Homeward Bound

There had been little over a week to go, and Clash was happily making plans for her return to Kobberworld when she started noticing the changes.

The subtle changes, at least. Athena remained mostly herself, but...a few traits of Medusa seemed to be slipping back in. In conversation, in decisions...that cold detached ruthlessness that seemed so much unlike the young woman. At first, Clash wondered if Aggie was sad and/or jealous Clash got to go back while she couldn't. But she'd asked, and Aggie had answered in the negative. Yet those brief moments where her best friend acted more like anything but...it either meant she was lying, or...

Couldn't see it. Like before.

"Fortunately", in a very limited sense, she hadn't had to ask anyone else, because four days after Clash had started to notice the changes, she'd woken up and found Aggie in a fetal position on her bed, moaning quietly. She was having terrible stomach pain.

Clash got the nearest person who specialized in the healing arts of Athena's world. They couldn't affect the pain. All they could do was establish it wasn't poison or a wound, and that she needed high end medical attention, immediately.

On the one hand, Aggie really was her best friend, and Clash at first assumed she'd just miss her a bunch while she was gone. She understood, she felt the same. Leaving would be hard, but she'd known she couldn't stay when she'd crossed over. If she gave her time that she still had, Aggie would tell her on her own, when she was ready.

On the other, her best friend had had an interesting year last year, and Clash wasn't blind. All the way, anyway. Aggie really hadn't been lying, but... She'd watch her while she waited.

When she'd woken up, blinking hair out of her eye, she'd realized something was wrong and got to her feet, picking up her sword from it's lean against the wall immediately. She'd gone over and realized she wouldn't need it, setting it down on the carpet and turning back. She leaned over and tilted her head; she'd seen this once, she was sure of it. And then googled it after Law and Order was over.

"Aggie?... Oh, Uhm, here, hold this-" Clash gave her the pillow she wasn't using. "Are you alright? I'm going to go get someone, stay here, okay? Be right back." She said, smiling reassuringly before getting up and hurrying to do just that.

When it was established Athena needed a doctor, Clash nodded to herself. She'd known it was her appendix. Packing could wait. She shuffled around and looked out of place while it was decided where Aggie was going and who was riding with who.

It was darn strange, riding in a horse cart to a more modern hospital. Well, modern in a turn of the 20th century sense. Probably cleaner though. Athena just groaned the whole way, while wondering what the heck she ate to cause this.

The first inkling that Clash had that something was wrong was when she suggested to the doctors that it was her appendix. The doctors said they would check the records, which were not easy to get.

When they showed up, they were brought by Athena's mother.

Clash had only met Christine a few times, feeling rather shy at the idea that Athena was trying to semi-officially also make this woman her mother. But she knew the woman was a very, very skilled doctor. So either she really wanted to be the one who provided her daughter's medical care...or it was a serious issue.

The second, much worse inkling was when information got back to Clash about what she'd told the doctors.

Athena had had her appendix removed when she was a child. This was something else.

Something that 'healing magic' couldn't fix.

And no sooner did Clash learn that then Athena was wisked into surgery.

Clash didn't know Christine all that well, having only met her in passing, but she seemed nice enough. She kept her opinions to herself, anyway, which she was grateful for. Her being here got Clash to feel better, even with the imminent surgery.

Clash sat in the waiting room, the one black haired person in a sea of blonde. She'd read a page or so from the book in her lap, and then around at the rest of the family, then the clock, and then back to the book. Her feet were crossed, and she was still nervous. 

It was about five hours later when Christine emerged from the surgery.

"Okay...things are better now. Athena should be fine."

Besides Clash, Ash had also shown up, and beyond that, the only one close had been Athena's adopted brother Cypress, who had maybe said three words to Clash. Athena had mentioned he tended to be very closed with strangers, and he'd need time to get used to Clash.

However, the fact that Christine then called her husband over and the pair went aside, talking quietly between themselves, despite just saying Athena was fine...

Maybe that was nothing. But the fact that Christine kept glancing at Clash as she spoke...THAT was not nothing. Even Clash, with her still being developed social skills, could tell that.

Cypress had disappeared. Maybe he'd gone to peer in on the surgery wrap up, or to go get his sister a room.

Old times, bad times, bad memories began to creep back into Clash's mind...

But even if she wasn't her 'mother', Christine was neither cruel nor nonobservant. When she glanced against and saw Clash was looking at her, she gave her a circled hand gesture, thumb and forefinger pressed together to form an O. Then she seemed to consider Clash might not know what that meant, and changed it to a thumbs up.

Okay, that was comforting...so what was with the private conversation? And what did it have to do with Clash?

Gods, she still hated hospitals.

Out here it was okay, but she could still smell this place. Clean, orderly, and fresh on top, but waste, blood, and death on the bottom. Out here it was okay, away from the syringes and scalpels. Away from the surgeons and the people who came here and never left right on schedule. It had been awhile since the last time she'd been in a hospital. Not since the Big Bar Brawl.

Clash shuddered and brushed her hair with her hand, looking up and uncrossing her ankles. When Christine gave her the sign;,Clash grinned and returned the thumb's up, before she once more tried to sit still and quiet. Her smile slowly faded.

She thought she knew what the small glances meant; Aggie's mom wasn't sure of her. Clash understood. She knew she looked like a one-eyed Jack O' lantern. She stuck out due to her height if nothing else. The parts of the family she'd met had all liked her, and seemed to approve of her. She'd enjoyed meeting them and hearing all the neat stuff they'd done.

Clash frowned when she remembered walking in on two younger cousins with the fingers around their mouths like fangs, making dumb monster sounds; she'd laughed it off at the time, until a few months later when they'd stayed the night at some aunt's house, she'd walked past the library and heard something about Aggie taking home strays.

Clash really wanted Christine to like her; it was important to her, since she seemed like a good person, and because she was kind of curious as to what having a Mom was like. But Christine didn't know her, just what she'd heard, so that was putting the cart in front of the horse.

It was probably something to do with Aggie, but Clash hoped she wouldn't come over and tell her it was from blocking too many of her sword-blows or something like that. Clash scrunched down in her chair, going back to her book before glancing at the clock. 

The talk continued for another half an hour, and then Christine gestured to Clash. Calling her over.

"Hello dear." Christine said. "We've heard bits and pieces, but I need to hear it all from you. Can you tell us everything from when you first met your sister, from how you saw it? And yes, we mean Athena and her...split half." Christine said, her face briefly showing distress. Ash was more overt, grimacing and putting a hand over his face. Clash had never seen the gesture done non-comically. It was amazing how chillingly sad it could be.

"Oh, hi. It's good to see you both. Uhm, everything?" She asked, to make sure. At Christine's nod, she started in.

It was a long story, but Clash left little out from the first. How Aggie had come to her, hallucinating and in pain behind a boiler before she'd gotten her a room. The first time they'd sparred, when they'd gotten to see how each other fought. As she talked, Clash had to fight back a smile. It would've been weird, with everything going on. She mentioned the rats when they came up; looking back, she wondered if she'd been wrong about Medusa. There were at least two times she'd locked herself in a room, heard scurrying, and then the door had unlocked by itself in the early days.

Aggie had rode the bus with her to work on her first day. She'd also come over at midnight to help Clash set up the laptop the Kappa and Komachi had gotten her, and then had her move in after she'd been almost kidnapped.

She'd helped Clash pick a birthday. They did a little more training. When one went out with the Bar, the other would wait up for them, making dinner or going out to eat. Aggie had just been so good, even then. She'd been there for her no matter what. Clash hesitated a bit when describing Aggie's degeneration, because she still blamed herself for not seeing it sooner. She'd been busy starting her own life, but she still felt like there was more she could've done. The apartment had been empty for days at a time.

She ended with meeting Athena after the talk to decide her fate, looking at Christine nervously.

"...And that's how it all happened. Sorry we've kind of only passed each other until now, I would've told you some of this earlier, but there was never a good time... What did the doctors say, by the way? Is Aggie okay?" 

"She should be. We just found something...weird." Ash said. "What did you call it, Chris? A Demoid Cyst?"

"Dermoid. A dermoid cyst. Don't feel bad about looking confused, even I wasn't sure. I had to have one of the other residents confirm it."

"The reason we asked you about your experiences, Clash, is...well, it's very, very complicated."

"But I will trust in your mind." Christine said, and began.



It was, indeed, complicated.


Clash followed along as best she could, and she thought she got it. Hopefully. Something in Aggie...changed her?

“Which would explain why Athena decided the best option to feeling like she wasn’t ‘worthy’ was to look up a magic spell and magically split herself in two.” Ash said, replying to his wife's last sentence.

“Not entirely, Ash. We can’t put all the blame on it. But…it probably didn’t help.”

“Probably made it worse?”

“…Fair odds.” Christine said. "That's what I found, Clash. Athena had a lump inside her. I don't know what the split did to it, but when she reformed, it came along. I think it started to re-connect...except this time it connected with the parts of her body that sense pain. So she suddenly had terrible pain in her stomach, much like a burst appendix. I found the lump, and I removed it. And circumstances allowed me to discover it because of you. So, thank you, dear girl. We may not share blood, but you will never lack a place in my heart."

Christine gave Clash an affectionate forehead kiss, and then left with her husband. The rest of the discussion probably didn't involve Clash...



Relief settled on the War Elemental...


"Do you want the part they don't want to bring up yet?"

Cypress was back, drinking from a glass bottle. He was almost Athena's age, but his genes seemed to have splurged on the muscle front, as he was nearly twice her size, his long hair dyed red that shifted into purple that further shifted into a black that merged with his own dark skin.

"Might be nothing, but you strike me as someone who likes it up front, sorta-sis."

"Yup, up-front and clear, that's me." Clash said, smiling at him. She had good feelings to go around. "It sounds like everything will be fine..." 

"Oh yeah, Athena will be fine. But...well, sorry, I was doing a little eavesdropping and the whole part that you didn't know just what you'd get back when you managed to fix that stupid split...sorry, Clash. That might be happening again. That cyst thing...we don't know how much it affected my sister. If it changed her...what she changes back into...well, I hate that you have to go through this TWICE. But better that you be ready for it.

"Not that this means that you'd get kicked out of the family. You're not some stuff to be returned. But you and Ags, you're so close...and one of those connections...well, it might not be the same. At all. So you'd better brace yourself. Again. God, this sucks. I'm sorry."

Cypress drank from his bottle.

"Good luck. Think you'll need some."

"Me too..." Clash sighed. "I mean, I'll do anything for Aggie, but she has some problems I can't just hack away with my sword. I almost want to stay here just to make sure she's okay."

"Oh well. Thanks, little brother. I appreciate it." She smiled at him.

"Hey, I'm older and bigger than you. You'd best darn be being ironic." Cypress said. "...I THINK I'm older..."

"Clash?" Christine had returned. "Do you want to see Athena? We're going to put her in a medicinal coma and we're not sure when she'll be awake again in the immediate future. You may have to leave before then." 

"Yeah, but I'm taller! You probably are older though- What? Oh, yes, please, Christine! I don't- I don't want to risk not saying goodbye." Clash said, gulping. A coma? Clash's heart started racing. It sounded dangerous, even with people trained to do such things.

Clash was thankfully spared the modern hospital 'someone attached to a dozen machines with a hundred wires' sight, as out here the medical facilities were nowhere as advanced. There were, however, a few shimmering crystals on the side of the bed, and a lace of some sort draped over Aggie's face. Something about making sure her breathing remained steady.

Ash was leaning over his daughter, the girl whispering in his ear. He glanced at Clash, and for a moment there was a hint of displeasure there. But it quickly passed.

"I would lean over so she can directly look at you...she's very foggy though, so give her a bit to recognize you."Ash said.

Clash nodded, not looking Ash in the eye as she leaned over. She looked down at Aggie and smiled shakily; it was like two of her worst fears combined.

"Hey, Aggie. It's me, Clash! I hope you feel better soon... Everything's going to be okay, I promise. If, Uhm, I leave before you're out of here... It was really good, coming here. Thanks for everything. I love you. I'm really going to miss you-" Clash murmured sadly, very gently hugging her.

"...who...are you..."

The whisper broke time.

It just seemed like an eternity, that one horrible, horrible moment.

Then a light cough.

"...to think...I'd hold it against you...if you left...when I was napping."

And just like that, the sun came back out, and all was right in the world again.

"You go...have fun...and don't let this...hold you back...I'll be fine...and still here...when you return...maybe next...we'll see if you can learn...some magic tricks..."

More coughing.

"Two things...one...your name is fine, but...it's kind of...impersonal in some ways...you're...part of the family...the Marsellos...I never said anything but...drugs, so...if I had to choose...I think...your second name...should be Grace. Because in all things...you show grace. All things...water."

Christine provided a straw.

"The second thing...is a secret..."

Ash gestured for Christine to step back. He didn't really like secrets, but he'd respect his first born's wishes.

It seemed that, from Vegas, some luck had indeed followed Clash here.

Followed her home?

Maybe.

---

After that...it was just general run of the mill preparation.

It did suck, that Athena was asleep when Clash was ready to head back. But what else was there to say? The process was set, so that Clash would not just cross dimensions, but time as well. The only issue was she'd end up back in Vegas, but Nitori was on hand to arrange transport from there.

And besides, she had her secret. Their secret.

"If you need me...well and truly need me...forget time, space, paradoxes, all that...I'll be there. I'll always be there, little sister.

"You had no home...now you have two."