Right of Retribution 3 -CH1- (Patreon)

Kneeling on the ground, with her wide white angelic wings covering her, the woman continued to sob loudly.

Warner didn’t really know what to say or how to continue. His mind had already gone through a great deal in the last day and this was too much for him.

The wings slowly parted and Warner once against saw the woman who had appeared on the plane of Retribution.

She had black hair, wide green eyes, and was very well put together in the hips, waist, and chest departments.

Not to mention she was strikingly pretty.

Depending on your point of view, she was unfortunately wearing nothing more than a hospital gown. There wasn’t a stitch of clothing on her person otherwise.

Blood was liberally splattered across it and covered it down to the hem. Dangling from her wrist was one half of a pair of handcuffs with a broken link at the end.

To Warner, it looked as if she’d jerked her arm away with enough force to shear the metal apart from the strength of it.

“Why?” she asked in a whimper. “Why’d you do this to me? I just… I was just working there. I didn’t hurt anyone. Not really. I just did my job.

“I don’t even know what I am anymore. What’d you turn me into? What’d you convert me into?”

“You’re an Angelic being. More than a nephelim, less than an arch-angel,” said the first spirit of the plain.

“A very strong Angelic being. She could easily battle with the Swordsinger with a little practice,” added the second voice.

“Not to mention the beauty part, don’t forget that,” finished the third, who seemed to have a different priority.

“Warner, just bring her home. I’ll have a room ready for her before you get here. Well, not really a room, but at least a place to sleep,” said Daria, reminding Warner that the burner-phone was still against his ear. “We’ll order pizza, talk everything out, you handle Madison and Aelia, and we’ll move forward. Just like we always do.”

“Right, yeah. Yeah,” Warner agreed.

“Good. I love you, I’ll see you soon,” said Daria.

“Love you too, see you soon, Tarja,” murmured Warner.

Daria chuckled then hung up the phone.

“-do you mean a nephelim?” asked the woman in a growl, looking around in every direction. “I was just a Vampire. There’s no way I could be something like that.”

“She can hear us,” said the first spirit.

“Does that mean we should ignore her then? We’re only supposed to respond to the owner. She’s merely a tool,” replied the second spirit.

“What owner?” the woman asked, her wings spreading out further. “And who’s a tool? I’m no tool!”

Standing to her feet, the woman’s wings were wide spread now. The white glow that surrounded her began to grow in intensity. There was a great deal of golden hues to it as well, though there was also a thin line of red that circled at the edges of the power.

“Stop!” commanded Warner in a loud voice, feeling weary and mentally exhausted.

He hadn’t just battled Warin the previous Lord of Retribution to the literal death, spoke to the Architect and discovered that he was indeed Fate-Smithed and of unique status, then been gifted his life back by the same man who killed him and receiving the full rights of Retribution, Redemption, and Vegenance, just to listen to this argument.

“Name?” Warner asked, pointing his burner phone at the beautiful Vampire turned Angel.

“Alina,” said the woman, her mouth now fixed in a firm pout. Her full lower lip actually sticking out and her brows down low in a frown. “Alina Floarea. And… don’t yell at me. I’m a victim here. Not you.”

Warner couldn’t actually deny the truth of her words. She was correct.

He had indeed tried to slay her. Likely for something she could have corrected for given time.

Then I threw up in her mouth and took her life away anyways.

“I… you’re right,” Warner conceded with a long sigh. “You’re right, Alina. I took your life from you. I sentenced you for something that you could have probably worked off given a chance.”

Look no further than my ex-gun-runner Aelia. Or Maddy. They’re no different at all.

“Yeah! Yeah… you did that,” Alina said, her pout becoming less severe with an accompanying nod of her head. Her wings that had sagged with her command rose up once again. “I barely graduated high-school and you took it all from me!”

Alina shook herself once when she finished speaking, then noticed her wings and broken handcuff on her wrist. As if she forgot they were there and remembered them all over again.

“Well, I guess it isn’t all bad,” Alina grumbled, her wings, slowly dropping down back to her sides. “Its nice to be in the sun without feeling rather nervous about it.

“And… uh… smashing my ex in the face. That was a lot of fun. Hehe. I literally busted his nose wide open into like… two parts.”

Alina make a spreading motion with her fingers, splaying them apart. She was shifting emotions far too quickly for Warner to feel comfortable. He had the feeling that she was on an incredible edge and nearly hysterical.

That beyond that, she was also incredibly exhausted and would likely fall asleep as soon as she laid down.

“Let’s… take you to my home,” said Warner after a silence began to grow between them. “My wife wants to get you to sleep, a change of clothes, and probably put some food in you.

“How does pizza sound? I promise you’ll be able to digest it as an Angel. Your needs will be less than a mortals, but also very much the same.”

“Pizza,” said the woman in a soft voice. “Pizza without blood. Like… like when I was a kid?”

“Mmhmm. Don’t worry about toppings. We have a hungry Troll in the house and quite a few people to feed. We order more or less three types of every pizza,” promised Warner.

Slowly, he began walking over to her.

“Who’re… who’re you? You’re Yellow Eyes, right?” Alina asked as he came over to her.

“That’s right. I’m Warner and I hold the Right of Retribution,” he said. Reaching out he tapped a finger against the handcuff on her wrist. With only a splinter of power he shattered it to nothing more than crumbled metal. The bits and pieces falling free of her hand and clattering into the grass.

“I defeated Red Eyes, took a host of Valkyries as my soldiers, ended the Were-Hyena pack, decimated the Wolves led by Remus while killing him, cleaned out the capitol building and the Vamps that poisoned it,” Warner said, holding Alina’s gaze. “And I did all of that in a span of a month or two.

“With you at my side, assisting me, I think we could go a great deal more. That you are indeed part of my pantheon and will be well suited to my needs.”

Alina was gazing back at him now. There was a faint golden-glow in her irises that was responding to his words.

Having gotten so closer to her, he could feel the power in her. A mirror to his own and a reservoir of sorts for him. That the power in her was his.

All facets of it, in fact.

Redemption, Retribution, and Vengeance.

With that being true, it meant he could nearly be in two places at once as Yellow Eyes.

“Will you help me, Alina?” Warner asked.

“I don’t know,” she murmured, blinking twice and then breaking his gaze. “I think I want to sleep first. And eat.”

“That’s very fair,” Warner said and then held his left hand up. With a casual twist of his wrist, he opened a portal back to his garage.

Alina didn’t look at him, but slowly walked through the open portal.

“Continue the collection,” Warner demanded of the spirits. “Skip the Valkyries in case you were thinking of including them. They’re doing something else right now.”

“Of course,” said the third spirit voice.

“Not a concern,” agreed the second.

“Okay,” said the first simply.

Following Alina into the portal, Warner wasn’t really sure what to expect. He hadn’t seen anyone from his family since he’d gone full Vengeance and slaughtered a great number of people.

He’d been on the run with Dayine ever since.

Dayine. I need to call her and Gus and let them know I’m not really dead.

They probably watched me die.

Alina had stepped off to one side and was looking around the interior of his garage. Curious and concerned at the same time.

Moving to the door that led into his home, Warner popped it open and went inside. There was no reason to linger and he figured it’d be easier for Alina that way.

Directly in front of him was Bodil and Daria. Standing side by side and waiting for him.

“And thus he returns,” Daria said with a grin. Reaching up she lightly pulled several strands of pale blond hair back behind an ear. Her gray eyes had a mischievous look to them and she seemed more dressed for going to sleep.

“He returns with another one,” Bodil said with a disappointed slant to her mouth. Her pale-yellow hair fell unbound behind her shoulders. She was dressed in a snug-night shirt that showed off the well endowed curves to her.

“Well, he didn’t do it on purpose and Alina isn’t interested in him like that,” Daria argued, turning to look at Bodil. “Nor is Warner interested in her. No changes need to be made at all. See?”

The Rune Reader still looked frustrated, though not nearly as much.

“I’m… what?” Alina asked, standing just behind Warner and to the left.

“Not interested in Warner,” Daria said, turning to speak directly to Alina now. “He has more than a few women in his love life and we’re rather guarded of what little time he has.”

“Oh… no. Not interested. Too old for me,” Alina agreed, shaking her head. She looked tired, confused, and very unsure. Then she started to toter to one side and did a small shimmy-step.

“Ah, let’s get you changed and ready for bed. After you get some pizza you’ll be straight to bed. You’ll meet Maya and Lauren tomorrow afternoon and you’ll need your rest,” Daria said, taking Alina by the elbow. “That means sleep as soon as you’re full and that’s that. Otherwise they’ll run you over. They may be younger than you but they’ll not stop for anything.”

Daria led Alina out and away, leaving Warner alone with Bodil.

“Well,” Bodil said, crossing her arms in front of herself. “Aelia and Maddy will likely be here in an hour for… for pizza and your evening together.

“Daria and I were just talking about what to do next when you called. And before you ask, yes, she knew you were alive. Probably before you did. It’s hard to think someone is dead when you can still see futures occurring.

“Despite what the news said about the whole Yellow Eyes Red Eyes situation. It was rather fortunate that you left a burnt husk of a corpse that couldn’t be identified. Otherwise we’d have to be doing a lot more work.”

“Oh,” Warner said somewhat surprised. “What… uh… what’d the news show, exactly?”

“Four angels, fighting. One that looked like Yellow-Eyes, but white,” said Bodil, slowly tilting her head to one side as she watched him. “One that was Red, one that was Blue, and one that was Gray. It was a very strange thing to watch on the news.

“It would appear… that the para world is being forced into the world’s view regardless of what anyone actually wants right now.

“Your fight… it was too big to hide. Too much to block and keep out of the public’s view. Too many witnesses, too many cameras, cell phones, too much everything.”

Warner was very surprised by that news. Surprised and not really sure how to respond to it. As far as he knew, the world as a whole had been struggling to keep the para world completely submerged and unseen.

“Right? It’s surprising,” said Bodil with a beautiful frown. “Though… I was… very… upset when you died. Very upset. I didn’t even-there was no time to-well… well, Daria was there thankfully so I found out quickly. She made sure everyone was aware that you weren’t dead. Though Maya is still plenty angry.”

“Wait… you’re… talking like this happened a bit ago. Didn’t this just happen like an hour or two ago?” asked Warner. “And… I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to die, or anything. I was trying to protect everyone.”

“It was a day ago. It’s been twenty-four hours, give or take,” answered Bodil and then shook her head in an angry way. As if she didn’t want to agree with him at all. “You shall not make me a widow before you wed and name me, Warner James. I will call your spirit back from the other side if I have to, just to punish you.”

A memory from not long ago floated up in Warner’s thoughts. One that she’d put there with a very serious demand of him when she was in a place of fear and insecurity.

“Bodil James, I will care for you to the best of my ability. I shall endeavor to treat you kindly and with love, Bodil James. To you, Bodil James, I will promise to ensure your safety and well being,” Warner said in firm triplicate. It’d been something she’d asked him to do but he’d never had the chance to do so.

The resounding clack of fate settling over him was like a mantle made of gold. So heavy was it that Warner felt as if the sky itself had fallen upon him.

Bodil took a step toward him and laid a hand upon his shoulder. Her fingers dug into him and he could feel her hanging onto him.

“I know-I know I asked for that, even if I now wish I hadn’t,” Bodil said in a whisper. Her voice has a tremor in it as well. “But If I ever doubted my fate in any way, that certainly cleared it up in that moment and… and I think I need to take you away. Now. Before Aelia and Maddy get here and take you for themselves.”

Pulling at him sharply, Bodil began dragging him away back toward what he assumed was her bedroom. Because in addition to the heavy mantle of fate he’d felt drop down over him, was an additionally heavy and demanding need to bed her.

Immediately.

Apparently she feels it, too.

Bodil’s hand tightened on him as she drug him into her bedroom. As if afraid he might try to slip away or be pulled from her grasp.

Given what he’d gone through in the last week, he couldn’t even blame her for those thoughts.

Not to mention… I really want to bed her. To… consumate… whatever this is.

Warner didn’t fight her and merely watched as she closed the door behind them.

***

Sitting down on the couch, Warner took the first sip of the coffee he’d just made.

Picking up the remote he flicked on the TV and started moving the channel toward the news.

He’d spent the previous evening with Aelia and Madison as they intended. Though only after Bodil was done with him. It’d been incredibly fun for everyone involved.

And when Maya wakes up in oh… an hour… we’ll make sure she’s alright.

Though given she might have watched me die, she’s probably none-too-happy with me. That should take care of all those visions she saw of me dying though, I imagine.

“-interested in becoming vampires,” said the news anchor with a soft chuckle. “The drive will be held outside of St. Luke’s medical center in Denver. You’ll receive the results within a week or so afterward.”

“In a show of solidarity,” said the said anchor. “The Were’s of Colorado will also be present at the drive and assisting. The two groups are putting this together in a hope to drive Para awareness as well as provide information.

“As of course there’s a great deal of misinformation around both of them given Hollywood and over-active authors.”

“Hard to believe the world didn’t know about it yesterday, but today it’s this widely accepted,” said the first anchor, looking toward the second.

“Well, you know how it goes. Yesterday’s news and all that,” said the second anchor with a laugh.

No… this is actually hard to believe.

You’re making this seem far too normal. Far, far, far too normal.

“Next up, Para-Leagues!” said the first anchor as the TV-swapped to a different graphic.

It was of a rather beefy looking Werewolf swinging a baseball bat that a strange Fishman had just thrown. The ball was connected very solidly despite the pitch having looked incredibly fast. Almost too fast to follow.

Whipping straight toward the outfield the ball curved oddly.

“Practiced in secret for a number of years, they’ll be starting up actual broadcasts today. There’s an exciting match between the New Orleans Witchdoctors versus Charlotte’s Brown Mountain Lighters,” continued the Anchor. “They follow almost all the normal rules you’d expect, but certainly pack a lot more speed, power, and ability. Be prepared to feel amazed.”

Uh huh… it doesn’t hurt that you just happened to have that video feed on hand.

This is all just far too fast. Far too fast and planned out.

The government had a response for all this ready long before it actually happened.

Then gave the media outlets marching orders. I bet if I switch the channels it’ll be the same but in different ways.

Lifting the remote, Warner hit the channel switch button.

“-a rather fun game I bet. I can’t imagine Vampires on hockey-states but I bet they don’t get bothered by the cold at all,” said a busty blonde on the screen. “Do you think the Hobgoblin’s will do as well? I can’t imagine they have much of a chance.”

“I dunno, I hear they’re rather spry and wiry. Scrappy when you get down to it,” said a different anchor with a deep chuckle. “Though, that certainly will be interesting to watch.

“More interesting than what’s happening locally if you ask me. Today the Aurora county legislature for Paranormal’s will be voting on ‘mask enforcement’ on certain Para-species operating food trucks in regards to health and general safety.”

“Given that’s not really how transmission works for most Para causing viruses that seems a bit much,” said the first anchor in a concerned tone. “Thats the type of fear-mongering we could most certainly expect from their side of the aisle, though.”

Unable to help himself Warner turned the TV off and sat there.

“Oh my god the Para world is politicized, too,” he said after several seconds. Staring at the now dark TV he really wasn’t sure how to process all this.

The world was moving faster than it should past the “Para world” being discovered. Faster than he felt was prudent given neither had truly publicly interacted for as long as they’ve both existed.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated causing him to look down at it.

Reaching in he pulled it out and glanced to the front.

A text from Dayine had just come in.

Ah… she got the message I sent her last night I bet.

This’ll be interesting.

Flicking through the screen’s lock and then moving to the messages, Warner found what he was looking for.

Hey!

Come see me tonight at six. We need to talk about next steps and what we’re doing about the silent one.

Most especially so with you ripping the lid off the Para-world pandora box. My bar is going to be a busy place I think.

Smirking at that, Warner couldn’t disagree. It was very likely her bar would be a busy place.

“Dad?” asked a voice from behind him.

Ah, Maya’s awake. Time to apologize.

Bracing himself, Warner stood up. He didn’t think this would be fun.