The Witch's Seal

[Carl]

Carl Weaver's Home - Bethpage, NY
Monday, June 10th, 2013. 8:16 PM EDT

It felt good to be home again, after the long trip to Hell on Sunday and the usual Hellish workday today. I set my briefcase on the floor by the kitchen table, draped my overcoat on one of the chairs, and then grabbed a beer from the fridge. I popped the top and took a long sip of it, as my mission into the Hell Dimensions with Jule continued to replay itself in my head. We hadn't found her ex-husband, but we had found that strange coin that Jule could identify as being something he might have carried. So, at least we had something she could take back to her kids, to prove that we had kept our promise to look for their father.

And the whole thing had been a bonding experience with her, every step of the way.

I smiled as I saw Jule's face in my mind, and I went into the living room and picked up the receiver. I dialed in the number of her place in Southampton, and heard the tone going through as I put the receiver to my ear.

"This is Peter." I heard a voice at the other end. It was a member of Jule's team, the one she had known since her time in Rhode Island.

"Hi Peter, it's Carl. Jule there?"

"Jule? We thought she was with you."

I blinked, confused. "No, I had to go to a meeting at the office last night then came straight home by myself."

"Well, she never came home on Sunday night. Did something happen?"

"No, we made it through alright. I mean, she was right behind me as we were walking out of....out..of.." I stammered, and then went silent as I remembered something from last night.

As I was walking into the Solvall, I thought I'd heard something in my mind...something that sounded like a brief scream, then silence...

No!

I began to shake. The can dropped out of my left hand, and beer splashed wildly onto my shoes and the carpeting as the open container impacted the floor.

FUCK NO!!!

"Carl?" I heard from the other end of the phone, "Are you there..."

"Something's happened, Peter! Something terrible's happened to her! Oh fuck no..."

[Ammie]

Ammie flicked lazily through her twitter feed over breakfast. She'd gotten up far too early, and had hours before she was expected at work, but something had disturbed her sleep, so she'd decided to make the best of it and catch up on the chatter.
It wasn't long before she read a tweet from Carl:

@stuckeyweaver: Went with @jewel_of_Isis on a mission to Hell on Sunday...I've come to realize she's trapped there now.... #WorstNightOfMyLife

She quickly put her coffee down and tapped out a response with both hands.

@ammiedubs: @stuckeyweaver @jewel_of_Isis Oh, Carl! Oh, no! Why didn't you call me?
I'll be at the office in an hour - we can go over options together.

She flew into action, taking a quick shower, throwing on the first outfit that looked like it would pass in an office, and took off with a pop tart in her teeth, hailing a cab outside and leaving the car for Shay.

On the ride, she feverishly looked through the books she'd already coded into the system, cursing the lack of access to her library and doubling her resolve to get it all coded quickly.

By the time she reached the Aegir building, she'd sketched down four basic theories which could be attempted with haste, and a fifth blank spot - several nervous pen taps next to the circled number 5.
She sat down outside Carl's office, and waited for him to come in to work.

While she waited, she stared at blank number 5. She turned it over and over in her head, weighing it, but Carl's lovable quirky half-smile kept breaking through into her thoughts. She finally clicked the pen, and wrote.

5) Summon Teddy and ask.

[Carl]

After the third nightmare in a row, I finally gave up on the prospect of sleep.

It had been the same thing everytime, Jule being tortured by the demons of Hell and me being forced to watch it, powerless to stop it....

As the first rays of daylight began to seep in from the window, I wiped the latest batch of tears from my eyes and headed for the kitchen. A cup of coffee in my hand later, I looked over my e-mails on my phone, then opened up Twitter.

And I saw Ammie's message.

I'd had no intentions of coming into the office, not in the state I was in. But this changed everything. I hurriedly finished the coffee and got dressed in my office wear.

I then took up the Seal that Jule had entrusted me with before the trip to Hell. I gazed at it for several seconds.

This may be the only way to save her...

I placed it in my shirt pocket, close to my heart. Then it was back to hurrying. Out the door, into the car, backing out the driveway and into the street. The rear tires of the Cadillac chirped in protest as I jumped on the throttle, taking off towards Brooklyn.

[@Jewel]

Johnson's Residence, Southampton, NY
Tuesday, June 11, 2013, 5:30 PM EDT

Mary, the team's medic, paces slowly around the first floor as she walks a circular pattern around the large foyer through the living room towards the kitchen at the back of the house and passes back up through the foyer and dining room towards the front door again. She had been waiting word after she had told Pinky, Jule's spectral servant, hours before to find information on its master's current whereabouts. She knew it was a vague request at best but with so little to go on, she knew that it would be some time before its return. It didn't make the waiting any easier, however.

On probably her umpteenth pass through the kitchen, Peter who has been preparing the children's dinner, glances up finally at Mary with mild annoyance while grating the Monterey Jack for the tuna mushroom casserole. It was one of the kids' favourite meals and although the team hadn't let on to the kids yet that something had gone wrong with their mother's journey, Peter felt comfort food on a cool, and rainy June day would be in order.

"Mary, please, could you stop moving about like that? I can feel your anxiety on top of mine as it is."

"Would you prefer if I went upstairs and paced in front of the children in Jule's suite instead? I'm sure my heels would make a great sound reverberating through the floor above you," Mary raises her manicured, painted index finger, moving it in a circular motion by the side of her head as she cocks her head slightly towards him to give a discerning look.

Peter stops in mid-motion and puts the block of cheese down before placing both hands lightly clenched into fists. While leaning his weight slightly on the heels of his palms, he sighs in part frustration, "No, I'm sure though you can find something better to do besides wearing out the dark, hardwood floors beneath your pumps. Have you heard back from that Saki girl from Twitter in regards to the tarot reading yet?"

Mary shakes her head, "She needs time to prepare that when she gets home tonight."

"Have you called Carl yet? With his resources, he may have found some information that could help Pinky with its search."

"I'm sorry. I really don't know what to say to him. I'm just a bundle of nerves right now."

"Well, from what you told me this morning, he's in worse shape than you are. You know what they say about misery..." Peter resumes grating the cheese after picking up the block again.

"Fine, Fine! But Petey, dear, if he's in worse condition after talking with me, you're taking the blame."

"Whatever," shrugging his shoulders once as he replies in a quiet, exasperated tone. "Personally, I think he's more likely to talk you down right now."

Mary pulls out her iPhone and starts to search for Carl's cell number. She moves herself further away from the stairwell into the rotunda area off the living room, near the breakfast nook before hitting the Talk button on her screen. As the light rain mists the windows around her, Mary stares out into the front yard, watching the water pool around the swing set outside. After waiting a moment for the call to go through, she hears his voice on the other end of the line, "Hello?"

Mary softens her disposition as soon as she hears the fatigue in his tone. "Hi Carl, it's Mary. It's so nice to finally hear your voice. It's just how Jule described it. How are you holding up, sweetie?"

"Like Hell. You?"

"I admit, I've not been feeling terribly fabulous either. Have you found out anything? Any news or developments? We're still waiting for a report after we sent Pinky home to scout for her. It's going to take a while but I'm hoping if Jule still has any of her power left, she has enough energy to summon it to her if it's close enough."

"I don't think so. Time is running out. I would figure the reason why she hasn't opened her own portal home is that she doesn't have the strength. We were all pretty exhausted when we finished our final tour through the last dimension."

"Mmhmm, that's a strong possibility. If it's as bad as she has told us, she'd be conserving every ounce of her being to keep herself together down there right now. She's a tough cookie though, hon. I've worked with her for many years. Don't count her out yet."

A long silence passes between them before Mary continues talking to Carl, on a similar yet serious tangent. "By the way, I don't know what Jule gave you to help her out but if it's something that she didn't even share with me, her best friend, make sure it only stays with you and you alone, okay? One thing I know about her is that she doesn't take to betrayals kindly."

"I know, Mary. I know it all too well. I promised I wouldn't share it with anyone under any circumstance. You don't have to tell me how to protect my loved ones." Carl's tone, showing a hint of irritation now at her presumption, clues her in to not press the issue any further.

"I know you wouldn't, hon. She wouldn't have trusted you with it if she thought you couldn't handle it."

Muffled sounds just then could be heard on the other end of line as if that there was something going on in the room with Carl. Mary was curious but since she had reached him at work still, she figured something probably important had come up, "Carl? Carl? What's --"

"Ma-, Mary, I have to let you go now but thanks for calling. I'll keep in touch and please let me know as soon as you learn anything from Pinky's search. I'm looking forward to finally meeting you in person hopefully in better circumstances soon."

"Me too. Take care, hon, and hang in there."

"I'm trying. Thanks."

The next thing Mary hears is the click of a disconnected call and the ensuing dialtone as she quietly turns off the phone's screen. "Peter was right," Mary thought to herself, "Carl did make her feel more settled about the situation. Jule found someone who was more of a rock than a leaf."

Mary puts her phone away into her pocket as she hears Peter cursing and rushes into the kitchen to investigate. Peter apparently while finishing grating the block of cheese, had accidently nicked his fingers on the grater. Rolling her eyes, Mary fishes for the First Aid Kit in the drawer, busily looking for the Band-Aids to apply to Peter's fingers. "At least, this emergency is something I can handle," she muses to herself.

[Ammie]

Option 5, once presented, stood apart from the others as the most immediate and resource-efficient way to proceed, and so Amaryllis bit the bullet and began to prepare the complicated rite.

She had no idea what her brother was anymore, so she decided that her best bet was to prep the ritual as of she were begging audience with a Demon Prince, and call his full name in invocation. At the very least, it would be overkill, and she doubted he'd take offense...would he?

She eyed the altar in the Arcane Nexus hungrily, sensing the power and potential there, but in the end decided that its existence should probably be kept secret from any lord of Hell, even if it was once her family. She went to her library - his old living space - and pushed back tables and chairs to clear a place for the inscriptions on her floor.

~~~

He appeared in a tingling of light. A soft and non-threatening entrance next to the bellowing and fire of his new brothers. He immediately began to inspect the binding circle
"This is fine work, sister. You've come a long way. But the inscriptions in the southwest of the circle were rushed, and could be used as a loophole, if the entity is inclined to escape."

Wicker waved his hand over them and spoke a few words, and the glyphs vanished. He gazed placidly into his sister's eyes, the same shade of crystalline blue, but slowly filling with so much dreadful human fear.

He stepped out of the summoning circle with ease, gliding a pace or two across the room, where he picked up a wooden chair, took it back to within the circle, and had a seat.

"Actually, now that I'm here, I feel I would quite like a cup of tea, like you used to make when we were slaving over those lectures."

Ammie didn't know what to do. In her mind, she knew him to be a different entity now - detached, unpredictable, and likely of a different mind about any and everything from the brother she'd loved. All her training and study told her that she should immediately banish him, and start again. Never turn her back on him. Never trust him. These are the things she thought over and over as she carefully made his tea, just like he liked it.

"I'm getting married, Teddy. I know...you can't come...but I wanted you to know." She turned around with the teacup, and saw him sitting comfortably in the chair. His face bent into the memory of a smile - a reflex, perhaps, not echoed by the deep, still pools of his eyes. He took the tea, and drank it almost mechanically.

"I'm very glad to hear that your life has moved on. That you've found meaning beyond the scarred, broken dreams of Sheol. And me. To be honest, I never thought you would see fit to give anyone a serious chance. You've changed much in my absence."

"Oy! Sweep yer own doorstep, you dour nonce. You're the one without a heart, not me." she joked, lapsing into sibling familiarity almost instantly, though the emotion was just as quickly gone when she looked at him again.

"And neither state of affairs was always so." He sipped his tea, adding nothing more.

Ammie took a chair and pulled it to the edge of the circle. Psychologically, she appreciated that Theodore had chosen to remain inside it.
"Thanks for answering my call. I didn't know if it would work, but I wanted to at least not skimp on the honorifics." She motioned to the various stages of ritual that surrounded the circle, an arduous process which had taken the better part of an hour. "I actually have a question for you, if you will."

Wicker sat back and crossed his legs. "The ritual was a bit overdone. I'm not sure what I've truly become, but I'm confidant that it's not a fan of great displays of reverence. But neither am I a fan of raw invocation. I've much important work to do, and cannot suffer being called upon at will. Even from you. You may ask your questions though."

Ammie shifted. "Yes, well. It would appear that a woman who is important to us has gone missing while on a mission within Sheol. She was following her companions out, and must have never made it through the portal." Ammie handed her brother a photograph of Jule, who stared at it for a time before responding.

"I will see what I can ascertain, though more likely than not she has already become some macabre sort of meal or another. I will leave you a message with whatever I find in my side of the Overlook."

"Thank you, Teddy." She smiled.

"And now. If you'll release me, I have important business.

Ah - and Amaryllis - I am not so distant that I cannot feel joy for you. You may expect a gift in apologetic lieu of my attendance. I would love to have given you away."

Amaryllis unsuccessfully blinked away a tear as she incanted the banishment.

~~~

Some hours later, she stepped into the rift at the Overlook Motel, and found a large dark leather bag of questionable origin, containing Jule's Gucci bag, her weapons, clothing, shoes, Agartha conduit access device, and in one of the pockets, an old roman coin. Also present was a letter in her brother's handwriting.

Amaryllis - I was able to locate some few bits of knowledge regarding the woman in the photograph. She exited this plane not of her own power, and certainly not within the power of Agartha or Gaia's light. She was summoned away in flesh alone, to a plane of physicality ruled over by an aspect of the consciousness known as Lilith. Not the same as the one who has laid chaos on the earth directly, but a more ethereal and demonic version who dwells among diabolical pleasures.
I have no method nor desire to intrude further upon this realm, and so her further pursuance is upon you. I caution you though, that this is no minor enemy to make, and that the woman's extraction could likely not have been achieved with such a minor ripple, without some form of previous connection between her and the Dark Mother.
I wish you luck in your pursuit, and continued success in your hard-earned life.

-TW

Ammie wasted no time taking Jule's belongings and the note to Carl. Once they had concluded their business, she went straight home. She put the strange leather bag and the note on the kitchen table, and took a long shower, but the day had been one that just wouldn't wash off with water.

[@Jewel]

Johnson's Residence - Wednesday June 12, 2013, 9:30pm EDT

Team Jewel having heard nothing when Pinky had returned to them finally from its sojourn through the Hell Dimensions, were going through options. Their best discourse was to wait on standby until they received more information from the fortuneteller.

Mary had checked Jule's email once more but understood well enough that arcane rituals and traditions had their own timeframes and that had to be respected. It's something that Jule had instilled into them early on, as some spell casting was better done in preparation before encountering the enemy than just rushing in with guns blazing. Mary smirked to herself as a memory played in her head of her having a heart-to-heart with Jule because if anyone who rushed in the most and the furthest, it was herself, often getting into trouble. She has almost died a few times there, especially during those closed quarter missions when they were infiltrating some enemy's outpost in the Isles or anywhere else about on Rhode Island.

She had been explaining to Jule that she felt she had something to prove with the other guys, ever since she discovered her true identity. Just because she felt she was a woman trapped in a man's body that didn't mean she had gone soft as a soldier. She could be to the job one hundred percent and still wear Max Factor. Of course, she knew Peter and Paul would accept her as she was, despite the change in appearance and name but she just didn't want to let them down especially with the rest of the team there. Jule had told her that she was very proud and supportive of Mary's journey to explore her sexuality in all senses of the word. Just that she would like her to actually live through the experience and not die before her metamorphosis was complete. In addition, Jule said, if it's anyone who was being judged on the matter of competence, it would be her as her leadership would reflect on how well the team was performing. Jule had always put the team first before the kids arrived.

Mary checked Jule's Twitter feed one more time and updated their status in response. The reading was complete and now it was a matter of Saki typing up the analysis and sending it to them. Ammie had chimed that she had some leads and was meeting Carl later. "Finally!" she shouted at the screen as a smile broke across her face. She'll have to find out later from Carl to see if she or one of them could meet to discuss the next steps. "The guys are going to want to know about this." Turning off the screen, Mary swivelled her chair around and headed downstairs to share the news.



Meanwhile, elsewhere...

Instead of the cheerful chirps of her morning alarm, it was the sound of her internal screams of her body protesting the growing agony in her limbs and head. "Get up, Jule. Get up." If it didn't hurt so much, she just roll onto her side into a foetal position and try to escape the pain by slipping back into unconsciousness. "Damn, two doses of Percocet would be good right about now. I just need to find my pouch." Slowly as she was coming to, she closed her eyes, focusing on the pronunciation to caste a teleportation spell. She barely said five words when suddenly she stops, both hands rushing to her pelvic area to brace against the excruciating, stabbing pain. It remained there for some time before it gradually faded away. "Not again," she pleaded silently to herself, "So, perhaps, no black tantra right now."

Lazily looking around the darkened room that's lit by a single torch sconce, Jule realises that she's been sleeping on a slab of dark granite uneven by its natural cut and not her soft bed. Even this surface was even more uncomfortable to sleep on than those were when she stayed over at the Rasa. Questions started gradually to fill her mind as she forced herself frantically to remember what happened before she woke up here.

"What happened? Was I on a bender? Was I Rufed? How did I end up here? How long have I been out of it? Where the Hell am -- " Jule winces as she pulls herself up into a sitting position and swings her legs off carefully to hang over the side of the slab as she looks around again this time more warily, trying to shake off the disorientation. "Oooh, this is not good," she whispered barely lightly above an exhaled breath.

Slowly, the pieces of the past moments before blackness were flooding back into her memory: the trip to Hell with Carl and his fellow members of AEgir; the ongoing war and the warning of Theodore Wicker, Ammie's brother had given them. The group of them had finished their last encounter with Eblis and after searching for more evidence of her ex-husband's fate in the main city of Shoel, they were ready to step through the portal back to Agartha. She let the other members of the team enter first, including Carl who was the last before her to travel home. When it was her turn to step through however, she didn't feel the familiar pull from one dimension to another. It was instead a violent summoning where she felt like she was yanked out suddenly of the time-space continuum. Immediately soon after she reached her destination, Jule, overwhelmed by a score of rakshasas, imps and ghouls, found herself in the middle of an ambush. The last thing she saw was a tall demoness approaching closer before she hit the floor. She could only remember the panic overtaking her as she screamed at the top of her lungs for anyone to come help her before it was too late.

There was no door just an open doorway. Jule rubbed her hands over her bare arms and legs, trying to massage a little heat into the sore muscles while taking care not to reopen the cuts and gashes that closed up for now. Bruises had formed all over her body and she had found that it was harder to move now as if she was feeling a bit sluggish, which was a bad sign, taking into consideration what Wicker said about prolonged exposure to this unique environment. If her clothes and gear were not here, they would be somewhere nearby or left where it was before she was before the summons. She would have wait for Carl to summon her home like she told him in her email or find her way to an existing portal to take her anywhere out of here on her own. Frankly, she was surprised that if she was out as long as she had been, he would have performed it immediately as soon as they had returned on Sunday evening when he realized that she didn't make it through behind him. Unless, unless, something had gone terribly wrong.

A flurry of reasons she ticked off her in her head why Carl's summons didn't work as she started to creep stealthily along the cracked black granite and marble hallways, keeping in the shadows to avoid detection. This place was in so much disrepair and yet there was so much noise emanating from the other rooms. Pieces of the high ceiling had littered the floor in some areas, leaving shafts of it open to warm fiery glow above. Her bare feet were enjoying the warm sensation of the stone floor as the heat travelled up past her ankles and into her legs. "Damn, this is all so familiar somehow!" When she got to the large, empty throne room, the realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. She was back in the Hell Dimension she used to "visit" so many years before to pay homage to her former patron mother of her old cabal back in the Isles. This was the home of Lilith.

Taking a moment in a darkened corner, she steadied her gasping breath, trying to regain control of her nerves. She used to know the layout of this place. If she could only make it out of the front door to the outside, she could hide among the other thousands of writhing bodies until Carl summoned her, came with help to save her or until she could find another way back to main city of Sheol where she could heal in an Agartha well. Time was running out and Jule, for the first time since she was pregnant with Diana, was defenseless.

She continued past the throne room and into a long hallway where it would take her to the foyer and the large front door. Hopefully she wished it wouldn't be long now till she would be freed. While she was passing through, she noticed that the murals on the walls she used to admire were all horribly defaced now. If it were under better circumstances, she would have liked to stay to find out what happened since she was last here.

Upon reaching the foyer, the doors that would magically open stayed tightly shut. As there were no levers or knobs on them, Jule was trying to pry them open, squeezing her fingertips into the crack that separated the double doors. Cursing softly to herself in Infernal, she was trying with what little strength she had left to pull them toward her to give her space enough to slip through. These solid, black six-inch thick stone doors rose 20 feet high to meet the ceiling above. They weren't even going to budge.

Jule quietly pounds on the doors in frustration as her temper was getting the best of her. Biting down hard on her lip, she desperately looked up and around to see if she could use something as a wedge or think of another way out of that hole. Coming up from behind though, she heard the sound of heels clacking against the marble floor.

"Leaving so soon, childe?"

[Carl]

Carl Weaver's Home - Bethpage, NY
Thursday, June 13th, 2013. 9:37 PM

As Orbison's operatic voice filled my living room with a song of lost love and regret, I sat in my easy chair, holding a long white coat in my hands, staring at it.

The last few days had been difficult ones. I had barely slept at all since Sunday. Still, I thought I was doing well at keeping up the appearence of being strong and calm. My co-workers, especially Ammie, had been supportive and sympathetic for me. It had made it ever so slightly easier to make it seem like I wasn't dying on the inside.

But when Ammie brought me Jule's clothes and possessions that had been recovered from Hell, and the note from Theodore, it became impossible to keep up the facade.

I hurried home that Wednesday night and had stayed there all through the day today. I couldn't go to the office, couldn't go out in public, not the in the state I was in. I had obsessed over things all day long, especially the Summoning Seal. I had attempted to use it a few different times, but it wasn't working. Was I missing something? She had told me that to use it, it would require anima channels that were strongest with her; me and her homeland.

But where exactly does she mean by homeland? New York? Rhode Island? California? I'll lose her completely before I can try all possible places...

I looked down at Jule's coat again. Remembered us joking about how stylish she looked between trips to the Hell Dimensions. I smelled her perfume again, and emotions built up within me.

I promised to protect you, bring you back. I let my guard down, and that's when they took you from me.

It's all my fault...all my fault...all my fault...

The tears started pouring out of my eyes and I sat there sobbing and crying by myself until finally the combined forces of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused me to fall asleep. Her coat laid there on top of me in the chair and her Summoning Seal was in my shirt pocket, close to my heart.

Where do I go...what do I do....how do I save you, Jule....

[@Jewel]

An alto-ranged ethereal voice from the towering demoness continued to address Jule, her nude body greyish black with her wings slightly outstretched as she sashayed casually closer to her.

"You come uninvited into the realms of Sheol; kill many of our minions and guards; unwittingly get caught in one of our wars; and decide to just leave without even saying hello to your mother. You don't invoke my name or simply even contact me anymore."

Jule turns around to face the woman and looks up into Lilith's face, searching for clues to gauge her mood. Was it malice or genuine curiosity? What does she want with me?

"I'm sorry, Lilith, ever since last year's Litha when you came unannounced into our home, frightened my children and treated me the way you did, I didn't think and still don't think you deserve my attention and energy with anyone who could be so toxic. You even took responsibility for taking away my ability to caste magick. No, allow me to clarify, not so much caste it, because I've learned that I can still get off the odd potent one, but rather my ability to capacitate the energy from this realm to use black magick by using my own flesh as a focus. I'm still upset but not so much as I realised that I had become complacent in my life-long quest to become a good sorceress. In some ways, I'm learning that being adaptable in several schools of magick than specializing in one or two makes me a better witch in the long run. You, my patron mother, had neglected to instruct me that and instead punished me for what you called what was the phrase you said last year? Something about "cannibalising" to the point of "gorging excessively on the energy of your realm," Jule raises her left hand and non-chalantly gives Lilith the talk-to-the-hand gesture, "Please."

"So, you went with the Beekeeper and have adopted her as your own personal caretaker, replacing me in the process. You have been following the whims of her ever since. You and your other kind have been gulping down her sweet honey like ..."

"Well, actually Lilith, she came to adopt me after you abandoned me. After I had the operation to clear those fibroids from my uterus in New York, she came to me while I was still recovering in Mary's flat. Who am I refuse that sort of calling? Do I abuse it now? No, thank Gaia, for that. Am I wary of the long-term effects that this anima could and will do to my body? Hello? Absolutely! Now, let me go home and leave me the Hell alone!"

Lilith releases a string of curse words in strange foreign tongue while Jule gives her a look of confusion, "I'm sorry, my ancient Sumerian is rusty..."

Lilith shoots her menacing look, "so too, will soon be your veins. You're dying, Jule, and when you are dead, I can bind your soul to me once more to serve Sheol for the rest of eternity. You're stuck here with me now."

"Well, that's where you're wrong. You're not the only one now who knows how to summon me. Carl knows my seal and any minute, he's--"

"-- dead, Jule," Lilith interjects as her lips curl into a smirk.

Jule shakes her head in denial, "No, he's not! He and his friends stepped into that portal and --"

"-- disappeared into the Abyss," Lilith starts an incantation and the doors fly open but instead of the looking out into the rest of the realm that she was accustomed to seeing, the door became a large portal looking back at the platform where she and the others had fought Eblis.

Jule rushes towards the portal but is suddenly rooted, forcing her legs to buckle underneath as her knees smash hard against the marble floor. Jule cries out in response, as Lilith is close enough now to hover over her, "We're not finished. As I was saying, no one's coming to rescue you. Your team wouldn't dare leave your children vulnerable. And yes, Carl is gone --"

Jule's eyes fill with tears, "No, you're lying! I don't believe a single word you're saying," pressing her lips tightly together.

"Why not? Did you check the portal yourself before you let the others through to see if it was stable? To even ensure that if they did step through the portal that it would even return them to your honeycomb hive? Did you hear anyone on your comm saying she had made to the other side? See through the doorway now that the portal is there no more. So, what would be your estimation? Wicker's a great demonologist but he's not a portal hopper like you. Have I ever lied to you before? In fact, I saved your life by summoning you here before you set foot through the portal or you would probably be like them, just another disembodied whisper murmuring in the Abyss."

Jule, dejectedly looks at the portal, avoiding Lilith's gaze as tears stream down her cheeks, whispering, "I-I-I can't remember! Oh Gaia, what have I done?! I accidently banished them to the four winds due to my own lack of judgement. I just naturally assumed ..."

"Yes, childe, and you know what they say about assume ..."

"Fuck. I have to get back now. I have to explain to AEgir what happened."

"If you do, Jule, you'll be killed."

"I'm going to die here anyway with you if I don't, so what's the point? At least, they'll know the truth!"

Lilith chuckles ruefully as she releases her hold on Jule's body and levitates her above the floor for a moment before she makes a slashing gesture with her hand before turning her back to her, dropping her to the floor once more. Jule immediately tries to regain her footing as she now gazes back at Lilith maliciously, her pupils slowly expanding until they cover the irises and the whites of her eyes disappear leaving just black orbs staring out of her sockets. "Face it, Jule, when it comes to leaving, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't."

Jule defiantly turns on her heel and marches through the portal. The sensation of being pulled back into Sheol was taxing on her sluggish body and mind. Right behind her though, Lilith follows through.

"Sure, go ahead but where will you run? No one is going to help you here. I am the patient one, Jule, as I only need to wait a little longer. When you die out here, I can claim your soul then or you can choose to serve me and not suffer an excruciating death."

"I'd rather die a free woman than die being your servant, Lilith." Jule takes a few more steps to where the portal had been, looking frantically for something in the area.

"If you go, who's to say that I won't open a portal myself? I'll steal your children and enslave them to my will or kill them outright if you don't surrender to me now?"

Jule flashes Lilith a look of defiance, "You threaten my children? If you dare to try to take them from me and my team," Jule looks around the far side of pillars distractedly for a moment, looking all the more agitated, "you'll live to regret it. I can assure you of that."

Lilith, inhales deeply as she crosses her arms and tries to get Jule's full attention. "Childe, if you come back with me now, I'll tell you everything about your ex-husband's fate. You owe that both to your children and to yourself. Don't you want to tell them the real truth about what happened to their father?"

Jule pauses then resting her hands on her hips, looking away from Lilith. "So, it has finally come down to this", Jule thought to herself. She looks down and kicks at the loose dirt with her bare foot, sighing heavily as she takes a moment to deliberate. She finally looks over her shoulder grimly back at the demoness who was waiting for her decision to cross back into the other Hell dimension.

"See, this is what I've learned about truth. It is subjective as it's based on perception of the winners who write it over and over again as it changes over time. Whatever you tell me, whether he was genuinely brainwashed and turned into a sleeper agent, or he did truly love that other woman will not matter. Even if he did come to his senses and died in Rhode Island for our side or he came to fight for our enemy instead during the war, alive or dead, it will not change one damn thing because Dorian will still be gone. When my children are older and mature enough to understand, I will give them all the possible outcomes. I can tell you now though that I think they're going to prefer the one that I told them whether it's a lie to them or not because they know, in their heart of hearts that what I did best for them was done in the name of love."

"So, be it, childe. Have it your way. I'll see you soon enough." With that, Lilith steps back through the portal, closing it behind her.

Jule returns to where the portal that was supposed to take the team last Sunday, Agartha, was once more. "I remember my stuff would have been right here! Where did it go?" Scratching her head, she tries to figure out her next step. As her first mentor, Serge, would say, "You're up shit creek without a paddle, n'est-ce-pas?"

Jule, battered, bruised, naked, and now defenceless within the main city of Sheol continues to die slowly as her blood turns to rust. Her only hope now was to find the nearest Agartha well to recuperate so she is just well enough to continue her long and perilous journey home if her body can endure it.

[Carl]

Atlantic Ridge State Park, Long Island, New York
Saturday, June 15th, 2013. 10:05 PM EDT

I sat back in the driver's seat of my car, and thought about all the things I had learned in the last few hours....

I'm not sure why exactly I was there at "Queen" Lilith's party that Friday night...other than it was too warm and cheery at Noel's party and too damn cold and dark back home. So I had picked out a nice dimly lit corner there at the Franklin Mansion, not wanting my misery to affect the good time everyone else seemed to be having on this night. Once in a while I would glance at the dancing crowd, if only to distract myself from the pain that lied within me.

I had been about to turn and leave when I heard a song come on, that stopped me dead in my tracks.



"I can't see New York
as I'm circling Down
through white cloud
falling out
and
I know his
lips are warm
but I can't
seem to find
my way out
my way out
of
this Hunting ground."

It's like it's her...speaking to me...did she somehow...

And then Saki Kinomoto, the tarot reader, stopped by to talk to me. She told me some about her reading for Jule. Most importantly, she wanted to tell me about that Jule and I would be reunited again. She told me I'd save her.

That my love would bring her back.

It had started to become clear then, already. And then I met and had a discussion with Jule's friend Mary today, where she gave me more details about Saki's tarot reading. It only helped to lift the fog of confusion that had enshrouded me this past week.

Her homeland is where her family and friends are. That's here in New York. The anima well in Brooklyn...that's the piece that was missing from the puzzle.

I gazed out at the ocean, watched the waves crash upon the beach. Then I looked down at Jule's Summoning Seal in my hand. I held it tightly and closed my eyes.

I know now what I need to do...

Tonight, during the witching hour. That's when I'd do it. Perform the ritual. Find her spirit. Make things right again.

Once more, I placed the Seal in my shirt pocket, over my heart. I turned the ignition of the Cadillac, and the V-8 engine roared to life. The headlights pierced the darkness in front of me as I drove out of the park and headed west towards Brooklyn.

I'm going to bring you home, Jule...

[@Jewel]

Johnson's Residence - Southampton, NY
Saturday, June 15, 2013 - 2pm

The emotionally charged meeting at 40 North Main had just finished. Mary, Peter, Franz, Pinky and Sven were still congregated in the dining room, staring down at the box of items that Carl had brought over. Paul and Hans had taken Diana and Sebastian out that morning to attend an event nearby in Easthampton. They had done what they had set out to do as it said in the reading: to consult an authority figure and after having that difficult meeting with Carl, the reading became more clear. Mary, reading aloud over Saki Kinomoto's email, nodding all the while.

My guess, based on the cards, is that she was involved in trying to help bring about some sort of transition/healing/renewal. A person (male), who may represent some type of authority or organization, knows where she is, but hasn't opted to share that information. There is a young woman who will benefit directly from what has transpired. The cards suggest that those looking for Jule put faith in their bonds to her and trust their intuition, even taking risks in doing so, rather than using traditional search methods. They also indicate that she will be found, and given that "the key" is such a positive card, I think she will emerge joyfully, for some reason (the card indicates less in the nature of "victory," and more in the nature of "full of love.") Many of the cards in this spread were powerful - two Hallows and two of the Major Arcana - and I saw very little that was negative, other than those searching were running into stumbling blocks, possibly of their own design. I believe she is okay, but has been involved in something important, even if it's just as a piece of a larger puzzle.

Peter was turning over the ancient Roman coin in his fingers that he had found in a tiny box and looked to the others after Mary finished, "Man, I haven't seen one of these coins in so long! It's Den's obviously but you wouldn't think this was the coin he kept for himself when it was own time to, you know, go? Still, I can't believe this is what Jule her risked her life for."

Franz chiming in, "No, it's more than just a souvenir that Den would leave with his victims after he had killed them. It was symbolically his tradition to put these in the mouths of his victims, in his mind anyways, for them to pay Charon when they got to the river Styx to pass over into Hell. He always kept a collection of them on his person at all times. Whether that was his coin that he kept for himself or had given it to someone else, only Jule could probably tell us if she ever--"

Sven interrupts in his gruff, Swedish accent, "WHEN she returns. Carl's a good man. I trust he will do the right thing."

Mary, putting the email printout face down on the table, exhales a huge sigh, "Still, all this because Diana had asked her to go look for their father. Why didn't Jule just say no like other mothers?" She was going on very little to no sleep since the house had been attacked by ghouls earlier this week. The strong wards Jule placed about the premises after Litha and Hurricane Sandy still held in place. Team Jewel had been doing watch rotations around the clock in pairs. To the outside world, around them, it appeared to be a brief freaky electrical rainstorm that would happen now and then on Long Island when the weather conditions called for it.

A small pink, greyish spectral cloud appeared above it as a pen that had been on the table that Carl had used earlier for taking notes flew into the cloud and was held upright with its tip against the blank page. The pen began to move on its own, scrawling wildly as the team watched, their eyes transfixed on what was transpiring before them. Usually Pinky during meetings like this would contribute through Jule acting as a medium for its automatic writing. The odd time, they would see an ectoplasmic hand here or there helping around the house in its own way yet it was unusual for it to make so much of a gesture as this to speak up. It takes a lot of energy to communicate on its own. The light above the table dimmed and flickered as the temperature lowered a few degrees in the room. Once done, the pen falls over onto its side onto the page as the ectoplasmic discharge settles on the paper after the cloud disappears.

Peter cocks his head to the side and squints trying to read the scratchy script, "Children need to move on too not just Jule."

Franz looks over Peter's shoulder, "Oh. Ooh, I think what Pinky's getting at is that Jule went through her mourning period which is to say difficult with no body. In whatever way you think about it, Den's a MIA, a casualty of war. Diana's reached the age now to emotionally deal with the fact that her dad is not coming home anymore. Jule can't show Diana a body as she's the oldest and knew her dad whereas Seb was still a baby when Den went back to re-enlist in the Isles. I mean, he could still be very much alive in that alternate reality but this is a symbol of death to all who knew Den including his own daughter. When we saw our fellow comrades down and we said farewell at their wakes and funerals when we were serving overseas in Iraq, we had a body or at least the dogtags to bring us closure. Getting this coin will hopefully do that for Diana. I just hope that while one wound closes that another one doesn't open."

"If in any chance, Jule does not make it home, should we present the coin to Diana anyway? And who should have the responsibility of doing that?"

A silence fell over the table as the group looked down for a moment before Mary spoke up softly to answer, "I want to suggest that we table that for our next meeting if we have to have another one." Tears started to roll down her cheeks, "Let's wait till we have to cross that bridge, okay?" The group nodded in agreement as Sven put his arm around Mary's shoulders. As they dispersed to different areas of the house, Peter grabbed the box of belongings and closed it up, putting it in an available storage spot in the pantry for safekeeping, out of the children's view.

((Thanks to Saki Kinomoto for her reading and contribution to the story! Attached a copy of her reading to this post if you'd like to read it. ))

Attachments:

[@Jewel]

Time goes by so slowly / Time goes by so slowly / Time goes by so slowly
Time goes by so slowly / Time goes by so slowly / Time goes by so slowly

Every little thing that you say and do / I'm hung up, I'm hung up on you
Waiting for your call, baby, night and day / I'm fed up, I'm tired of waiting on you


Somewhere on the outskirts of Sheol, Jule is presently marching through the Hellish landscape, singing under her breath to keep a steady pace. It was, to her, a nice respite from the running, dodging, screaming, crawling, falling, crying, waiting, spirit-walking and losing consciousness along the way. That whole losing-consciousness thing was never particularly fun. It reminded her too much when she spirit walked how she had spent six months as a ghost after Lilith killed her several years ago and bound her soul to a Seal of Summoning to be used and abused.

"Sure, I tried a whole new diet," she used to joke with the patrons at the local club, "I lost 108 pounds! It's called dying. Side effects while being on this diet include losing your ability to taste, touch and feel, partial blindness and oh yeah, death! But you feel so much lighter and you'll never gain another pound again."

If you were on Lil's good graces, you could earn a reward of being reunited with your body for just a few hours or if she was feeling extremely generous, you got a whole two days! The usual little vacation when I got my body back included a bubble bath, eating, sleeping and of course, sex, lots of sex. Just being able to feel the weight of my engagement ring on my finger was bliss. Still, when my body was pregnant with my first child, I couldn't accept my new reality. My daughter needed a real mom not just one who was going to be just in spirit most of the time. They still do so yeah, been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Suivant!


Time goes by so slowly for those who wait / No time to hesitate
Those who run seem to have all the fun / I'm caught up, I don't know what to do

Jule having reached the next Agartha wall finally, stopped and bent over to take a few deep breaths. For the past few days, these wells have been her oases to rest, meditate, heal, focus and remember. At the beginning of the journey, she couldn't even stop to rest sometimes because it was just too dangerous because of all the hellspawn creatures milling about. These wells though were not a luxury anymore as she needed time to meditate to slow her heartbeat and breathing down so that the process of her thickened blood would still be able to carry oxygen to her cells to function. She could feel its effects however, impairing her thinking, her memory, her speed, and finally, her concentration.

While on the path back, she knew that she could increase the risk if in one of her small veins, the transformed cells clotted together turning into sharp, iron filaments that could travel into her aortic trunk and puncture it when she had to run to escape from another ghoul. She would find a portal but it was hard to judge if it was going to take her back and when she did take one, it would take her to another part of hell.

All along the way, she fought the effects of her failing body, mind and morale by singing songs from Madonna's entire discography, starting with her self-titled debut album. She was up to finally Confessions on a Dance Floor. If she couldn't remember the lyrics to the song, she would try to hum the tune instead. Some songs, like yesterday, when she hit "You'll See" just made her want to sit and cry as she wasn't feeling particular courageous. Songs would remind her of her children, her friends, her ex-husband, and of course, Carl, her dear, sweet Carl. She didn't want to dwell on the fact that she had killed the man she loved. She was going to miss all those wonderful long talks at the God, dancing with him at the fight club and the theatre, teasing him about his silly music choices ...

Oh please, Gaia! If he's not dead, I promise I won't make fun of his Bob Seger, his Johnny Cash or his Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers albums anymore. At least, we both loved the Eagles ... On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair --

Shhh, Jule, one artist at a time! Leave the Eagles alone! You can work on their catalogue NEXT time you have to walk home from Hell.

Note to self: When your daughter tells you to go to Hell, send her to her room. Don't do what she tells you. Fuck.


Ring ring ring goes the telephone / The lights are on but there's no-one home
Tick tick tock it's a quarter to two / And I'm done, I'm hanging up on you

In the distance Jule could see finally the Overlook Hotel sign from atop of a tall tower. She was finally in the right dimension, she just needed to jump down. The last time she jumped from that height, she couldn't believe that she didn't take any damage from the fall. However, it was riskier now with her blood pumping so hard, she didn't know if her body could handle the stress or not, especially after being in the harsh environment for so long. It was the chance she had to take because going through the gauntlet alone underneath with the fire traps wasn't looking like a better alternative with what resided there as well. Sure, she and the AEgir team had defeated it but truly, nothing is gone unless it was banished properly to the Abyss with the appropriate ritual ...

... or just send it through an unstable portal to his demise.


I can't keep on waiting for you / I know that you're still hesitating
Don't cry for me / 'cause I'll find my way
you'll wake up one day / but it'll be too late

Jule finishes the chorus and stops to concentrate on the next hit in Madonna's catalogue. Jule starts to hum the first few bars of the song before she remembers the chorus as she backs up slowly trying to figure out the distance she needed.

Are you ready to jump / Get ready to jump
Don't ever look back, oh baby!
Yes I'm ready to jump just take my hand
Get ready to jump


Jule charges towards the edge of the platform and takes a flying leap, trying to gain as much air she could until gravity overtook her once more. Landing with a firm thud, she plants both feet on the ground and smiles for a moment before continuing on her way to the Hotel. As she gains momentum, Jule resumes her singing, this time remembering the lyrics.

[Carl]

Brooklyn Bridge Park - New York, NY
Sunday, June 16th, 2013. 12:03 PM EDT

I took a deep breath of the cool night air as I approached the anima well. At this moment I was aware of all the little details around me. The way my dress shoes clacked against the sidewalk. The way my unbuttoned trench-coat and my tie swayed in rhythm to my step. The way the Manhattan Bridge loomed above me and the sound of the East River lapping against the river wall.

I took in all these details because I knew this was going to be one of the most important nights of my life. Tonight, I was either going to bring her back...or I was going into Hell myself to find her.

I came to a stop at the well and stood there for a few moments. Felt its warm glow and radiance on my skin. Everything I had worked for this past week all came down to this moment. I took Jule's Seal from my pocket.

"Please work. Please Work." I muttered pleadingly under my breath.

I held out the Seal into the yellow light of the well. Suddenly, I felt a sensation sweep over my body. My legs buckled out from under me and my body began to collapse. But I was already unconscious before I hit the ground...

The next thing my eyes could process, they saw the sights of Manhattan across the River as it they had before. But now, everything was in a black and white monotone like something out of an old film noir movie. It immediately told me that I had entered my "spirit form." This facet of my existence as Gaia's Chosen was something I could never get used to, no matter how many times it happened to me. I tried to make sense of why my body had been pushed away and my spirit drawn out.

The answer came when a hand touched my shoulder from behind and a familiar voice asked, "Carl?"

I turned and saw her spirit before me. Her hair was a mess and all of her exposed skin seemed covered in burns, bruises and cuts. I reached out to her. "Jule...is it really you..."

It was very much the spirit of the woman I loved. In the next emotional minutes she related to me about how Lilith had told her that I was dead, and then how she had defiantly left Lilith's domain and braved the reaches of Hell naked and unarmed, trying to get back home.

And then she got to the most important part. She had made it all the way back to the Overlook Motel, but her body lay lifeless just feet away from the door that would take her back to the Savage Coast.

But I still had time! I could still save her!

After assuring her I was on my way, I turned back to my body and re-entered it. No sooner had I came to then I scrambled to my feet and went running for the Agartha Portal. Bystanders only looked at me in confusion as I quickly grabbed my shotgun and whip on my way to Agartha. My pace only quickened as my shoes touched the soil of Solomon Island. I dashed down the road, leaving the zombies in my wake before they could even think of attacking me. Memories of our time together rushed just as quickly through my mind as I was sprinting towards the Overlook.

Please don't be too late! Please don't be too late!

Finally, I dashed across the parking lot and into Room 13 of the Overlook. And into the Hell Regions I went...

---

As soon as I had entered the Hell side of Room 13, I pulled my shotgun and immediately swept the area for threats. But there was only one other being in the room, and it was lying on the bed.

It was the naked body of the blonde bombshell that had stolen my heart.

"Jule!"

I hurried over and kneeled by her side, taking the Seal out of my pocket. Even now, I'm not sure it was necessary, but at that moment I reached to her and took her hand in mine, so that the Seal was nestled between our palms.

"My sweet Jule....please return to me. May your body and spirit be reunited."

In my mind I heard a familiar voice speak to me. Use my true name...

I nodded in remembrance and repeated my plea, this time speaking her true name. Blessedly, she began to stir on the bed. She opened her eyes, her normal turquoise irises now completely black. "Carl? Where am I?"

I touched her cheek, emotions welling up inside of me. "Back where you belong, my love. By my side."