest both hinders and, in an odd but fitting way, helps.
A shaky hand opens the phone, and after wiping his eyes, he finds the speed-dial he needs.
“Hey, Mom. You, uh … you got a bit?”
