Trying To Save This Blog!

So I do another pointless post.

Salvage

Post

If you come here first, check order of volumes

http://vergilxanon.blogspot.com/2010/10/xanon-chronicles.html

This is the 4th book of series

The White City

The White City



Introduction





I, Vergil Xanon, Macha, Thanatos, Stefan and Kevalyn had been in The White City for a while. We’d learned our neighbourhood well, and found the locale very vast. For every building, there was at least three times as much open space. Though we didn’t need to eat, and most of the inhabitants of the place didn’t, half the trees on the sidewalks were fruit trees. There were no vehicles of course, although there were narrow roadways of a smooth white brick of a substance that doesn’t exist on Earth. Someone might want to take a walk with an animal comrade, and that might be a horse, a Siberian tiger, a sable antelope, or even an elephant. Roads were required for that.

We’d managed to get two more floors of the building that Thanatos was staying in. Macha and Stefan were very insistent on getting themselves another set of bedrooms, and that was impossible on the top floor. Hesper, who was the only pony who ever wanted to be inside with us, was just as insistent on getting another sunken whirlpool, and we needed two floors for that, not to mention we had to make some major modifications to the building to get the spa on the twelfth and eleventh floor. Hey! One story didn’t cut it for an underground whirlpool unless you were on the ground level, and we didn’t want that.

So we ended up taking over two entire stories for the acquisition of three rooms, which we blocked off from the rest, with an extra wall and a private stairway. As for the rest of the two stories, we simply got rid of all the doors, hung up more of our art, put in plants, benches, fountains, and declared it communal. It was like an indoor park. There were no glass windows to the outside, so we oft had avian visitors.

Our move was a hit with the fellow dwellers of the building. The nine households we'd asked to relocate thought the benefits we provided made up for the minor 'inconvenience' of moving to another flat in the same edifice.

The only one of our gang, who was now doing anything for anyone else, was Thanatos. Though no longer acting as psychopomp except for rare extenuating circumstances, he was as busy as ever, getting his own slant on evolution through to various eras of the Earth, via worthy channels who were interested, not that I’ll be dwelling on this.

There was one other benefit to being here, that not even Thanatos had told us of. All of us were now rather well integrated, as far as all of our former lives went. That made for a few subtle personality changes, all for the better, even though some of it was a bit for the weirder; not that this was necessarily a bad thing.



























Chapter 1





Stefan, Thanatos, and I sat in the garden on top of the roof. We were on a stone bench by some lush rose bushes, in a huge rectangular white marble ‘flowerpot’. They were as fragrant as they come, and every colour under the rainbow, except shades of green. Yes, Stefan oft called the plants ‘noses.’ Some things never change.

No, none of us held a teacup. Some things do change.

We rarely had tea anymore. In fact, Thanatos and Macha had given it up completely, and the only one not too up to phasing it out was Kevalyn. Stefan and I still enjoyed a cup occasionally, but that was becoming more rare. The bonding aspect of the tea rituals had gone by the wayside, since we were so much closer to being one, not only with the rest of our five member ‘family,’ but with the whole city. It was real cool! If we thought of anyone, we’d get an acknowledgment from whom we were thinking of, generally accompanied by something akin to ‘Wassup good buddy?’ or whatever. We were more in tune with the animals, as well. Our inter-species differences were breaking down. (A thing I won’t write much about.)

Thanatos got the coveted middle seating this time, of course, with everyone wrapped around each other. “I can’t believe how stupid I was,” said Stefan, again doing pointless dwelling on what was.

“Uninformed, is the word,” said Thanatos. The philosophical ramble starts.

Stefan leaned his head against Thanatos’ shoulder. “I could have evolved so much faster if I’d had the real information available to me, instead of spending so many lives fed nothing but lies and illusions.”

“Stefan, how many times have we talked about this? I can’t believe you’re still bitching about it.”

“I just wonder if the three of us could have gotten together any sooner if I’d known more.”

Thanatos gave Stefan a quick kiss on the temple. “Maybe we wouldn’t have gotten together at all if you’d known more.”

“If I were Chaos, I wouldn’t have things as they are.”

Thanatos chuckled. “Stef, if you were Chaos, there would be no point to life.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I had to ask.

“Since when was stagnation good?” asked Thanatos of me.

“What’s worse? Stagnation, or countless suffering?! Watching your husband or kid hacked to death in front of you, getting raped, or even being forced to eat parts of yourself, as happened in some cultures in some wars?” asked Stefan.

“Apparently stagnation, though I’m glad that’s not my decision, or my problem.” said Thanatos. “Like you, I’m under the impression I too would have stayed as One, unlike my Grandparent. I don’t like seeing things in pain any more than you, but perhaps that’s why we are only part of The Source, instead of The Source Itself.”

I had to say, “On the other hand, all the bad stuff is behind us. All that’s left for us is creation, love, and the battle for complete integration.”

“Yeah, the three of us all sitting here like this does make all the garbage some of us went through worth while, but I still wonder if it had to be as bad as it was?” asked Stefan.

Thanatos scowled. “Stefan, all of us went through garbage. All the time I was separated from Vergil, by any other name, wasn’t that easy on me.”

“You went as far as to kill yourself the last time.”

Thanatos shrugged. “Even that turned out pretty good.”

“Yeah, our relationship might be a little different if you perpetually wore your original façade of the sixteen year old kid,” said Stefan.

“Hm hm! It might have been easier on you.”

“Past tense, I suppose so, but this version of you is a bit more fun to paint.”

Thanatos looked at Stefan with a mischievous smile. “Uh huh! Only more fun to paint! Yeah, riiiiight. No other issues.”

“I never hear you object over what happened between us,” said Stefan.

“What’s there to object to? For us, the past isn't coming back, and you’re a good boy, now. Artistically, you treat me rather well. Solitary, contemplative warrior; solitary, contemplative scholar; me and Gilgamesh, or me and Vergil in the initial stages of seducing each other, which has always been portrayed quite tastefully, despite the fact that you expect that to happen to a lesser extent than you expect giving George W. Bush a phone call for the same reason of seducing him.” The way he phrased that; caught my attention.

“If I’d eaten, you’d be wearing my lunch, dear,” said Stefan.

“Believe me, I am well aware of that. Stefan, I know you inside and out, and you are so weird that I don’t think even Chaos can innately understand you. I mean, the things you can’t let go of no matter how irrelevant, you know?”

“Thank you.”

Thanatos shook his head. “I’ll never know how I managed to live without your gratuitous insanity, Stef. You are the ultimate trip!”

“Must have been dull. Anyway, what shall we do next? Walk in the park, check out what’s new at the museum, interplanetary exploration, or Akashic Library?”

Thanatos looked at me. “Vergil?”

“I’m feeling kind of un-ambitious. The museum sounds nice. Shall we transfer, or shall we get a head start on our race down the stairs, and see how far Stefan gets this time, when he goes down the rail?”

It was thirteen floors down, with an uninterrupted spiral staircase. Needless to say, one can pick up quite a bit of velocity, and Stefan went sidesaddle most of the time. He didn’t always make it to the bottom, and considering any injuries sustained in any falls were immediately repaired, thereby being inconsequential, we have had a few laughs at Stefan’s expense. Sometimes his accidents were pretty spectacular, but that was rare. Nevertheless, if he crashed, we wanted to be there. If that reckless twit did ever get in over his head, Thanatos did want to be available for a rescue, not that it’s happened yet. Stef seemed to be too good to do something like fall off the rail in the wrong direction.

“I’ll walk, today,” said Stefan. “A zoned Deliah had to throw herself to the opposite side of the stairs to avoid a disaster, the last time I did that alone. Maybe I’ll knock it off for a little while.” Deliah was a good friend of ours. She hung out at our place quite a bit, but she was mostly Stefan’s ‘something of a sort of girlfriend,’ as she called herself.

“Just don’t get too far out of practise,” said Thanatos.

“Not planning on it. Think we can have a fire pole installed here?”

Thanatos had to laugh. “A hundred eighty feet down? Sure! No problem!”

“Stefan, how old are you?!” I asked.

“I think I stopped aging at fifteen.”

I had to chuckle, myself. “Sounds about right. So, what happened between you and Del? You didn’t tell us.”

“I did a charcoal sketch of her as an apology. Next time we go over to her pad, you’ll probably see it in the front room,” said Stefan.

“That was nice of you,” I said.

“She also called me a damn fruit, but at least she said it with a smile.”

I looked at him, and raised my left eyebrow. “You probably didn’t deny it.”

“Hell, no! It’s true! Sometimes. Kinda, sorta, vaguely.”

I looked at Thanatos. “Has this guy destroyed our reputation yet?”

“Can’t destroy what was never there. Note how no one has the slightest interest in you or me for any liaisons other than that of the intellectual or artistic variety.”

“Ah, yes! The benefits of being the main contributors to our local museum!” Thanatos and I disengaged our selves from each other, and I stood up. “Onward?”

“And downward,” said Stefan, as he and Thanatos also unhooked themselves from each other, and stood up.

Stefan made it halfway down the stairs, before he found he couldn’t stand it, and he mounted the rail again. Thanatos and I simply looked at each other, and chuckled. We didn’t go after him, not that we could have kept up sans metaphysical means. Stefan’s ‘little while’ was over as far as abstaining from going down the rail, but at least his slide down was uneventful.



*****



Four new paintings, two new clay sculptures, and a life-sized obsidian leopard we hadn’t seen before. Deliah was in front of the leopard, when we arrived. She knew we were coming. We exchanged our greetings, and Stefan asked, “So how’s work going?”

Deliah shrugged. “Karen’s getting a little fed up. She’s having some trouble with the finances at the moment, and she’s wondering if being my channel is even worth the extra trouble.”

“Common problem,” said Stefan. “High stress, non-profit ventures that encourage half the world to call you a lunatic get even the most dedicated idealists down some times.”

“Especially when things never go so great,” said Deliah. “Karen will never fall through the cracks, but she’s never going to be able to devote herself to me completely, either. I’m not pulling any strings to make her wealthy. That would be counter-productive.”

“Work to break even! Boy, can I identify,” said Stefan.

“That’s all you ever wanted to do,” said Deliah. “You gave away everything you didn’t need.”

“True. It was usually pretty easy,” said Stefan. “When I was an Earthling, I made a pretty good salary, from a statistical perspective. I got to relax a little in my last couple of years, and Vergil wasn’t nearly as hard to work for, as you are.”

“Hey!” I objected. “You didn’t work for me!”

Stefan turned to me, and ran his gloved index finger down my nose. “Yes, I did! I worked very hard to seduce you with my art and poetry, and it worked! I now have your company for eternity.”

“Never mind,” I said.

“You guys ought to do poetry readings in the park,” said Deliah.

I chuckled. “Ancient poetry between a mortal and an Irish psychopomp? Here? Del; that will go over like charging people to look at an ant farm.”

“I don’t know. I’ve read your stories three times already, and I sometimes go back to the first book just to read the poetry. I like it.” She pointed to Thanatos. “I wish you’d go back to ‘Keith’. I love that name. Especially the way you guys pronounce it.”

Thanatos shook his head. “No! No way!”

“We’ve had enough with the name changes, the gender changes, the identity changes, and disagreements on how to relate to each other to last through eternity. I think all that’s finally static, and that’s the way we like it,” I said. (Or, so I thought at the time I said this.)

“At least I didn’t call you ‘Donn,’ after I read the stories,” said Deliah. She pointed at the statue. “Isn’t this new cat, great?”

“Beautiful. Reminds me of Percy,” I said.

“I can understand. Percy came by to see me, not too long ago. That cat is one of the best snogging buddies around. I put my nose to his, and I immediately get my face rubbed by his. He also holds my hand down, if I put it down near his front paws, so I don’t go away until he lets me up.”

Stefan looked at Thanatos, “So, was that cat straight out of Egypt before he got reincarnated to rule me?”

Thanatos put his arm around Stefan, and kissed the top of his head. “You know, you can look that up yourself, if it’s so important for you to know.”

“It’s not,” said Stefan, with a smile. He then reached out toward Deliah. “Have you come across any more critical information?”

She stepped forward, and touched her fingertips to Stefan’s. “No.”

Stefan said, “Then let’s hold off on me asking you to go Astral, my dear.”

“Aaargh! You only love me for my mind!”

Actually, Deliah was a raven haired, olive skinned, ebony eyed fox and a half, who even left Macha and Kevalyn in the dust, and Stefan thought she was drop-dead gorgeous, but he just had to say, “What else is there?”

Del stifled a laugh. “Well sheesh! At least I have the decency to love you for your nose.”

“I have no problem with that,” said Stefan.

“Ye gods,” I had to say with a chuckle. “Del! Want to come up to our place after we get out of here?”

“Sure,” said Deliah. “That way, I swear I still get to see half the paintings in this museum. Do you guys have all of your work here?”

“No! Some of it’s a bit too personal,” I said. There was nothing here showing intimacy between us, in the museum.

“Oh yeah! No Stefan as vampire, in the museum. Those are great, and they’re not exploitive. Why not submit them?” asked Deliah.

“Too weird,” said Stefan. “Also, both those pictures cast a slant to our relationship that doesn’t exist.”

Deliah crossed her arms. “You three are lovers. That’s no secret.”

“Not...like...that!” said Thanatos. Uh, technically correct, for now. We've had no ‘physically’ intimate trysts of the controversial variety since we've gotten here. The desires seemed to fade from everyone after our arrival. Fast. The instinct for that sort of behaviour was gone, for it wasn't relevant to this locale. On the other hand, that didn't mean it wasn't done by some. There were still reasons for it, but I'll get into that later. (Just because we gave it up for now, didn't mean we gave it up for good, all right?)

“You guys have the weirdest relationship I ever heard of, but you know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything more beautiful, either,” said Deliah. “It’s so artsy. What Vergil wrote about it is so touching, it almost makes me want to cry.”

“Initially frustrating, but what you say is true, has been repeatedly told to me in my more lusty past, but I’m finally comfortable with how things are,” said Stefan. “Also, I assume after we go up to our place, you’d like some tea.”

“Definitely,” said Deliah. “And I hope those of you who still drink the stuff will join me?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. I did a more intense scan of her. She had an ulterior motive for meeting us. She loved the sketch Stefan had done of her, but she wanted a bit more. I just came out and said it. “You want me to paint you.”

“Do you mind?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. Now as soon as you decide on whether you’d prefer to be portrayed with Stefan or Thanatos, we can start.”

Stefan looked at her. “I think the colour contrast with you and Thanatos would make a better painting. Your hair, you know?”

“Can we slay a dragon together?” She asked Thanatos.

“I like dragons. I don’t like killing things. Can you pick another theme?”

“How about you helping me off of Charon’s ferry, from the side of the Acheron?”

“In this form, which I never wear when on that job, which I hardly ever even do anymore?”

Deliah narrowed her eyes. “Fine! Then you suggest something!”

“How about nothing like the tangent you're on? Why not put all four of us in the painting? How about you and me dancing a reel, with Stefan on flute and Vergil on fiddle?” asked Thanatos.

“How about you in a kilt? Dress us in Scottish clothes?” asked Deliah.

“Sure,” said Thanatos. “I like the Scotties.”

“That OK with you?” asked Deliah of me.

“Fine. Me and Stefan in a kilt, too?” I asked.

“I don’t care. Stef, you mind being pictured in a Tartan skirt?” she asked.

“Yes, but I don’t mind being pictured in a Tartan kilt.”

“When shall we go?” asked Deliah.

“Now’s fine. We’ve seen all the new stuff,” I said.

“Walk or transfer?” asked Stefan.

“Let’s walk,” said Deliah. “Thanatos, how goes your channelling?”

“Fifty seven people. Light load, at the moment. No problem.”



*****



Macha and Kevalyn were on the un-tacked equines that ruled them at the edge of the city, heading toward the ‘wild lands.’

Wild lands! Verdant, lush grass that grew no longer than six inches, and if one were mortal; one couldn’t starve here. Every other tree was a fruit tree, and every berry imaginable grew here. Nothing was touched much, since no one needed it. As I’d previously stated, the dwellers of this plane that still ate were rare, not that we looked down on it. By most, eating was considered a nuisance, rather than a vice. That attitude was destined for everyone, eventually.

“If we keep riding, will we fall off the end of this world?” asked Kevalyn.

Macha chuckled. “Don’t think so. It looks as round as the one we came off of, from what I can see.

“I’d like to explore this place. I can’t imagine The White City being the only inhabited place in this locale. Maybe later, we can transfer all over the place, sight unseen, and check this world out.”

“Or we can ask Thanatos. He’s been here for quite a while, and you can bet anything that he knows.”

“Sometimes it’s more fun finding things out by ourselves, though.”

“True,” said Macha.

Kevalyn stroked her pony. “Nova, when you get sick of this exploratory trip, let me know, huh? You can go any time you want.”

Kevalyn got a whicker back along with a mental message that the stallion had no desire to leave his beloved servant at the moment, and he also looked forward to a tender, lengthy grooming session, when time permitted.

Nova was far from stupid. Why throw away a mellow easy walk in a place he’d never been before, accompanied by a lot of gentle strokes and waves of love, and the promise of a killer rub-down and brushing whenever he wanted it in payment for the enjoyment he was feeling now? Sounded like a great deal, for him. Gods, people could be such ignoramuses.

“The trees get thicker up ahead. Looks like we’re approaching a true forest,” said Macha.

“Black wolf to the right.”

“Beautiful. Shall we stop and pet her?”

Kevalyn dismounted. “Sure. I love wolves.”

Macha also got off her grey mare, and the wolf came bounding toward them, in anticipation of getting some TLC, and being absolutely spoiled. The rest of the pack would be here shortly. This would be the end of the women’s exploration for now. The lupine family loved getting mollycoddled, and they knew just how to keep the two lassies around, until they were satisfied with the attention they’d gotten.

All animals are psych majors, and they aced the courses without effort it seems.



*****



Deliah was almost as much of a fixture in our place as we were. I also knew I was going to have fun with the painting, although I did have to have everyone dress for the occasion. I’d never painted anyone in a kilt before, I hadn’t seen anyone in a kilt in ages, I had no idea what we looked like in them, but that was easy enough to find out. It was the first time out of my black tunic, in time immemorial. I stood before the mirror a moment after changing, memorised it, and went back to my tunic. Stefan had even donned a tam, for the occasion.

Stefan, Thanatos and Deliah stayed in their Tartan outfits, and Deliah and Thanatos fooled around a little, and actually did do a little jig, which also helped me out in positioning them, despite the fact that their primary objective seemed to be to get a few laughs out of us, which they did.

I set up the canvass, and Deliah sat between Stefan and Thanatos. Stef and Del had a cup of tea in hand, and we were all on terms where everyone on the sofa was wrapped around each other to what degree could be, considering two were holding a cup of tea, sans Stefan’s previously mentioned idea of a prehensile tail, temporarily installed for the purpose of holding said cups.

Deliah and Stefan were light snogging buddies, they did engage in Astral information exchanges and Astral make-out sessions, but she hadn’t tried to develop the same sort of relationship she had with Stefan, with anyone else here just yet. Of course, Deliah’s and Stefan’s relationship was physically platonic, for reasons I'd already mentioned.

Deliah had seen me paint many a time before, but she was still amazed at my speed and accuracy. I was having a grand old bit of fun, myself. I hadn’t painted in a while; having worked more on other art projects lately (Stained glass, feather work, glass blowing, and I’d weaved a few tapestries.), and I liked doing it more than ever, now. I was kind of grateful for having been handed a project to work on.

“That’s cute. We ought to get some people together and try to organise an Old World circle dance,” said Deliah. “Maybe Sidhe tradition?”

“Sounds like we’d be stuck being the musicians, and giving dance lessons,” said Thanatos. “We’re the only ones in the neighbourhood who are familiar with the Fey music and the traditional dances, but I’m not wearing this Scots garb, for that. I’d wear traditional Irish clothing.”

“Kevalyn would love performing,” said Stefan.

“I wouldn’t mind, either,” I said. “We could take a tally, and post a note by the main entrance, and see how many are interested. I haven’t been to an Irish celebration since I was a kid, not that I even liked them then, but I think it would be a kick, now.”

“Should we also maybe have a table with a few fruit pies and oatmeal cookies and such?” asked Stefan.

“And a couple of casks of ale and mead, and a few tea kettles?” I added.

“Couldn’t hurt,” said Thanatos. “The worst that can happen is everything remains untouched, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Sheila, Thomas, and Geoff still eat, and I sense they’d go. Let me tell Macha and Kev!”

“Good idea,” I said.

Thanatos closed his eyes, and smiled. “Both would love to perform. Macha sent she’d learn uillean pipes for the occasion.”

I was delighted. “You’re kidding?!”

“Nope!”

“That’s great! Than, do you play pipes?” I asked

“Uh-uh! No intention of learning,” said Thanatos with a look of distaste.

I could understand. I shared his aversion, although I did like the sound of them. They were not the easiest instruments on the planet to play, and they had a limited calling.

“This is gonna be great!” said Deliah. “I love the Irish dances.”

“Good! You can help give lessons, for anyone who’s interested,” said Thanatos.

“Glad to. Make myself useful around here, for a change.”

“Del, we love having you around,” said Stefan. “Gods, after all the stuff you taught me?”

“The advantage of having lived my last life as a Greek Jew, huh?” asked Deliah.

“No stranger than me having been an Illyrian Kraut.”

Deliah chuckled. “They would have had you keel hauled, and hung from the highest yard arm in Saudi Arabia for abandoning your father’s religion, babe.”

“I was never much of a Muslim. I would have made a lousy Jew, too, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a fascination with the Hebrew culture,” said Stefan.

I just finished sketching Deliah. “Stefan; a.k.a. Kyle, was lousy at all dedicated spiritual practices, so she/he/it adopted bits of everything ‘she’d’ read.”

“Seems to be the way to do it,” said Deliah.

“For some,” said Thanatos. “Being devoted to a religion gets quite a few people on the proper track.”

"Though it messes just as many up, if not more," said Stefan.

"This is true," said Thanatos.

I turned to look at them. All three were still in their Tartans. Well, it wasn’t ‘their’ Tartans, being they didn’t really have any. They weren’t Scottish, but Thanatos; showing a bit of questionable humour, did wear the ‘MacLeod’ Tartans, (Corrected Scottish spelling of 'MacLeod', which 'Kyle' had screwed up.) after his alter ego’s adopted identity of ‘Rhynn McLeod’ in Kyle’s original Xanon Chronicles.

I found what Thanatos did vaguely amusing, but not amusing enough to react. Stefan and Deliah would have known of Thanatos’ stunt if they’d been curious, but they weren’t, they didn’t bother to probe, so they were clueless, and I didn’t think it was worth commenting on.

They stayed with me for the entire painting, which was then taken to Deliah’s flat. Thanatos hung it up.



*****



The four of us stayed at Deliah’s for a while, and then went up one floor to the indoor gardens we’d put together. Thanatos commented to Stefan, “You haven’t slept once since you got here. Neither has Macha. It’s like you had us take over two floors for three rooms, two of which you never use, and one which has been installed solely for a sometimes hedonistic Hesper.”

“Thank the gods,” said Deliah. “This place is so cool, like this. I love it, and everyone who moved down to the lower floors thinks it was worth it.” Del, Stef and me sat beside each other.

Stefan shrugged. “I had no idea how many of my priorities would change, or how fast.” He looked at me, smiled, and reached forward toward me. When we touched fingertips, he sent me, ‘We haven’t even done anything other than snog, since we got here. I feel so close to you all the time, whether you’re not even in the same room with me, it doesn’t seem to matter, anymore.’

I got closer to him, and put my arm around him. ‘I know. I don’t even want to get sent to the Lethe, any more, speaking in analogy, of course.’

Stefan already had his other arm around Deliah. “You two are so stunning,” said Stefan to Del and I.

Deliah chuckled. “Be glad I’m not the possessive type, you three timing slut.”

Stefan looked at her. “As if, dude!”

Thanatos chuckled. “Yeah, right! Let’s go to the balcony overlooking the park.”

Stefan blew Thanatos a kiss. “Ayuh, love.” Those of us sitting down, disengaged, and got up.































































































Chapter 2





After we posted the note on our intended outdoor get-together, we got quite a few positive responses, via telepathic means. Sixteen households wanted to actually learn the dances, and the rest planned to either be strictly spectators, or wing it. Hopefully those ‘winging’ it would do a little research, or I was really going to have to focus on my instrument. One could really do a good job making a complete ass of oneself if one jumped in without a clue, and that could be funny enough to make me mess up my playing if I took note.

Me, Macha, Thanatos and Deliah would instruct on the dances. Stefan, strangely enough, would be more student material, though Deliah would teach him alone. Deliah had a fascination with the Celtic cultures that surpassed Stefan’s. Their cross-cultural fascination is what attracted the two in the first place. Actually, it’s the only thing Stefan initially saw in Deliah, though he found her vast intelligence icing on the cake. He wasn’t terribly affected by her striking features, other than liking to use her as a model. She was too feminine for his taste. (Me personally, I’m not sure I ever saw a more beautiful woman in all of my existence. I thought she left Macha, Kevalyn and Etain in the dust.)

Nevertheless, Stef and Del got along damn good. They had a powerful mutual respect for each other, and they were quite affectionate. They were platonic lovers-lite in the High Etheric, with both of them acting very feline. It never got past that while in this realm. Of course, it was no holds barred on the Astral Levels, but that's a whole different animal.

Now, Deliah stole Stefan away from Thanatos and I for some dance lessons.



*****



I couldn’t resist. I opened up my arms to Thanatos. “Alone, at last!”

He came into my embrace, and returned it. “Cool! Now we can go to a dark room, watch Creature Feature reruns while munching on heavily buttered popcorn and home-made root beer as a chaser.”

I chuckled. “You had me going there for a minute, until you mentioned the popcorn and the root beer.”

He kissed me on top of the forehead. “Yeah! I’d rather watch Elvira than Bob Wilkins, anyway.”

“I sense you’re being sarcastic, thank the gods!”

“I’m verifying I’m being sarcastic. So what shall we do with this treasured moment?”

“Skating with you might be nice,” I suggested, as we moved apart.

“We’ll get screamed at for not saving that for an audience. Tennis?”

“Thanatos, I am never playing tennis with you again. It’s like a turtle racing a cheetah for fifty yards. Not only do you have me outgunned in strength, speed, and how far you can leap in a single bound, but if I get hit by one of your returns, I might as well have gotten shot.”

“Sorry about that one incident. I could play strictly defensive.”

“That’s not a game. Or you could take the form you were born with, and maybe add a couple of years, so I don’t have the advantage.”

“And risk getting ravaged by a suddenly re-lit Macha, if we’re busted? I’ll sooner listen to ‘Stairway to Heaven’ as done by Tiny Tim, for an hour.”

I had to laugh. “You’re still not over what she did to you as Keith, even though ‘Keith’ enjoyed most of it. And do you really think Macha has it in her to regress like that?”

He gently placed his hands on my shoulders. “This is Macha the Red, we are talking about. Yes. She won't if I stay as I am, but novelty can do things to an individual, you know? Vergil! A part of me was that woman’s midnight cowboy for over twenty thousand years. Yes, I do love her, and she did do more for me than I could have imagined, but the creature I was before Keith would not have stood for being used like that, and neither will the integrated being standing before you. I NEVER want to share a bed, or a rug, or patch of grass, or whatever with Macha again, and I don’t want to be put in a position where I’d have to fight her off. I don’t want to mess up our transformed relationship, either.” (Uh huh! Suuuuuuuuure.)

“You do forgive her. That, we all know!”

“How can I not? Macha was just being Macha. She’s a wonderful lady, but I don’t want to risk setting off any triggers. I love her too much to want to jeopardise what we have, now. Everything is so damn perfect, but take my word that there is a possibility that she can backslide, and I don’t want to battle with her, in any way, shape or form. The difference of a more adult version of my other form is just too damn attractive. Remember how she reacted to you, after you decided you didn’t want to look like a kid anymore?”

“How can I forget?!”

He wrapped himself around me so tenderly. “Donn!”

“Donn’s of another era. Vergil!”

He ran the back of his right index finger down my right cheek, then ran that hand through my hair. “My dearest Vergil. My love of three lives! This may sound odd coming from me, but while we’re on the subject, this is the last locale, where we can have sex. We’ve never consummated anything, in all our existence. We don’t have that much time, here. Being here is a type of stagnation for us. I know this is a bit out of the blue, but...”

I embraced him back. “Yeah! I know! Just for the experience? Not lust based, but fired by curiosity.”

“Basically. You feel ambivalent, though.”

“No innate desire, but a slight curiosity is there for having you like that. I would only have taken you for the longest time, but… I mean, it was nice with Stephanie, but it’s not that great. It wouldn’t change our relationship, would it?”

He chuckled, and ran his finger down my nose. “It’ll be relatively beautiful. What you did with Stephanie...uh...Stefan, or whatever, didn’t change your relationship, and what you did with...‘her’, is sort of what I had in mind. I’ll feel we missed something, if we don’t, you know?”

I nodded, and smiled. “I think so.” In less than a second, Thanatos was wrapped around me.

He brought us slowly to the floor.

After we touched down, we found ourselves in a grove of trees, with lush grass underneath us.



*****

Like Stefan, or rather Stephanie and I, we took care of each other one at a time. Delicate exploration, lots of mental caresses, and a basic, virtual worship of each other! Thanatos was the passive party, first. He was definitely the most beautiful thing in male on two feet that I ever did see. The refinement of his physique was unearthly, as I’m sure I’ve implied in a previous story. I took one hell of a long time just analysing him before sending him over the edge, as slowly as I could. It wasn’t possible to send him to the other side of sanity, as he’d said. He never lost control of himself to even the slightest degree.

When he took care of me, for the sake of experimentation, Tantric practises took up the procedure, physical, as well as mental. I had to admit Thanatos left Stephanie in the dust, though Stephanie had been a very nice first experience. Gods, the way Than moved really blew me out of the water now. His grace and fluid motions in full operation, and he was putting all he had into making this encounter something I would remember favourably.

He manually took me to the brink of culmination for one last time, and entered me slowly from behind simultaneously. Very slowly, gently, and carefully, having been prepared to cause me not the slightest discomfort. It was exquisite, for what it was, though again, it could not compare to what else we've done. Both of us were feeling the sensations of both parties, and it was statistically rather mind blowing, with the psychology behind it.

If I hadn’t known what to expect, and if I’d been mortal, I think I would have thought I was going to die, and I mean that in a good way. It was a rather explosive sensation, but all he did after we connected, was hold me close to him self. He didn’t move. He didn’t have to. He was almost over the brink himself, and my going over the edge set him/us off all the way, and afterward, we just stayed like that for a while. So much for gender preference in what I've managed to avoid doing in the past!

We concentrated on our mental merging, and we eventually faded to the Astral. That was even better. That’s why we planned to never have sex again. This happened purely for the sake of experimentation. It didn’t measure up to the alternatives, no matter how good it was, not to mention sex really wasn’t our thing. (When you can count on one hand how many times you’ve had it, in over twenty thousand years, you know? This made it the second time for me, as far as an actual union went.) Some might argue, but why move to Spitsbergen, when you can live in Tahiti? What had just happened between us was just something to do, once.



*****



Macha and Kevalyn had just finished teaching a course in Circle Dancing, in the park. They planned to give five more, before the actual get together. The music would be mostly Tuatha.

Tuatha dancing hadn’t been Kevalyn’s thing in the past, but she had learned enough to make a good demo-partner for Macha.

“This is gonna be a blast,” said Kevalyn.

“In ancient Ireland, we would have had bon fires, and tons of food, though a lot of it would have been meat.”

Kevalyn wrinkled her nose. “I never thought I’d see the day, but I don’t like to eat anymore."

“That’s all part of the evolutionary process. Desires like that hold you back.”

“Strange how you can’t decide to suppress them. They have to go away on their own.”

“Inner conflict holds you back even more.”

“Amazing how far we’ve come in such a short time,” said Kevalyn.

“The atmosphere, here...the lower density and fading survival drives...it just sort of makes you realise how basic we were, and the superfluousness of all we used to do and care about.”

“Actually, isn’t this little bash we’re getting together a little on the superfluous side?”

Macha shrugged. “It’s a learning experience, and it bonds us a little closer to our fellow complex dwellers. That’s a pretty good thing, considering the inhabitants of this City will be the first ones we merge with on the higher planes. We already found a new family member with Deliah.”

“She is so cool.”

Macha chuckled. “Keeps Stefan on guard. Too bad we didn’t have her on Tech Duinn with us.”

Kevalyn smiled, and shook her head. “Oh, no! Another potentially frustrated straight female amongst the three most beautiful, but celibate dudes in existence. It’s not nice to wish such a dysfunctional household on our newest best friend.”

“I think that mess was all Thanatos’ fault. Donn probably would have gotten over his hang-ups if he’d had another role model.”

“He might have gotten over his hang-ups if you’d taken him when he offered himself to you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll never know, and now I couldn’t care less. Donn couldn’t have held a candle to Keith, anyway. The Keith I hadn’t challenged yet, anyway.”

“Well, we’re here, and things have never been better. Any past disagreements and contentions are irrelevant, and we seem to be on our way.”

Macha extended her hand to Kevalyn, and Kevalyn accepted the offer. “Let’s go to the library.”

Kevalyn smiled. “My thoughts exactly.”



*****

Thanatos and I were snuggled on the couch at our place. I kissed him on the cheek. “I think I want to do another painting of you.”

Thanatos tilted his head, and smiled. “You picture me and my theoretical pet dragon, on canvass?”

“Hm hm! Deliah brought that to mind. Better than showing you killing one.”

“I’d never kill an animal. I’m never killing anything again. Those Fomorians were enough, thank you.”

I felt so overwhelmed by him, right now. “Gods, you are such a fox.”

Thanatos chuckled. “Considering I was made to Macha’s specifications in this form, and Nyx’s specifications in my other, yes! So what’s the issue, may I ask? Next realm, it all goes away. Also, me sees you have a slightly exploitive painting of me in mind.”

I pressed him against me. “You’ll be dress code legal on the streets of Fort Bragg in nineteen-forty, my dear.”

Thanatos chuckled. “If I was in Keith’s battle dress in Fort Bragg in nineteen-forty, I’d cause traffic accidents. The only dress code legal for me in this form on Earth, is completely covered up.”

“I wish you wouldn’t keep referring to Keith in third person, like that. (Yeah, I did it too, but...that’s me, not him.) It hurts all of us when you do that, and you know it. We've told you often enough. He’s a part of you. You’re both Keith and Thanatos. Both memories. Both lives merged into one. You didn’t have a bad existence when you were only aware of your last identity. You had way more good moments than bad. You just had different priorities dumped onto yourself. I about loved you then as much as I love you now. You were just as awesome, only you knew less. Also, note how much of your former self you retained? The form, the grace, the reserve, and the dignity, though much to our delight you do seem to be a bit heavier on the sarcasm. You’re so genteel, and you still do so much for us. We’re here, because of you.” (Another thing I repeated a lot. I could NEVER take this entity for granted.)

“OK. I’ll try not to refer to my former incarnation as third person. So can I call you Donn, at moments like this? That’s the one I re-fell in love with in my last life.”

“Fair enough, I guess.”

“Also, please guard your thoughts on what just happened between us, for a while. A long while! Maybe until you write your fourth book, if it can be done.” (It couldn’t.)

“I am working on another book, but it might be a while.”

“Like it matters?” asked Thanatos.

“I suppose not. It’s good I have no vested interest in keeping things as they are, huh?!”

“Darn tootin’!”

I chuckled. “Darn tootin’?”

"Totally."



*****



Stefan and Deliah sat down after the lesson. “Sorry about the music being wrong, but it seems to work,” said Deliah. She’d played a traditional Irish CD.

“Thanatos, Vergil or Macha can get you some Tuatha music. Your standard Irish folk is great, but I’m not dancing at this get together. I’m only playing.”

“Maybe next time, if this one’s a hit.”

“That’s why I’m learning. Maybe if we can dig up one more couple, we can practise the dances better on our own.”

Deliah tilted her head, and grinned. “Shall I ask Robert and Jeff? They’re already coming to the party.”

Stefan ran his right index finger down her nose. “So why’d you have to die, before becoming a fag hag?”

Deliah chuckled. “I sort of leaned in that direction after meeting up with you guys. I know your gender is self-imposed, but still...”

“Having been last situated on Kythira for most of your life...”

“I died in nineteen fifty-six, Stef. Not exactly an enlightened, progressive age for Greece.”

“Yeah. Let’s go for a walk in the park, and then go upstairs.”

“Sure. Miss Vergil and Than?”

“Like a drowning person misses oxygen.”

“I love your guys' analogies.”











































































Chapter 3





A bit later, Thanatos and I were still snuggled on the couch when Stefan and Deliah came in. Thanatos was back in his jeans, red flannel shirt this time, and work boots. Surprisingly, Stefan was still in the Tartans. “Comfy in the kilt?” I asked.

“Yes, but the rest of the outfit is a pain to keep in place. I can see why you’re so hooked on that tunic. Complete freedom of movement, not to mention you look hot enough to melt steel,” said Stefan.

I blew Stef a kiss.

Deliah asked, “Am I in the way?”

“No,” said Stefan. “You know how we are, and you’re virtually family anyway.”

Thanatos and I disengaged a little. “Have a seat, and materialise yourself a cup of tea,” said Thanatos, to her.

She sat next to Thanatos, dragging Stefan with her, by the hand. Stef sat beside her. In a second, the scent of jasmine tea permeated the area.

Stefan looked at me, reached for me, but I was too far away. I stood up, motioned everyone to move over, and sat beside Stefan when they did. Stefan put his left arm around me, and leaned into me while holding Deliah’s left hand.

“Stef, Del! I have another painting to do pretty soon. Want to watch that, too?” I asked.

“We’d love to. What will it be?” asked Deliah.

I smiled. “Inspired in part by one of your ideas, but I’m painting Thanatos with his pet dragon with Than in his old battle garb.”

“Ooh, like the loincloth, boots, and all?”

“Hm hm. Sorry, I know what he looks like, so he won’t have to pose.” I answered her next question before she asked, knowing damn well what it was going to be.

“Aw shucks!”

“Del, there are enough paintings of me dressed like that, both here and in the museum to keep you entertained for hours,” said Thanatos.

“Actually, I’d like some prints of some more of the paintings.”

“Fine. Take your pick, and I’ll materialise them for you,” said Thanatos.

“Everything with Stefan, Vergil, or should I say, Donn holding Macha from behind, and that one that Vergil is going to paint next.”

I looked at her. “Of all the paintings of me, you have to have that one?!”

“It’s a beautiful painting. Don’t worry! I won’t put it in the front room,” said Deliah.

I reached forward and ran my finger down her nose. “You just love messin’ with me.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “And I suspect you appreciate it.”

“Life does get kind of boring around here without a little sarcasm, and button pushing,” I said.

‘Isn’t that a bit distracting, now?’ sent Thanatos to me.

‘Well, her comments do add spice,’ I replied.

‘Tis true! Now, let me concentrate on getting Deliah what she wants,’ sent Thanatos.

‘OK,’ I sent back.

Thanatos closed his eyes for a moment. He guarded his thoughts well. “Del, you have eleven framed prints against your couch. You have to hang them yourself.”

“Great!” she said. She kissed Stefan. “I’ll be back in a little bit, OK?”

“OK. See you later.”

"I'll call you when I start the painting," I said.

"Thanks." She transferred out, as opposed to walking out the front door.



*****

“This place is supposed to incorporate all the mythologies of this level,” said Macha, with her nose in a book called, ‘Interplaner Evolution.’

“I guess we’ll be checking that out without the ponies or bodies,” said Kevalyn.

“How about now? I can’t wait to see how everything connects, first hand.”

“I’m with you there.”

Macha put the book back, took Kevalyn’s hand, and they disappeared from the library.



*****



Stefan smiled, and closed his eyes. “Damn, I adore that woman in the weirdest way.”

“It's a little awkward,” said Thanatos. “Our relationship with her is so different. We’re kind of reserved with her, and she with us. I consider her in the same class as Kevalyn, and I definitely want to keep her with us.”

“Del and Kev! Good comparison,” I said.

Stefan sighed. “Uh, me and Kevalyn have a slightly different past from me and Deliah. Also, me and Kev have obviously traded each other in for other models that we seem to coheed...”

“Cohere!” interrupted Thanatos.

“Uh, yeah! Thanks. Cohere to, better. I can’t believe I said that!”

“We all get a bit distracted now and then,” said Thanatos. “Let’s formally invite her to move in with us. She’s like what George Byron was to Percy and Mary, with the Shelley’s representing us, though that trio was even more dysfunctional in their relationship than we used to be.”

“Uh, I think Deliah is ten times the gentleman George Byron was. Also, she doesn’t write poetry. Never did. At least I’m writing again,” said Stefan.

I looked to the ceiling, and sighed. “Writing from the perspective of a mortal, probably female, longing for Death, which is still described as either Donn or Thanatos, sometimes by name.”

“OK, I’m stuck!” said Stefan. “I can’t get off the subject. You two are, were, whatever the most seductive inspirations of art there are, for me. Always have been.”

“Like we didn’t notice. I don’t represent Death anymore! I’d quit when we moved here!” I said.

“I’m just in the Reserves myself, these days,” said Thanatos.

Stefan chuckled. “Gods, that’s hilarious. You make it sound like you had to go through boot camp to become a Gate Keeper.”

“Perish the thought,” said Thanatos.

“Oh, yeah,” said Stefan. “I was stupid enough to try to join the military when I was seventeen. Get away from my parents faster, not that my father and stepmother were bad, but you know the story. Thank the gods, I’d tried to commit suicide earlier! I was rejected for that.”

I gently brought my forehead against Stefan’s. I first inhaled his Drakkar Noir essence, and said, “So we know. That was a fringe benefit to your reckless action. I will admit, you are the only individual who I have ever met, who I am absolutely ecstatic over having had tried to kill herself.”

Stefan pressed both Thanatos and I toward himself, full force. “Oh, gods above and below, so am I! I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, but I love you two so much that it almost hurts.” (Another of the few sentences that haunted me perpetually.)

“It’s OK! We’re never completely apart any more. We haven’t been since we came here,” said Thanatos.

Stefan closed his eyes. “Tell me about it, thank the gods. Deliah's hung her paintings, and is incoming.”

“I see,” said Thanatos. He sent her a welcome, and she walked through the door in about a minute.

I reached out to her, and smiled. “The three of us have come to the conclusion that we’d like you to join the household, if you’re game.”

“What about Macha and Kevalyn?”

“Wait a second,” said Thanatos. He closed his eyes. After a minute, he said, “They’re fine with it.”

“I accept, but let’s keep my flat. I’ll use it to work.”

“Good idea,” said Thanatos.

Deliah looked us over. “Is there a way for me to sit next to Red Tail?”

I disengaged myself from Stefan, ruffled his hair, and moved away from him. “All yours.”

Deliah sat down. “Not quite, but I’ll take what I can get.” A cup of white tea appeared in her left hand, and her right arm went around Stefan. Of course, he returned his hold on her.

Stefan gave me a look of longing. “I wish I could wrap myself around all three of you.”

“What about that prehensile tail thing you once suggested for me to hold a teacup with?” asked Thanatos.

Stefan looked at Del. “Would you mind?”

“Most definitely.”

Thanatos said, “Stef, if you change gender, you can sit in my lap, and have Vergil on one side, and Deliah on the other.”

“Hey!” said Deliah. “Don’t have the nose of my life doing a sex-change on me, huh?”

Thanatos looked at her. “You’re pretty lightweight.”

“Shall I sit in your lap?” she asked.

“If you like. Then the lovelorn Stefan can sit next to all three of us.”

Deliah immediately situated herself in Thanatos’ lap, and yanked Stefan toward herself, dragging him thoroughly off balance. At least he was sitting down.

We all repositioned ourselves, and I laughed silently to myself over Deliah’s antics.

Deliah was no longer in a position to wrap her self around Stefan, but they did hold hands. Thanatos shook his head twice, and grinned in amusement, as Deliah moved Thanatos' arm around her waist. Thanatos stifled his own laughter, and asked, “Is everyone happy now?”

“As a freshly creamed cat,” said Stefan.

“As a Komodo dragon, whose hunter had just run out of ammo,” added Deliah.

Stefan chuckled. “I like that one! I’ve used it myself, and she often come up with stuff way wittier than I.”

“In this case, I’ll have to agree,” said Thanatos. “A trait we very much value around here.”

“Of course that’s why you asked me to move in,” said Deliah.

“Aye, considering that’s about all you’re good for. I mean, you don’t paint or write poetry.” said Thanatos. He was teasing her, though for a reason.

“If we were on Tech Duinn, I’d have a good comeback, but we’re not, so I am retortless,” she said.

“Deliah, I was trying to bait you to get into the arts. If we were on Tech Duinn, I’d be terrified of you,” said Thanatos. “You’d be more dangerous than Macha, in your own way.”

“Oh really?” she asked.

Stefan said, “You’re only of the best educated culture on the planet, and you personally know how to use it, my dearest psych major.” (She wasn’t really a psych major. She’d been a philosophy major. Stefan was being sarcastic.)

“We do know your life history. You always got what you wanted,” said Thanatos.

“I suppose so. I now have the company of the three most charming men that ever existed,” said Deliah.

“Sometimes,” said Stefan.

“Change gender on your own time, not mine,” she said.

Stefan raised his left eyebrow. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Thanatos jumped in. “Stefan has no reason to ever change gender again.”

“I hope not. Stef, will you go Astral with me later?” asked Deliah.

He scowled. “In a little. Something just came up that I have to sort out, first.”

Deliah had an idea of what that might be. “I’ll never come between you and Vergil, or you and Thanatos. I know they’ll always rank over me, and I think what you have is the most beautiful thing that ever existed. I’d go away before I did anything to mess you guys up. I couldn’t live with myself if I damaged any of you.”

Thanatos shook his head real fast a couple of times, lightly rubbing his nose against the back of her head. “That’s another reason we invited you here. You’re a total sweetheart, and not a threat to our stability.”

“Thanatos! What's-a-matter? Couldn’t resist my feminine charms and wiles on Tech Duinn?”

“Depends on what incarnation I was on. I mean, even Stefan seduced me, when I was Keith.”

“Uh, thanks,” said Stefan.

“He seduced you with his art. I don’t draw,” said Deliah.

“You’re very forceful and aggressive, and my last incarnation would have been a pushover for the likes of you, me thinks,” said Thanatos. “You probably would have wooed me to stray from Macha. On the other hand, Stefan would still have been your first choice, but you would have had problems with his somewhat gay line of focus, which you are completely accepting of, and even encouraging now.”

Deliah brought Stefan’s hand up, and kissed the back of it. “This is true. You know, I almost can’t accept the times when you didn’t have an answer for something,” she said to Thanatos.

“I’ll be the first to admit I’m not perfect,” said Thanatos. “There’s been times I couldn’t see the forest for the trees, and it will probably happen again.”

“Is your mother perfect?” asked Deliah.

“She never let me down, if she ever made a mistake it wasn’t recorded, and I don’t know about it. Probably not, though.”

Deliah looked at Stefan, and smiled. “Gods, how life lied to us, huh, Stef?”

Stefan chuckled. “Life couldn’t have foreseen your present reality. You’re sitting in the lap of the grandson of The Source, who’s wrapped around you, next to the nose you love, that’s attached to a dude who used to be a chick, who was of Protestant and Muslim extraction, yet who had a greater fascination with the Jewish religion than her own.”

“Not to mention you were a damn fool Zionist for a few years,” said Deliah.

“I was pretty stupid. Misprioritised, misdirected, and blind to reality. I didn’t see the equality of all until my early thirties. You know, I probably would have flirted with you if I’d known you on Earth, as you are now?”

“And I would have slapped you upside the head, Kyle! I’m not into chicks, but thanks for the compliment.”

“You know; Del? You did die before I was born, but I swear you were twice the man I never was,” said Stefan.

She stroked his hair ever so gently, and smiled. “My Stefan! My dearest, most nose-acious, ever so gentle Stefan! If you keep it up, I may be inclined to slap you upside right now. Or at least never pet your nose again.” It was an idle threat, of course.

“Taken to point, mi’lady, for there is no purpose to existence if you cease petting my nose.”

“Hey! I’ll still pet your nose!” I said to Stefan.

Stefan looked at Deliah. “Never mind, DUDE!”

We all laughed.



*****

Kevalyn and Macha were one, in Astral form. It was an information seeking tour, and not a sensual union.

They explored and found how this realm of The White City, and all its cross-culture counterparts of evolution worked.

The planes overlapped, and they looped, so they went on forever, from the perspective of the ‘ground dwellers.’

Here, existed the ultimate paradise of the imagination of every culture that ever was. From their own perspective, Kevalyn and Macha would be in this locale for a very long time.



*****



After a rather wacky conversation, and Deliah’s three cups of tea, she had to go check up on her channel, and left us for a while.

Stefan closed his eyes, and threw his head back. “Don Rickles, eat your heart out!”

“Yeah, she’s good. If she’d been born later, she would have made it big in stand-up comedy,” I said.

“And she sure had the looks, when she was in her prime.” said Thanatos. She’d died at age seventy-two. Deliah had been the only child born to a rich family, had been quite well educated, rather spoiled, and raised to be assertive. She’d also been very sharp, when she was alive, and was pretty much an emancipated woman before the idea was popular.

“Most definitely,” I had to agree. “Now are we going to sit on this couch all day, or shall we actually get up and do something?”

“Any suggestions?” asked Thanatos.

“Actually, I really want to get started on painting you with that dragon,” I said.

“I’d like to watch at least the set up of the sketch,” said Stefan.

“Same,” said Thanatos. “You’re not waiting for Del?”

I stood up, and closed my eyes. I found Del was occupied, but she had a solution. She'd time-trip. “She'll be here in a few minutes, from our perspective.”



*****



I was feeling a little silly, and the painting would have a comical aspect. The dragon was of pretty good size, facing forward, very attractive, and would be black in colour, with neon eyes, like Thanatos’, after I added the paint. Thanatos, with a smile on his face, had his right arm draped over the dragon’s neck, and the dragon was nuzzling Thanatos with half closed eyes, and it’s expression brought a contented feline to my mind.

“That is so cute,” said Stefan. “You haven’t painted Thanatos is the old battle outfit in forever. This ‘ill be nice.”

“Uh, yeah!” I said.

Del; whom had arrived minutes after my setting up the easel, said, "This almost makes me want a dragon to live with us."

"Let's not go there in reality," said Thanatos.

Stefan looked at me. “What inspired this?”

I looked back at Stefan. I just shook my head.

Stefan read that too well. "You and the Great White make out, or something?"

"Or something," said Thanatos.

"Whatever you two did, maybe you should do it more often if it inspires paintings like this," said Stefan.

“No! No way!” said Thanatos. “In an analogy that’s suited for you, that’s like drinking Lipton original after Good Earth China Black.”

Stefan scowled. "That doesn't sound like an Astral session. Do I even want to know?"

“Probably not!” I said.

“Never mind,” said Stefan. “That is a gorgeous setup, though. Tender, and touching. Something so potentially dangerous tamed by love.”

“Dragon’s aren’t dangerous except in self defense, which shouldn’t be an issue. After all, they are Etheric, thereby telepathic, and self-sustaining, and existing in a realm of peace.” said Thanatos, as he put his arm around Stefan.

“I’ve dreamt of one once, as a mortal. It had a sense of humour, and it did talk of food a lot,” said Stefan. “I’ve never met one in person, though.”

“The realms of myth are someplace we haven’t visited yet. Shall we go after Vergil starts adding the paint?” asked Thanatos

“Sure. Exist there, phoenixes and unicorns all in the same locale?” asked Deliah.

“Different cultures have different locales, and also different versions of a creature of the same name. Chinese dragons don’t look like English dragons.”

Deliah looked at Thanatos. "What did you and Vergil do?"

"Please trust me when I say it's personal."

"That bad, huh?"

"Uh, sure," said Thanatos.

“Oh, let’s go now. Back soon, Vergil,” said Stefan.

“Later, you guys.”



*****



Stefan was in for a delight. “So what is said about everything having been imagined is indeed reality somewhere else, is true.”

“Double edged sword, but yes.”

Stefan pointed to a female gryphon, and sent it thoughts of mollycoddlying. Needless to say, the gryphon came over to him, Del and Thanatos, exchanged greetings, and relished getting stroked and admired by all three visitors. Stefan gently stroked her neck feathers, and nosed her beak. “You’re beautiful.”

“You two almost look alike, in profile, with that nose of yours,” said Thanatos, with a chuckle.

“Thanks. Gods, I wish we could take her home with us.”

“Not a good idea. This is her world, and you wouldn’t want to be pulled away from your family either, no matter how good you were due to be treated.”

“You’re telling me.”

Thanatos kneeled beside her, and ran his hand along her folded wings. “I can’t believe I ate animals in my second incarnation.”

“That wasn’t for very long, from what I remember in Vergil’s, or should I say, Donn’s first book,” said Del.

“One minute of being a carnivour is too long, love.”

Stefan kissed the gryphon on the forehead, and moved next to Thanatos. He stroked Than’s hair. “Spoken by a man with fangs.”

“Sole purpose of that was cosmetic enhancement. You know that!”

“I’m glad you keep them.”

“I’ve grown attached to them, myself. I like being unique, though I have no complaints that this face was modelled after perhaps the most attractive individual in male that was ever born.”

“Amazing how someone with your characteristics can look so benevolent and gentle,” said Stefan.

“Have you ever seen anyone who looked more benevolent and gentle than Vergil?”

“I’d be hard pressed.”

“Need I say more? Our lady gryphon wants to go. I think we should say our good-byes.”

Stefan stroked her neck, and sent her a picture of her walking off. Thanatos and Del did the same, and she did walk away.

The three met up with two unicorns, a winged horse and a basilisk, but no dragon was available for socialisation, at this time.



*****



I’d long since finished the painting, and Macha and Kevalyn had come back by the time Stefan, Del, and Thanatos returned to the flat. They'd gotten too preoccupied with their own adventures to come back to sit and watch me.



















































































Chapter 4





We called together another dance lesson in the park, and we actually had two more couples this time which were from another building, but all were welcome. The more, the merrier.

Our household mingled with the crowd a bit. We got asked on when we’d get more paintings up in the museum, and two people actually wanted a copy of my technically unpublished trilogy. I had a reputation, in this City. We all did, except for our new household member; and it wasn’t too likely Deliah was going to make a name for herself unless she started logging down her one liners and the hilarious conversations she triggered, and broadcasting those. She had no desire to get into the visual arts at this time, although she enjoyed looking at them.

We got a few ‘Come on by sometimes,’ returned them, and the six of us went home.



*****



Everyone loved the painting of Thanatos and the dragon, and I’d submit it to the museum gallery for approval, which I knew I’d have. Then we sat on two separate couches to inform each other of our adventures.

This time, there was too much to talk about. Both Macha and Kevalyn had too much to convey, as did Stefan. We all just overlapped our minds, and conveyed the information like that. Of course, there were a few mental caresses, and waves of love exchanged, and when we came back to ourselves, Deliah said, “That was an absolutely heavenly experience. The love you guys have for each other is intenser than I could have imagined even from reading the Xanon Chronicles. Thank you for letting me be a part of it!”

“I wouldn’t knock what you feel for us, even though you do tend to reign it in a little,” said Thanatos.

“You can stop feeling like an outsider,” said Macha. “You’ve been adopted.”

Deliah smiled. “Thanks.”

Stefan, who had his arm around her, said, “Your lack of a history with us doesn’t matter. We know your head’s in the right place. I mean, considering how long Thanatos and Vergil and Macha have been together, me and Kevalyn are pretty new.”

“Barely used, huh?” asked Deliah. Leave it to Deliah.

I cringed, when Stefan said, “Yeah! I’ve only been taken for three test drives, though by two operators.”

“I read about them,” said Deliah. “Rather if you were the driver, you could say you took one Ferrari and one Maserati on the road, huh?”

Thanatos looked at me with a scowl, and pointed at Deliah. “What super computer is this chick plugged into?”

“I don’t know, but hurry up and cut the power, huh?” I said.

We all ended up laughing over that.

Thanatos, who was sitting to her other side, ruffled her hair. “Gods, you’re bad. Thanks, though. That was funny.”

“Where do you come up with all this stuff?” I asked her.

“I have no idea. I guess you guys are just good at setting me up. Especially Stefan. We seem to work well together.”

“I notice,” I said. “So who’s the Ferrari?”

Deliah smiled. “That’s for me to know, and no one to find out.”

“OK. I ought to go across the street and deposit a print of my latest at The Gallery,” I said.

Thanatos stood up. “I think I’d like to be there.”

The virtually inseparable Macha and Kevalyn took the hint. “Do they have anything new?” asked Kevalyn.

“Black panther sculpture, and four paintings,” I said.

Macha stood up, and said, “I want to see the cat.”

“Same,” said Kevalyn. Kev looked at Stefan directly, and said, “I guess we’ll see you two in a little while?”

Stefan waved, and the four of us did an instant fade-out as opposed to walking down the stairs. No, the building did not have an elevator.



*****



Stefan and Deliah looked at each other. “We’ve been deliberately abandoned,” said Stefan.

“I notice. We don’t have the type of relationship where we need to be alone.”

“I suppose, none of us does."

"Actually, I've never heard of anything like what you guys have."

"Neither have I, though I don't mind in the least. Deliah, I have a question for you, since you have a block against me reading this part of you.”

“So, you think I’ll answer?”

“I have nothing to lose by asking, huh?”

“I suppose not,” said Deliah.

“Of the three of us, why did you choose me?”

Deliah sighed. “The first story had me head over heels for Donn, the second had me fall as badly for Keith. When I read the ending of the second story, I must have cried a gallon on tears over what Keith, or rather Thanatos did to be with Donn. That there could be a love so strong?!

“You? It took until the third story. That prank you pulled by challenging Donn to a race, and changing yourself into a cheetah blew me over. It hit me how funny you could be. Then there was how you stood by them, even though you wanted them, but they insisted on celibacy, and all the sacrifices you made for them in that regard of neutering yourself and all? I ended up falling in love with all three of you. You just seemed the most obtainable as a friend, and the most vulnerable.”

“What about my nose?”

“I love your nose. I also love the way you dress. It’s not, but your clothes remind me of the nineteenth century aristocracy when you wear the white shirt, cravat and vest, and something totally anachronistic when you do the black shirt with neck scarf. I also think it’s neat how you made the Drakkar scent a part of you. Stef, can I let my heart hang out now?”

Stefan closed his eyes, and nodded. He knew what she wanted. He patted his right thigh. “Sure. Come on in my lap. We can hold each other.”

Deliah got up, kneeled over Stefan’s lap, straddling him, and they wrapped themselves around each other. They then blended their minds, their Etheric forms, and eventually faded into the Astral.



*****



The museum called ‘The Gallery’ eagerly took my latest print, and Sheila; one of the curators was glad to have the model for the painting with me. “Thanatos! I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Sorry. Been pre-occupied. You know the story.”

“So, how many other places are you now, while you’re here?” asked Sheila.

Thanatos chuckled. “Now this minute? Only two and forty! Channelling is a cinch, and I hardly ever play Gate Keeper, anymore.”

“Nice to have a more toned down existence, I imagine,” said Sheila.

“No different, ultimately. My existence has never been bad. Granted there’re a few things I would have done else wise if I’d known better at the time, but it all ended up pretty good. After all, I’m here with the love of all my lives,” he said, as he ruffled my hair.

“Among others, of course,” I said.

“Of course,” said Thanatos, as he put his arm around me.

“How is Stefan?” asked Sheila.

Thanatos laughed. “Great. His better half in the wit department just moved in, and the whole household is getting reamed.”

“Deliah! She’s the funniest person I ever met in my life.”

“She’s also very sweet. After all, Percy loves her,” I said.

“So she passed the cat test.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “In fact, Percy even used to go down to visit her.”

“The head of your household must be ecstatic, then. No more floors to cover.”

“Percy didn’t mind climbing the stairs. In fact he used to do it so fast, it was hard to tell if he actually took the stairs, or transferred, you know?” asked Thanatos.

“Oh, yeah. With my Misha and Clair? Warp drive city. Those cats are a virtual blur, when they’re chasing each other. By the way, I’m coming to the dance, but only to watch.”

“That's fine,” I said. “We’ll see you then. Want to stop by later for a social?”

“Only if my Mistress and Master allow it.”

“Another pussy whipped household, huh?” I asked.

“Only way to be,” said Sheila.

“Only if we’re talking about cats,” said Thanatos.

Sheila chuckled. “You two better get out of here, before I respond with the obvious retort to your set-up, Than.”

He smiled and waved. “See you later, Sheila. Thanks for your company.”

I simply waved, and was also wearing a smile, and we walked out. A print of my latest painting would be up later.



*****



Stefan and Deliah were back on the couch in our flat, and Deliah was holding and stroking a purring Percy. “Vergil and Thanatos would go Astral with you if you asked,” said Stefan.

“Maybe one day I will.”

“Shall I tell them you’re interested?”

Deliah materialised a cup of creamed jasmine tea, and raised the cup to Stefan. “If you take delight in embarrassing the doo-doo out of me, feel free.”

“OK. In that case, I won’t.”

“Then I’ll have to figure out how to kill you.”

Stefan chuckled, and shook his head. “Chicks! I swear!”

“Didn’t you used to be one once?”

“I was a dude in drag, babe.”

“You were also Vergil’s mother once.”

“Adrien’s mother. Isn’t it interesting that you’re Greek?”

“That’s where my ancestors settled. I didn’t have a drop of true Greek blood in me, but I know more about the culture than ninety odd percent of them, not that any of that has anything to do with anything anymore, as if it ever did.”

“Nationalism and tribalism are so stupid.”

“Don’t I know it! At least I came to that conclusion while I was still alive, though it did take me a while.”

“I saw the light in my early thirties.”

“Late thirties.”

Stefan materialised his own cup of tea, though it was creamed China black. He drew away from Deliah, and rested his back against the corner of the couch. “I have no idea of how to really relate to you. You're fascinating, I couldn't bear to live without you, but at the same time there is an awkwardness to us that I can't place.”

“That’s OK. I have no idea of how to relate to any of you three dudes, either. I think it has something to do with us being self-inhibited, telepathy be damned.”

“You're probably right, as usual. You seem to be relatively happy with a predominantly intellectual relationship strewn with verbal sparring sessions, snogging sessions and light Astral mergings with me, and snuggle sessions with Thanatos and Vergil.”

“I really want to go Astral with them, but even though for the invite, I can't help but feel like an interloper.”

Stefan closed his eyes. “And you seem like a goddess who is realms beyond me, to me. Donn and Thanatos are on their way back, and have four floors to go. We’ll tell them when they get here. You can tell them that you are interested in a vaster intellectual exchange, which is the truth, and I’m sure they’ll accommodate any side motives, you know? They adore you. That’s why you’re here.”

“I'm no goddess. I wish you wouldn't put me on a pedestal like that. I've had enough of that on Earth. I don’t know if I’m ready for what you say, right now. About the Astral mergings?! I'm not sure I want to risk the imposition.”

“I don't think they'll see it like that. It’s wonderful! I’ve done it countless times. You learn a little something every time you do it, and when you become one, oh gods! The feelings of love are just so intense, it’s like the ultimate euphoriant, you know? I never did illegal drugs, but it probably leaves the best Earthly highs in the dust. The mind sharing is so awesome with those two. They are so far advanced over me.”

“And you don’t seem to have a preference between those two. It’s amazing, but you seem to love those two equally.”

“I think I do. They also have a lot in common. They’ve been together forever before Vergil incarnated as a person, and before he was born to Fuamnach and Midir.”

“I know. I read the story often enough. Let’s step out of time for a little. I have some questions, before I’m ready to see them.”

“OK.”



*****



“Stefen, do you consider yourself my lover?” asked Deliah.

“We are lovers. Not in the Earthly sense, but in the High Etheric/Astral sense. You know how I feel about you, despite being confused about us.”

“I pick up a lot of admiration due to my academic background. You know, that’s just because of my circumstances? I was a catered to rich kid, who never had any distractions. You’re pretty intelligent yourself.”

“I know better to vie against you. You’d whup my ass.”

“And you’d whup my ass in a poetry competition.”

Stefan chuckled. “I’m pretty limited in what I write. I only write to Donn...Ver...no, Donn and Thanatos. I only write to the Death gods, from a past tense perspective, and not all of them are as good as what is in the first book of the Xanon Chronicles. In fact, none of them are. Those are my best works.”

“Have you written any recently?”

“Hm hm. It’s kind of weird, though. Not historically accurate on all counts, and it lies a little.”

“What’s it called?”

“‘A Legend Remade.’ It’s to Thanatos. You want to hear it?”

“Sure do.”

Stefan smiled and shook his head. “It’s not that great.”

“Tell me, anyway.”

“OK, but don’t yell at me. You asked me to hear it.”

“I won’t.”



“You didn’t always look like this.

Wasn’t your hair once black, my dear?

Along with past ebony eyes?

Reality with legend vies.

The myths described you as a youth

With wings, and sword, and inverse torch,

For e’er in immortality,

Yet the change is not to pity.



Now I see one who’s like a shade.

A man of alabaster hue,

With eyes that burn of scarlet light.

For what?! To see the Soul of Night?!



As incorruptible as e’er!

More made than born, your mother said,

Now for the second time around;

For Death did die, when love was found.



You still spurn sacrifice, I hear,

And you’ve given yourself to none

In what once was your life before!

Now seems that’s shredded to the core.



You sacrificed yourself for one,

And all your ancient memories

‘Came gone, and you’re not quite the same.

You’re diff’rent, but I cast no blame.



You’re more beautiful than ever,

And as gentle as you e’er were!

Your finesse now beyond rival,

And your wisdom in revival!



One day you will remember all,

Before the Great Akashic Hall.

Now thank you for your company,

Though you’ll never belong to me.”



“What’s wrong with it?”

“It struck me as being kind of forced. It’s like I had half a killer poem, and the rest of it was a ‘make it fit’ sort of thing.”

“I like it, but you’re right when you said it lies. Doesn’t he belong to you?”

Stefan shook his head. “If Thanatos belonged to anyone, it would be Vergil, but he belongs to no one. I own no one, and insist on no one’s allegiance. You can’t obligate anyone to you. The only one you can obligate is yourself, so I guess I can say I belong to both Vergil and Thanatos, though they’d verbally disown me, telling you they don’t own me. I think that’s been covered in the Chronicles.”

“You three seem pretty tight, and it doesn’t bother you that all three of you knock my socks off?”

“Not at all. Now, do you like us, or the characters in the stories?”

“Is there a difference?”

“We’re a little more complex. As far as personal evolution goes, you’re also with the lowest man on the totem pole, right now. Even Kevalyn is way beyond me.”

“Vergil…Donn...whatever…didn’t write much about Kevalyn.”

“Kevalyn is Macha’s significant other. As you may note, we’ve formed our own little groups. Those two spend most of their time together, and me and Vergil and Thanatos, and now you, will be spend most of our time together, though it seems we do pair off sometimes, like now.”

“I feel very flattered to be in my position.”

“And I’m flattered that you even want to talk to me. Shall we go back, to where they only have one flight left?”

“Sure.”



*****



When we came into the flat, Stefan and Deliah were on the couch, and Stefan said, “This lady has the royal hots for you two, and would like to go Astral with you. Information exchange would also be appreciated.”

“Fine,” said Thanatos.

The stunned Deliah sat there, with her lower jaw dropped. “Stefan, I am going to get you for this!”

I chuckled. “It’s all right. Whenever. I think I’m going to learn a bit from you, too. It’s not every day I merge with a former mortal scholar.”

Stefan reached forward, and ran his finger down Deliah’s nose. “Hey! I get to the point, and you get what you want with no beating around the bush. Might as well be direct, instead of suffering from shyness, and guarding your thoughts, huh? What do any of us have to hide?”

“He has a valid point,” said Thanatos. “Anyway, since when do you need a reason to get Stefan, or anyone? You pick on us mercilessly whenever you can, thank you very much.”

“Any time, I guess,” said Deliah. “Which reminds me. Thanatos, have you heard Stefan’s latest poem to you? ‘A Legend Remade?’”

Stefan looked at Deliah. “OK, you got me back.”

Thanatos chuckled. “No.” He sat next to Stefan.

“It’s not that good,” said Stefan.

“Uh, yeah! Where have I heard that before? You’re a needlessly harsh critic on yourself,” said Thanatos.

Stefan recited the poem, as I sat beside Thanatos.

Thanatos said, “I like that!”

“A little late in the game, isn’t it?” asked Stefan.

Thanatos shrugged, and kissed Stefan on the temple. “What’s late, and what’s early? Who cares? It’s a nice, flattering piece, and despite a little poetic license, it’s a fair description of what happened with me.”

“I’d like to use it for my fourth book that I’m attempting to write,” I said. “I like it too, and please no snide comments on me doing an Irish Spring commercial.”

Stefan smiled. “Worry not, my dear. I wouldn’t stoop that low.”

I looked at Deliah. “So who would you like to go Astral with first?”

“I have a feeling it would be better to go with you first.”

I shrugged. “It shouldn’t matter. Thanatos wouldn’t blast you out of the water, but OK. In a little bit?”

“Sure.”



*****



Thanatos soon manoeuvered Stefan out of the room to leave Deliah and I to hit the next Plane together by our selves. Both of us were feeling pretty strange, being we weren’t that close in our relationship.

“So how do we start this?”

I held my right hand up, and spread my fingers. “A mutual mental scan might be good.”

She gently clasped my hand, and we checked each other out. “Gods, you’re ravishing,” she whispered. She wasn’t talking about what I looked like.

“You’re pretty impressive yourself,” I said. “but I already knew that.”

“I feel so weird. Treading in uncharted territory, and feeling a little intrusive.”

“It’s OK. You’re not an intruder. You’ve been invited.” I ran my index finger down her nose. “Stefan almost forced us together, and you’re closer to him than to any of us.”

“So, shall we share complete histories?”

“You’re NOT getting my complete history. Not now, anyway. Maybe we can do that later, after you’ve been here for a while? Actually, even then I think you might have a few problems dealing with certain aspects of me.”

“I doubt it, but it’s your mind, and you can share what you want.”

I nodded, and closed my eyes. I put one arm around her. “Let’s go.”

We faded Astral.

It was primarily an information exchange, and we ended up doing the Astral version of medium-heavy snogging; so it ended up something of a make-out session. Needless to say, our feelings for each other were a bit stronger after we were done, than before we’d started.



*****



When Deliah and I landed back on the couch, I kissed her on the forehead. (Being now native to this locale, we no longer felt like we were exhausted, after coming back from the Astral.) “Too bad you didn’t write any books,” I said.

“I’m having my channel work on one.”

“I guess that’s good enough. Let’s hunt down Stefan and Thanatos.”

Deliah smiled. “You know, from a psychological perspective, I can’t believe you exist.”

“I assure you, I do.”

“You’re also beyond my comprehension, but you have got to be one of the sweetest men I ever met in my life, not that I needed to even meet you in person. Your stories conveyed that well enough.”

“I think Thanatos surpasses me.”

“Note I said ONE of the sweetest men I ever met in my life. Also, can you tell me what gender I should consider Stefan?”

“How about as confused as hell?”

“For lack of a better identity description, I guess I can accept that.”

“We aren’t going to have anything remotely resembling a gender after this level of existence anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Stefan’s ahead of the game, there! Always has been.”

I closed my eyes. “Stef and Than are on the rooftop. Let’s walk up.”

“OK, let’s.”



*****

When we got to the roof, Stefan and Thanatos were sitting on a bench in the midst of a bunch of ferns. Deliah caressed Stefan’s hair, kissed the top of his head, and forced her way in between the two of them without much difficulty, considering both Stefan and Thanatos were more than happy to let Deliah have her way. She looked at Thanatos. “You’re next in line, baby.”

Thanatos winked at Stefan, and blew him a kiss. He then stroked Deliah’s hair. “A little later, I imagine.”

“Yeah, this slut’s gotta recover from her last encounter. I don’t do this for a living, ya know?”

I chuckled. “Oh gawds, Del! I swear, I do declare!” I didn't sit down.

She flicked her wrist. “Any time.”

Thanatos put his arm around her shoulder, and Stefan got her around the waist. She returned both holds. “This should be interesting,” said Thanatos. “Find out why you even bothered living your last life,” he said to Del.

“I know the answer to that,” said Deliah. “I was just like Stefan, or should I say, Stephanie or Kyle? I didn’t have to live it. I wanted to make the world a better place, but ended up getting detoured by the wealth I was born into, and just ended up basically being a smart-ass student for the rest of my life.”

“And now you’re working through Karen Williams to get the message through on how to fix Terra Firma,” said Stefan.

“Hm hm.”

“Interesting how you’re connected to the former era that we escaped, yet we’re here together,” said Stefan.

“The paradox of the illusion of time,” said Thanatos. “I mean I occasionally go back when dire circumstances call.”

“Go back?” I asked. “I though for us, time was concurrent.”

“Incorrect phrasing to suit the sequential thinkers,” said Thanatos.

Deliah smiled and closed her eyes. “You know, I suddenly feel very integrated with this crowd?”

“Good,” I said. “You’re definitely a catch and a half, yourself.”

She looked at me. “So you won’t cut the line, and throw me back?!”

I stepped forward, and ran my right index finger down her nose. “No way in Hell.”

Thanatos asked Deliah, “What kind of horse do you want?”

“Dapple grey or black Arab stallion, if I must have one.”

“I’ll find you one later,” said Thanatos.



































Chapter 5





Thanatos and Deliah were under a willow by a pond in the park across the street. Both were cross-legged, facing each other, and holding hands. Their minds were merged to a high degree ‘You’re very interesting,’ sent Thanatos.

‘You’re like nothing I could ever have expected from reading the classical Greek mythology,’ sent Deliah.

‘You want to be in my arms before taking off for the Astral.’

‘I imagine it’s nice being completely enveloped by someone so powerful, beautiful, benevolent, and invulnerable.’

Thanatos chuckled, and went auditory. “Welcome to the club. So thinks Stefan and Vergil. Me and Macha used to trade off when I was on my second incarnation.”

“Must be interesting to be Macha.”

“That’s one word for it. Difficult, as well! The lady’s been through Hell.”

“You guys' sexual history must have been a riot, from what Vergil wrote.”

Thanatos laughed. “He barely has one, but that’s one word for what me and Macha had, not that I want to go into any detail. I wish I hadn’t been through most of what I went through in my second incarnation, but oh well.”

“Was it that bad?”

“It didn’t seem like it at the time, but I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know anything at first, except for what Macha wanted me to know. I have to admit; I was probably the best-treated whore that ever was. Now, I don’t appreciate having been as exploited as I was.”

“Wasn’t your relationship unconditional from your perspective?”

“Yes. I don’t know how else to relate.”

“Then you weren’t a whore.”

Thanatos disengaged their hold, and extended his arms. “Maybe you’re right. Come on. Let’s get ready.”

Deliah got to her knees, came to him, and they settled with her in his lap facing each other. They held each other. She pressed herself against him, and ran her hand over his sleeved upper arm. “Gods, you feel nice. You’ve also got the most beautiful teeth. Nothing like the fangs shown in the vampire flicks.”

“Thank Macha for that, and everything else regarding what I look like, but you know that.”

“It’s so strange that I seem to have a closer relationship with you now than she does.”

“Kevalyn is Macha’s world now. What’s stranger is that Macha decided to go celibate while she still had a choice,” said Thanatos.

“Well, if one isn’t homosexual I guess it’s not a problem if the love of your life is the same gender as you. I mean, you and Vergil, Donn, whatever, never...”

“Confession! Once! Recently! With no polarity, though that is optional with us. It was nice, but so over-rated. I only instigated it for the one time experience with the one I’ve loved since virtually the beginning of time. It just seemed so wrong for me to have done that with two other individuals, and not with Vergil. That’s it, though. I want to stay true to my intrinsic, asexual nature from now on, not that I don’t value intimacy of different sorts in different ways...obviously.”

“I’ll not try to dissuade you. There’s not that much left to that in me, either. In fact the last time I did anything with anyone was when I was alive on Earth in my late twenties. I never got that attached to anyone before I met you guys.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “I know. Close your eyes. Let’s get outta here.”

“Hm.”

Of course, Thanatos left what little Deliah had ever experienced, in the hinterlands.

What could one expect?

*****



Stefan and I sat together, and Macha and Kevalyn sat across from us on the eleventh floor on two white marble benches facing each other. “This place we went to is amazing. There are so many overlapping tiers to the other culture's versions of The White City, and they’re all as beautiful as this,” said Kevalyn, talking about their last exploratory journey.

“Let’s the four or six of us go after Thanatos and Deliah get back,” I said. "It took long enough for you to tell us this."

“We were pre-occupied. We also have to give our third dance lesson,” said Kevalyn.

“Let’s do our trip to the other layers of this place out of time,” said Macha.

“Sounds good. As for the dance lessons, I think we can cancel the intended fifth lesson, and maybe even the fourth,” I said. “Everyone seems to have the gist of it, and it’s not like we’re dealing with mortals.”

“I think you’re right,” said Macha. “Are you two going to break down and eat anything?”

“No,” I said.

“Don’t think so,” said Stefan.

“I might have a beer,” said Kevalyn. “It’s been forever, and I used to love a good Irish stout or ale.”

“I never thought much of it, though I could drink it when I was alive,” I said.

“I used to like beer when I was a wee sprog in Germany,” said Stefan. When I tried it from my parent’s fridge a few years later, I couldn’t stand it. I never did reacquire the taste.”

Macha shrugged. “Standard Irish fare. I liked it, but I doubt I’ll have any. Definitely no solid food! I get a little queasy just thinking about it, these days.”

“Tell me about it,” I said.

“That started happening to you on Tech Duinn,” said Stefan to me.

“I guess that’s what happens if you don’t eat for a while. You just shed the desire and develop a distaste for the unnecessary.”

“Not just food, apparently,” said Stefan.

“Apparently,” said Macha.

Kevalyn gave us a sardonic smirk, and put her arm around Macha. “Especially when there’re superior alternatives.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Macha, as she returned Kevalyn’s hold, and rested against her.

I chuckled. “Macha, you have no idea how glad I am to see you finally settled down, and happy.”

“Yes I do. So now I’m out of your hair.”

“Big time,” I had to agree.

“Oh, Hell! We can do it again later with Than and Del. Let’s go Plane tripping to Macha and Kev's latest discovery, now,” said Stefan.

“Aye, let’s.” said Macha.



*****



Macha took charge. We sat on the ground, and most of us closed our eyes. I didn’t, and I regretted it. After we landed in the Assyrian version of this place, I was so disoriented; I almost hit the floor all the way.

The buildings were still white, but the architecture was different. I also would have had an impossible time of keeping my eyes off the women, if I’d tried. Same with Stefan and Kevalyn, though Macha’s tamer appreciation of their exotic beauty could not be denied.

It was a trip. Nomadic cultures had no buildings, but their housing was made of cloth instead of animal hides, always white. Stefan insisted on visiting all the African cultures he could think of. It was where the lion lay down with the hyena. I’d have to paint the beautiful dark chocolate lady in her colourful skirt; who sat beside a resting leopard on one side, and sable antelope on the other.

Oh, the artistic inspirations were incredible. We’d be doing more of this.



*****



After we got back to our home, Kevalyn said, “Man, switching planes with eyes open is like the ultimate acid trip.”

“I wouldn’t know that specifically from personal experience,” I said. “All I can say, is it made me very light headed, and totally destroyed all sense of balance I had.”

Macha closed her eyes. “Thanatos and Deliah are appreciating each other on the roof. Let’s go get ‘em, and call another dance lesson. I can’t wait to have the real bash. Maybe we can also put up a few Maypoles, and light a few bonfires.”

“If we’re going to have an old world Irish bash, do it right, huh?” asked Stefan.

“Even if it is in daylight. Oh, yeah!” said Macha.

“This is gonna be great,” said Kevalyn.

We gave Deliah and Thanatos an ‘incoming’, and walked up the stairs.



*****



Thanatos and Deliah were sitting on the ground, with their backs to one of the fountains. They were just waiting for us. Deliah gave off an aura of total peace and bliss.

“Looks like you two had a pretty good interlude,” I said.

“Absolutely wonderful,” said Deliah. “It’s amazing how much I thought I used to know was nothing but garbage.”

“You already knew that,” said Stefan.

“Well, I learned more,” said Deliah. “A lot more. I never realised what a waste a college education was in my life.”

“Or what a waste life in existence is, huh?” asked Stefan.

“I wouldn’t go that far. Then again, unlike you, I didn’t hate life. I had a better time of it than you. That’s probably why it took me until I was here to meet the formerly ‘tudinal, finally co-evolved you, huuuuuuuh?”

Stefan tilted his head. “You always see the cloud in the silver lining, don’t you?”

“Like you have any regrets, Stef,” said Deliah. “You just like to bitch. You’re life wasn’t that bad, you now have the current company that’s probably impossible to beat, and me to top it off.”

“I admit I love to bitch! I don’t have anything left to bitch about, but I still do not relish the concept of Physical existence.”

“Sure makes you appreciate the here and now more, doesn’t it?” asked Deliah.

“With...a...vengeance,” said Stefan.

“So again, for the umpteenth time, quit yer bitchin’,” said Thanatos with a smile.

“Hey! It’s my favourite hobby, OK? Let’s go to the park, and call the final lesson, since the others we planned will not be required” said Stefan.

“Aye, let's,” said Macha.



*****



There’s not much to say about the third set of demos we did of the circle dances, except that even it wasn’t really necessary. It was kind of trippy, that a lot of people showed up dressed in traditional Irish clothing, mostly leines. Quite a few even ended up going barefoot, since that was a common way to be way back then, even by me when I was a kid, about half the time. I didn’t become a full time boot wearer until Tech Duinn.

So, it looked like quite a number of us did some historical research. I sent the lot of them my thoughts of appreciation, and this time, all of my household members except Deliah took our instruments. We played three lengthy old Tuatha pieces, and later, two Irish drinking songs, and the crowd had a blast.

After it was over, Macha decided we were going to elaborate on the food for the real gala. A cauldron of ‘fresh’ vegetable stew, various breads, scones of all sorts, bowls of every fresh fruit native to Ireland, and heavy on the diary. Nothing would ‘run out.’ Anyone who came by was welcome.

In a way I thought it was a strange thing to do being neither I nor anyone I lived with would touch any of the solid food, but hey! A lot of inhabitants of this place knew what was happening, and there would be a few takers. I just knew it, from the subtle connexions I had to everyone here.

I had a feeling this wouldn’t be our last celebration. The first official one would be happening shortly.



*****



The six of us stayed together for a while after the party prelude. Thanatos closed his eyes, and smiled. “Sheila will be there.”

“I’d hope so, The Gallery is just across the street, and who’d miss her for the day?” asked Macha.

“That reminds me! After this, I have an African fox to paint with her leopard, and sable companions,” I said.

“Ooh, she was a hottie,” said Stefan.

“This will be the first time you paint someone you don’t live with,” said Kevalyn.

“First time for everything. It’s such a tragedy that Europe couldn’t keep its greedy paws off Africa,” said Stefan.

“The Middle East, too,” said Kevalyn.

“Well it sort of sorted itself out, huh?” asked Thanatos.

“Not in a very good way,” said Stefan. “Racial and tribal purges suck the big one.”

“Like a vacuum cleaner, baby,” said Deliah.

I had to chuckle. “You never miss an opening you’ve gotta fill, huh Del?”

“Man, I probably coulda saved the Titanic, ya know?” she said.

That got a reaction out of all of us. “Probably,” said Thanatos, with a smile.

Deliah looked at Macha. “Yo! Red Dragoness!”

Macha’s eyes lit up. Macha’d gotten a head start on Deliah’s thoughts. “I’d love to play chess with you, you little upstart!”

Deliah raised her right fist. “Yes!!!!!!!!!”

Aye, Del was definitely one of the family.



*****



Deliah was incredible. No, she didn’t win. Needless to say we’d all watched the match of a lifetime, and Macha needed four and eighty moves to defeat her. Leave it to Thanatos to keep count. Even I wasn’t neurotic enough to do something like that.

It was the first game of chess I’d ever enjoyed. It would also be my last. Chess wasn’t exactly the sporting event of the decade, not that I cared to generally watch any sort of competition. Just this once, I wanted to watch this person test her mettle.

“You are stiff competition, lady,” said Macha. “You also could have made a great military leader, if you’d had it in you, and if you’d been of another gender considering the culture and time you were born into.”

“But I never had it in me. I abhor bloodshed. If I’d been more aware, I’d have been a vegetarian, though lamb gyros would have been a fight to give up.”

Thanatos came behind her, and put his hands gently on her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head. “Would you also honour me with a game?”

She threw her head back to look up at him. “Will you pet my nose, if I win?”

I laughed. “Stefan! What did you do to this woman?”

Stefan gave an ultra-histrionic shrug, he swayed a little, and the expression on his face was indescribably funny. “Is it my fault that someone else around here besides me has their priorities right?”

Thanatos said to Deliah, “Yes, I’ll pet your nose if you win. I’ll also let you pet my nose if I win, which I shall.”

“You’re sure?!” she said.

“I’m sure!”

He did. Two and fifty moves!



*****



Macha and Kevalyn were off again, leaving the rest of us. The second they were gone, Thanatos went over to Stefan, and put his arm around him. “Red Tail!”

“Yes, my dear?”

“If Deliah had an allegiance to you, I swear I’d take her away from you.”

Stefan struggled to control his laughter. “I am NOT going to say it!”

Deliah, with her own chuckle said, “No, but I will! Thanatos, Stef is a million times more interested in you than me. It’s not me he writes all this romantic poetry to.”

Stefan pointed at her. “You have just gotten the compliment of your life.”

“Ah, yes,” she said. “Thank you, Great White.” She walked over to him, and ever so gently traced her hand across his chest. Nothing happened, as expected. “And if you did take me away from anyone, what would you do with me?”

“Nothing we haven’t done,” said Thanatos.

She pushed him a little. “Go away, and find me that grey or black Arab you said you’d find me.”

He gave her a military salute. “Yes, mi’lady,” and he disappeared.

I said, “And I have a painting to do. Would you two like to watch, go off and snog it up, or what?”

Stefan and Deliah looked at each other. In unison, they said, “Yes!”

The three of us went to the room that we used as a studio, and they sat behind me, as I set up my canvass.



*****



One thing nice about Deliah! She kept Stefan from circling the canvass.

She’d gotten a lot more assertive since her mental mergings with Thanatos and I. She’d also earned a load more of our respect than she’d had previously after her exploits on the chessboard, and she’d had quite a bit of said respect, then. I was happier than ever that she was with us, and so was everyone else.

“Would you mind if I checked your Akashic history?” asked Stefan of Deliah.

“It’s mundane. Some lives brutal, some boring, but nothing spectacular,” she said. “I was never anybody famous. I wouldn’t bother, but I’m not going to prohibit you.” Deliah did a quick scan of Stefan. “What is this? Just because Macha and Thanatos had to think a little to beat me at chess, I’ve been elevated to goddess by everyone else in addition to you?”

“You just blow us all away a little more now,” said Stefan.

“Red Tail, I play chess. I’ve played against competitors. Sometimes I won. You held promise when you were a teenager, but you decided you hated the game in your twenties, and gave it up. You played a few mean games in your life.”

“I loathe competing with a passion,” said Stefan.

“I should have remembered that when you challenged me to that race where you pulled the cheetah stunt,” I said.

“You still haven’t been able to beat that prank,” said Stefan to me.

“Well, apparently he does like to do battles of jokes and wit,” I said to Deliah.

“All right by me,” said Deliah. “I love it.”

“So do I,” I said. “It’s great when you two are on a roll.”

“In a way it’s too bad that you and Macha don’t go at it anymore,” she said to me.

“Considering what inspired most of those sparring sessions, I’m glad they’re over. Sometimes the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife,” I said.

I almost dropped my pencil when Deliah asked Stefan her next question. “That reminds me. In his books, he was so vague in his description. What was Vergil like as a lover, platonic or otherwise?”

I froze solid, as Stefan replied. “Very, very gentle. Artistic. He must have been beyond beautiful to watch. Same with Thanatos, in both the incarnations I experienced with him.”

“Sounds interesting. A part of me could care less, but at the same time, my curiosity is boiling over, you know?”

I put my pencil down, turned around, crossed my arms in front of me, and asked, “Deliah, would you like to get laid.”

Stefan about went into shock, from the look on his face. I don’t recall ever seeing him look so amusingly stunned in all my life. I managed to keep a straight face, though.

Deliah looked a little flabbergasted herself. What I’d said was the last thing anyone expected. She hesitated, and then said, “Uh, sort of. Are you offering?”

I scowled. I suddenly regretted saying what I'd said. I wasn't expecting that answer, and I think I may have just buried myself. Did I have a way out? If I said yes, would it help me or hurt me, in the long run? And if I said no?! I scanned her.

If I said no, I’d be teased relentlessly, and a lassie as sharp as Deliah would make mincemeat out of me. I smiled. “Sure! After...the painting.” Heh-heh-heh! Prolong it! Torture her for a while! “You want me after her, Stef?”

He shook his head. “No! Not like that!”

I blew him a kiss, and gave him a mental caress. Silently, I sent him. ‘I’m going to make that up to you big time, my love.’

Stefan smiled, and closed his eyes, appreciating the ‘warm, mushy’ feeling I sent him. ‘I’ll try to reflect it.’

I faced the painting again. I slowed down to half the speed I was capable of. I was going to have a little bit of fun. I scanned Deliah every once in a while, and yes, she was going absolutely insane.

The two of them actually sat there the whole time I worked on the painting. Stefan spent some of the time meditating, and Deliah spent all of her time fluctuating between anticipation and wonderment. When I finished, I walked over to them. I caressed Stefan’s hair with as much of a show of sensuality as I could, and kissed him on the forehead. “Can we borrow the bed you have yet to use?”

“Go right ahead,” he said.

I kneeled before Deliah, and took her by the hands. “Ready?”

“Been ready since you mentioned it.” She added, ‘You took forever to finish that painting.’

She was on to me. I looked at Stefan. “Can you take a copy of the painting across the street for me?”

He smiled at me. “Gladly. You two have fun, huh?”

“We will,” I said. ‘I think,’ I added nonverbally

I transferred Deliah and I to the room that Stefan had Thanatos put together for Stefan.



*****



Ye gods, how awkward! We just sat there, staring at each other for a while. “Now what?” asked Deliah.

I extended my arms to her. “We should blend our minds,” I said.

She entered my embrace, and returned it. “It wasn’t very nice, what I said to Stefan about you, in front of you.”

I stroked her hair. “Actually, it was technically behind my back with me in hearing range.”

“I was trying to antagonise you.”

“So was I when I slowed down my painting speed.”

She rubbed her cheek against mine. “I figured as much.”

I rubbed the side of my face against her shoulder. “Amazing how we still play these stupid childish games.”

She unclasped my belt. “I started it.” She parted my tunic, and gently ran her hand across my chest, then brought her upper lip over my right nipple. She looked down at me. “You’re not reacting.”

“I won’t. I can't. Not spontaneously. Not from that. I won’t react, as you say, until I make a conscious effort. I don’t have an innate sex drive, remember?”

“My own is a little more subdued, but what there is of it, you bring out. You are just so damn beautiful. From what I read in your books, I feel like I missed something. I wanted to see up close what all of you looks like, and even though it looks like I can’t do it, I wondered what it would be like to drive you crazy.”

“You drive me crazy all the time,” I said as I kissed her forehead. “You’re always tearing me apart with your words, not that I want to see it end.”

She smiled. “You know damn well, that’s not what I meant.”

“Of course!”

“What was it that you and Stefan did, that Stefan wouldn’t let you write about in your third book?” she asked, as she pulled my tunic off.

I entered her mind, and started unbuttoning her shirt. She wanted me to undress her. “I won’t betray Stefan under any circumstances.”

“Whatever it was, would you like the same from me?”

“Even if you knew how to do it, I have no use for it anymore, and I would no longer enjoy the procedure. I don't want to have my mind taken over, or brought to the time before anything mattered.”

“This whole interlude is for humouring me, isn’t it?”

“Did I say that?”

She now entered my mind, and smiled. “No, but you're thinking it. You don't really want to be here with me like this. You only are, because you don't go back on your word.”

"If I argued with you, I'd be lying."

Deliah closed her eyes. “Then let's not do anything more.”

I kissed her on the forehead. "I love you more every day. Let's go Astral."



*****



When Deliah and I returned to The White City, we landed on the bed again. I held her. “That High Astral exchange was very nice,” I said. We were under the covers, and she had her head resting on my chest. We both had an arm around each other.

“I quite agree. So, you’ll do it again soon?”

“Definitely! I can’t wait to do this with Stefan.”

“I meant with me, you obnoxious twit,”

I laughed, “Yes, with you. You’re rubbing off on me.”

“I see. I couldn’t have come up with a better response, myself.”

“So, was this enough for you?”

"Maybe. I'll probably have the nagging curiosity forever, but I don't know."

"I don't think you'd like my style, if I relented. I see that you want someone wild and intense. I was never like that, and you couldn't talk me into being like that."

"Well, thanks for being here with me like this now. It's nice."

I stroked her hair. "We can do this again, any time."

"Thanks. Can I pass out on you?"

I chuckled. "Oh, sure. I'll even join you. And we'll leave it at that, OK?"

"OK. Vergil, you are something else."

"Night, babe."

"Night."



*****



Del and I didn't stay out for very long. When we got up and fully dressed, we found Stefan had dropped the print off at the museum, and we found him with Thanatos and Percy on the rooftop. After our greetings, Deliah immediately asked Percy if he might prefer being held by her to being in Thanatos’ lap.

Apparently he gave her an OK, because she picked him up, and he was only too happy to dig his claws into her shoulder, with one front leg wrapped around her neck.

“How’s it going?” asked Stefan.

“I seem to be making steps conforming to everyone else’s priorities,” said Deliah.

I just got an irresistible mental stroke from Thanatos that motivated me to sit beside him, and wrap myself around him. Of course, he put an arm around me. He looked at Deliah. “When would you like to meet your horse?”

“As soon as you can pry yourself away from your snoggin’ buddies, and as soon as my sweet black lord decides he no longer wants to be coddled, I guess.”

“Sounds reasonable,” said Thanatos.

“Where’s the horse from?”

“Low Etheric. He’d been a pampered pet named Aslan,” said Thanatos. “He’s a sweetheart, and he's jet black with no colour variance.”

“Lion?” she asked.

“What language?!” asked Stefan.

“Turkish,” said Deliah.

“Blows me away, how you kept track of so many languages,” said Stefan.

“You knew quite a bit of Spanish, and a little Albanian. If your stepfather in your last life had let you and your mother speak German, you’d know that, too.”

Deliah knew Greek, Turkish, Hebrew, Yiddish, English, a little German, and enough Arabic to get by. ‘Know the language of your enemies’ was a philosophy on the home front when she was alive. That was the reason she’d been taught Turkish, for the Turks and the Greeks were not exactly best of friends.

Stefan shrugged. “Oh well. As if it matters here.”

“Uh, yeah.” I leaned across Thanatos, and reached toward Stefan. ‘Can I borrow you, after we’re done here?’

Stef smiled. ‘Of course.’

We touched each other’s wrists, and I sat up straight, again.

Thanatos stroked the hair of both Stefan and I. “Del, ask Percy if he wants to come with us. I think we should have you meet your new part time master.”

She stroked the cat, and ended up putting him down. “Percy wants out, but OK. I want to see Aslan.”

Thanatos stood up. “See you two later,” he said to Stefan and I.

“Bye, guys,” I said, and Stefan just waved.

“Late, dudes,” said Deliah, and they disappeared.”



*****



Thanatos and Deliah met Aslan on the outskirts of The City, proper. It was love at first sight. “This is a dream horse,” said Deliah.

Aslan scraped his upper teeth on Deliah’s shoulder, repeatedly. “He obviously knows what you think of him. Also, he's not quite a horse. Only Macha and I have horses. The rest are ponies.”

"He's still pretty big."

"Can't get any bigger for what he is. He's at the height limit, along with the rest of our equine companions.

Deliah stroked the side the Aslan’s face, and then she concentrated on his neck. She communed with him. “Gods, I don’t even know if I want to ride you. I sure as hell don’t ever want to mar your beauty with tack. Oh, you’re so adorable.”

"Isn't he, though?"

She turned to Thanatos, stood on her toes, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for finding him.”

“Your personalities seem to mesh quite nicely.”

She turned back to Aslan, and kissed him on the nose. “Can he have the same leeway as Hesper, with your flat?”

“Our flat! Good luck talking him into that. Horses don’t generally like acting like cats. Hesper was a weird one, because Vergil, or more correctly, Donn used to bring him in the house when he could get away with it. They used to sleep together in the barn, and they were mighty close.”

“Considering how much time that pony spends in the flat, and in the spa with Vergil, I’d say they still are.”

“From the looks of it, Aslan might become one of your own snoggin’ buddies.”

Deliah embraced the pony. “Definite possibility.”

































Chapter 6





The bash was a huge success. So was the mead. It was different, so it was sampled by most. I broke down and tried it, and I found it all right, but I didn’t like it as much as I used to. The rest of the chow, and even the ales were mostly, but not quite completely ignored. I was surprised that there was even the interest in the mead.

Way more individuals than just our building complex ended up coming by. There would be more of these parties, though we wouldn’t be hosting all of them, and they wouldn’t necessarily be Irish. The ‘culture’ gala concept was a hit, and it would be incorporated. The next party would be Mexican, and it would be a recap of the Day of the Dead.

Hell yeah, we were going! It would be nice to be able to mingle more, than be stuck in the amphitheatre playing a guitar or harp for most of the time. I looked forward to making a fool of myself doing La Cucuracha, or something. I intended to wear native garb, down to the sombrero. I’d have to do a bit of research on later Mexican culture, of course. I knew quite a bit about the times before the European invaders destroyed the place, but I didn’t keep tabs on what happened after the Spanish influence.



*****



The six of us ended up transferring to our flat, instead of walking up the thirteen floors. Us five musicians were feeling too lazy to walk, after our stint. It’s not easy playing three sets of six or seven lengthy songs.

We sat on two sofas, facing each other. Of course Kevalyn and Macha were on one, and Stefan, me, Deliah and Thanatos on the other, in that order. “I don’t think I ever had that much fun before in all my existence,” said Macha.

“This is the first time at this sort of gathering where I actually enjoyed myself,” I said. “As a kid, I thought the celebrations were disruptive.”

“They were,” said Macha. “I mean, people would get drunk, a fight or two might break out, not to mention we weren’t always too discreet about certain things.”

I chuckled. “I probably would have enjoyed my childhood festivals if everyone had been this well behaved.”

“No doubt. You never did tolerate the boisterous, obnoxious types too well,” said Macha.

“Hey!” said Deliah. “Aren’t I obnoxious?”

I ruffled her hair, and put my arm around her. “You are a riot, love. You are one of the wittiest, most amusing individuals I’ve ever met, and if it’s at my expense, so be it. Like I care?! Anyway, I do get you back occasionally.”

I got her arm around me, and a kiss on the cheek. “Yes, you do. Sometimes you go overkill,” said Deliah.

“Tell me about it,” said Macha.

I shrugged. “I fight back with what’s at hand, babe,” I said, as I turned to Deliah.

‘I guess I deserved what you did to me by slowing down with your painting, huh?’ she sent me.

‘Probably not, but I just found the temptation too irresistible. Do you accept my apology?’

‘I do. Do you accept mine for trying to embarrass you?’

‘I understand what motivated you. I accept. Let’s just say we have one issue of incompatibility, but I really do love you.’

She rubbed her head into my shoulder, and I got another kiss. ‘I’ll be good from now on. I can't handle an unwilling lover.’

‘Not an unwilling lover! A unwilling sex partner. There is a difference. I’ll be only too glad to take you Astral later.’

She closed her eyes. ‘I’m looking forward to that.’

‘Soon.’

I pulled Stefan toward me, and he got the next hair-ruffle. He made a sort of trilling noise. “You’re so cute when you do that,” I said.

Stefan chuckled. “Thanks.” Silently, he sent me, ‘Astral soon?’

I brought my hand to my mouth to stifle my laughter. ‘I was just doing a conveyance of that matter with Deliah. Sure. Shall we invite everyone?’

‘Don’t see why not.’

I said, “Both Deliah and Stef are eager to do go Astral with me. Shall this be a three way, or more?” Sooner than I’d liked, apparently, but what the hey?

Macha shook her head. “No. Not me.”

Kevalyn said, “I’m game.”

“Most definitely,” said Thanatos.

“OK,” said Macha. “Can I change my mind? I don’t think I want to be the only one left out.”

“Certainly. A prelude to our unity.” I said.

“Cool,” said Macha. “Now?”

“Sure,” said Thanatos. “What's to lose?”

“Nothing, but a lot to gain, apparently” I said.

"Astral orgy, huh?" asked Deliah.

We all laughed, but the result was pretty nice. Our bonding increased yet again, and Macha and Kevalyn really got to know Deliah.

Both women agreed with the rest of us in oh, what a prize she was. As if her performance on the chessboard hadn’t proven that already.



*****



When we came back from the Astral, we didn’t go to our flat. We went to a glade far away from The City, and sat in a circle under the shade of a tree. We remained mentally integrated, and didn’t have to say anything. We were still one.

It was interesting how we’d developed, and sort of blended with each other, individually. Stefan, me and Thanatos were thinking quite a bit more alike now than when we’d first met, and Macha and Kevalyn ended up having quite a bit in common, with interests crossing over, and the sharing, and co-adoption of various habits we all had. We were becoming so much more alike with those we hung out with. Deliah was still all Deliah. She was too new to the group, and she had a powerful personality, and I had a feeling Deliah would stay true to herself, not that this was a bad thing. We all complimented each other. We were now absolutely relishing each other in ways that couldn’t have been conceived by me even when I was on Tech Duinn.

What was happening between us made me realise all the more how stultifying and pitiful Physical existence was. Two or more loved ones, just couldn’t get close enough. Words weren’t enough, an embrace wasn’t enough, and sex was so misused that it was a defilement of the concept of love in most instances. I sent Macha an extra little mental caress and a message on how I really appreciate all she’d done for me, and an apology on how I seemed to have taken her for granted in so many ways, and I got the same thing back.

Gods, how she’d loved me, but it was kind of on the unrequited side. A warrior slut was not my type of woman. I preferred the gentle, artistic, or intellectual type. Macha had made so many sacrifices for me from her perspective, not that acting on her wishes would have done anything for us, other than really mess up what we’d had.

I sent Macha a mental picture of us in the Astral, then fading back to here in embrace. She blew me a kiss, and I did the same. Our eyes were closed, but we didn’t need to visually perceive anything like that to know what had happened in our current state.

Everyone knew what was going on. All of our thoughts were shared by the group. What we were doing was akin to the ultimate ‘make out session’ in this locale. The real deal! Plastered by unconditional love from the five best friends I had, minus Hesper. I was totally lost in the group. Where did I begin and end?

It was a taste of our future, as we got closer to HOME.

The psychological intensity wasn’t quite like being Astral, but it sufficed quite well, and it was as plain as the nose on Stefan’s face that everyone else felt the same way, although I really shouldn’t have thought up that analogy right at the moment.

Leave it to Stefan to bring a really beautiful thing to an end in the worst possible way, for the sake of his demented sense of humour. “Oh nooooooooo!”

Thanatos opened his eyes. “Stefan, I swear!”

Stefan looked around, with a histrionic expression of sheer panic. “I can’t evolve any further! If I go Astral, I’ll lose my nose for good! I can’t have that! It’s my pride and joy! It’s my life! It’s my very existence!”

Thanatos threw his head back, laughed, and showed off his fangs in their full glory. “If I knew you were serious, I swear I’d disown you.”

Stefan smiled, and tried to look as innocent as possible. “Damn telepaths.”

Macha looked at him. “You should give each and every one of us a back rub for breaking up our liaison.”

“It had to happen some time,” said Stefan.

Kevalyn chuckled. “Well that was one way to do it.”

Stefan looked at Macha. “Do you want a backrub?”

“Sure, but not from you.”

Kevalyn leaned over, and kissed Macha on the cheek. "I’ll be glad to give you one.”

Macha put her arm around Kevalyn. “Thanks. I’d also like to reciprocate.”

Stefan looked at me. “Damn fruits!”

I brought the palm of my hand rapidly to my forehead. “Ye gods!” I looked at Deliah. “Yo! Can you put this thing in its place?” I asked, as I pointed at Stefan.

Deliah scowled. “I don’t know. I’m kind of enjoying this.”

“I have to admit, so am I,” said Thanatos.

Stefan, who was beside me, got his hair ruffled by yours truly. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” I said.

Stefan blew me a kiss. “Thanks.”

“So, now what?” asked Deliah.

“Let’s go visit the other levels of this place,” said Kevalyn.

“Great idea,” said Thanatos. “Let’s”

They were going to get no argument from the rest of us.



*****



Our adventure was done in the Astral, more or less as a single unit. The experience was timeless, and Thanatos was the predominant guide, leading us to realms I’d had no idea existed. All I can say, as not to spend the next six or seven hundred pages writing on the specifics, is that it was awesome. Spending so much illusory 'time’ wrapped around each other’s minds also changed us to a degree. We lost ourselves more and more, every time it happened. Need I explain any further?



*****



Macha got me alone, after we finally got back to our flat. “Once! Just for the sake of the experience, I’d like what you did with Stefan, not that I don't know about you and Thanatos in a lot more detail than what you wrote about.”

Well, she knew when to strike. “I guess I let my guard down on when Thanatos seduced me. I think I’d disappoint you.”

“Not if I don’t expect stud-service. What if I want to be treated like a canvass, or a sculpture’s lump of clay, just this once?”

I smiled. “You know, I still think you are the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on, after Deliah and Kev?”

She smiled back. “And despite the love you feel for me, I’m still the last woman you’d choose to be committed to.”

That was brilliantly phrased.

“Hm hm! But you’re not asking for a commitment.”

“Nope! I’m not even asking for the time of my life, which I know I couldn’t get from you for all eternity, not that sex is the way to get me there anymore. I’d just like one time with the first true love of my existence.”

“Even though Kevalyn is now the true love of your existence?” I guess my interlude with Thanatos, which I managed to somehow share with the group, set a bad precedent. Now I was stuck with everyone hounding me. Oh, well.

Macha chuckled. “Platonic, from day one here. Yes, I love her more than you, but I will never do a chick. I love her enough not to request she change gender again, she loves me enough not to ask anything more of me than I’m willing to give, not that this is a terribly relevant issue, in this reality. Our innate sex drives appears to have seriously fizzled.”

I cocked my head. “But you're asking me to compromise myself?!”

“Tech Duinn?”

I scowled. “Surely you jest?!”

She shook her head. “No! My old bedroom.”

I grimaced. “Mirrors galore! You know how much I hate that?”

“Ignore them.”

“Macha, I can't!”

"Can't, or won't?"

I shook my head. "Macha, drop it. Get over me like that. I just can't bring myself to do that."



*****



Macha and Kevalyn were on the chessboard. Kevalyn had black. “Will I ever get not having Donn Ui’Midir just once, out of my system?” asked Macha.

“Your last personal dilemma?”

“Sometimes you can’t see the trees for the forest, even when the tree falls on you. Check.”

Kevalyn moved to protect her king. “I’m anxious to get to the next level of existence.”

“So am I.”

“I’d like to play Deliah,” said Kevalyn.

“She might win.”

“I believe it. You still cream me in fewer moves than what she lasted with you.”

“Take it slow. I want to see the game when it happens.”

“Check. We’ll let you know.”

“Check mate.”



*****



I was on the couch with Stefan and Thanatos. Stefan managed to get central seating.

“Am I evolved enough yet?” I asked. "Do I have any other issues that will keep me behind?"

“None that I can see,” said Thanatos. “Your engine’s primed for flight.”

“I personally don’t want to leave, just yet,” said Stefan. “I really dig the closeness of us in the higher planes, but I want to experience more of what this one has to offer first hand, not to mention I’m still a little addicted to doing our artwork the old fashioned way.”

I shrugged. “It’s a little more fun to paint it, than materialise it by thought. I agree.”

“More of a challenge,” said Stefan.

I was too good to see painting as a challenge. Yet, I said, “I know what you mean. I also love hanging out at The Gallery every once in a while. See what other stuff goes up besides ours. But still, in some ways being here is beginning to grate on me.”

Thanatos reached over Stefan, and stroked my hair. “I know what you mean. I've been here too long, myself.”

"And you've been here a lot longer than any of us," I said.

Stefan looked at me. “Speaking of paintings, I think I want to do one of you, Donn.”

I scowled. “Vergil!”

He smiled and tilted his head. “I want to do a picture of the young Donn Ui’Midir, with turquoise eyes, in his Irish finery like he may have worn at a palatial gathering.”

I petted his nose. “You do that either from your imagination, or you time trip back to the time I was a kid on Earth.”

Stefan kissed my nose. “OK, I’ll do that! See you two later!”

“Ayuh,” I said.

Thanatos waved at him. “Bye.”

When Stefan disappeared, I immediately moved next to Thanatos. “This should be interesting,” I said.

Thanatos put his arm around me. “Indeed it should.”

"I wonder why he wants to paint me as I was?"

“I didn't check, but I can’t wait to see the end result.”

I put my arm around him. “We can do something about that.”

Thanatos closed his eyes. “No need. He’s time tripping a little. He doesn’t want us to watch, though. He’s still a little self-conscious of his mistakes on the way to the finished product.”

“Why bother be so? His end results are as good as ours.”

“I know. Let’s you and me hit the ice.”

“Oh, yeah!”



































Chapter 7





The painting Stefan did almost brought tears to my eyes. He pictured me in a heavily, and colourfully embroidered black leine I was pictured from the waist up. I looked like I did when I was in my seventeen year old form. My eyes were shown with a turquoise, glow-in-the-dark colour, and I couldn’t have been more angelic looking. I looked like some sort a Peace Deity, or something.

Thanatos commented, “You know, Donn...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so good.”

“Vergil!” I barely refrained from calling him ‘Keith.’

Stefan chuckled. “Remember when the name thing used to be the other way around?”

I sighed. “Yes! Maybe I shouldn’t complain anymore. After all, this is technically a picture of my Donn days, and I’ll have to agree with Thanatos. Absolutely ravishing, though my eyes shall remain the obsidian colour they are. I’ve always preferred that.”

“Shall I change mine, too?” asked Stefan.

“Only if you don’t want me to pet your nose again,” I said. “Let me rephrase that. I’ve always preferred obsidian eyes ON ME. You are an amazing artist, Stefan. Not the most prolific, but when you dish it out, you dish it out! I can’t believe how absolutely divine you made me look. I’m not sure, but this might be my favourite painting of me. I’d have to look at the rest, to be sure, maybe when we’ve got a day.”

“As if days existed here,” said Stefan.

Thanatos looked at Stefan. “You’re missing nights again.”

“Little bit.”

“Later on, let’s get Deliah and go someplace dark.” said Thanatos.

“If we can get her away from her transmissions. She’s been working pretty hard to get through to Karen, lately,” I said. "She hasn't been with us for a while.

“Channelling for the End Times must be so much fun,” said Stefan.

I took a step closer to Stef, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Remember the shite you put me through to keep you from killing yourself?”

“Yes, Donn.”

He used my wrong name again. “I...give...up!” I said, as I looked at Stefan.

“You are aware, that I’m just messin’ with ya...Vergil?” asked Stefan.

I chuckled. “I’m glad you can’t get headaches here.”

“Oh, come on,” said Thanatos. “Let’s take a print to The Gallery. They’d be drooling now, if they already knew that this thing existed.”

“And it was so easy,” said Stefan.

I ruffled his hair. “You’re getting better.”

Is there a need to say that the print was a hit at The Gallery?



*****



We didn’t have to find Deliah later. She found us. “Gods, I am so glad I wasn’t working class in my last life,” she said.

“Tell me about it,” said Stefan.

“Karen doesn’t make as much as you did, Stef,” said Deliah.

“No difference,” said Stefan. “She’s only supporting herself. I had two dependents.”

“One of which was a cat.”

“A cat who liked langostinos, shrimp, salmon, basa, cod and pollock steaks. He also liked unsalted canned tuna, and if ever I left any Greek olives on a plate on the table, he ate those, too.”

“Ooh, he had taste. Kalamata?”

Stefan laughed. “That’s what we usually bought. Percy had totally gourmet tastes.”

“And the spoon or hand feeding!”

“He payed me back,” said Stefan. “He still gives great backrubs.”

“Don’t I know it,” said Deliah. “Those kneading jobs are great...with a thick blanket between me and those claws.”

Stefan scowled. “He still gives you backrubs?”

“Hell yeah. You know that,” said Deliah. “Percy’s my boyfriend, too.”

“Damn, what sluts you both are!”

Deliah laughed. “Yeah. Anyway, I got through to Karen that she’s supposed to read Freddie Nietzche next. I’ve given her insights on what made him write what he did, and she’ll think it was her own revelation, but her compilation of the philosophers is coming along.”

“He led a pretty tragic life,” said Thanatos.

“From what I know now, he had a pretty...uh...how shall I say this? Filtered outlook on what life is all about, but from a purely pragmatic perspective, he had it going,” said Deliah.

“Filtered. That’s a nice analogy for slightly psychotic,” I said. “Still, he had a lot of valid points. I’ve read about half his books.”

Thanatos said, “Anyway, Stef misses the darkness.”

“Great,” said Deliah. “I’ve never been spelunking.” If that wasn’t a hint...

“Neither have I,” I said.

“That’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it sounds like fun. Do we wear those hard hats with the headlight?” asked Stefan.

“I’d rather hold a torch,” said Deliah.

“Oh yeah,” I said. “Thanatos?”

“I know just where to go!”

As expected, Hades had quite a few underground caverns, and rivers ran through them. We had an all out blast, and I wished Macha and Kev were with us, but they were on their own exploratory trip on other layers of The White City. When I zeroed in on them, I found they were having as much fun as we were.



*****



Kevalyn scowled. “Kaffraria? Songhay? Ruthenia? Tonkin? I never heard of these places.”

“Neither have I,” said Macha.

“Interesting, coming across all these cultures from so long ago. Show me how useless modern education was. Especially the history classes.”

“History! All lies, as told by the public school system.”

Kevalyn laughed. “Public school system. The future obedient little slave factory.”

“You had a couple of teachers that made you think.”

“Thank the gods I was born early enough.”

“Thank yourself for choosing the time you were born, love. Remember?”

“Ah, yes. Here I am, and my mouth still operates on auto-pilot.”

“Think nothing of it. Occasionally, so does mine,” said Macha.

“Let’s go back to previous life-cycles. Pre-history.”



*****



Oh, what a trip it was. Walking on a narrow pathway along a cliff, where you couldn’t see the bottom because of the darkness, if there even was a bottom. Then there were other areas with stalactites and stalagmites, and underground valleys, and underground waterfalls, and we went to see the Styx, the Phlegethon, the Lethe, the Acheron and Cocytus. Even the three of us unfamiliar with this all had a degree of morbid curiosity, ya know? It was quite a little adventure. After we’d had enough, Thanatos transferred us to the Elysian Fields, more to show Deliah what the place was like, than anything else.

We ended up sitting under a weeping willow by a stream, and Deliah and Stefan had a cup of tea. “Awesome! Who knew I’d be doing cave exploration after I was dead,” said Deliah.

“With torches, of all things,” said Stefan.

“I almost feel like a kid again,” I said.

“I know what you mean,” said Deliah. “This is such a good place for a picnic.”

“You’ll be the only one eating, lady,” said Stefan.

“No fun in that. I guess I’ll pass,” said Deliah. She looked into the stream. “Fish!”

“Everything on Earth exists here,” said Thanatos. “Be glad the mosquitoes don’t bite.”

“I am,” said Deliah. “They used to love me about as much as ‘Kyle’ used to like children.”

“With garlic and a side order of mashed potatoes?” asked Stefan.

“Same concept,” said Deliah.

Stefan chuckled. “Deliah?”

She was on to him. “No, I do not believe there is anything specific in the Torah on Church of Euthanasia meat patties.” (Long pig...as in people burgers.)

“Open season on the goyim, then?” asked Stefan.

“Steffy-poo! Technically, ‘goy’ means ‘nation,’ not that my household ever used or misused the corrupted term. We recognised non-Jews as equals. I think most non-Zionist Jews do, even if they do take pride in their heritage, and I speak of the real Mizrahi Torah Jews, and not the Ashkenazi, Sephardic or any Talmudic Jews regardless of ancestry; which aren't Jews in my book. Shiksa for chicks or shkutz for stud-muffins, me thinks is the terms you want. At least that’s what we used in our household, when we were mad at someone. You know, there are some things that are almost more obvious than the nose on your face, and it wasn’t necessary to write them down in our codes of conduct.”

Stefan leaned over, and kissed her on the cheek. “Of course you know damn well I was just being obnoxious.”

She smiled. “As always. Thanks.”

I looked at Thanatos. “Stud-muffins?”

“Blame that on Stefan, who got it from a comedienne named Judy Tenuta. Stefan had to transmit that cute little term to Deliah, but at least he’s been polite enough not to call us that,” said Thanatos to me.

Deliah looked at Thanatos. “Calling you guys stud-muffins these days, is like naming a garden slug Speed Racer.”

Thanatos commented, “I might laugh, if you hadn’t stated such an obvious fact.”

“No argument from me,” I said.

“Like totally, ya know?” said Stefan, as he faced Deliah.

“So we’re in complete agreement,” said Deliah. She looked at me. "And thanks for letting me sleep with you that one time."

“At least it got you off my back,” I said, in retort. I looked around. "And sleep is all we did."

She smiled. “After the Astral merging. I wasn't on your back. I passed out on your chest, in your arms."

“True” I said.

She blew me a kiss. “Technicalities, huh?”

Thanatos chuckled, after our pause. “Anything else?”

“I need some ammunition for this lady, but my wit's on a dry run,” I said.

“I ran out, for now,” said Deliah. “Maybe later. And despite my insult, you are aware that I love all three of you like no tomorrow.”

“Insult?” I asked Thanatos.

Thanatos looked at Deliah. “What insult?”

She laughed. “Never mind.”



*****



After the four of us got back to The White City, Deliah checked up on Karen in her old apartment, and then came back to us.

“How goes it with Karen?” asked Stefan.

“Muddling along, making progress. It’s too slow for her taste, but it’s OK. She started posting the stuff on-line, a chapter at a time.”

“Amazing how hard you work to try to get a few people to see the light.”

Deliah shrugged. “I wanted to improve the world, too. I sure didn’t do it in life. I was just a spoiled, uncompromising rich kid, forever seeking knowledge, but even though I didn’t accomplish my pre-life mission in life, I can do it now. I mean, I don’t have any desire to do another unnecessary incarnation for something I can do here, unlike some fools I know.”

Stefan chuckled. “Do you have any idea of the names I called myself for doing that both in life, and since?”

“You were a lot harsher on yourself than I just was. But because of your so-called eternally stupid decision, you have the company you have, as you've already been told too many times to count. Too bad you're so damn gay.”

“Dude! I like macho chicks and fem lookin’ dudes, though I made an exception for Kevalyn. I am a currently non-practising switch hitter, and proud of it. Like you read, I have made out pretty heavy with Kevalyn, though as a chick. I never wanted to have sex with a woman as a man, and now I'd rather not go there at all.”

"Unless it’s Vergil, or Thanatos, huh?”

Thanatos and I looked at each other. Thanatos grimaced, and pretended to shiver, and I silently laughed at Than's histrionics.

“It’s not going to happen, but probably.”

Deliah scowled. “Ye gods! It’s OK, though. I wouldn’t want anything to change between us. I think we have a perfect relationship.”

“You know, so do I, though you do sound like you’ve regressed a little,” said Stefan.

Deliah looked at Stefan. “Regressed? Or maybe I too would like to experience something I never had. Just once? Even with you?"

Stefan shook his head. "I just can't bring myself to do that."

Thanatos said, “This issue really isn't good. It's a setback.”

Stefan and Deliah looked at each other. “Unfortunately, there's no way to compromise on this,” said Stefan.

“Maybe I'll get over it,” said Deliah, “but for now, I’m surprised I had so much fun in Hades. As a mortal, I’d always thought of it as a myth.”

“With all you studied, I’m surprised you weren’t more eclectic,” said Stefan.

Deliah looked at him. “Dude! I was Jewish in my last life, and the nineteen sixties hadn’t rolled around yet. It was not cool to be an out of the closet pantheist Pagan Jewess in my day, as if it ever is. Judaism does not integrate with other religions, not that you don’t know that. I wasn’t the best Jewess in the world. Never met a man I could control who was suitable as a husband, and I didn’t have any children. Personal sovereignty was very important to me, and I was lucky enough to have inherited enough money where I never had to compromise it, so my religion ended up playing second banana to my ego, not that this is unheard of, you know?”

“All the way,” said Stefan.

“Macha the second,” said Keith.

“Thank you,” said Deliah. “I’ve never met a more admirable woman than Macha.”

“Neither have I,” said Thanatos. “Don’t say that in front of her face, though.”

“Even though she knows I think it?!”

“Arrogance isn’t one of her traits. Never was, except for on the battlefield, and that was justified. She was and is the best,” said Thanatos.

“I can’t say the same,” said Deliah. “As a mortal, I was quite arrogant. Wealthy, drop dead gorgeous in my prime, scholastically brilliant, and proud of my culture, despite not viewing myself as one of God's Chosen People! What can you expect?”

“At least you were sympathetic to your fellow Earthly inhabitants,” I said. “You were kind to your household servants, and all,” I said. “Paid them a little more than was expected, and treated them with respect.”

“It’s nice to have those who work for you as being your allies. I didn’t want a ‘Spartacus’ scene on the estate, not to mention if a person treats me well, I tend to treat them well back, sarcasm aside.”

“We wouldn’t want you any other way,” I said.



*****



Stefan and I were alone on the walkway outside our flat, overlooking the park. Stefan said, “You know, I feel like I sort of failed in my last life.”

“Because you feel you failed to have much of an impact on the world?”

“Something like that!”

“Stef, you laid the cornerstone for the thing you used to be married to becoming a millionaire, you rescued a cat, and Kevin, who are now still here with us, and you’ve done a few financial favours for people that actually rescued them from some real problems. You also did less damage to the Earth than most in the U.S. of your time.”

“I think I could have done more, and I really admire what Deliah is doing with Karen Williams, but I don’t think I want to spend my resources working with someone, like that. I wonder if there’s something else that I can do, while still being here. For the planet and animals, you know? Just like before.”

I shrugged. “Channelling, going down a level or two part time to be a teacher, or becoming someone’s guardian-advisor is the usual route, here. To come up with anything else, I’d really have to sit down and think. If even there is anything else! Also, being a High Etheric ‘environmental saviour’ is a new one on me.”

“Maybe later I’ll do a meditation session.”

“It happens, but I haven’t done much of that since I got here.”

“I do it a little,” said Stefan.

“Not much need of it, huh?”

“In this paradise? Not really.”

“Want to go down to the park?” I asked.

“Love to.”

“I see you want to ride the stair rail down.”

“Hell, yeah! I love doing that.”

Stefan’s slide would be uneventful, as usual.



*****



Deliah and Thanatos were seated on Gilgamesh, with Deliah in front. They were in the wild lands, far away from the city. “I think I’ll be through here after Karen finishes her e-book,” said Deliah. “Is anything else keeping us from going Astral then?”

“Well, there's your desperation to get three of us to do what we really would rather not, and now we have another problem. There is no way we are going to split up, but your project with Karen has made Stefan feel like he hadn’t done enough when ‘she’ was alive. (How’s that for a convoluted sentence structure? Gods, these gender switches...) He’s wondering if there’s anything he can do that doesn’t go down any conventional route.”

“Is there?”

“Whatever it is, it hasn’t been done yet,” said Thanatos.

“Can the Akashic Library be checked?”

“Stefan can do that himself. We can discuss it later, but I don’t think the answer is there. I’m not sure an answer exists.”

“So, sometimes when you try to think outside the box, all you get is a vacuum.”

Thanatos chuckled. “I guess so.”

“You know, I’m the only non-artist in our lot. I think I want to try to draw a picture,” said Deliah.

“You want to draw a picture of like we are now.”

“Maybe different clothes. You know, the last thing I would have expected was for Thanatos to always wear flannel shirts, jeans, and lace up work boots.”

“You know my motivation for that.”

“Be as un-provocative as possible. Yeah. An abaya or burkha might be better for that.”

“Gods above, and below, Del. You never stop, do you?”

“I try not to.” She pressed herself into him. “Can we go Astral in a little bit?”

“I would absolutely love to.”

Thanatos had his arms around Deliah’s waist. She grabbed his wrists, brought them up, and placed his hands over her breasts. “First, I want to fuck.”

Thanatos ever so gently scraped his fangs over her neck. “I don’t.”

She shivered. “Can I try to change your mind?”

“Can’t be done.” He held her around the waist again, as soon as she let go off his wrists. “However, we can get off the horse, and do other things before we go Astral.”

“Meaning?”

“I’ll make out with you to a degree, but you are not going to get the rutting animal you want. Not from any of us.”

“Oh well. Help me off the horse.”

Thanatos dismounted with an unbelievable grace, and helped Deliah to the ground. “You could have transferred.”

“I get off on your power.”

Thanatos picked her up, and held her in his arms. He signalled to Gilgamesh that he was free to go now, and that he’d get a good grooming on demand, at his leisure. Gilgamesh nosed Thanatos’ shoulder, and pranced off.

Thanatos carried Deliah to under an elm, and kneeled. She ended up sitting beside him. She gently ran her hands through his hair, and tilted her head. They clung to each other, and kissed.

After the kiss ended, Deliah started unbottoning Than’s shirt. “You’re not quite another Vergil Xanon.”

“Taller, weigh more, whiter shade of pale, and my eyes glow in the dark.”

“I’m talkin’ ‘tude, baby.”

“I don’t share his aversion to kissing mouth to mouth.”

She ran her hand delicately down his chest, down his beltline, and over his privies. No response. “Or maybe you are like him. Is there a way you can pretend to be interested?”

“It would be a lie. I don’t do that anymore. I won't pretend or act again, in this department. I think it's incredibly inane and stupid to do that.” He smiled, and worked on her shirt buttons. “You are absolutely ravishing. I think I want to do a painting of you reclined against a black leopard.”

“Dressed how?”

“Necklace, few bracelets, asp around your upper arm, metal belt, anklet? Maybe a sash tied around your thigh? Flat heeled cross garter sandals! A knife at your side.”

“A decorated nude.”

“Tastefully posed. A metal band in your hair, oh regal one.”

“Fine. We’ll both work on an art project after this. Would you like to give a copy to the museum?”

“You’d like that.”

“Very much, so.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Then I will.”

“Will I ever adjust to you wanting to paint pretty women, as opposed to wanting to screw them?”

“I find your intelligence more attractive than your appearance. I want more games of chess with you, and perhaps other games of strategy.”

“I can feel your detachment, and lack of lust. Can you feel my yearning?”

“Of course?”

“But it doesn’t motivate you.”

“Deliah, I have complete control of myself. Nothing can affect me, unless I want it to.”

“A part of me wants to stop.”

“I want the Astral merging.”

“So do I. Can you walk away from that?” asked Deliah.

“Yes. Of course I’d rather not, but I can. Nothing controls me on any level.”

“So you’re as incorruptible as the legends say.”

“Apparently so. Can’t corrupt someone who needs nothing, and whose desires fall second to what should be. Even on my second incarnation...I may have been as lascivious as hell until the later part of it, but I still never compromised my integrity.”

“I am feeling so paradoxical about what we are allegedly about to do.”

Thanatos embraced her. “I want you. OK?”

She caressed his privies again. Still no reaction! “If you say so.”

Thanatos smiled, and shook his head. “Deliah, what am I going to do with you?”

“You know what I want you to do with me.”

He pulled his own shirt off, and untied his boots. “We’ll work something out.”

“Is this a one time thing?”

“Not necessarily, though I don’t want to do this very often. Not these preliminaries, any way. As for the Astral merging, you can have me any time you want.” He pulled his boots and socks off.

Deliah smiled. “Is this going to be a one at a time, or mutual?” She pulled her shirt off.

“One at a time is the only way to go, as far as I’m concerned when you’re talking about sex. Divided attention ruins the experience. When I want to concentrate on you, I want to concentrate on you, and the other way around. I want to focus my full appreciation of you, on you.”

“I’d never thought of it like that. Brilliant concept.”

They embraced and kissed again. Thanatos really took his time with Deliah, and he surpassed all her wildest phantasies. She tried her best to do him justice when it was her turn to be the active party, to the best of her ability. When she got him to the edge the second time, he stopped her. “Get on all fours.”

Being she could feel what Thanatos was feeling, she didn’t appreciate being stopped at the border. “I thought you weren’t going to fuck me.”

“Well, not in the way you’d expect.”

“Whatever.”

She did as he instructed. He took her to the edge again Tantrically, non-coitally, entered her as she contracted hard on him, and he didn’t withdraw himself to the slightest degree. That was enough to take both of them both over, though the intensity was weak. He put his forearm under her, and brought her up so her back was pressed against his chest, sent her an overwhelming memory surge of a way more powerful moment from his past, and uh...um...I'll leave it at that. Deliah fell forward taking Thanatos with her, before they both went Astral, and she screamed, not being able to stand the sensation. People weren’t meant to feel that good.

One down, two to go!



*****



Stefan and I ended up going through the gardens of the park, hand in hand. “You know Vergil, I don’t think I have anything innovative to offer to the Physical Plane. I think I give up. You should try to get your stories down there, though. They have such an idealistic outlook, and unusual but wonderful relationships recorded, that I think they’d do the human race some good.”

“That would take a bit of work. I mean, I can’t just put the set in every library on the planet, you know?”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“Won’t! We’re not supposed to pull that kind of a stunt. That’s uninvited, invasive interference. I’d have to find someone who’d transcribe it. Someone who was psychic enough for me to work through, and that would take a lot longer than what I went through to get the stuff down originally. I can’t exactly just mail this stuff to publishing houses, or anything.”

“From here, I imagine the postage rates would be a bit high.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, right! I don’t think USPS picks up or delivers here, but you get my drift. I have to play by the Higher Laws. I would be hating every second of when I was on the project! Also, I am NOT the greatest writer in existence. These are just a trilogy, soon to be ‘quartet’ of whacky personal journals that you guys insisted I share, which just seem to be moderately popular here.”

“Have you ever gotten a bad review?”

“The books? No! Us? How many words are there in the thesaurus, that are under the term ‘unusual’? I think we’ve been called every one of them, not that this is necessarily a bad thing.”

We both just got a telepathic message that the Mexican fiesta was just beginning to be set up. We wouldn’t be able to see anything from this part of the park. There were trees in the way.

I changed my clothes then and there. One second I was in my tunic, the next, I was in a coarse white shirt, below the knee white pants, bulky brown sandals, a colourful serape, and a sombrero. “How do I look?”

Stefan smiled. “With your milky skin and blond-red hair? Kind of silly! I’ll shed my cloak and gloves after I get there, but I’m not dressing native, for this one.”

“Olé.” I didn’t care if I looked inane and out of place. No one else would, either.”

Stefan asked, “¿Cómo está su español?” (How’s your Spanish)

“Más o menos.” (Basically it means so-so. Direct translation: More or less) “Why are you using the formal version of Spanish with me?”

“I used to do that to everyone. I thought it was more polite,” said Stefan, as we started walking toward the party.

“Like calling a four year old kid sir or ma’am.”

“I used to rather call four year old kids, food products.”

I chuckled. “Aye! How can I forget?”

Stefan closed his eyes for a moment. “OK, great! Yes, they’ll play Cielito Lindo for us!”

“Cool!”

Stefan smirked mischievously. “Let’s you and me dance to it.”

“I was planning on asking you if you would! That’ll be a sight.”

“It is mine ambition to be the laughing stock of the fiesta!”

I chuckled. “Aim high! I’ll be a’joinin’ ya.”

“This ‘ill be way more fun than the one we hosted.”

“Considering we were stuck in the amphitheatre for the whole musical session of ours, I would hope so.”



*****



Thanatos and Deliah were back at the flat, when the invitation came through. They walked outside to the walkway, to do a progress check. The party was just down below. “Let’s go down when they’re tuning their instruments,” said Deliah.

“That’s an idea.”

“You know, you are pretty awesome.”

“I can’t understand how you can ever want to have sex again, after experiencing the Astral mergings you've had,” said Thanatos.

“I see it as a part of a build-up, when there's nothing better to do. I also never had anyone as beautiful as you in life. I just had to see what you were like.”

“We always have something better to do. I’m sorry, but to me, comparing the Astral merging to sex is like comparing a space shuttle to a paper aeroplane. I’m not saying I’ll never do this again if you really need it to move on, but why bother?”

“You were never human, but I guess since you consider it such a waste, I won’t ask you again. After all; curiosity was a big motivator, but I'd rather not do it again if I’m going to end up feeling guilty over it like I do now. So, I guess we start on our art projects after the party?” asked Deliah.

“Aye! There is no reason to feel guilty, but thanks for your future consideration. I, myself am glad we did what we did, but once is enough. Just for the experience, like when I did the same with Vergil.”

“What is this? Everybody sampling everyone just once to see what it’s like, then never again?”

“Definitely NOT!”

“I don’t even want Stefan like that anymore, even though I never had him. Did you really want me, when you said you did?’

Thanatos smiled. “Hell yeah, I wanted you! For the Astral merging!”

Deliah laughed. “If this were a situation comedy, would my character slap you for saying that?”

“Of course! Why do you think I said it?”

Deliah put her arm around him. “Oh, let’s go downstairs. My ways must be contagious.”

“We can’t always be put on the defensive, huh? Sometimes we have to throw the first punch, so to speak.”

“I suppose so.”

“Thanks.”



*****



Stefan looked over the food table. “Flan! Gods, I used to love flan, and horchata. In a way I’m getting sick just thinking about getting it down, though.”

“It’s all psychological, you know.”

“Yeah,” said Stefan. “ I think I’ll listen to the feeling. It’s been too long. I can’t even handle the concept of horchata.”

“Let’s go watch them finish setting up the stage.”

Stef and I were joined up by Macha and Kevalyn on the way to the performance. Macha laughed. “Vergil! You should have at least changed your hair colour for the occasion. You look absolutely out of place.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That will fit in perfectly for my intended antics.”

“And your Irish accent tops it off,” said Macha.

“The plan is to have a couple of honky gringo crackers make a total fool of themselves,” said Stefan.

“I’m sure you’ll do a good job,” said Kevalyn.

“Oh, yeah!” said Stefan.



*****



Stefan and I actually were generally pretty well behaved. We stayed true to form, for most of the dances. When they played Cielito Lindo, we lost it. We went into each other’s arms, and waltzed around like a couple of drunken dorks, or something. A few actually interrupted their own dancing to watch us, and yes, we generated a bit of laughter.

The band decided to cater to us, and they played some maudlin Mariachi. That wasn’t on the original menu, but Stefan and I had our way with it, and we couldn’t have put on an inaner performance if we’d tried. By now, Thanatos and Deliah had found us, as if we could be missed, and Deliah was laughing her head off at our frolicking. So were quite a few others. Yes, I enjoyed myself a lot, as did we all. When it was over, we were in complete agreement that we were looking forward to the next party. It would be Persian.



*****



Thanatos and Deliah went to the studio after the party. Thanatos set up a canvass, and Deliah sat over the table.

Deliah was a horrible artist, having had no experience. “I think I want to give up.”

Thanatos looked at her. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Any suggestions?”

Thanatos smiled, and looked into her mind. He saw what she wanted to draw, and materialised a hard copy of it, in front of her. “Copy that. Trace it at first, if you have to. Really look at it, and dupe it.”

“Thanks.”

“And study some of the techniques in the art books. Just mess around. You’ll get it.”

“OK, I will.”

Deliah time tripped to do it. It was an exorbitantly long time, to her perception, but to Thanatos, she was only gone for a few minutes. The end drawing was of Thanatos in his battle gear, holding on to Deliah in cross garter sandals, and a shredded, mid-thigh length toga, with both on Gilgamesh. After Thanatos finished his painting of Deliah alone, they took the works to The Gallery. Is there a reason to mention they were instantly accepted?





















Chapter 8





I was walking with Thanatos, on The City’s edge. We were wrapped around each other, and not moving very fast.

“That was a heavenly painting you did of Deliah. I’ve never seen you do such overtly erotic work”.

“She’s a good subject to start with.”

“She is quite artistically inspirational. The most feminine member of the household.”

“Kevalyn is pretty feminine,” said Thanatos.

“You’ve got to admit Deliah is more so. Kev is runway model material. Deliah reminds me of a darker version of Marilyn Monroe. The body, anyway! It’s something I’m not used to looking at all the time. Something so soft?”

“Thank the gods, the personality’s not like the so called Marilyn. Also, I think Deliah is a bit prettier than Norma Jeane Mortenson. Her face is more captivating.”

“I’ll have to agree,” I said. “Deliah’s a Semetic princess.”

“Oh, yeah!”

We didn’t say anything for a while.

Lost in thought, I finally said, “We haven’t been here very long, but I really, really have an urge to move on. This place is beginning to leave a void in me.”

“Evolution calls.”

“When we first got here, it’s like I always felt so close to you, even if you weren’t around, because of that thread that connects us all, but now it’s like even though we’re holding on to each other, it’s like you’re still too far away. What the Hell happened to my perspective?”

Thanatos kissed me on the temple. “I know exactly what you’re going through. Being where we are, and what we are, we’re feeling a stronger draw to going Home. A stronger urge for Unity with each other! It's a pull toward the Astral, where we'll lose ourselves in each other just a little bit more.”

“Not everyone is like that, here. Most have been here for...from their perspective, as long as we’ve been on Tech Duinn, if time were anything.”

“We’re different. With you and me, it was basically love at first sight two lives ago, and despite some difficulties in our relationship with her, Macha is up there, too. The Stefan and Kevalyn thing was a pleasant fluke, and I’m not going to begin to speculate about the hows and whys of Deliah, but she is as much a part of us as anyone else. Our feelings for each other are stronger than what most feel.”

“I kind of do wish everyone else was here with us, but we do have our own priorities.”

“Even those overlap.”

"Speaking if overlap, I'd like to do that with you right now."

Thanatos embraced me. "I hope we can move on so we can stay overlapped, but there are a couple of things that may deter our route from what's supposed to come next."

"Stefan's insecurities with what he thinks he didn't accomplish, and Deliah's obsession with the three of us?"

"Two of us, now."

I just had to laugh.



*****



Stefan and Deliah were at the museum. “Damn!” said Stefan. “So you’ve got Thanatos doing soft core.”

“Uh, excuse me?”

Stefan chuckled. “I’m sorry, but he’s never painted a nude before. It’s beautiful. He did you justice.”

“Thank you. And I didn’t even have to pose.”

“You’re drawing’s damn good, too. Flawless.”

“Gods, it took me enough time!” said Deliah.

“There is no time.”

Deliah gave Stefan a look of histrionic exasperation. “You know what I mean, Nostrils For Brains.”

“Ooh, I like that.”

Deliah ruffled his hair. “You like being called an airhead?”

“No. I like being called ‘Nostrils For Brains.’”

“Yeah, right!”

“Uh huh. Totally!” His tone was quite sarcastic. “Anyway, welcome to the art world.”

“Stefan?”

“Yes?”

"Can we sleep together after our next Astral merging? Like what me and Vergil did?"

Stefan smiled. "You're still not over him. Would it help you with me?"

"Doubt it, but no harm in trying or asking, is there?"

Stefan extended his hand to her. "I guess we can."

Deliah stepped toward Stefan, and put her arm around him, as he did the same to her. “Maybe after we get back to the flat?”

He stroked her nose. “I’d like that. First, want to check out the rest of the front rooms of this place, and see if they have anything new?”

“That would be nice.”

Stefan stroked her hair with his free hand. “Interesting how all my significant others always outrank me in intelligence.”

“That’s pretty subjective, but from your perspective, you wouldn’t have it any other way. You never did have the patience to deal with anyone else. You still don’t.”

“You have a point.”

They started walking slowly to another room. Once a piece of art went in, it never came went away. One couldn’t tell from the outside, but whenever a set of walls was filled, a new room was added to the museum. The building was potentially infinite from its interior, though it only covered one large block, from all appearances based on the perspective from the street. This wasn’t a Physical Plane, however, and Physical Law did not apply. Yes, we’d seen the whole thing, no, not by walking through it. Astral vision is much better to absorb things like this, when dealing with virtual eternities.

“Stefan, I sense something is really bothering you, but you’re blocking it from me.”

“It’s kind of personal.”

“What if I can help?”

Stefan scowled. “I’ve come to the conclusion that my last life was a complete failure.”

“I’ve come to that same conclusion about me. That’s why I’m working with Karen.”

“A part of me is a bit bothered that this feeling is impeding my evolution.”

“And you don’t want to do what I’m doing?!”

“I don’t want anything to do with Earth dwellers any more.” said Stefan.

“Thanatos might have a theoretical solution. Or Nyx?”

“You know, I might ask them, if I can’t come up with an idea.”

Deliah looked at him, with a predatory smile. “Or me! I consider this a challenge. Maybe the ultimate riddle?”

“OK! I won’t ask anyone else unless you give me permission?”

“Thanks.” She pointed to a landscape of a purple sea under a red sky, with a blue sun. “That’s new.”

“Trippy.”

“I haven’t seen anything else. Let’s go home, and make out. Platonically, of course.”

“Walk, or tra...”

Deliah didn’t let Stefan finish the question. She transferred them both to the living room. The flat was deserted. “Transfer,” she said.

“So, I see.”

“Stef?”

“Ayuh?”

“Can we take it real slow, going Astral?”

“Yeah, I think we can. Shall we start with me brushing out your gorgeous raven locks?”

“Please.”



*****



When Thanatos and I got back to the locale of The City from the Astral, we landed in the park. Thanatos kissed me on the forehead. “That was nice.”

“It always is.”

“So close we are to being like that always. Just one little level.”

“Like walking into another room of the same house, but we spend most of our time in the wrong room.

“I just hope everyone comes to terms with themselves fast, so we can start staying in the right room.”

“Tell me about it,” I said.

“Stefan is really frustrating to me right now. He’s holding himself, and us back, feeling guilty over what he thinks is a failed life that really isn't, and refusing to do the obvious to correct the situation,” said Thanatos.

“Is there a way for him to come to terms with himself?”

“Actually, there is. I just thought of it. Pretty obvious, actually.”

“How?”

Thanatos smiled. “Deliah wants to come up with the solution independently, so I don’t think I’ll tell you.”

“What if I come up with it?”

“You can try. In fact, I think I’m going to be mean, and cruel, and rotten, and give you a hint.”

I scowled. “You won’t give it away, will you?”

He ruffled my hair. “No, but it might give you a headache that will make the worst migraine, seem like Donna Reed, just thinking about it.”

“We can’t get headaches, here.”

Thanatos raised his left eyebrow, and pointed at me. “I know that. I’m being sarcastic. Anyway, you, my dearest Donn Ui’Midir, are a part of the solution.”

My mind reeled. He NEVER called me by my old name, when he was being serious. “Thanatos, you know, I think I’ll be doing a little meditating later.”

“I think Deliah will come up with the solution before you, even without the hint.”

“I think I’ll concede, then. This isn’t my forte.”

Thanatos chuckled. “You know what might be fun?”

“What?”

“You, Deliah, Stefan, Macha and Kevalyn all sitting in a circle, talking about it.”

“I haven’t even started thinking about it, and I feel like I’ve hit a wall.”

“Everything’s OK, though. Don’t worry about it. Everything will move forward. If there’s any danger of it not, I will intercede,” said Thanatos.

“Are you going to be at the little get together?”

“Nope! I’ll observe from another dimension, and laugh my bloody head off, over your guys' hair brained ideas.”

“I see you have a lot of faith in us, not that I expect to be the one to come up with the solution.”

“Actually, I see Deliah coming up with the solution.”

“Ahead of Macha?”

“This isn’t a military problem, my dear. Let’s go look at the flowers, and then go home. Stef and Del should have snogged their way to the High Astral, by then.”

I chuckled. “Actually, can we go the pagoda after flowers?”

“Sure.”



*****



Deliah had Stefan on the couch face down, sans shirt. She was massaging a musk lotion into his back. “Gods, you’re so good at this,” said Stefan. "I'm glad I let you talk me into it."

“No better than Vergil or Thanatos. It’s just that I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer when I offer. You are just so into serving those two, and so messed up on the concept of unconditional relationships, that you can’t enjoy anything anyone gives you, to the fullest. Maybe you should start.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. The only time you take anything positive full-blast, is if you don’t have a choice. You have this innate need to give more than you get. I think you’ve probably given so much of yourself, you’re a damn Karmic vacuum, and maybe some of that empty space should be filled, huh?”

“Me thinks you exaggerate.”

“Yeah, right. Just promise me that you’ll think about what I just said,” said Deliah.

He closed his eyes. “All right.”

“Thanks.” Deliah then straddled him, and lay on top of him.

“Hey, what are you doing to me?!”

She sat up, and put all her weight into the massage. “Giving you a backrub.”

Stefan fought to roll on his back. He extended his arms to her. “Del! I think you can stop now."

She smiled, and accepted his embrace. “Damn, you are so beautiful. Everyone here is, and no one lets anybody enjoy them! You guys are so hooked on evolution and self-deprivation being interlinked, it’s disgusting.”

“I’ve had plenty of the finer pleasures with Thanatos and Vergil.”

“Ah yes! How nice to be held by such a perfect entity, or run your hands through their silky hair, or over their sleek, muscular, hairless bodies, with a scented oil of whoever’s choice. On the other hand, there’s so much more you wanted to do with them.”

“Wanted. I’ve respected them enough not to make unwanted requests. Also, despite how frustrating their ways have been in the past, I don’t know if I’d have wanted it any different. Why risk tension or resentment when you can have something like we have with such a small concession?”

She sat up, ran her index finger down his chest “I know.”

“Gods, Del! Knock it off! We are NOT going to go there!”

“Think about all that’s happening, and all I’m saying, after we’re through. Then I have to work on the solution on what you’re supposed to do with yourself to fulfill your theoretical self-imposed debt to that planet you used to live on.”

“After we're through...going Astral. Let's do that now.”

Deliah kissed him on the forehead, and they switched Planes. She merged with him, and they both lost themselves in each other. They stayed like that a while, relishing in the sensation that nothing on the Physical could remotely compare to, and had a rather deep mental communion, where their individuality was history.



*****



After me and Thanatos spent some time walking through the Japanese garden area and sitting under the pagoda patterned gazebo, we walked home slowly, hand in hand. When we got to the stairs we looked at each other, and took off running.

Thanatos got the head start. He took a flying leap, and took the first four stairs in one bound, then went up two or three at a time. As I was, I couldn’t do that. Not without falling on my face, anyway. I only took them two at a time, finding that trying for the third only slowed me down.

He was a full floor ahead of me, by the time we got to the sixth floor, and he just stood there, looking as nonchalant as possible, and when I almost caught up, he took off again.

I knew I was outgunned again, and I didn’t care. It wasn’t a real competition. I mean; there was no competition. Not by someone who was five inches taller than I, and outweighed me by about fifty pounds or so in solid muscle, not that this was even relevant here, for what really mattered. We were just having a bit of demented fun.

We’ve done it hundreds of times before. It was almost a ritual. I did it with Stefan, too. However, with Stefan, we were equally matched, we generally got in each others’ way, and yes, we had a few incidents of going ‘splat’ on the staircase. Going up, no one ever got hurt very badly. We never raced going down this particular staircase. There wasn’t enough room, and even though any injury would only be sustained for a few seconds, none of us here was into that sort of risk of pain. Especially if the odds were in favour of a disaster!

We must have been a sight to behold, but we didn’t even laugh about it anymore. We’d done it too many times.

“We ought to clock ourselves, one of these days,” I said, after we got to our level.

“I won’t stop in mid-flight for you if we do.”

I chuckled. “My love, my dear! The poses you take when you stop make anyone who looks at you, think you’re taunting me.”

“Oh, I know. Anyone who isn’t paying attention.”

“Want to kick back on the roof for a while?”

“Sure. Next to the nose bushes?”

I laughed. “Missing Stefan?”

He closed his eyes, and smiled. “He’s pretty happy, right now. What’s left of him, anyway!”

“Implying that the Stefan unit is exhausted, or does not currently exist?”

“There is no Stefan for now! Want to call it Stefeliah, or Delfan?” asked Thanatos

“Gods, they love each other so much. Why doesn’t that twit lend himself to her just once?!”

"Look who's talking! Why don't you? I did."

“I just can't bring myself to do that.”

“Then don't come down on Stefan who can't bring himself to do that, either.”

"Our relationships with her aren't the same."

His eyebrows went up, along with his upper lip. Gods, those fangs were absolutely gorgeous. Wearing his not so subtle smile, he said, “It's close enough now, Donn!”

I scowled. “Donn!” Why did he call me by my old name again? It’s what I was. Now I am...now...then...present...past...future...doesn’t exist! Illusion!

My eyes lit up. “TIME!” I yelled. “Time! The way Stefan can get over his dis-satisfaction with his, or rather, her life is to time trip, and go back and fix! If he can just figure out what went wrong, he can maybe walk into his...uh...her old form, and make her do something different somewhere, right?”

“You’re getting closer in some respects, and you’re thoughtlessly insane in another. This isn’t supposed to be a game of getting warmer, and getting colder, though.”

We started walking up to the roof. When we got there, I said, “I’m supposed to play a part of it, huh? Hopefully, I’m not supposed to make out with her in a dream? That seems like the worst thing I can do.”

“It is. Can you imagine waking up from something like that, and never to experience it again? Or worse, if she did experience it again! She’d sleep every moment she could, by any means. Donn, please think about this without me! I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

“OK.” We went over to the rose bushes, and sat down. I looked at him. Red flannel shirt this time, over T-shirt, faded, slightly flared blue jeans, and the usual work boots. “The way you are dressed is so ironic.”

“Look like a woodsman, but wouldn’t cut down a tree for the life of me, huh?”

“Exactly.”

He looked at me, and smiled. “You know, I think you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

I scowled. “I know this sounds narcissistic, but I think the same of you. After all, you are an improved version of me.” (Oh, how many times must we have this same conversation?)

“I can’t stand this anymore. Let’s time trip forward a little to when Stefan and Deliah get back.”

“What’s this about?”

“The four of us HAVE to talk.’ he said, before kissing me on the forehead.”

“Do we stay here, or go back downstairs?”

He put his arm around me. “It would be better to go downstairs in a few minutes.”

I returned his hold, and smiled. “All right.”



*****



Deliah and a now cloaked and gloved Stefan re-materialised on the couch. Stefan was sitting down, and Deliah was lying down, with her head in Stefan’s lap. “A very nice entrée, though an appetiser would have been nice.”

He ran his right forefinger down her nose. “In your dreams. I don’t want that anymore.”

“Thanatos catered to me. I'm not obsessed with him anymore. I'm out of his hair.”

“I'm not Thanatos. I'm not so practical or detached.” said Stefan.

“I note.”

“Uh huh. I know you find him more attractive than me, and I know he's a better lover than me, so what is your problem?”

“I see you as I did the concept of skydiving when I was an old lady. I’ve wanted to jump out of a plane, but I never had the chance.”

“I did a static line jump, once. I couldn’t hear the instructor tell me to let go of the plane wing, so it took a while. Also, instead of arching, I curled up, and I misunderstood the instructions that were being radioed to me, and I almost got dragged into a fence after I hit the ground, but I flared at the right time, so I had a perfect landing.”

You flared, huh? Your nose, or the chute?”

Stefan scowled. “Yes!”

Deliah laughed. “Gods, I love you. You can be a real ass, but I really, really love you.”

Stefan blew her a kiss. “I love you, too. I also don’t think a former person has ever had as much of my respect, as you do.”

“I intimidate you.”

“You’re level of intelligence does. It makes me wonder what you see in the likes of me.”

“Just a nose. I mean, why should I care about anything else about you? It actually looks Semetic, you know?”

“Maybe it is.”

“And I’m Attila the Hun. You manufactured this nose. You manufactured your whole gorgeous self!”

“Hey! My family was Muslim on my father’s side. Maybe we were distantly related.”

“You were of Illyrian stock, not Arab.”

“You never know.”

“I doubt it. Stef?”

“Yes?”

Thanatos and I walked in just in time to hear Deliah ask, “Can I read your version of the Xanon Chronicles?”

Stefan said, “I wish I’d never written them. They’re an embarrassment to me, Vergil, Thanatos, and Nyx.”

“They’re also as funny as hell,” said Thanatos.

Both Deliah and Stefan looked at us. “Hi!” they both said in unison, suddenly becoming aware of us.

I waved, and Thanatos said, “Hiya. I do recommend you read them. Show you some additional dementedness Stefan went through, as Kyle.”

Deliah sat up, stood up, pushed Stefan out of the way to get that end of the couch, and pressed herself against Stefan. “I’d also like to read the erotica you wrote as a mortal,” she said to Stefan.

Stefan brought his hand to his forehead. “Oh, gods above, and below. I’m not the same anymore.” He looked at her. “Also, all of this stuff is written from the perspective of a chick, dude! It never happened, either. It’s just my childish phantasies of yore.”

Thanatos gave a real obvious sigh, and he had a real overt smile on his face. “Donn, would you like to tell these two what you know about fixing Stefan’s problem?”

“Is a couple of hints OK with you, Del?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I did want to try and figure this out on my own.”

Thanatos asked. “Have you made any progress?”

“Actually, I must confess I haven’t even thought about it,” she said.

Thanatos pointed at Deliah. “Who changed the world more than anyone?”

“What individual?” she asked.

“Hm hm.”

“That’s easy! Y’Shua of Nazareth!”

Thanatos sat beside her, on the arm of the couch. He caressed her hair so delicately. “No one can ever again do what He did, however.”

“True.”

“You knew that!”

“Of course. That would be overt interference. Illegal as committing suicide to avoid responsibilities.”

“You’ve read Donn’s books three times?”

“Hm hm.”

“Tell us what you think of them.”

“Absolutely beautiful, but the style weird. Very colloquial, but that makes it extra sweet in my opinion. It was like Donn, Vergil, whatever was there talking to me, when I read it!” She looked at me. “You know, Vergil; you repeated part of the first volume, but I guess it’s OK. It fit. It’s kind of a novelised diary. Granted I think you guys are all pretty weird, but at the same time the sacrifices you made for each other, and how unselfish your love was...is, and how caring you are...again, I cried every time I read the end of ‘Stefan,’ and Vergil! You turned borderline homosexuality an art form. I never thought much about it before, and when I did, it was simply amusing to me that anyone could be that way, having been alive before the age of enlightenment. Indeed it was an enlightening book.”

The answer suddenly came to me. I looked at Thanatos. “I know what I’m supposed to do.”

He tilted his head. “So, solving riddles isn’t your forte, huh?”

“What Deliah said made me think of it,” I said.

“Well, let’s see if Deliah comes up with the answer, as well.”

She looked at Thanatos. “Does it have something to do with getting Vergil’s books published on Earth?”

“What do you think?” asked Thanatos.

She smiled. “So! The obvious thing would be for Vergil to channel the books through someone, and if Stefan is to help out in this, he would be the transcriber, right?”

“Damn right,” said Thanatos.

“Time trip back to do this?!” I asked.

“Yup!” said Thanatos.

“So we’d have to relive some stuff, and we’d be doing it a bit differently, I assume.”

Thanatos looked at me. “Donn, how would you have reacted if I’d given you those books to read, before you wrote them, telling you that you’d written them in a different life in the future, right when you first woke up on that couch, after you passed out from seeing me transform into this body from the snow leopard and white horse?”

“I’d probably get sick, and toss my cookies. I didn’t know anything. I just built Tech Duinn, I was out to live a solitary existence of being Gate Keeper, and trying to deal with the depression of not seeing you again, my dearest love.”

“You can’t throw up on Tech Duinn.”

“I did feel like it, a few times,” I said.

“Curse psychosomatics. Still, how would you be today?”

“Probably a bit different,” I said.

“Think you might have had a happier past if you’d read it?” asked Deliah.

“Definitely. I wouldn’t have spent so long missing someone who was with me all this time, I wouldn’t have been in suspense over Kyle, I would have realised not all women are as dangerous and manipulative as my mother, and I probably wouldn’t have guarded my superfluous virginity for as long as I did, if I even would have cared, though I have a feeling I still would consider sex much over-rated.”

“I wouldn’t have let Macha use me like a lab animal in bed,” said Thanatos.

Deliah scowled. “Your incarnation as Keith was a little different from what you are now. He was such a sweetheart, not that you aren’t one now, but he was so much more vulnerable, and sexier. Now, you’re completely invulnerable. I wish I’d known you as Keith.”

“That can never happen, “ said Thanatos. “Stef, Del, can you guys move down, so I can sit down on the actual couch?”

Stefan scooted down. “Sure.”

Deliah might as well have been glued to Stefan, and Thanatos put an arm around her, the minute he was beside her. “So, how are we on reliving the past a little differently?”

Stefan wrinkled his nose. “I’d have to live on earth again, huh?”

“Ten months,” said Thanatos. “You should be able to get the four books out then. It’s just under four hundred pages.”

My left eyebrow went up. “I’m not done with my fourth book.”

“We can wait,” said Thanatos.

Stefan looked at Thanatos in disbelief. “Four novellas in ten months? You’re kidding! No way! With a job?”

“How about no overtime?” asked Thanatos.

“No overtime? How could we live?”

“Stop the charitable contributions, eat out less, and don’t leave those fifty percent tips,” said Thanatos. “That’s where all your money went, anyway.”

“Would I know I’m writing out my future?” asked Stefan.

Thanatos smiled. “You wouldn’t be writing out your future. You’d be writing out your past. Who knows what your future is, huh?”

Stefan looked dazed. “Oh gods above, and below! So my future is my past?”

“Dude! There is no time!”

“Talk about having to devolve to evolve,” I said. “Sheesh! Back to Tech Duinn?”

“Donn Ui’Midir, when I lived on Tech Duinn in my later times, I existed both on Tech Duinn and here. There’s no reason you and everybody else can’t do the same, though not at first. Also, you won’t completely remember what’s happening now, until later. You’ll have to wait to reintegrate.”

“Will you remember?” I asked him.

“Yes. To me, it won’t be going back into the past. To me, it’s just continuing my stream of consciousness, but that does not mean that my attitudes will remain as they are now. To me, I’ll recognise all that happened before, and it’s just that I can play the game again, making my own rules this time. I won’t talk about it any more than what’s in the books, though.”

“Will we still call you ‘Keith’ when you first show up at Tech Duinn?” asked Stefan.

“That’s what Macha wanted. I like the name Keith. I actually think it’s more attractive than Thanatos, though I am still aware that ‘Thanatos’ is more appropriate for now. On Tech Duinn, I’ll go back to Keith, or even answer to both names, depending on what everyone wants.”

“Looks like I’m stuck with two names myself,” I said.

Deliah asked, “Is there a candles chance in Niflheim of me staying on Tech Duinn this time around?”

Thanatos placed his hand on her shoulder, and gently pressed her against himself. He kissed her on the cheek. “I think I can arrange for that. I’d like that, very much.” He gave her a playful snarl, baring his fangs.

‘Do you want me?’ sent Deliah to Thanatos.

‘Do you like tea?’ he sent back.

‘Will you fuck me regular?’

‘I’ll eat raw lizard liver first.’

‘I’ll take what I can get.’

‘I may change my mind on Tech Duinn.’

Deliah completely wrapped herself around Thanatos. “Stefan, I’m going to borrow your bed.”

Stefan shrugged. “Fine.”

Both her and Thanatos disappeared.

“Seems like she’s going to borrow Thanatos, too,” said Stefan.

“Yeah,” I said with a chuckle.



*****



Deliah was unbuttoning Thanatos’ shirt. “What brought on the change of heart?” asked Deliah.

“Practising for the past?”

“I think I like the sound of that.”

“I like your motivation, and consideration for this, and even though I did used to like a woman who could beat me up in the past, perhaps my tastes have been modified to include more diversity. I also find your intelligence extremely erotic.”

She pulled his flannel shirt off. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.” She pulled his T-shirt off, with his help. She inhaled, and smiled. She put her nose on his shoulder, and inhaled again. “Mmm! I love your sandalwood scent.”

“It's my favourite.”

“Good.” She ran her hand gently down his chest, across his defined abdomen, and over his crotch. “You’re actually reacting, this time. Of course, you still have full control?!”

“I’ll never lose that.”

“So no matter how hard I try, I’ll never take you to the other side of sanity.”

“Deliah, Thanatos never had an innate sex drive. There would be no point to that. I also have no intention of even attempting adopting one, unlike my various peers.”

She brushed his bangs back from his forehead. “Just relax. I want to see if I can make a liar out of you.”

“If Macha couldn’t do it to my former incarnation, you think you can do it to me now?”

“Probably not, but I can have fun trying, can’t I? Also, I’m terribly inexperienced. Give me some ideas, huh?”

“Del, why don’t you quit undressing me, and start reading The Xanon Chronicles as done by Kyle Shannon? That should give you ideas enough. You’ll also be able to have your way with Stefan, after he comes back to Tech Duinn from his ten month stint on Earth.”

“You’re certain.”

“You are not to his innate taste, being as feminine as you are, but you are still the most attractive creature he has ever seen in female, and you have a way about you that is hard to resist by most. So get yourself ready to snuggle with me, while you read those books.”

“Shall we undress?”

“Sure. Read under cover while I'm wrapped around you.”

“Sounds sweet, but I suppose your hard-on is history.”

“Damn right.”

“Wish I could say the same.”

Thanatos untied his boots. “Tell you what! I’ll take care of you now as directly and to the point as possible, then you can start reading, and we can do it again, when you get to the provocative parts, huh?”

“What about you?”

“Gods, I love you. Sure! What the Hell.”

Nothing happened as originally planned by Deliah. Thanatos hadn’t even gotten his belt unbuckled, before Deliah lost all her willpower for what was REAL, and dragged him Astral. Amazing how fast priorities can change.



*****



Stefan patted the couch next to him, and I sat down immediately. “Ten months without you. I don’t know if I can last,” he said.

“I have to write my fourth book, first. I’ll invade more of your dreams, huh? Let you know I’m around? Maybe hang out a bit when you’re awake, and make my presence known to you one way or another?”

“We’re not even apart yet, but I feel pretty depressed.”

“Dude, we are NOT going to be apart. I am going to be guiding you with four books. You won’t be overtly aware of it, but you will be gently possessed. A piece of you will be under my control. I’ll also do all I can to make you feel better, because when we are one, I will be sharing your pain, and everything else.” I hugged him. “I’ll be with you. How about I never go?”

“How aware will I be of you?” he asked, hugging me back.

“Somewhat. Very, when you’re writing! At other times, I’ll be available to rescue you when you need it. Stuff like that. I’ll leave you with the memory of this promise.”

Stefan smiled. “You are so nice, it is unbelievable.”

“I love you, Stef. You’d do the same for me, and we both know it.”

“I can’t deny it. I’ll do anything for you, as long as it serves the light gods.”

I kissed him on the forehead. “Ultimately, there’s only one god. I’d hate to be the one in charge, myself. So much responsibility.”

“I can’t begin to comprehend the workload, myself. Vergil, can we go Astral?”

“Straight Astral, or the long way?”

Stefan rubbed his right cheek gently against mine. “Long way.”

“Cool.” I put my hand into his hair, and gently scratched his scalp. “Also, ten months isn’t very long.”

Stefan smiled. “In a way, I guess it’s gonna be kind of fun. Non-profit venture, of course.”

“Like you’ll have a need for money?! Stef, can I ask you for a favour you’d never expect from me?”

A gloved finger went down my nose. “Yes, my dear. I’ll probably grant it.”

“Fangs?”

“You vant me tooo biiite your neeeck ?”

I kissed him. “I don’t vant you to bite my anything. Scrape, maybe. I want this to be the snogging session of my existence, since it will be our last one for a while.”

Stefan smiled. “Gotcha!”

It would be a bit before we actually hit the Astral. Hair brushing, backrubs, embraces, and the works would lead the way.

I’m glad no one walked or transferred in on us. I really needed this last intimate encounter of this era to be un-interrupted.































































Chapter 9





Stefan, Macha and Kevalyn were standing behind me as I was sitting at the CRT, word processing away.

“I’m getting kind of excited about this, “ said Stefan. “I’m actually beginning to look forward to it.”

Kevalyn kissed Stefan on the temple. “And I’ll be there to read the stories, like I’ve never read them before.”

“I wonder how much different our Tech Duinn lives will be the second time around?” asked Macha.

“What will the second set of the Xanon Chronicles do for you?” I asked.

“I’ll have a more rounded outlook on Keith. He won’t be the same, though. He’ll know all this that’s happened, and he’ll just be playing a game. A part. Like a movie role.”

“We’ll remember everything after we get to the now-here, again,” said Stefan. “It’s going to be a trip reading about all we did, and having no overt memory of it, and just having to take Keith’s word that it happened.”

“Yeah,” I said. “This is so weird, knowing more now than we will in the so-called future, for a while.”

“At least you’ll spend no more time on Earth,” said Stefan to me. “You’ll be going direct to your first meeting with Keith.”

I smiled, as a tear rolled down my face. “When we first met, he caught me before I hit the ground when I passed out, and carried me to the couch. Now I’ll realise right away, who he really is.”

Stefan came behind me, and stroked my hair. “I assume you two will be more physically intimate, this time around.”

“We were pretty intimate last time around. Maybe.”

“I’ll be nicer to you, I think,” said Macha to me. “I know I’ll do my best not to unnerve you, this time. I’ll also maybe try to passively seduce you, instead of threaten you, if I think of it.”

I looked back at her. “I might even accept.”

“Don’t spend ninety eight percent of your time on Tech Duinn looking like a kid, though, huh?” asked Macha.

“After I read this stuff, I probably won’t. I might get into skating sooner, too,” I said.

“Good,” said Macha.



*****



Thanatos took us back to where we were going one at a time, and I was the last one to be taken away. Our consciousness was removed from us, before we ‘landed’ in the so-called ‘past’. We all got Than’s undivided attention, and when we ‘came to,’ we all ‘woke up’ feeling pretty euphoric for reasons we wouldn’t know, for a long time.





















Epilogue





I was dressed in a threadbare T-shirt, and a pair of thrashed, bleached, form fitting jeans, tucked into a pair of Apache style boots, Keith was in a pair of cut-offs, triple striped tube socks and running shoes, Kev was in a micro-mini, go-go boots, a sleeveless shirt that she’d tied around her waist, and flowers in her hair, Macha was...well, Macha was more harnessed, then dressed; and armed to the teeth, Deliah was in a light fabric, heavily layered loose flowing dress of light violet colour, with cross garter sandals, and lots of silver; looking like a queen from some ancient era, and Stefan was in the black silk shirt, vest velvet breeches, and boots that he usually wore since his ‘transformation,’ though now he did occasionally wear fangs, like Keith. (I found that those teeth were quite an asset; for the more sensuous arts! Oh, to have those sharp, hard tines delicately scraped over...well, you get the point.)

We were in Tir na nOg, at a picnic Stefan had set up. There was a cauldron with a killer potato, onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushroom, chive and tomato dish cooking in olive oil, butter, and lots of spices, antipasto, sourdough French bread, the best style kosher dills Germany had to offer, flan, and a barrel of snoot (what Stefan called ‘root’) beer and another barrel of spiced mead. There was also a sign on the table indicating baby long pig sausage was not available today.

The chow was great, and I actually had an entire plateful, along with everyone else.

We had guests. My grandfather, my father, Etain; and Keith had managed to hunt down, and easily persuade Boadica, Vergil Maro (Who just had to have his two eternal ‘pets’ of Alexander and Cebes, with him), Hadrian, Antinous, and Mary Ann Evans to come for the intellectual exchange that was taking place.

Myself in both my set and Kyle’s set of the The Xanon Chronicles was a stranger to me. Of course, I could never be Kyle’s Vergil Xanon, and from what my alleged former incarnation wrote, I couldn’t understand how anyone could cut them selves off from the world for so long. I also couldn’t understand how anyone could be such a determined, devout, long-term celibate with such five attractive, attentive, loving housemates, as what I had. (We ended up making out a lot, gender irrelevant, in every way possible that was pleasure oriented, no holds barred, though I will leave the intricate specifics to your imagination.) Gods, I was a basket-case in my alleged other life. I still couldn’t remember it all, though Keith told me the time was coming soon when I would.

Oh, and I was being called mostly ‘Donn.’ Whatever! I no longer cared about it.

As for my stories...“Kyle” got them on line for all who were interested to see when she was still on Earth, in seven months. (No, we didn’t take her and Kev and Percy to Tech Duinn right after she’d completed her mission. However, we did take them one week earlier than October thirty-first.) Of course the stories didn’t change the world, but they did get something of a cult following among a few niche audiences.

At least ‘Kyle’ and I did make a literary impact on the world to give us a dubious footprint of immortality. That was enough to satisfy ‘Stefan’.

On to a new 'day'!





End of Volume Four

Next:  http://thesecondtimearound665.blogspot.com/?zx=8d7c478fdeb39cf9