By Raven
Salem was surprised that Chris barked at him the way he did. �Get down here, now!� was all he said. He understood why when he saw Raven, actually, the better word for it was felt. They shared a symbiosis of sorts- they lived in each other's head. He had been teaching his daughter Panacea, or Penny as Raven called her, so he was preoccupied and did not feel the changes going on within Raven�s body. He knew when he touched her and what had caused it, too. She had been exposed to raw Sagan virus. For most people it didn�t matter, but for her it could be deadly. She has an unique DNA structure- yes, her descendants had the third strand but none inherited the effect that Sagan�s had on her.
I changed and scooped her up, taking my time getting her down the stairs. Her body was deteriorating rapidly now. She had the will to go to hell and back literally, but when she lets go, she really lets go. By the time we reached the bottom, she was shaking from chills.
Chris looked rather cross when I nosed open the door to the pit. Stephen was there and the slide rule was open. �What took so long?� Chris barked.
"Don�t take that tone with me, manling!" I snapped back at Chris. �I had to take my time because she is getting worse and I didn�t want her to fall off!�
Of course, the words out of Raven�s mouth were �I�m fine.� The funny thing was Stephen, Chris, and I all said "Bull Shit" at the same time. I padded in and Doc closed the door. Chris helped her to stand and get undressed. Doc got pajamas for her to put on, and we waited. It only took about three hours for her to be in the full grip of the virus� effects. For everyone else on the planet, Sagans hit at puberty, or during great personal crisis, making them stronger. For her, on the other hand, it hit when she was exposed to enough of it, large groups of teens prior to change or raw virus.
It had been pure raw virus this time. She was infected not long after getting back. She acted like any person with untreated pneumonia. Her body did not get sick normally- Sagans was the only thing on this world that could elicit this kind of reaction.
Three hours after entering the �slide rule�, her body temperature had gone up four degrees and was still climbing. She has a normal temperature of about eighty degrees Fahrenheit, but when she is ill, it was know to climb quite high.
She was fevered and suffering from chills for the first 3 days. We thought she was going to get off easy this time. That was when it started- her body temperature began climbing. Slowly at first, then more rapidly. Stephen tried everything to get it back within acceptable ranges. Even my magic could only hold it for a little while. Because of her, I too had received the power of creation itself to aid her, now I was becoming powerless. No human could survive their body temperature increasing over twenty degrees, but hers finally stopped at 103.6. She was in a coma, or as close as she could come to one.
Chris was holding her hand the whole time, Stephen was frantic, and I felt her slipping from me, or should I say us. It was then that Andrew made his appearance. �I have come for her.� was all he said.
�Like hell!� I thought.
It was Chris that let out this almost feral growl and said, �Over my dead body!�
He was sitting on Andrew, punching him repeatedly, when I saw the other figure. It was shrouded, but I knew the scent. She knelt down and said only one thing to him: �Beloved, No.�
Chris looked at her and cried. Stephen helped Andrew up. The figure remained away from the three of us. �I came here�, she said, �from her past to my future to tell you this; she must defy the gods. That is why this is happening, but the effect of it will be temporary. Andrew, will you do what you must here?�
He walked over to Raven and touched her head. �Her temperature will drop. Nothing can withstand the icy touch of death.� he said as he smiled and chuckled.
�She will defy the one she must shortly after the new year. A lesson must be learned for one to move on. Once that happens, she will manifest again. This manifestation is temporary, to do what she needs. When it happens, let the children see. It will help Allison and Harry make some choices about their lives.� the shrouded figure said.
Then she tossed something to Doc. �You will need this, so she doesn't commit telekinetic Hari Kari on the house.�
�She will be fine.� Andrew told us. �Her body temperature is coming down now. Also, the temporal Raven says to not feed her until she wakes. Take her to her father, it is part of the plan for this.�
It was nearly three weeks before she woke up. All Stephen could tell was something was tied to her telepathy. Aside from that, he had no clue. I could feel something though, coiled up like a cobra beneath the surface of her mind. The light in Chris� eyes told me all I needed to know- that she was waking. I could feel her hunger, but knew she would say nothing to them. Chris was under her arm and ready to transport in a few moments. Stephen stayed behind, waiting in the pit and enjoying some of the musical instruments that were in Raven�s collection. Included was a Pernian Harp, crafted by a Master Harper.
We arrived to see her father waiting. He offered her one of Gomez�s things, as Raven called them. She fell on it after a few moments- her father had fortified it to be attractive to her in a way that was, well, not normal. It took her only an hour or so shrink the creature by half.
She moved from under the creature, but could not get much farther than a few feet when she lost consciousness. Her father walked over to her, lifting her and carrying to a chair. He had a rocker in the room next to where the creatures were. He sat there with Raven in his lap. Chris left them together and went to see Guardian for a while- they would be talking for a couple of hours. I watched Raven and her father as they sat. He had tears streaming down his face at how sick she still was. He kept telling her how much he loved her and how proud he was of all her accomplishments. He also apologized for all the times he couldn�t be there for her.
I waited quietly where I was unseen, but there was another watcher that was truly unwelcome. Her father's brother was in the corner, and using his powers to not be seen. I could feel the hatred he had for both of them. His brother just because, but for Raven, he hated her for her betrayal of the beast he gave them. She was to destroy the unworthy of the world, yet she now protected it and had gone through time doing so. She had undone so much of his work, and her brat had given him back his life, but he was a teenager- no one would take him seriously.
I knew that this was to lead to trouble sooner or later. For now, she was all right. It would take three more days in the box so to speak. This time her sleep was normal, not the imitation of a corpse that she had done earlier. They moved her to her bed and it was standard Christmas procedure. The only thing that wasn�t standard was the problem Raven had getting warm. I knew it was the Sagans still active in her system, as did Chris. Now we just had to wait and see. Would hatred hold true in second chances, or for this one would there be a third?