~~

Trinity

~~

The moment that all of those people started to move toward me I felt a shift in the air around me. It was like I was able to sense when and where they were going to be. This was not something that I had felt before, but I had known for years that I supposedly had a precognition type of ability. I had just never been able to use it. Or rather, I never knew how to use it.

"I will protect the three of you.

" I looked at the three little imp boys for a quick second before the fighting started.

"I promise you that you will not be hurt at all. I will take care of all of you.

"

After having said those words, I thought about the protection that I wanted to give them while I fought off the others. I wanted to put a barrier around them. I wanted to make sure that they were out of harm's way, so I didn't have to focus on them too much for the time being.

Sure enough, while I thought about it, the barrier appeared. It seemed that most of my magic was back here. Well, it was back, but not at full power. I could just feel that it was not as strong as it had been before.

'The further you get from the mortal realm, the stronger your magic will get.' The other me chose that moment to inform me of the circumstances.

"How do you know that?

" I didn't know if I could trust her assessment at the current moment.

'My knowledge of this world came with the magic that gave me sentience. I have knowledge of this land, but it is not like I am actively thinking about what those secrets are. I am sorry I cannot be of more help, but I will offer you the knowledge that I have when it is of importance.'

"Gee, thanks.

" I couldn't help but be sarcastic at that moment. I was literally watching those lost souls surge toward me.

With the barrier now in place around the three little boys that I was protecting, I leapt forward into the fray. It was an immediate start as well, since the soul closest to me was already swinging toward my head with her fist.

I never once, in a million years, would have thought that Franny would be attacking me like that. She was such a sweet and kind old lady that seemed to love everyone. She literally made it her life's work to be there for people and make sure they had a great place to eat and unwind.

Now though, she looked like some sort of beast that was straight out of a horror movie. That alone broke my heart. I didn't want Franny to be like this. I didn't want to see her hurt herself, me, or anyone else for that matter. I just wanted to see her move on to her afterlife so that she could be at peace.

"Franny please, don't do this.

" I begged her, hoping like hell that I could get through to her to calm her down.

"I will carry your limp body to the Goddess. I will please the ruler of the darkness.

"

Even the voice that was coming from Franny's mouth was unlike her. It sounded like her, but it didn't at the same time. There were emotions and inflections in it that I had never heard from her before. She sounded like a witch or a banshee or something along those lines.

"Franny, stop this. It's not what you want.

" I continued to plead with her, but the woman who had been sitting on the bench was now leaping toward my head so I couldn't look at the old woman anymore. I had to break eye contact, so I didn't see what she was about to do next.

It wasn't until I sent the bench lady flying across the street that I noticed that Franny was going toward the three little imp boys. She was trying to attack them instead of me.

"Leave them alone, Franny. Your fight is with me.

"

"Destroy the children and take the invader's soul to the Goddess.

"

This was insane. I didn't want to hurt Franny, but I couldn't let her hurt the boys. I needed to stop her. I needed to put an end to this.

"FRANNY!

" I called out to her one more time, trying to break Hekate's spell on her while also weaving in and out of the others that were attacking me. Of course, she didn't stop and she didn't look at me. I needed to try another approach.

I called on as much magic as I could at the moment. With that in mind, I sent out the binding that I had used when learning my magic all those years ago. They were a weak spell but effective.

The moment that the binding shot from my hands, they wrapped around Franny and suspended her in midair. She was hanging there, upside down, about five feet off the ground. The others were still surging though. I needed to stop them before I could do anything else.

Several of the others were too close to me for comfort. I needed to get away so that I could tie them up. Wanting to get away from them, I leapt into the air and flipped backward, toward the three little imps that were secured in their barrier and bubbles.

I landed protectively in front of them and focused on all of the souls that were still trying to attack me. I now had a pretty good amount of distance between us and was able to call on those bindings once again.

I focused hard on each and every person that I could see. The bench woman whose face now looked like an evil spirit from a horror movie. The three teenagers who had been walking together like they knew each other but were from different eras; the three of them now looked as if they were members of some greaser gang from an old movie I had seen years ago. The man with the leash that had been walking aimlessly was now running at me swinging his leash like it was a morning star that he was going to take my head off with. Everyone around me had morphed and changed somehow, and it was odd and slightly interesting.

Now that I had taken in everyone that was in front of me, memorizing where they were and what they were doing, I sent out my bindings once again. They all ended up the same as Franny had. They were suspended approximately five feet off of the ground while hanging upside down.

"There.

" I sighed the word in relief as I looked around the streets and buildings in the area. I needed to make sure that I hadn't forgotten anyone.

"Now what the hell am I going to do with all of you?

" That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? What was I going to do to fix this situation and make sure that none of them were harmed because of Hekate?