THE KEEPERS
Part 6
By Elizabeth


    ...a sea of screaming faces confronted him...his brothers...music filled 
the air with an ear-splitting magick all its own...

    ...illusion, it was all illusion. These were no real men OR gods, merely 
shadows of the physical forms that waited for the day The Elder would 
return...if they could survive the ravages of time...

    He beheld a beautiful red-haired girl walking down a dirt road. Her youth 
and fire was enough to warm the heart and soul of the weary avatar. After his 
millenia of service, his soul was ready for rest, his body a willing gift to 
the spirit being he served...he knew the time would come when his master 
would find his soulmate, and at that time his master would walk this world 
again...in the guise of a bard with a willing flock of 
followers...worshippers...

    ...and the sons of the Red Dragon would unite them forever...

**********

    "James?"

    Jim stretched almost languidly and opened his eyes to see a human shape 
leaning over him.

    When he saw who it was, he nearly passed out again.

    "Fucking shit to bloody hell!" he swore, rolling to the side and falling 
off of the examining table.

    He could hear Julia's merry chuckle. "Does that mean you're awake?"

    He staggered to his feet and pointed at the man next to Julia on the 
other side of the room. "The motherfucking corpse is walking!"

    The dead man, now clothed in a borrowed set of surgical scrubs, laughed. 
His voice was rich and pleasant. Since Jim had last gazed into that face, it 
had changed some. The nose was a bit longer, the cheeks less rounded, youth 
had overtaken the wrinkled skin.

    He was staring at none other than Gene Simmons himself.

    "You know something, Riley?" Julia quipped, "You have a real flair for 
stating the obvious."

    "You are not afraid." the corpse said, entering the conversation. "Why do 
you act as if you are?"

    Jim frowned when he realized the other man was right. He wasn't scared, 
not a 
bit. Why?

    "You're right, I'm not afraid." he admitted slowly. "I'm just shocked."

    The dead man shrugged. "That is understandable."

    He looked at the dead man...Gene Simmons...then looked at Julia.

    "He showed me." she said softly, walking around the table to face him. 
"He got 
in my head and...he showed me, in my mind."

    "How? You're not a User, how can you handle it?"

    "Long story." was all she would say.

    Jim shook his head and smiled. "So you know what's going on?"

    "Sort of. I saw, and I think I understand." She looked over at Simmons 
and shook her head in shock. "A real-life god. Unbelievable."

    "Hold up." Jim spoke up. "Now that you're here, where's the dummy 
Simmons...the illusion?"

    "He's gone." Gene replied, joining them on the other side of the room. "I 
have risen in its place."

    "What about the copy's life? You know Simmons has two children and a 
girlfriend."

    "Nothing has changed. I will live my life, and alter it as I see fit."

    "So you're gonna dump Shannon and the kids?"

    "There is no way I will abandon my children, my feelings for them remain 
the same. And as for Shannon Tweed..." Gene grinned wickedly, his eyes 
flashing with delight. He was quickly becoming more like the Gene Simmons Jim 
had always seen in the media. "I'll keep her around. You really think I would 
waste such beauty? I thought you were a fan, Jim."

    He couldn't help but smile. There was no question...he was talking to The 
Demon himself!

    "Master?"

    Both men turned at the sound of a soft female voice in the doorway. A 
staggeringly beautiful woman stepped into the room. She was about Jim's 
height, which put her at six foot tall. Ruby red hair fell to her waist in 
waves that literally sparkled in the neon light. Her body was a study in 
sculpted muscle under black jeans and a tank top, revealing delicious 
expanses of pale skin that almost glowed. Her eyes were the kind of rich, 
warm brown that a man could fall into forever...

    "Rhea!" Gene whispered, immediately going to the girl. They embraced 
fiercely, the affection between them filling the room like a warm breeze. 
"Thank the stars you're all right!"

    "No thanks to you." Rhea murmured against his shoulder, drawing back 
after a 
moment. "Left me in the middle of goddamned nowhere with a buttload of power 
I have no idea how to use!"

    Julia walked over to the girl. "You're Rhea, aren't you?"

    Rhea turned to look at Julia and flinched visibly. "I know you. I know 
you...but I don't." She frowned, then glowered up at the man in her arms. 
"You know, babe, I'm really starting to get sick and tired of all this 
instinctual knowledge."

    "You're consort to a living embodiment of mankind's passions, and you're 
worried about knowing too much?" Gene chuckled. "Someone has a strange set of 
priorities."

    Rhea shocked Jim and Julia by smacking Gene upside the head. "You shut 
up, I can take you now. And I'm not your consort yet...that comes later."

    Gene leered.

    Rhea released Gene and walked over to face Julia. "Am I familiar to you? 
How do you know me?"

    "The Demon Lord used telepathy to show me what was going on. I know who 
you are...I saw what happened to you."

    Rhea looked into Julia's eyes closely. There was a moment of silence.

    "She's like me, isn't she?" Rhea asked, turning back to Gene.

    He nodded. "She is destined."

    "Destined for what?" Julia asked nervously.

    "Destined to put up with an asshole like him for all time." Rhea quipped 
with a grin.

    "I'm not The Red Dragon, am I?" she asked. "I never was too clear on 
that."

    Rhea shook her head. "Hell no!" Then she paused, sorrow touching her 
features. "The Red Dragon is dead." She turned back to Gene, eyes locking on 
his face.

    "You changed," she murmured thoughtfully, "you have his eyes now. And his 
smile."

    "Chaim and I both told you...he will never truly be gone." Gene murmured.

    Rhea smiled, seemingly comforted.

    "The Red Dragon was a powerful sorcerer," Gene explained, looking back at 
the two mortals in the room. As he spoke, he walked over and wrapped one arm 
around Rhea's shoulders, holding her against him as if afraid she would slip 
away. "one who could control obscenely powerful magick without ill effects to 
himself. You are aware of the principles of Spellcraft."

    "Magick use by Nulls and Sensitives?" Jim replied. "I'm a User, I don't 
deal in 
that shit."

    "I know some basic magick principle." Julia admitted. "I know that if a 
Null handles too much mystic energy, it can result in physical 
manifestations, illness, and even death. Since Sensitives are at least set up 
to manipulate that kind of energy, they're a bit safer but not much."

    Gene nodded. "The Dragon was unique in that he could channel ten times 
what he should without harm to himself. It was he who woke The Elder after 
thousands of years, very early on in the history of man."

    "He wasn't the only one, though." Jim interjected. "I caught a glimpse of 
another dude...The Wanderer?"

    Gene nodded. "The Red Dragon called me back from oblivion, as well as my 
counterpart, The Soulbearer. The Dragon was a master of heart magick, and 
thus had a firmer connection to us both. The Wanderer controlled soul magick, 
and brought back our brothers."

    "You mean black magick and white magick." Jim corrected.

    Julia shook her head. "No, Jim. He means heart and soul 
magick...corporeal and ethereal. Mystic energies can either be utilized on a 
physical or spiritual level. That effects the kind of magick you can do."

    Jim raised an incredulous eyebrow at Julia. "For a coroner, you sure know 
a hell of a lot about magick principle."

    "Like I said, long story."

    "You have a good grasp," Gene remarked, "but it's not quite what you 
believe. The relationship is not that of body and spirit. It is two halves of 
a purely spiritual whole...passion and vision."

    "Thought versus feeling." Rhea added.

    Gene nodded. "My savior, The Red Dragon, controlled heart magick, mystic 
energies of passion. He then offered himself to me as an earthly avatar, and 
sought out one for The Soulbearer. The Wanderer did the same for our brothers 
in the mind. He became avatar to The Starman and brought another for The 
Beast."

    "The Red Dragon united himself completely with the spirit of The Demon 
Lord." Rhea finished quietly. "The body is that of the Dragon...Chaim Witz. 
His soul is gone, though. The spirit belongs to my master." She then looked 
up and touched Gene's cheek affectionately. "My mate."

    "You, Julia," Gene continued, "bear the marks of Fate. I believe you will 
be bound to one of my brothers in much the same way Rhea has bound herself to 
me."

    Jim watched Julia closely. Suprisingly, she didn't seem disturbed by this 
news.

    "Why isn't this bothering you more, Jules?" he asked carefully.

    Julia looked up at him and smiled almost sadly.

    "Because," she replied quietly, "I already knew."