"CARL!" His name was screamed so violently it tore the edges of Klaire's throat. She was looking at him in utter shock, his body was tattered, every limb twisted violently in random directions and she was certain more bones had broken when he hit the table.
"MY EYES! MY EARS! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!" The voice sent a chill through everyone, then disbelief.
"Is he in pain? What the hell did Carl do?" Faylorna asked, looking between Carl and the portal that gad already disappeared
"It doesn't matter right now, we have to heal him." Klaire and Kyubi both stated without room for argument.
"Why would we heal him?" Lillim asked in genuine confusion, having not even realised that the projectile was Carl, but quickly understanding as his screaming enlightened her. "Kyubi! Get to work, we don't know if that portal will open up again!"
"Don't... Worry... Can't... see... us..." Carl managed to force the words out before he blacked out, leaving the others relieved, amazed and suspicious.
Lillim opened a portal to the HQ infirmary and they carried Carl through using the shadowy table as a stretcher. No one said anything aloud, but everybody's expressions revealed their unified thought, "Is this really Carl?".
As Lydia arrived with as fast as she could upon receiving the message, she noticed everyone's ecpressions and asked what happened, but everyone ignored her.
"Kyubi, what does his soul look like?" Lillim barked.
"It's a mess. Like any mortal's would be after being near something it can't hope to endure."
"His mind is a mess too, like it's been brought to the brink..." Faylorna added before she could be asked.
"What are you talking about, stop wasting time and help him already." Klaire said as she stood helpless to one side.
"Klaire, think about it, Carl has no hope of wounding anything of a certain level. We can't assume this is Carl, we have to be sure..."
"It's him! Stop being paranoid and help him"
"Even if it is him, why should we heal him? What if he just goes straight back?"
"Restrain him then! I don't care if you stop him from leaving, but you have to help him."
"Fine! You leave first. You're too emotional to be here." Lillim snapped, annoyed by her inability to accept it could be a trap.
Klaire nodded then ran out of the infirmary, then Lillim had Lydia activate the lockdown procedures. "Now she can't interfere, Lydia, be a dear and put him under your effect. We have to know if this is Carl."
"Why would-"
"Do it! Now! Or I take him to the demon realm and get certainty my way...." The merciless violence her voice promised, was enough to make Lydia do what she hated most and fully exercise her succubi powers.
"Carl, please wake up for me would you." Lydia whispered in his ear, feeling so awkward she nearly neutralised her ability.
"Lydia? what are you... What can I do for you?"
"I need you to tell us who you are please? You can do that for me can't you."
Carl gulped, everything hurt and he could barely stand it, but answering Lydia was the only thing that mattered to him in that moment. "I'm Carl Bashe-Reaga."
"Positive? You wouldn't lie to me? You're him and have always been him?"
"I'm positive, I would never lie to you and I've always been Carl Reaga, but only become Bashe-Reaga after I married Klaire."
"Why are they all asking me to confirm who you are?"
"Probably because I should be dead, I went to tell Margo I hated his game, he wasn't too happy about it... I only survived because... he got distracted by fixing it, I.... also managed to... take his... ability to... see us... and... hear... his... name..." Carl then coughed up blood as one of his broken ribs, slipped and punctured a lung.
Lydia stopped and immediately refocused on treating him as she snapped at the others. "Are you satisfied!? Can we please stop him from dying now!? They're one thing but seriously Danielle..."
Danielle didn't answer, she had only even followed because she was acting on instinct, the truth was that the moment she felt Margo's presence she entered what was essentially an absent seizure and was not even cognisant.
"Don't waste your breath, it would seem my daughter is the only one of us that still qualifies as normal. She doesn't even know where she is, if I had to guess, just followed the most familiar sources of power to safety."
"Well that explains that, where are the others? Squidge, Levi, Ki-ko and Alrda?"
"They were unconscious the moment the gate opened, he must have done something that sent some feedback through to them, maybe Levi being able to move made him play it safe."
"Ha! Don't kid yourself Kyubi, he doesn't play it safe, he does what comes to mind in the moment.... I'm starting to think he is Carl's father." Lillim spat the words bitterly, she hated Margo and was furious at what Carl had done and in the moment, she was struggling to keep those feelings separate.
"Lillim just do what you need to then leave, you seem to have had a long day." Lydia was growing protective, she was and always would be a steadfast protector to both Carl and Klaire. Now that she was satisfied that he was who he appeared, she didn't care who or what it was, she wasn't going to let anyone doubt him whilst too weak to defend himself.
Unfortunately for everyone, they didn't understand that despite her usual idea of grandmotherly care, she truly did care for him like her own flesh and blood. Flesh and blood that had acted recklessly, tried to throw their life away in self-pity and nearly dragged everyone else down with them.
"Fine! Fallen one's chains! At least now he can't betray us again." As she spoke the same chains that once held Samael in the lowest circle of hell appeared to bind him, though they avoided the parts that needed treating.
"Faylorna, would you go and recover the children? Do not let them see him, no one sees him but us three and Lydia, not until we know everything. Kyubi, repair his soul and when she's done, rip it out Faylorna. If it is Carl, then according to Ishtar you shouldn't be able to see anything in it. I suspect it's only the Banshee bit of her that let you see Klaire's."
The others nodded, if only to appease her so Lydia could work and Lillim took one final look at him before portaling away. 'Please be okay my foolish grandson...' The thought left her bitter and frustrated.
"I best go get the children. Kyubi, can you fix this one first, neither will die from the damage and we need her and Maeb to calm Klaire."
"How did she even get so bad? The Howling should have made her more resistant than that."
"Simple, If I had to guess it was sheer terror, she'd never met anything worse than Lillim. I can only imagine that it was seeing the three of us together completely outmatched, poor dear wasted her life thinking we were some of the strongest."
Faylorna extracted her soul and examined the stitches, ranting to herself when she saw them fraying and pulling a few broken threads free and redoing them. Only when she had finished did Kyubi start treating her soul as well.
When Danielle was functioning again, Faylorna sent her and Maeb to watch Klaire whilst she went to fetch the pets.
"Kyubi, now they're all gone, can you please tell me what happened?"
As the two of them tended to Carl, Lydia was brought up to speed, it took hours for him to recover even a little, Lydia had set all four limbs in thick casts which the chains bound as soon as they determined them dealt with.
"Kyubi, how's the lung doing?"
"That foam you put in has stopped him from bleeding, but he'll need surgery for you to fix it."
"Can't you use your flames, like you did for Gillian?"
"I Could, but I'm not going to. I told them then that their lives were their own responsibility and I wouldn't waste my time saving any of them from their own recklessness." Lydia was about to yell at her, but as she lifted her head she saw how hurt Kyubi was, she wasn't being callous but rather didn't want to heal him just so he could run off again.
"Kyubi, why don't you go and be with Ki-ko, I'm sure she must be frantic."
"She is, I can hear her attacking the others, that's why I can't go. She would never forgive me if I left him. Whatever his origins, the bond he shares with them is truly profound. The fact the pets are trying to get to him will be enough to sway Lillim, but she won't appreciate anyone helping her to that conclusion."
"Well then, can you go and get his mums, they'll never forgive us for excluding them and I want to see how the committee reacts when Leanna tells them we think Carl was able to do something to Margo..." As she spoke her hatred for them came through, the fact that he had grown enough to do something like that already will make him practically untouchable she thought.
At the use of the name though, Kyubi quickly interrupted, not wishing for it to be common topic. "Do not celebrate it yet, if I know them they will try and sway him to their side from a distance. If Carl ever decides to do this again, or has his own rage for them stoked, he will have a direct line."
"You need to have more faith in him, it seems reckless and was reckless, but not as entirely as you all think. He was able to see a weakness that he could exploit, even of he did rush it, but it's not like he could risk telling any of you and invite him to listen."
"Maybe.... What could it have been though? To narrow a power gap that makes the ends of the universe seem close in comparison.
They both looked at Carl, eager to hear the whole story, though a certain degree of patience would be necessary given that none of the ones who may be able to assist with the process were able and willing to do so.