Sanctum of the World

Angel, her father, and his Goodson Corp. Adepts are standing around the activated war table. All non-essential students and residents have hunkered down in the sub-basement floors to stay out of the way. Some other mages come and go, stockpiling potions, and spell components by the door. If the protective screen holds, the only way into the building is through the front door. The Fae protect the rest of the island with a dome of sun crystals.

“Where did you meet that mysterious little Fae?” Luke looks at his daughter.

“She arrived with Lyric over a day ago. They probably would have been here sooner, but it was raining,” Angel answers.

“I guess we can count our stars for the fortunate timing. She seems to be just in the right place at the right time for what’s going on… almost too convenient, if you ask me,” Luke frowns.

“Lyric trusts the Fae. She says that Amethyst and her children helped the Council of Magi create this realm over a millennium ago. As you’ve pointed out, it’s taken her decades to get here. Amethyst could have just left us to fight this on our own. I’m not about to question her timing,” Angel argues.

“I suppose you’re right. I just don’t like unknown variables. Fae are unpredictable. I rather have something a little more solid than twenty excitable, hyperactive little casters as our front-line defence.”

Angel looks at the war table in surprise, “How did Amethyst find so many?”

“That’s what I’d like to know too… far as I knew there weren’t that many Pixie familiars here in Sanctum, makes you wonder where they’ve all been hiding… They’re all different colours, not all arcane. It’s possible she gathered some from Earth. I see Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall. Not sure where the elemental ones come from…” Luke muses.

“How can you tell?” Angel probes, looking over the war map.

“You can tell by the colour of their wings or the particles that surround them,” he explains. “Amethyst, Ciël, and these other two are purple. The winter Fae are blue, as they harness the cold. Summer control light and are yellow. Spring influence plants so they are green. Fall affect Autumn and are orange. Meaning that brown one is probably Earth, the white one air, and the red one fire, but I’m not sure about the black one. Amethyst has assembled a full rainbow. I wonder how they’re all working together?”

“I’ve never seen a Fae control her size so easily. Could she be stronger than them?” Angel probes.

“Oh, she definitely is stronger. I can’t tell how strong she is. Her aura is so bright, it’s unreadable! Let’s just hope she stays on our side.”

A pinging sound starts, “What’s that, Daddy?”

“Early warning that a Dimensional Gate is opening,” he replies, peering at the screen.

There is a blip, then a flash, and a swirling vortex opens. Adam, Melody, Penny, and a man with red hair step through into the middle of the courtyard, between the Fallcrest gate and the Sanctum School. As the vortex closes behind them, they glance back, then look around.

“Well, that could have gone a little smoother,” Adam frowns.

“Do ye think they know where we went, lad?” the man asks, sheathing glowing curved swords. “We killed most of the first basement before they started swarming up the stairs.”

“They know where we went, Mr. Duncan,” Adam frowns. “We have little time to prepare. Let’s get moving.”

“So much death!” Penny shivers, “Did you have to kill the entire room, Honey?”

“Darling, had we left any of the attending Elders alive, we would not have gotten out of there. It was them or us. Parlay would have been a waste of time on them,” Melody replies as they walk up to the building. “I know that was horribly violent for you, My Love, but they had become a blight on our world. A cancer that needed to be removed.”

Penny leans into her wife and draws a deep breath. “Please, never ask me to do something like that again! I’m supposed to be a Lightbringer, not a death dealer.”

“Let me shoulder the burden of the dark act we just committed. It is for this reason I am your other half, My Darling.” Melody pulls her wife’s face to look at her, “This was my plan, my responsibility. Do not blame yourself for what we did today.”

“I’ll try,” Penny returns with a pained look.

“Keep to the middle of the path,” Adam raises a hand. “There is some sort of field surrounding the school.” His eyes are glowing gold as he scans the area, “That is an unusually large number of Fae. Where did they all come from?” Melody flashes a cunning smile. He turns to Melody, “what did you do?”

“Mother is here,” the pale-skin woman replies. “She’s called every Fae within range to help her.”

“You knew?” he gasps. “Wait… Angel said that she had a little fluttery friend, and that’s why she knew what we were planning. Luke was here this morning and ready for a fight before I even summoned him!”

“Who’s Mother?” Penny probes.

“The Mother of all things of the Earthen Realm. She is one of the most powerful creatures in the cosmos. Do be polite with her. You want to stay on her good side,” Melody notes.

“Earthen Realm?” Penny narrows her eyes at her wife. “Is there still something about you that you’ve not told me, Dearest? I thought we were past hiding things from one another!”

There is a high pitch sound like angry insects. Melody glances around, “After the fight, My Love. I’ll introduce you to Mother when this is over.”

The quartet turn around and three dark orbs appear surrounding the area they’d landed. They slowly spread out, expanding into swirling grey and black disks. Pale-skinned vampires in tattered robes walk through, and then expand the disks further.

“Should we kill them now?” Mr. Duncan draws his swords. They sing and glow with magical power.

“No, if you kill the Gate Wardens, they will just find another way through,” Melody frowns.

“Move inside the dome. We don’t want to get surrounded,” Adam pushes them back further.

They back up slowly to the door, preparing spells. A few more mages stand behind them on the stairs. They spend anxious moments wondering what to do, when suddenly streams of Vampires pour out of the portals like angry bees.

“Now Penny!” Melody exclaims.

“Firin!” the two women intone together, a ray of sunlight erupts from the joining of their hands. Anything heading straight toward them vaporizes. The ray reaches the middle Gate Warden, destroying him. A few Vampires seep through the closing gate as that disk closes. There is a long row of weapons, armour, and ash on the ground before them.

“One down,” Adam comments as he prepares a spell. The air rumbles and lightning arcs from Adam through the line of vampires nearly reaching the gate. Many incinerate on contact, others are still burning. The survivors scatter before he can cast again.

Vampires spread out and try to attack in multiple directions, only to be met with the defensive screen. The globe surrounding the school lights up, and each Vampire who touches it suddenly bursts into flames and tumbles to ash. Those who punch through following a fallen are killed by the Fae on the roof. The outside of the building is alight in multicoloured brilliance as Fae of different powers cast spells. The bulk of the wave destroys itself on the grid before they realize there is only one way to reach the mages.

“That won’t hold much longer if they keep plowing into it,” a mage worries behind them.

The rest of the attacking force stops its assault and scatters, looking for another opening. Those at the front of the building open up with spells. Magic missiles, beams, rays, fireballs and lightning bolts take out anything that comes close to the only opening there is in the sunlight dome. Out of the throng that surged through the Vampire Gates, only a few hundred remain. You can almost count them now.

The remaining Vampires grow more cautious and start throwing weapons or shooting dark spells.

Finally, an Elder vampire steps through the left gate to survey the battle. He makes a high-pitched sound that causes the remaining Vampires to turn to him.

Melody follows Adam’s gaze as he prepares a new spell. “No! Adam, you cannot kill my Master!” she smacks his hand before he’s done casting. “That was our agreement. He will remain to pick up the pieces and control the ones that are left now that our numbers are even.”

“Why don’t we just kill them all while we still have the chance?” Mr. Duncan sneers.

“Because feral Vampires are worse than an enclave! Master Phan will pacify the remaining collective. They will be controllable now,” Melody retorts.

“You have won this day, Arch Mage!” Master Phan yells out as the Vampires leave through the portal beside him. “We expect compensation before we discuss a neutrality agreement!”

“This is my opening offer!” Adam yells, releasing the spell he’d been holding on to. A lightning storm destroys the gate warden and any Vampires around it on the right side, leaving only one gate open. “Try to breach my realm again, and I will not leave any survivors next time!”

Master Phan bows, “Well played, Arch Mage.” He reaches out. The dark Fae on the roof is suddenly pulled into his hand. He drains it of its life force and drops it to the ground, “Now we are even. We will be in touch. You have won your peace today,” he ushers a few more Vampires through, then walks through the gate himself.

“Kill anything left,” Adam growls.

The mages let loose volleys of magic, destroying the handful of Vampires who had not yet reached the portal. It destroys the Gate Warden as well, and the portal closes.

Adam turns to her, “I hope you and your Master know what you are doing, Melody. Or, for all that is Holy, I will throw you against this dome myself!”

“Adam!” Penny gasps, “I thought we were friends?”

“Your wife put my realm at risk!” Adam snaps. It’s the second time Penny’s really seen the Arch Mage lose his temper, “Were we not prepared for their arrival, we would have been lunch today!”

“Had we stayed at the Vampire Enclave and fought longer, like you wanted to, they would have surrounded us. This was a better battlefield!” Mélodie snaps back.

The two of them stare each other down. Amethyst is looking over at the Fae that died today. Outside of the dark Fae, five others perished during the attack. Amethyst stands up and approaches them. “Then it is most fortuitous that I arrived when I did.”

“Mother!” Mélodie sings, releasing her wife’s hand. She runs over and pulls the Fae into her arms, “How did you get here?”

“The bardic chronicler, Lyric Eversong, messaged me. We’ve been travelling for some time. We arrived two days ago,” she remarks, leaning back. She studies Mélodie, “what happened to you, My Child?”

“It is a long tale, Mother. I first want you to meet someone,” Mélodie sets the Fae down. “Penny, I’d like you to meet Amethyst Lily. She’s the governing power of the Earthen Realm and the leader of my people.”

Penny looks between her wife and the teenage girl with pastel rainbow hair. Like Elphaba, the racial traits are unmistakable. “The leader of your people? Were you ever Human, Melody?” she challenges in a hurt tone.

“My Rune Weaver Melody is only Feytouched, My Child. She’s half Human, half Fae. Worry not, your trust is not misplaced. Dearest Penny, you found something special and latched on to an otherworldly creature. Do not doubt what your heart tells you, you’ve not been misled.”

Penny relaxes, and her face softens, “I should have known you were too beautiful to have come from Earth. I’ve never met a woman like you.”

Mélodie smiles, “I have never hidden my love from you, Dearest. Know that I would have told you this in time as well,” she walks towards her wife and the two embrace.

“Children, you can start dismantling the screen,” Amethyst calls out, “but keep the crystals; I have plans for those.” Several Fae bob their heads. The outside of the school becomes this flurry of colour and activity as the Fae work at cleaning everything up.

Everyone else gathers in the school building. Amethyst regards the wives. “So, my dear Rune Weaver is light-skinned, but her aura is now steeped in darkness.” She turns to Penny, “You are dark-skinned, and yet your aura is full of life and light.”

“Like a living yin-yang,” Adam chuckles. “I’ve never met a couple so dynamically opposite, yet so well matched.”

“You love her?” Amethyst probes.

“With all of my heart; she is my soul mate!” Penny gazes at Mélodie lovingly, who kisses her.

“Intriguing,” The Fae looks thoughtful. “Let’s clean all this up and we can discuss what’s happened in the past six centuries since I sent you here.”

“Six centuries?” Penny turns to her wife.

“You knew you were marrying an older woman, My Love,” Mélodie teases.

“You are too much sometimes,” Penny giggles and kisses her wife.

Adam leaves the Fae to talk to Mélodie. He’s still upset and rather not be around the purple-haired Vampire right now. Half Fae? No wonder she was such a puzzle when they first met. The central room is abuzz with activity as Luke’s adepts are taking down the war table.

“Uncle Adam!” Angel’s song-like voice rings happily through the room as she hugs him, “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Hey! There’s my little songbird,” he looks up at her. “When did you get taller than me?”

“My last year of high school?” Angel looks thoughtful. “Maybe sooner. You’re still taller than my fiancée,” she offers in compensation.

“I saw the online announcement and the engagement party afterwards. Wish I could have been there,” he apologizes, holding her shoulders. “Glad that you and Eva are still happily together. She keeps you grounded,” he winks.

“Please, Uncle! I’m not that bad!” Angel rolls her eyes.

“Between you and that redheaded Bard, who was the biggest troublemaker on the Foxgrove campus? I’m sure everyone in the world has heard of you two by now!”

Angel giggles. “Rose and her wife Cassi are lots of fun!” she grins. “I think we were evenly matched regarding who caused the biggest waves on campus.”

“What are they doing now that you’ve all graduated?” Adam probes. “Still performing with you?”

“No, they went back to Birch Creek to work on some huge programming project. Eva knows more about it than I do, as she’s been busy setting up servers. I’ve contributed new musical compositions. It’ll probably be a fantasy game. Rose was pretty specific as to the songs she wanted.”

“Ask Rose to reach out to me, Sunflower. I have a job offer for her,” Adam smiles.

“Anything I should know about?” Angel raises an eyebrow.

“Worry about your wedding first, then we’ll talk about it,” Adam smiles.

“Will I like it? Will this hinder my touring this summer?” Angel worries.

“I think you’ll love it, and no, it won’t affect your touring this summer,” Adam assures.

“Okay!” Angel smiles happily. “I’ll see if Daddy needs more help,” she chimes excitedly, plants a quick kiss on his cheek, and dances off to talk to her father.

Adam shakes his head. He doesn’t know where she gets all that energy.