Chapter Twenty-Nine
Neith
“Fuck. Okay, I was surprised that she had managed to find me, but since she’s an old friend, I hadn’t questioned it,” Pete explains.
“We think that she may be under the control of Casimir, so you need to be really careful around her,” I add with a worried frown.
Pete nods, “Understood. You don’t know if she knows that you were the ones to free him?”
“No, we don’t,” Ransom replies this time.
“Well, in that case, it’s probably not a good idea for you to hang around here just in case,” he says.
“Don’t get me wrong, I would love to catch up properly, and spend some real time with you, Neith, with all of you, but I will not put your lives at risk to do so, and if Murray is being controlled by Casimir then we don’t want him to put two and two together, even if it is unlikely that he knows that you exist.”
“Wait, does Murray not know? I thought that she did?” I ask.
I could have sworn that Sully said that she knew, but maybe I’m remembering that wrong, or maybe Sully has the wrong information.
Pete shakes his head, “No, fortunately not. One day, we will be able to spend proper time together, and I can tell you all about your mom.”
“I would really like that,” I reply, swallowing thickly as emotion clogs my throat.
Pete smiles, and then his eyes move to my left, where Baz has been standing silently observing us.
“I know you,” he surprises us all by saying.
“You do?” Baz asks, the tension heavy in his voice.
Pete frowns, “I think so, but I’m not sure. It’s like this isn’t you.”
“What?” I ask because he’s not making much sense at all.
He shakes his head, “I’m sorry, it doesn’t make any sense at all. Part of my gift is that I am extremely good at seeing through glamours, and his is so fucking strong that I can’t see through it, but I can feel that it’s there.”
“Can you break it?” Raiden asks. “The glamour?”
Pete frowns, “Probably, but it will most likely hurt a lot. It’s stronger than any that I have broken before.”
“Do it,” Baz replies with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever.
“Are you sure, man?” Van asks with concern.
Baz nods, “This may be my only chance to get some answers. I didn’t even know that I had a glamour on. Maybe if I had that removed, it would help jog my memories too.”
“You didn’t know, and you have memory loss?” Pete asks with concern.
“Yes,” Baz replies simply.
“That complicates things. I can use my magic to see what I can find, but I may not be able to remove the glamour on you,” Pete explains.
Baz nods, “I’ll try anything at this point.”
“Alright,” Pete says as he moves forward and holds his hand out.
Baz grasps Pete’s forearm, and Pete looks at him in surprise but doesn’t mention it. I have no idea what that was about and now is probably not the time to ask about it.
“What now?” Baz asks.
“This will be uncomfortable, but don’t fight me,” Pete warns, and Baz nods.
We all tense as we feel Pete’s magic, and then Baz grunts, falling to his knees as Pete keeps a strong grip on Baz’s forearm.
I want to intervene, it’s obvious that whatever Pete is doing isn’t simply uncomfortable but is hurting Baz.
However Baz is right, and this is probably his only chance to get some answers, and he’s not screaming in pain, so I hold myself back.
Finally, Pete pulls back, and Baz falls on his ass, breathing heavily. I rush to his side, and he smiles as I tip his head in my direction so I can study his features and make sure that he’s okay.
“I’m okay,” he tells me softly as he kisses my palm.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“I promise,” he replies.
I look at Pete, “So, can you remove the glamor?”
Pete looks extremely confused, and he shakes his head, “It’s not technically a glamor. It’s really difficult to explain,” he glances at Baz, “are you okay with me speaking freely in front of them?”
“They are my family, yes,” Baz replies.
Pete smiles, “You went through something extremely traumatic, and as a result, your magic protected you by making you forget. Except in order to do that, it couldn’t pick and choose what you remembered. It wiped all of your past and created a separate being that exists when you’re asleep.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Raiden asks with pure shock.
Pete scrubs a hand over his face, “As I said before, it’s really difficult to explain. When Baz is asleep, he effectively disappears, this is when the other part of him then materializes.”
“That’s insane,” Reed exclaims.
“It is incredibly rare,” Pete admits. “It is definitely what is happening here though.”
“Does this other me remember?” Baz asks.
Pete nods, “Yes. Something else you should know is that what you look like now is not what you actually look like, and neither is the other form, although I would imagine that your other form has a closer resemblance to what you really look like since it has all of your memories. When you merge the two sides of you, then you will see your true self again.”
“So we need to find this other guy, but we can only do it while Baz is asleep?” Doc asks.
“No, they exist as one. So while Baz is awake, the other part of him is sleeping within him and vice versa,” Pete adds.
“Is it something that can be fixed? You said that the two sides need to merge again?” Baz asks.
Pete shakes his head, “I can’t fix the connection, but Doc can.”
“Excuse me?” Doc asks, completely baffled as we all look at him questioningly.
Pete nods, “You have fixed a similar connection before, although admittedly on a much smaller scale.”
Doc’s confused frown deepens.
“Shit, you mean Rana, don’t you?” Coen asks suddenly.
Pete nods, “Yes.”
Baz looks at Doc. “You don’t have to.”
“Fuck off, man, of course I do. Stay still,” Doc says.
“Whoa, wait a minute, we’re going to this now?” Van asks as he steps forward to stop Doc.
“I would rather do it in front of someone who sort of knows what is going on,” Doc points out and looks at Pete.
“I may be able to help if something does go wrong,” Pete confirms. “You do need to hurry though, Murray is still a threat.” He looks down at his watch and relaxes slightly, “We should have a little more time.”
“Right,” Doc says, he looks at me, “Neith, I’m going to need you to move away from us both just in case.”
I nod and reluctantly move backward, refusing to take my eyes off of Baz and Doc as Reed’s arms wrap around me tightly.
Doc smiles reassuringly and then looks at Baz, “Are you ready, man?”
“Let’s do this,” he grins. “I think I might stay on the ground. Just in case.”
“I think that’s smart,” Pete agrees with a slight grimace that makes me extremely nervous.
We stay silent as we watch Doc place his hand on the sides of Baz’s head, his eyes close, and so do Baz’s as Doc’s magic begins to build.
When it builds past the point where it has ever gotten before, I start to panic. Not that it would take a lot to make me panic right now.
“It’s taking a long time,” River says anxiously.
“It will take a while, it is not an easy thing to restore a connection that isn’t just worn but completely severed,” Pete replies calmly.
I decide that I’m going to take my cues from him. He doesn’t seem worried, so I’m not going to be.
Doc’s magic continues to build, and both of their bodies become rigid with tension as sweat drips down both of their brows, and grimaces of pain cross their features.
I don’t like this.
It feels dangerous, like I could lose them.
Blood starts to drip down Doc’s face from his nose, and my panic hits new heights. I take a step forward, Reed following me and getting ready to intervene as well, but before we can get any closer, Baz cries out, light consumes him, and Doc gets thrown back.
Raiden throws himself into the air, his wings snapping out as he catches Doc before he hits the tree with serious force. Enough force that it would have broken bones.
Once I know that he’s safe, I turn to look at Baz only to shield my eyes as the light lifts him up off the ground, the wind wrapping around him, driving the debris of the forest floor into a frenzy as it swirls around him, obscuring him from view.
Suddenly, the world stills, the light dims, and Baz drops to the ground, landing in a crouch.
He flips his now shoulder-length black hair back off his face, and I gasp.
“Zephyr?” I whisper.
He looks like Zephyr, but not. He has Baz’s purple eyes, and is bulkier than Zephyr is, he’s more feral looking and less refined too, but there’s no mistaking that Baz currently bears a striking resemblance to Zephyr.
“What the fuck is happening?” River exclaims loudly.
“Kyrous?” Pete asks in hushed tones that have all of us freezing because there is no fucking way.
Baz, or Zephyr, or Kyrous? Grins, “Good to see you again, Bhaltair.”