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Trinity
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“The killings?”
“Yeah, Talia, the killings.” I was trying not to let the sheltering instinct overcome me here. I am Talia's mother. I was supposed to protect her and keep her safe. Letting her do this job for me though, that wasn't protecting her. This was exposing her to the cruelty of the world.
“What do you need, Mom? How can I help?”
“Well, turn around and see what is behind you.” It was time for her to see the dead bodies. It was time for her to see what had happened to the men that had died in this pack.
.....
“I already saw the bodies, Mom. I saw them the moment that I came through the door. I did a quick peripheral scan as well as cast my magic out to check for people and things that were in the room.” She truly was amazing.
“Why would you go through that much trouble when entering a safe environment?” Cadwal seemed like he didn't know what to think about Talia. I knew that he was stunned. Most people tend to be like that. She was never what anyone expected. Well, aside from me. I just expected her to be herself, and that was exactly who she was.
“Well, my guard, Alexio, tells me that I need to be mindful of my surroundings at all times. I need to be on guard even in places that I perceive to be safe and nonthreatening. In fact, he tells me that I need to be even more careful in a place that seems non threatening because, more often than not, people will use the assumed safeness of an area to target you. I would be automatically on guard in a dangerous location that is filled with people that I do not know, but to be complacent in a safe place filled with people that I do not know is actually more hazardous to me and others.”
She went into a very long explanation about why she had so thoroughly searched the room already. And of course, it just further blew the minds of the men that were not familiar with Talia and the way that Alexio and Rudy had protected her over the years. They didn't know that those two guards of hers were actually very paranoid around people because they weren't always from this realm. In truth, they were demons from the underworld that came back with me after my not so fun vacation there.
“W..well, I uhm, I guess that makes sense.” Cadwal hadn't understood at all. He was just still in awe of the girl that he was looking at. He better not get any ideas though. He was ten years older than she was. And she was only fifteen.
“Alright Talia, you saw the bodies. Did you happen to notice anything else about them?”
“Well, I have never personally seen a dead body before. So, I can't truly answer whether or not they are different from other dead bodies. But, well, I did notice that their souls were still inside of them. That, I am quite certain, is not supposed to be the case. If the souls didn't leave the body, then there would be no ghosts and the underworld would be empty.” She was choosing to be analytical at the moment. That was a good thing. Getting too emotional at the moment would just lead to her feeling haunted.
“That is exactly right, Talia. Their souls should not be stuck inside of their bodies.” I felt like I was sounding like some sort of teacher rather than her mother.
“Talia, the souls have been trapped with a rune that was carved into their bodies. That rune has made them unable to escape that prison that they are in.” Dietrich added to what I had told her already.
“Then I will work on releasing them. I am sure that is why I am here, right Mom?” She smiled but it wasn't filled with joy. It was just to mask the emotions that she was feeling. She truly was a very empathetic soul.
Talia turned to look at the bodies full on. It was the first time in her life that she was truly seeing a dead body. She had seen the souls of the dead, but not their bodies. This was going to be hard on her, I don't care what she said about it later.
I watched her look closely at the two runes that were on the bodies. She saw the one on the forehead as well as the one on the chest. The Valknut rune, the one that likely bound the souls inside of them, had been cut during the autopsies but they had also been sewn back together.
“I see that these are no longer intact. And yet, the souls are still trapped inside of the bodies. That tells me that simply cutting away the runes will not work. They will be bound until there is nothing at all left of the rune on or in their bodies.”
She was looking closely at the dead men, watching them and trying to understand them. After a moment or two, she stood up and gasped.
“Huh?!” She looked like she was in pain or maybe emotional distress.
“What is it, Talia? What's wrong?” My heart was already aching for her.
“Th..they felt the autopsies.” She was crying now. “I..I am communicating with them. I wanted to learn what I could from them. And, well, I..I just learned that they have felt everything that happened to their bodies since they died. Death was not a release for them. Not with them being trapped like this. Th..they are screaming and sobbing in pain. Mom, this is horrible. Who did this to them?”
“That is what I want to find out, sweetheart. I want to help them to move on as well as catch the people that are responsible for doing this.” I felt the anger bubbling inside of me again. To know that these people have continued to suffer even after being murdered. And now that Talia was here, she was most likely feeling the emotions that these people were expressing to her. She always felt what the souls she interacted with felt.
“I..I will release their souls, but I think they have more to tell us. I..I want them to come back with me before I help them to move on. And Mom, I want to make a place for them in the underworld. These people, those that have died in this manner and suffered this way, need somewhere to go when they move on.”
“That is nice of you, Talia. But what do you mean that they have more to tell us?” Reece's voice sounded thick with emotions. He couldn't bear to see that pain in Talia's eyes either. It was both heart and gut wrench.
“They weren't killed by the same person. It was two different killers. But they are in so much pain that they are screaming at me and it is very hard to hear them. I will release their souls and then talk to them. Mom, are there more of them? I will help you with all of them if I need to. I want to make this right. I need to make this right.”
“There are more, Talia, but I don't want to burden you. It will be a lot. I can free their souls if you show me how, and I will tell them to look for you.” I wanted to spare her as much as I could.
“No, Mom, I can't do that. It might not work. And they won't hear you. They need me here. I will stay with you. When we are done, call Nona and Lola, tell them that I came to help you. I will work remotely or make up my work. This is more important.” She was adamant about this. I knew that she had a strong sense of justice and that she wouldn't be able to overlook what was happening. She was too sweet for that.
“Alright, Talia, I will call them. Please, just help these two first. Then you can talk to them at the Alpha's home.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
Talia placed her hands over the chests of the two men. One hand over each of the Valknut runes. Her eyes were closed and I didn't know what she was doing. I knew that she was pulling magic toward her, but that was all. I didn't know this spell, and chances were, it was something that Talia was making up on the spot. Still, she was smart and I trusted her. I knew that it was going to work.
There was a pink light that flashed across the chests of the two men. I knew that was her magic being used. She was pouring it into their bodies and I saw them filling up and beginning to shine.
After a little bit, the bodies of the two men were shining completely. They would explode if it was something physical filling them. However, it wasn't so they just pushed the magic out of their bodies.
The moment the souls were released, I saw it happen. I didn't see the souls, not like how Dietrich and Talia would, but I saw the light that was vaguely human shaped as it left their bodies. They went from glowing to being completely dark almost instantly.
“They've been released.” Talia opened her eyes then and looked at me. Those eyes of hers, similar to mine, were glowing with power.
“That was amazing.”
“So cool.” Gwri and then Cadwal spoke with awe when they saw my daughter in action.
“Thank you, Talia. Thank you for setting their souls free.” Dietrich sounded relieved as he smiled at my daughter.
