Chapter 14

“These are the files you requested, sir,” Drake said quietly, handing a ring to the Director of North American Operations, Peter Ladislav.

The director slipped the ring onto his finger and pressed the button on the back of it. “Access files,” he commanded. A holographic array of windows appeared in front of him full of images, videos, and documents. The last file was titled: Targets Exited Realm. He felt a spike of adrenaline as he witnessed the four angels shooting outside of the solar system at speeds no archangel could hope to achieve. They reached the barrier at the edge of the solar system and passed through it without slowing down.

“That clinches it,” Peter muttered uneasily. “They’re either Dominions or something even more powerful.”

“Sir, there was a sighting of Carcelonia in Rome about an hour ago,” Drake informed the director carefully. “She seemed…disturbed.”

“How so?” Peter asked with a frown.

“She looked terrified, according to the agent who witnessed her landing,” Drake answered, rubbing his cheek with a knuckle as he spoke. “She was distraught enough to have teleported into a place where she was easily observed by our agents, which is out of character for her. We traced her teleport trail, and it led to a cabin in Oregon. It seems to be the same cabin that was in New York.”

Peter blinked, looking at his aid with a frown. “You think they somehow teleported the entire residence across the country?”

“After examining the old location in New York, it appears that the positions were swapped. There are Oregon pine trees there now, and the geology is consistent with the Oregon mountains. We believe she was capable of initiating a matter exchange, but on a massive scale.”

Peter stared at his aid disbelievingly. “That would require power on par with a demon lord. Beyond a demon lord.”

“That was our assessment as well, sir,” Drake agreed quietly. “We were also taunted by Grodek again. He seemed extremely pleased with himself.”

“What did that little bastard have to say?” Peter scowled, wishing there were a way to harm imps. “Anything useful?”

“Mostly just gloating about ‘how fucked’ we are, as he put it,” Drake replied with a shrug. “He was quite gleeful about what a monumental miscalculation Carcelonia had made regarding something.”

Peter didn’t grin, but he came close. “So, we are finally getting some additional confirmation that she awakened our angel. Just not the kind of angel she thought it was.”

“That was our assessment too, sir,” Drake nodded, a faint smile on his face. “It seems she has finally realized that angel she awakened wasn’t a successor.”

Peter stood silently as he contemplated the future. Dominions weren’t supposed to grow this quickly. Their chances of harvesting the power of a Dominion was quickly diminishing. She should have already been in chains and under their control, where they could siphon off the immense power of a Dominion before she grew too powerful.

“We’re going to have to change our plans, it would seem,” Peter announced briskly. “It may already be too late to capture her. It might be time to start focusing on setting up a confrontation with Azkar.”

Drake nodded his agreement. “If we can’t collect the power to destroy a demon lord, we can manipulate events to where she does.”

“I think it’s time to send some envoys to these…angels,” Peter decided with a grim smile. “We can’t have them disrupting operations too early or Azkar will visit before it’s time.”

“Regarding the other angels,” Drake hesitated, biting his lip nervously. “The power they wield hasn’t been seen since-.”

“Yes, I know,” Peter interrupted with a scowl. “We’re going to be dealing with powers far beyond our level. That means we need to convince them of our goodwill before they start hunting us down.”

“Should we continue to support this…network…that they are trying to build?” Drake asked doubtfully.

“No,” Peter shook his head disdainfully. “But don’t interfere either. The other factions will probably do something rash soon, and it could be that we will soon have less power to share.”

XXXXX

Aria marveled at the beauty of interstellar space. Stars surrounded them in every direction as far as even their enhanced eyes could see. They had come across the occasional rogue planet as they shot through space at speeds she still couldn’t believe. The true beauty was revealed when looking with her spiritual eyes. Lines of energy filled the vacuum of space, lighting up the emptiness with its glow. What seemed so empty with mortal eyes was filled with a lattice of electromagnetic energy as interstellar rays arced through the cosmos.

“I thought stars were light years away,” Clarice declared with a confused crease to her brows as a star began to grow quickly in front of them. “We’re going fast, but not that fast.”

“I agree,” Aria announced, staring at the growing orb of light doubtfully. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Could astronomers have been wrong about the distances in space?” Clarice asked dubiously. “How are they even estimating the distance?”

“They use the parallax of our planet when we are on one side of the sun to see how far the starfield has changed when we get to the other side,” Aria explained, feeling like she finally had something intelligent to say. “It’s not a perfect measuring system, given the vast distances in space. I suppose it is possible that they were off by a significant amount, but this…I just can’t believe how close they are. Alpha Centauri is supposed to be over four light years away, but we’ve only travelled a fraction of that distance. A small fraction.”

“That would certainly make all of the supposed alien sightings more plausible,” Clarice noted with a laugh. “If stars aren’t actually as far away as they thought.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Aria frowned as she thought. “If demons and angels are a thing, would aliens be able to just pop into our world without any interference from either entity?”

“What makes you think there isn’t interference?” Clarice asked wryly. “How many UFO stories are about flying saucers getting shot down by the military? It could be that they are being attacked by the demons on our world when they visit.”

“Wait a minute,” Aria held up a hand as she had a sudden idea. “Remember how the demons on earth couldn’t seem to fly?”

“You think the UFO’s are the demons travelling between worlds?” Clarice asked, her eyes widening. “They’re not aliens after all, they’re just demons traversing between worlds.”

“There is one coming this way,” Calypso warned them with a nod ahead of them. “Maybe you can find out now.”

Aria didn’t see anything until she switched to her spiritual sight. Then she saw a classical flying saucer moving toward them quickly.

“What should we do if they attack?” Lexi asked anxiously.

“Let’s try to get the pilots out safely, without killing them,” Clarice instructed tersely. “Aria’s right. We need answers. I doubt they have any weapons that can harm us.”

They came to a stop and waited for the disc shaped craft to arrive. It didn’t take long, appearing right in front of them a few seconds later. It was over a thousand feet in diameter and had an outer ring adorned with colored lights that were spinning around the inner disk. Aria could sense an intense electromagnetic field surrounding the craft. Heat radiated away from the vessel. She peered through the physical shell at the pilots inside. They were clearly demons, similar to the ones that had tried to abduct them. Their physical bodies appeared to be human, but their spiritual form was a mass of writhing snake-like energy. The writhing snakes seemed much less frenetic than the ones they had previously destroyed.

Aria felt energy build up on a track that was on the inner disc. “I think they are getting ready to fire on us.”

“Calypso, can you teleport us inside of the craft?” Clarice asked calmly.

Aria blinked as she suddenly found herself inside of the vessel. They were in a small hallway with sleek walls and flooring. The vessel appeared to be seamless, with no sign of joints, bolts, or other flaws, as if it was one piece.

Clarice marched forward through what appeared to be a door made of energy. Aria quickly followed her, arriving in what had to be the bridge. There were four demons sitting in a circle on captain chairs. She was surprised at how weak the demon stench was. There were no control panels, buttons, screens, or anything else she would have expected on a ship. The pilots wore helmets that she could sense were connected to the ship, exchanging information based on thought patterns.

“We’re going to play a game,” Clarice told the pilots coldly. “The first person to answer my questions gets to live.”

The pilots leaped out of their seats and spun around to face them in shock. They waved their hands in front of their chests and a beam of light arced toward Clarice. She easily dodged it, allowing it to hit the wall behind her with a sizzling hiss. Aria stared at the small squares on their chests where the light had originated. She blasted the devices in less than a second, leaving the pilots staggering in surprise.

Clarice flashed through the ship, tearing off helmets before the pilots had time to raise their hands to defend themselves. Human faces with reptilian eyes stared back at her in fear.

“Do you understand what I’m saying, or do I need to make you understand?” Clarice asked them grimly.

“We understand,” the tallest of their number answered nervously in an accent that sounded eerily close to Russian. He was slowly reaching toward his pocket as he spoke.

Aria flashed forward and emptied his pocket, pulling out a small token with a button on it. “What’s this, a distress call?”

The man shrank back from her, his eyes bulging in surprise at her sudden appearance.

“It’s time to start our game,” Clarice told them with a cold smile. “First question. What is your name?”

The tallest demon blinked at her question. He licked his lips before hesitantly answering. “Rodek.”

“What is your job?” Clarice asked, her golden eyes boring into him.

“To monitor the system for anomalies or intruders,” Rodek answered, his eyes riveted to Clarice’s golden gaze.

“What is your favorite color?” Clarice demanded, her face taking on an even more fierce glare.

The demon paused, a confused crease appearing on his brow. “My favorite color?”

“Judas priest, Clarice, can you be serious for once?” Aria sighed in exasperation. “What the hell are you quoting Monty Python for?”

“We’re on ‘the bridge’,” Clarice told her archly, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “You know, ‘the Bridge of Death’? I couldn’t not ask those questions.”

Aria facepalmed with a groan, shaking her head in resignation. “We travel hundreds of millions of miles from earth through space, board a demon piloted flying saucer, and your first action is to start quoting Monty Python?”

Clarice thought for a moment and then nodded. “Yes, that is correct.”

“Monty Python?” one of the other pilots repeated questioningly, his voice hesitant. “With the coconuts?”

“You see that?” Clarice shouted triumphantly, pointing at the pilot who had spoken. “It’s such a freaking classic that even alien demons have seen it!”

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Calypso asked Lexi in bewilderment.

“She’s quoting a movie from earth, I think,” Lexi replied with a small smile. “I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard of it.”

“Of course she is,” Calypso said wryly. “That’s our Clarice.”

“So do you demons stay in close contact with the demons on earth?” Clarice asked Rodek with a raised eyebrow. “Clearly you exchange pop culture.”

“Well…,” the pilot shrugged uncomfortably. “We are not supposed to, but sometimes things find their way between worlds.”

“Ah, smuggling,” Aria nodded her understanding. “What territories are you monitoring? Just this star system?”

“Yes, that is correct,” Rodek nodded agreeably. He clearly wanted to stay on the good side of his overpowered ‘guests’.

“Well, Rodek, we’re looking for something called the Lore Boar,” Clarice told him conversationally. “Ever heard of it?”

“It is a myth,” Rodek replied with a shrug. “They say it can answer any questions you have, if you provide it with exquisite food or entertainment.”

“And this mythical creature is supposed to reside where?” Clarice asked probingly.

“They say it resides in Eden, where humans were first seeded,” Rodek answered, relaxing slightly as the angels appeared to be acting cordially. “Somewhere in the Sol system.”

“Well, I guess we went too far then,” Clarice declared with a put upon sigh. She looked at the pilots, her gaze hardening. “I would suggest you forget you ever saw us. I’m letting you live, since you have good taste in comedy, but if I find out you’ve blabbed our whereabouts to anyone…” she left the threat hanging in the air.

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“Seen who?” Rodek asked nervously. He turned to his fellow pilots. “I didn’t see anybody, did you?”

“Good man…er…demon,” Clarice corrected awkwardly. “Calypso?”

The ship vanished as Calypso teleported them out into space again. The vessel was several hundred miles away from them.

“I’m impressed at your restraint,” Aria told Clarice admiringly. “I thought you were going to kill all of them.”

“I thought about it,” Clarice frowned, glancing back at the vessel in the distance. “They didn’t stink like the other demons did though. I get the feeling the more evil they are the worse they stink.”

“It would be nice if there were a way to allow demons to be redeemed as angels again,” Calypso commented with a troubled look. “Especially if they were former angels who were forced into becoming demons. I’m not sure I can accept that there isn’t a way.”

“I wouldn’t accept it,” Aria encouraged her with a confident grin. “You’re a freaking Seraph. If you want to redeem a demon, that demon is going to be redeemed.”

Calypso smiled winsomely at her. “With the three of you by my side, I’m sure I will be able to.”

“So where do you think Eden is?” Clarice asked curiously. “I haven’t spent much time studying religions for obvious reasons, so I’m kind of clueless in this arena.”

“We could always bug Mom and Dad,” Aria suggested with a mocking smile. “It must have been weird growing up before the internet and not having a way to research anything without going to a library. It must have taken forever to get anything done.”

“In ten years, people are going to talk about how we grew up before AI became intelligent, and how long it took to find anything out with search engines,” Clarice noted dryly.

“True,” Aria agreed, smiling faintly. “Okay, so back to the cabin?”

“I want to stop at Saturn on the way,” Clarice announced with a hint of steel in her eyes. “Let’s see if this Order of Saturn has its origins on the actual planet of Saturn. They clearly have interstellar travel, so they have likely inhabited the other planets to some extent.”

“Let’s go to the hexagon at the pole,” Aria suggested eagerly. “I want to see for myself the kind of weather pattern that can form a hexagon for hundreds of years.”

It didn’t take them more than a few minutes to reach the ringed planet. They stared down at the enormous cyclone in the center of the hexagon. With her spiritual eyes, Aria could easily see the ropes of energy that spread out from the hexagon, shooting out into the rings. The rings were resonating with the energy, emitting a harmonic that radiated out into the rest of the solar system.

“What is that resonance doing, do you suppose?” Clarice wondered with a calculating gaze. “It seems to be affecting the entire solar system.”

“I noticed that too,” Aria murmured, studying the resonance curiously. “It seems to be affecting matter in an odd way, kind of like when you put sand on a vibrating metal plate and it forms patterns.”

“The center of the vortex leads into the inside of the planet,” Calypso informed them as she stared into it intently.

“It’s a gas giant,” Aria objected with a puzzled look at Calypso. “There shouldn’t be and inside to this planet.”

“I think we need to forget about everything we were taught in school,” Clarice advised critically. “Clearly they were either very wrong, or they were purposely obfuscating the truth.”

“Agreed,” Aria nodded slowly. “I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time learning things that I have to unlearn now.”

“Shall we investigate?” Calypso asked suggestively, eyeing the center of the cyclone eagerly.

“Why not?” Clarice laughed enthusiastically. “I’m so ready to go explore another planet.”

They shot down into the vortex at terrific speeds, unaffected by the torrential winds blowing around them.

“Ah shit,” Clarice cursed at the same time that Aria noticed the colors of their clothing was quickly bleeding out as they plunged past the gaseous hydrogen and into the denser part of the atmosphere. While the wind didn’t affect them or their clothing, the temperature and chemical composition of the atmosphere did.

“I hope Tamra has some new clothes ready for us when we get back,” Aria lamented plaintively. “I totally forgot what the pressure down here would do to our clothes.”

“We seriously need to evolve an ability to protect our clothing,” Clarice declared with a sigh. “At least I’ll get a good show.”

Aria shook her head resignedly, resisting the urge to try and cover herself as Clarice leered at her.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Clarice yelled at Calypso bitterly.

Aria laughed when she saw that Calypso had used her shapeshifting ability to appear clothed. “Okay, we don’t need to evolve to protect our clothes, we just need to become shapeshifters like Calypso.”

The last remnants of their clothing disintegrated as they plunged deep into the cyclone and the pressure became dramatically higher. The vortex was a thing of beauty, with shades of gold, amber, and cream swirling around them. Sunlight filtered through the top, producing dramatic shadows and light rays. It became hazier as they descended deeper, and they could see flashes of electrical discharges in the distance.

When they had plunged several thousand miles inside of the vortex, the storm suddenly subsided as the temperature began to rise. They slowed their descent as they reached a large, clearly artificial platform of immense proportions.

“Well, it looks like somebodies been here,” Clarice observed as she landed on the metallic surface. “Looks like this thing is creating the main vortex.”

Aria switched to her spiritual eyes, gasping as she discovered the powerful electrical currents rotating around below them. The platform was shaping and amplifying the electromagnetic currents as it wove them into a spiral pattern.

“Somebody created this to generate that resonance we observed pinging the rest of the solar system,” Aria remarked, studying the electromagnetic field below them. “This giant circuit seems to be manipulating the planetary magnetic field to produce that vortex. I wonder what would happen if we turned it off.”

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea,” Clarice warned her with a frown. “We don’t know if this is the work of demons, a creator, or some alien species. For all we know it could be keeping the earth safe from something dangerous.”

“I don’t think so,” Calypso disagreed, shaking her head slowly. “This is a demon construct. I can feel the dissonance it is creating. It is wrong.”

“That makes things easy then,” Clarice announced brightly. “Let’s vaporize it.”

Calypso nodded slowly. “I think we should.”

“Okay, let’s get vaporizing,” Clarice grinned enthusiastically. “Aria, I think you’ve got the most powerful blaster. Let’s see what those hourglass eyes can do to this thing.”

Aria grinned back at her sister, floating up above the platform several miles. She relaxed the restraints she had on the condensed energy inside of her eyes as the other’s flew up to her level. A wire-thin beam of light shot down into the platform. She kept the beam firing as she moved the beam from one said to the other. The platform was several hundred miles in size. After a minute of nonstop firing, she paused to observe the effects. The platform was rippling like a heatwave as it underwent de-molecurization, the chemical bonds unraveling in an expanding chain reaction as the entire platform sublimated. The process was complete within a few minutes.

“It looks like the vortex is undergoing cyclosis,” Aria observed as she watched the planetary electromagnetic field blast upward without being transformed by the macro circuit she had destroyed. The swirling funnel of hydrogen and helium was no longer maintaining its intensity. It was slowing even as they watched.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Aria muttered absently. “The vortexes are powered by thermal gradients, not EM fields. How did removing that oversized antenna shut the vortex down?”

“That would depend on the other trace elements in the atmosphere too, wouldn’t it?” Clarice asked with a raised eyebrow. “I read an article about cloudseeding where they dropped barium in the atmosphere and then zapped the sky with powerful EM fields to ionize the atmosphere.”

“This is hydrogen and helium, not oxygen and water,” Aria shook her head, her brows creased. “There are trace hydrocarbons in the atmosphere as well, but that still shouldn’t account for this dramatic change in the cyclone’s decay. There must have been something else going on with that circuit to create the vortex in the first place.”

“Okay, Professor, we can puzzle this out later,” Clarice told her with a sardonic smile. “Quit showing your education off and let’s get back to Earth. I’m curious to see if this has affected anything there.”

“Okay, fine,” Aria sighed, reluctantly following them back up the vortex. “I suppose we should go straight to Tamra’s house.”

“Yes,” Lexi agreed quickly. Her cheeks had been varying shades of red since their clothing had disintegrated.

Clarice gave a sultry laugh that set Lexi to a deeper shade of red, but didn’t argue.

It only took a minute to get to Tamra’s. All of the lights except the porch light were out, and Aria realized that it was quite late. It was hard to keep track of time when they had perfect color night vision.

“Should we wake her up?” Lexi asked hesitantly. “I don’t want to ruin her sleep.”

“She’s not sleeping,” Calypso muttered, her face bright red.

“Don’t tell me,” Clarice grinned slyly. “She has a friend over for the night.”

Calypso nodded, avoiding Clarice’s eyes.

“They didn’t waste any time, did they?” Aria noted with a wicked grin. “Remember when I told you what a horn dog was, Calypso?”

“I suggest we go back to the cabin and make do with some of our old clothes until morning,” Calypso suggested carefully, ignoring Aria’s question.

“Fine,” Aria sighed in mock exasperation. “We won’t interrupt the love birds this time.”

“I’m totally fine waiting,” Clarice told them with a lascivious grin.

A portal opened up on the third floor balcony and Calypso went through without another word, Lexi right on her hills.

“After you,” Clarice gestured magnanimously.

“Not likely, you perv,” Aria snorted, pushing her sister through the portal.

“You’re no fun,” Clarice pouted as she stumped through with a sigh.

“How was outer space?” their mother’s voice asked from several rooms down. “Did you lose your clothes again?”

“Yeah,” Aria replied with a defeated laugh. “We seriously need to get another upgrade that protects our clothes from damage. Either that or get Calypso’s shapeshifting ability.”

“Tamra won’t be available until morning, so we’re going to make due with sheets or bras again,” Clarice told their mother. “I’m all for the bra club though.”

“Did you girls do anything…extreme.. about twenty minutes ago?” their father asked pointedly.

“Yeah,” Aria answered, her brows creasing. “Why, what happened here?”

“We’re not sure,” he answered slowly. “Something seemed to fundamentally change though. It’s almost like a blanket of negative energy was removed that I hadn’t realized was there until it was gone.”

“We stopped by Saturn and destroyed a giant antenna inside the pole,” Clarice informed them nonchalantly. “It seemed to be sending out some kind of resonance to the rest of the solar system, but we weren’t sure what it did.”

There was a long pause before her father spoke again. “You went to Saturn?”

“Oh, we went a lot further than Saturn,” Clarice replied with a laugh. “We went all of the way to Alpha Centauri.”

“Is your sister messing with me?” their father asked Aria plaintively.

“Nope,” Aria grinned. “But it’s not as amazing as it sounds. Alpha Centauri isn’t actually four light years away. Not even close. Someone has either made a huge blunder with astronomical measurements or purposely misled everyone about the distances to other stars.”

“Really?” their father asked in sudden excitement. “Was it populated?”

“We didn’t actually go to any of the planets,” Aria responded with a wry chuckle. “We ended up boarding a flying saucer piloted by demons. Your daughter started spouting Monty Python at them.”

“I’m going to need more context than that,” their father informed her critically.

“We were on the bridge of the ship,” Clarice told him innocently. “So, I asked them three questions they had to get right to live.”

There was silence for several seconds, broken by a groan from their mother.

“What was their favorite color?” their father asked, clearly struggling not to laugh.

“Aria interrupted before they could answer that question,” Clarice replied bitterly. Her voice suddenly brightened. “But one of the demon pilots had seen Monty Python. It’s such a classic that it’s even popular in other star systems.”

“What happened to your clothes this time?” their mother asked curiously.

“I forgot about the extreme pressure the cyclone on Saturn would cause when we dropped inside of it,” Aria explained ruefully. “On a brighter note, the astronomy community is going to have a lot to talk about once they notice the hexagon on the pole is gone.”

“You broke Saturn?” their father asked levelly.

“No, just some construct the demons had put down inside the pole,” Aria replied nonchalantly. “It was about the size of a city and was responsible for the hexagon. I vaporized it because it seemed like a good idea. No big deal.”

“I think the power’s going to her head,” their father said sadly.

“It is,” Clarice agreed with a smile in her voice. “It shoots out of her eyes.”

“Just let it lie, dear,” their mother warned in an amused tone.

“Did you get everything set up, Mom?” Clarice asked cryptically.

“I sure did,” she replied indulgently. “Why don’t you girls get dressed and come down to the library. If any of you need some help getting wrapped up, give me a holler.”

“Clarice?” Aria prompted expectantly. “What’s going on?”

“Hard to say,” Clarice replied airily. “Perhaps we should just do what Mom said and take our cute little butts down to the library.”

“I don’t remember saying anything about cute little butts,” their mother noted dryly.

“I’m just rephrasing what you meant rather than what you said,” Clarice explained helpfully.

Aria quickly dressed, reluctantly donning a bra, then blurring down to the library. She laughed when she saw the giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXI letters hanging from the ceiling. There were board games set up on several tables and a movie projector displaying a streaming service on one of the white walls. There were party streamers and decorations all over the room.

She turned as she heard Lexi join her. Her eyes went wide as she looked at all of the festive decorations and activities.

“Happy belated birthday, Lexi,” their mother told her with a soft smile. “We were a little late, but here we are.”

Lexi stared in surprise for a moment longer before her eyes filled with quicksilver tears and she rushed forward to hug their mother. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice filled with gratitude.

“It was my pleasure,” their mother told her gently, pulling her in tightly. “This was Clarice’s idea. She asked me to get all of this stuff while I was shopping earlier.”

“And as you can see, she’s the best mom in the world,” Clarice declared fondly, joining her mother and embracing the two of them.

“Yeah, she really is,” Lexi agreed, her voice thick with emotion. “You are the most amazing family in the world.”

“In the cosmos now,” Clarice grinned. “Happy birthday, Lexi. We are so glad you joined us.”

Aria smiled fondly at Clarice, reflecting once again that she had the best sister in the cosmos. She turned as she heard Calypso enter the library. She had brought her own harp with her. Her eyes were filled with happiness as she set it down near the table.

“I just realized that I could just teleport to the storage shed to get my instruments,” Calypso explained with a radiant smile. “This harp has always been special to me. I feel like I just regained the use of a missing limb.”

Aria stared at the harp curiously. It was made from a type of brilliantly white wood that she didn’t recognize. “Where did you get that harp from, originally?”

“My father found it at the tree my parents found me at,” Calypso replied, fondly stroking the frame. “He had found it there a few years before they found me. That’s one of the reasons he visited that particular spot. It was like a holy place for him.”

“What kind of wood is that frame made from?” Aria asked quizzically. “I’ve never seen a harp made from wood that color.”

“I have no idea,” Calypso shrugged with a helpless smile. “I’ve never actually played it. My father wouldn’t let me touch it. When he died, I decided to honor his wish and not play it. However, I have a new family now and I think tonight’s celebration calls for some special music.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Aria grinned with anticipation. Listening to Calypso play live would never get old.

The next several hours were filled with merriment as they played game after game, watched movies, and told stories. As it neared morning they convinced Calypso that it was time to play her harp for them. She blushed as she looked at the small group gazing at her.

“I’m not used to playing in front of people,” Calypso murmured shyly.

“Just imagine we’re all in our underwear,” Clarice suggested mischievously. “Oh yeah, we are.”

Lexi laughed uproariously, wiping tears from her eyes. It had been an emotionally charged night for her, soaking up the love and cheer.

The room grew quiet in anticipation as Calypso arranged the harp. With another shy smile, she began to play.

Aria shivered as tingles shot up her spine as the first sequence of notes filled the room. It was unlike any sound she had ever heard from a harp. Each string she plucked felt like her soul was being plucked. It reverberated around the room with a resonating power that shook her to the core. Clarice and the others were just as shaken as they watched in awe as Calypso played the first sequence of notes. Calypso closed her eyes and began to sing. Aria gasped as power flooded into her soul like a damn bursting. Colorful discharges of energy flashed around them, reminiscent of the auroras as they rippled through the air. Aria felt paralyzed as the power rushed through her in a torrent, filling her soul to bursting. As she felt her soul reach capacity, her meridians warped and began to morph into a lattice of multidimensional runes at each node. She felt her wings transform into the same gossamer thin membranes as Calypso, with a second set appearing nested within the first. Her hands and feet vibrated with energy, and she felt a newfound sense of authority written into her limbs. The energy lines throughout the world were no longer just visible to her spiritual eyes; they were joined by multidimensional layers that she instinctively knew led to other realms she could now travel to.

As her heightened spiritual vision matured, she felt the presence of Grodek watching with rapt intensity. There were tears in his demon eyes as the overpowering melody wove a fabric of divine love with Calypso’s ethereal voice.

The world could have shattered into dust, and Aria wouldn’t have noticed as the song escalated into an exquisite tapestry of indescribable sublime beauty. As the song finally reached its end, Aria realized that all of them were glowing brilliantly.

Calypso stood with a rapturous smile on her face for a moment longer before opening her eyes. She blinked when she saw the glowing and transformed angels in front of her, tears running down their faces.

“I…I…I” Clarice couldn’t voice her thought. She was too shaken by the powerfully divine performance to articulate a comprehensible sentence.

“Are you all okay?” Calypso asked in sudden concern.

“Calypso,” Aria whispered in awe. “That was divine.”

The others nodded slowly, their eyes filled with reverence.

Calypso looked gratified, her face lighting up with a pleased smile.

“I think that harp might be one of the instruments Grodek was hinting at,” Aria announced as she finally found her voice. “I’ve never felt so much power. Not even close.”

The others were a little longer to recover, with Clarice finding her voice finally. “Yeah, that thing was reaching into my soul and mining for gold. I feel like I just went through twenty evolution cycles.”

“I’ll bet you did,” the snarky voice of an imp laughed. “That harp was made from the Tree of Life.”