Green and Gold
Part Four: The Future of Magic

By Dr. Mercurious

Harry and Anthony gazed into the crystal ball that he kept in his office at the Dante Towers. Anthony beheld the scene with concern, Harry with amusement.

The old magician grinned at his protégé. "Now ain’t that interesting?"

Anthony glared down at him. "I’m glad someone finds this funny. What the heck are they supposed to do now?"

"’Do? Why do anything? I can think of a few advantages to havin’ a three-headed girlfriend."

Anthony frowned. "Come off it, Harry; I know better than that now."

Harry’s expression changed instantly to a mixture of concern and pride. "Glad you’re picking up on your lessons so quickly."

"So what’ll we do?"

"Seems to me they need a bit of a lesson. Let ‘em stew for a bit, then we’ll fix ‘em up."

 

 

********************

 

 

Jessica woke with a bit of confusion. At first, it seemed the events of the previous evening had been a dream, albeit a strangely erotic one. Then, as the fog of the morning burned away from her consciousness, reality set in.

"Uh oh," she said.

"You said that enough times last night," Vicki said from her left.

"You have to admit, sis, it bears repeating," Karen said from her right.

"He’s gonna KILL me," Jessica moaned.

"You said that too," Vicki piped.

"It also bears repeating," Karen quipped back. Karen raised Jessica’s right hand to stifle a yawn.

Jessica sighed. "Would you two stop the comedy routine already? We have to find a way to get back to normal."

"Could we get some coffee in us first?" Vicki said. "I think much better in the morning after my first two or three cups."

"Great," Jessica groaned as they thrust the covers off her body. "Not only do I have two additional heads, one’s a coffee addict." Her body was clad only in a strapless bra and panties.

"Shouldn’t we check on our bodies first?" Karen suggested.

"Good thought," Jessica approved. Karen and Vicki’s headless bodies were still alive and operating on some sort of instinct. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure they hadn’t gotten into trouble.

They hadn’t. The trio walked into Jessica’s parlor to behold the abandoned bodies in question lying on the floor, grinding their pussies together.

"Oh!" Karen gasped as all three women blushed.

"Give you any ideas?" Vicki giggled as she reached Jessica’s left hand up to caress Jessica’s left breast.

Jessica groaned, lost in the sensation for a moment -- all her erogenous zones were hypersensitive since the twins had been grafted to her body -- but somehow managed to pull herself back to reality. "Mmmm…maybe later," she forced herself to say. "Right now, I want to look at the box again now we’ve had a good night’s sleep."

"Not that good," Karen giggled. Jessica blushed; despite their chagrin at their current situation, neither of the women had been able to resist the thrill of masturbating Jessica’s body repeatedly to shared orgasm. Jessica hadn’t tried to stop them either; it left her with serious questions about her own sexuality.

Tearing themselves away from the bizarre sex-scene, they headed to the kitchen to look once again on Anthony’s knife-head box, sitting on the table. Nothing had changed; there was still a large prevalent crack stretching from tip to tip on one side of the box. Further attempts to use it had proved unpleasant; Karen had complained bitterly about her pricked scalp.

"Maybe we could try crazy glue," Jessica mused.

Karen snorted. "Do you have any?"

"Yeah, I don’t think we could go out and get some," Vicki said. "Do you even have any clothes to fit us?"

"Well I do have a strapless tube dress," Jessica mused. "But no, I don’t have any crazy glue. We’ll have to wait until Anthony gets home, which won’t be for two more days."

She didn’t know whose idea it was to sit down in one of the kitchen chairs, but it sounded good, so she cooperated. The three women let out a collective sigh.

"We really should have been more careful," Vicki mused.

"I’ll second that," Karen said.

"Might as well make it unanimous," Jessica agreed. "I swear if we get out of this, I’ll never take Anthony’s paranoia lightly again!"

 

********************

 

 

"Do you think they’ve had enough?"

A third person had joined them, a rather toothsome raven-haired woman dressed in jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Harry’s respectful attitude upon her entrance marked her to Anthony as Someone Important; he hadn’t been introduced yet.

Harry nodded. "I think so."

"Good. I’ll take care of it, then." She smiled at Anthony. "Don’t worry; your fiancé will be just fine."

"Thanks," he said, returning the smile nervously.

She reached into a jeans pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and shook it hard; it became a sheet. "Would you mind getting me a chair, please?"  Anthony cast his eyes about the office. He grabbed a heavy-looking wooden chair and brought it over. "Thanks," she said, patting his hand. "Please, don’t worry."

The assuredness in her tone calmed him down. "Thank you, and I’m sorry to be so much trouble, Ms…er…?"

Her laugh was a crystal tinkling."Morganna LeFay; Anna to my friends."

Anthony gaped. "Not THE...?" He couldn’t finish the sentence.

She winked at him; her smile was mysterious. "Would you cover me with this sheet, please?"

"Ah…er…yeah, sure," he stammered, covering her up. He stared at it for a bit then leaned over to Harry. "Is she…?"

Harry looked serious "You really wanna know?"

Anthony thought about that one. "Maybe not."

"A wise man never seeks for more knowledge than he can handle," Harry nodded with approval.

Anthony grabbed the top of the sheet near the figure’s head, feeling the magic flow from her; he’d only recently learned how to sense magic power and channel it at will, and the sensation was a rush like almost none other. He hoped never to get used to it. With a flourish, he pulled the sheet away from the figure.

Suddenly the office was very crowded indeed. Jessica -- back to normal -- sat blinking in confusion on the chair. The twins, restored to their bodies, were kneeling down on either side, also looking very startled. Anthony stole a quick look at Harry’s crystal ball; Morganna sat in the kitchen chair that Jessica and the twins had been in. She waved at them.

He turned back to the separated trio and grinned. "Having fun while I was gone?”  The three of them blushed, turning an appealingly rosy shade. Jessica was stammering; the twins looked positively fearful and clutched at each other. Then his concern flared up and he glared at Jessica. "I thought I told you to be careful with that thing!"

She opened her mouth as if to protest loudly, and closed it with an audible click. "You’re right, I’m sorry I was so stupid." She bit her lip. "I don’t blame you for being mad at me."

He took her into his arms and hugged fiercely. "You great silly; I was worried about you – especially now I have a better idea as to the things that can go wrong."

She snuggled appealingly in his arms. "I think I’ve had a little bit of a taste. Not that it wasn’t fun, mind you, but if I’m going to have by body altered permanently I’d prefer being headless."

He kissed her on the nose. "We can talk about that later."

"Uh, not to sound ungrateful…" one of the twins began.

"…But what just happened?" The other finished.

Anthony recognized Vicki and Karen from Jessica’s description of them and from spying in the crystal ball, although he couldn’t tell them apart. He smiled. "Magic, of course. Real magic."

Their mouths dropped open. "You mean all stage magic is for real?" One exclaimed.

He shook his head. "No, actually. It can all be done for real, but some of it is exactly that; trickery." Harry cleared his throat meaningfully. "I’m sorry where are my manners? This is Channeler Harry Dini. Harry, this is Jessica, my Focuser."

"Charmed, m’dear," Harry beamed, kissing her hand. For some reason, the twins burst out laughing.

Jessica smiled. "Likewise." Then she frowned at Anthony. " ‘Channeler’? ‘Focuser’? What are those?"

Anthony looked at Harry, who nodded. He turned back to his fiancé. "Come on, you three; I’ll fill you in on the way to the basement."

"What’s at the basement?" One of the twins asked.

He grinned. "Stunning examples of what magic can do with a little help from technology." He took Jessica’s arm and followed Harry to one of the elevators in the lobby, the twins tagging along behind. Once in, he waited until the doors were closed to ensure no one would overhear.

He took a deep breath. "Okay, I’m glossing over a lot of specifics here, but this is the gist; there are two types of people who can use magic. Channelers gather magic power and release it; Focusers control magic power, altering or concentrating the results. Separately, both can still use magic with limitations; Channelers are stuck with whatever result is dictated by hundreds of factors almost impossible to keep track of, and Focusers can only cast magic in areas where magical energy is high -- and there aren’t many places like that. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages."

"Let me guess," one of the twins piped up. "Almost all Channelers are male and almost every Focusers is female."

"Right in one," he nodded, noting Harry’s alarmed look; he’d ask him about it later.

"Can someone be both?" the other twin chimed in.

Anthony sped a questioning look at Harry, who nodded. "Yep, it’s possible. In five thousand years of recorded occult history, it’s happened eleven times."

The twins gave a low whistle; Anthony let it finish and continued. "Okay. Now the cool thing about Focusers is that it is virtually impossible to hurt or kill one with magic."

Jessica frowned. "I don’t like that ‘virtually’ clarification."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "If the Focuser wants to be hurt, she will be. But if she wants to feel pleasure…well, that’s a different story."

"So the reason we got a kick out of being divided is because that’s the way we wanted it to feel," one twin mused.

The other looked at Harry. "I take it Channelers who are divided feel something else entirely."

Harry nodded. His face was serious. "It ain’t an experience ya wanna repeat."

The twins grinned. "I don’t know about you," one said, "but if that’s the tradeoff, I’d rather be a Focuser."

"We are Focusers, right?" The other one asked.

The elevator dinged softly and the door swished open. "That’s a silly question," he scoffed. The familiar grin came back but Anthony could still see the concern in his eyes. Anthony didn’t think it was a silly question, particularly since Harry hadn’t answered it. He really wanted to talk with Harry in private; something was clearly bothering the Channeler, and he wanted to know what it was. It would have to wait, however. The elevator had taken them to the underground complex where magical apparatuses of various types were created and tested. Here and there wooden boxes were painted, blades sharpened, and cloths woven.

The three women had very large eyes. "Wow," Jessica breathed.

Anthony smiled at her. "You haven’t seen anything yet." He looked at Harry. "Well? Can I show them the latest toys?"

This time the smile seemed genuine. "Be my guest."

Anthony led Jessica by the hand -- with the twins following close -- into a side room, bare except for a table, a curtained-off area for changing, and a wheeled waist-height sided tray with a box on it. Anthony opened the box up and took out what looked to be a bodystocking composed of overlapping green plastic plates with gold trim circling the neck, breasts and major joints.

"This," he said, holding it up, "is a Sectioning Suit; it was created using modern means of manufacturing." He gestured at Jessica. "Care to try it on?"

She looked dubiously at it. "What does it do?"

He grinned. "You’ll have to try it on to find out."

She eyed it some more, but curiosity won in the end. "Sure," she grinned back, and took it into the changing room. "By the way, I can hear you from in here just fine. Keep explaining."

"I think that was a hint," he said in a stage whisper to Harry who grinned

"We think you think right," the twins chorused.

"Why am I your Focuser?" Jessica wanted to know.

"Sorry, it’s just a way of phrasing it in magic society; you’d introduce me as ‘your Channeler’. Channelers and Focusers are sexually drawn to each other; if they spend any amount of time together, they will wind up in bed with each other -- even if they’re the same sex."

"Really?" There was an odd tone to her voice.

Anthony caught it immediately. "But if that’s all there is as a basis for the relationship, they’ll go their separate ways before too long. Only Channelers and Focusers who are in love will get married."

A pause, then Jessica emerged from the changing room laughing. "Well, it’s nice to know you don’t love me for my magic."

"Same here," he said. "You look really hot in that."

She ran a hand down her stomach. "I feel hot in it -- as in stifling. This better be worth it."

"Oh it is," he grinned, walking over to her. "The suit breaks apart at these gold bands." He indicated the one around her neck. "Just grab a body part and push towards a gold band; it’ll pop off." He made a silent bet with himself.

"Cool!" Jessica smiled, winning Anthony’s bet as she grasped her head and pushed downward. There was a popping noise, and her head and neck lifted free from her body, leaving a hole through which unbroken skin could be seen. She lifted her head up to take a look. "I’ve been dreaming about doing this," she purred, placing her head in the tray so she could look at her body. She had it pirouette, waggling its ass at her head. "I have a nice butt. How come you never mention how nice my butt is?’

"Because you have a high-heel fetish, and pout if I don’t compliment you on your pretty feet. Well, you used to have one. Want me to take you apart further?"

Jessica considered for a bit. "Sure. Just keep my arms and legs in one piece, would you?"

He nodded. Jessica sat her body down on the bench and Anthony put his hands on its shoulders. He pushed down and at the telltale pop lifted her torso away from her hips and legs. He did the same with her arms, placing them in the tray with her head, then each breast. Then snapped her legs off of her hips, and piled all three pieces into the tray as well. Finally he placed her limbless, breastless torso in the tray, arranging her pieces around it.

"This feels nice," she said, wiggling various body parts against each other. "Even in this stuffy suit."

"Oh, the suit comes off when you’re broken up," he said. He picked up her arm and pressed the release button located near where it would have attached to the shoulder joint. The sleeve sprang away, leaving her naked arm. It flexed and twiddled its fingers. "Better?"

"Much," she sighed. "Could you remove the rest? I’d do it myself, but I seem to be in a bit of a state."

"Sure," he said. "Come on," he motioned to the twins. "Give me a hand or we’ll be here all day."

They both grinned hugely and began grabbing Jessica-parts, fiddling with them to find the catch while the parts squirmed. Jessica’s head laughed, shouting advice and raunchy comments. His fiancé’s change in attitude about people seeing her naked wasn’t a surprise; he learned that one of the side effects of being a Focuser was exhibitionism, just as voyeurism was a side effect of being a Channeler. Anthony collected the pieces of the suit as they were removed -- letting the twins take them off --and put them in the box. He closed it up, intoned something that sounded like Latin and focused through it. He then opened it and tipped it sideways to reveal it was empty. "Ta-daaah!" He grinned. "Sorry Jess, but I had to send it to be cleaned. Don’t worry, once they’re done with it I’ll bring it back…if you’re nice to me."

Her head smiled at him. "No need to hurry on my account. It feels very relaxing being in pieces like this. I’d just hate to miss the rest of the tour because of it."

"That’s why the cart has wheels," he laughed pushing it along.

"Will we get to try out the next one?" One of the twins asked.

Harry smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, darlins’, but it’s for experienced Focusers only at the moment. Tell you what, though; you can work it."

The twins gave each other mournful looks. "I suppose that’s good enough," one sighed.

Huh? Anthony thought. It takes a Focuser and a Channeler working in tandem to get the TrickMaster 1.3 to function. There was something increasingly suspicious going on here. Still, he trusted Harry and decided to back his play for now, whatever it was. If the situation changed, he could always move in to stop it.

The group moved from the Sectioning Suit room back to the main area and down a corridor to a larger room with an odd contraption dominating most of it. It resembled a large heavy oak desk with a keyboard embedded in the top and various input devices covering it. A high-resolution screen dominated most of the back wall; the screen seemed to be on and showing a white backdrop. There were four glass booths, two to a side; each booth was not quite big enough for two people to squeeze in. Two women were sitting in the seats in front of the device; Anthony had met both of them. Gina --a tall leggy brunette with green eyes -- and Lisa -- a voluptuous African-American with straight black hair -- were both experienced Focusers. They were topless, dressed in green bikini bottoms and gold high heels.

"This," Harry began, gesturing at the device, "is the TrickMaster 1.3. It doesn’t quite do everything that we want it to do yet -- that’s why we’re tickled to get a Channeler who’s a computer wiz," he grinned at Anthony, who grinned back. "You may have noticed even for real magic, props were used. That’s so a Channeler or a Focuser can use magic without the other being present." His expression grew serious. "Not every Channeler has a Focuser and vice-versa."

"Uh, who’s this ‘we’ you keep mentioning?" Jessica asked as Gina and Lisa stood up from their seats, which were immediately reoccupied by the giggling twins.

"The  Talesin Council,” Harry shrugged. "Bit grand-sounding for what we do, which is find and train those with the ability for magic as well as stay in contact. We ain’t very big and we keep real quiet."

"How come?" She wanted to know.

"Now that’s a long story," Harry mused. "For now, let’s just say it’s so those who can’t use magic don’t get jealous and do somethin’ we’ll regret, like the last time we tried to go public."

"Sounds interesting," Jessica said. "Although not as interesting as this contraption."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, this is our baby here. Gina and Lisa here will help demonstrate." To the Focusers in question, "You mind, girls?"

"Heck no, we’d love to!" Lisa grinned. Gina nodded in agreement.

"Well then," Harry gestured towards the booths. The two women each opened up one of the glass boxes on the left side of the machine and climbed in.

"Could you lift my head up so I can have a better view?" Jessica asked Anthony.

"Sure," he said. He held it in both hands. "This is giving me all sorts of naughty ideas, seeing you like this."

"Keep those ideas in mind," she murmured. "I meant what I said about not being in a hurry. I could be talked into staying like this on a permanent basis if you agreed to take care of me."

"We can talk about it later," Anthony answered, kissing her on top of her head.

While he’d been distracted, Harry had explained to the twins the basics of the controls. He turned to the two women in the booths and gave them a thumbs-up. He grinned at the twins. "Okay, hit it!"

The twin on the right - - Anthony thought she was Vicki -- pressed a button. Immediately a square halo of light appeared inside at the top of each occupied box, which also filled with a white fog. Soon the figures inside were completely obscured by the smoke; the halos dipped to the bottom of their boxes, back up to the top and disappeared. The smoke immediately cleared, revealing their empty interiors. A message appeared on the screen: LOADING. PLEASE WAIT….

The other twin laughed. "It’s a computer scanner, only it scans in people!"

"Wild," chuckled Jessica’s head.

"Oh, it’s more than that," Harry grinned. Gina and Lisa appeared on the screen and waved at their audience. "The TrickMaster 1.3 breaks down the subject into data and puts ‘em in a virtual magic theatre. The operator can access its stored file of virtual tricks to try out on aforementioned subject. Here’s the fun part; you can create your own virtual tricks by using its graphics design program. When you’re done, simply process them out and they appear…in whatever state you left ‘em in. They stay that way until you run ‘em through the process again and restore ‘em." His expression grew serious. "Normally, when the subject of a trick ain’t restored at its end, a continuous stream of magic is needed to keep the altered form."

"Uh, what happens when the subject doesn’t have enough magical power to maintain the form?" Jessica asked.

There was no trace of humor in Harry’s response. "Notify the next-of-kin."

The twins turned away from what they were doing and stared at the Channeler. Jessica’s swallow was audible as she glanced over at her disassembled body. Harry’s expression softened. "Don’t worry, darlin’; ‘cause of all the practicin’ you’ve been doin’, you can stay that way for however long you feel like it."

"I take it that wouldn’t have been true for my three-headed conjoinment?"

"Nope. Conjoinment magic sucks up lots of power. Four, maybe five days at the outside."

"I see." She glanced up at Anthony. "Honey, if I ever do something that stupid again, spank me. Hard."

He lifted her head up and kissed its nose. "Sure thing."

She smiled at him, then glanced at Harry with a startled expression. "The box -- it was some sort of training device, wasn’t it?"

"Right in one," he nodded. "You’re gonna be a top Focuser once we finish your training, bright girl like you. We put ‘em out there to track down Focusers and Channelers. Anyone without either gift wouldn’t even want to own it; for some reason, they’d pass it over."

The twins looked at each other and back at Harry. "Fishing lures!"

Harry blinked for a bit then guffawed. "I love it! Yeah, guess you could call ‘em that. The sawing box was an evaluator, to determine your power levels."

"So, what are they?" Karen wanted to know.

He waggled a finger at them. "Don’t be nosy. ‘Sides, you got some Focusers who are getting’ antsy just sittin’ around." He pointed at the screen, where Gina and Lisa were indeed looking bored.

"Can’t have that," Vicki said. She grinned at her twin. "Are you thinking what I’m thinking?"

"Body-slide!" Karen answered. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and two body-slides appeared on the screen with openings for head, hands, feet, and breasts. Gina and Lisa obligingly climbed in.

"Okay, time to loosen you two up a bit," Vicki murmured, hand going to a mouse. A cursor appeared, and she moved it to first Lisa’s box and then Gina’s, sliding around the exposed body parts around their respective boxes. Karen had accessed the trick-making portion of the software and selected the virtual image of a plain box, the front of which was a hinged door.

"And just what are you plannin’ to do with that?" Harry asked.

"You’ll find out," Karen giggled. She called up the program’s eraser tool and erased first Gina’s and then Lisa’s box, leaving only the exposed body parts. Both the Focusers looked like they were having a blast.

"I knew we were related for a reason," Vicki smiled, stealing a non-sisterly kiss from her sister. Carefully, she assembled Gina and Lisa’s remaining parts on the remaining box. When she was done, both Lisa and Gina’s heads were side-by-side at normal head height on it. One of Gina’s breasts and one of Lisa’s breasts were side-by-side on the figure at the appropriate height; the other of their breasts formed a row below that one, on the opposite side of the first row. They had followed the same patterns for both the hands and feet, establishing them at the appropriate levels.

Karen pressed the DONE key; the box opened up and the combined form of Gina and Lisa stepped out, a two-headed, four-breasted, four-armed and four-legged figure with a strangely piebald skin-tone. Vicki gave them a brief chance to gawk at themselves before pressing another button. Immediately one of the glass booths on the right side of the machine filled with white fog and a square halo appeared at the bottom of the booth. It quickly darted up and then down; the fog cleared and Lisa/Gina opened the door and walked out as if they’d been born a composite entity.

"How y’all feel?" Harry wanted to know.

Both Gina and Lisa’s eyes looked glassy, as if performing an internal audit, then came back into focus. Lisa grinned. "Fantastic!"

"Yeah, it’s not taking any magic to maintain this," Gina nodded in approval. "I take it this is now our set form?"

"It is ‘til the TrickMaster 1.3 changes it again," he said. "Which can be whenever you two want."

One of Gina’s hands caressed their shared stomach. "We’ll keep it for now, I think," Lisa purred. "I’ve always had a thing for conjoinment magic."

"Me too," Gina nodded and grinned at the twins. "Nice job!" The twins gave them a thumbs-up.

Harry glanced over at Anthony and then down at Jessica’s head, his expression thoughtful. "Could you two do me a li’l favor here? I’d like the twins introduced around and give ‘em the nickel tour, but me and Anthony got some stuff to get squared away first. Mind?"

The figure gave a double-shrug. "Not at all," Gina said after briefly glancing over at Lisa.

"Sounds like fun," Vicki said.

"Wanna come along?" Karen said to Jessica’s head.

"I’ll hit Anthony up for a private tour later," she answered. "You two have fun."

Giggling, one twin went on the right side of the Lisa/Gina figure and the other the left. In stereo, looking at the head they were closest to, they said, "I don’t know about you two but that sounds like encouragement to us!"

Gina and Lisa looked at each other. "They’re going to be a bad influence," Lisa remarked wryly."

"Yeah," Gina said as they left the room. "Fun, though."

Harry chuckled as the door closed, then turned to face Anthony. "You two looked like you had a few questions you didn’t want the twins to hear."

"Dam straight," Jessica returned. "Honey, could you hold my head up higher? I want to look Harry in the eye for this."

"Sure," Anthony shrugged. He raised her head up until she could look the Channeler square in the face.

"They’re both, aren’t they," she said. It wasn’t a question.

Anthony almost dropped her head in shock. "What?"

An exasperated sigh escaped her. "Honey, I love you dearly, but sometimes you’re about as clueless as a very clueless thing. He did everything except hit us over the head with it." She looked back at Harry. "Tell me I’m wrong. I dare you."

"You ain’t," he nodded. The grim expression was back. "They’re what our community calls Twice-Bloods; both Channeler and Focuser. That’s on top of being identical twins."

"What does that have to do with it?" Anthony wanted to know.

Harry sighed. "’Cause identical twins with enough magic potential to use have always been real powerful, without exception. Twice-Bloods are very powerful as it is; capable, with trainin’, of doin’ the sort of magic you read ‘bout in fairy tales. Being both identical twins and Twice-Bloods," he shook his head. "They’re probably capable of maintainin’ spells that myself, with thirty years of bein’ a Channeler, would be sweatin’ my ass off tryin’ to keep goin’."

"Isn’t that good?" Jessica said.

"Dunno if ‘good’ is the right word here. See, Focusers have an advantage in trainin’, which is also a disadvantage. They believe that magic can’t hurt ‘em, so it doesn’t. They can still get tired tryin’ to control more magic than they can handle, so there’ a little danger. If a Focuser, after trainin’, wants to leave our community, that’s fine with us." Harry looked at Anthony. "Channelers are different. There are so many factors that can make a spell go wrong that it ain’t a good idea for hin ta leave; after all, even the best make a mistake. Still, it’s their decision to stay. We used to give Twice-Bloods the same choice as Channelers and Focusers; we don’t anymore."

Anthony could feel Jessica’s face tighten into a frown, and knew his own expression was slightly cloudy. "Why not?" He demanded.

"Ever since the last one who made the choice to leave screwed up the whole world," Harry countered, and mentioned a name.

Anthony felt himself turn white; Jessica’s skin felt cold in his hands. "You have got to be shitting me."

"It makes sense, when you think about it." Jessica’s voice sounded faint. "It explains a lot, like the Nazi Party’s interest in occult."

Harry nodded. "Damn straight. Oh, he was a devious little bastard. That shit-crazy shrimp used his power to get the drop on the other three Twice-Bloods before we knew what was up. It took all of us to counter some of his stuff, and even then we weren’t successful entirely. Why else d’ya think some there are some people who don’t believe the Holocaust ever happened?" He shook his head grimly. "We can’t have somethin’ like this happen again."

"But if there are no more Twice-Bloods…" Jessica began.

Harry held up a hand. "Never said that. We did lose one of ‘em, and the other sorta became a hermit after that. Third’s still around, though," He grinned at Harry. "You even met her, not that long ago."

"So she is the real thing, huh?" Anthony looked briefly amused, then very annoyed. "SHE’S your idea of stable?" He demanded.

Harry shrugged. "She’s had her share of issues, but she’s long since worked ‘em out. Don’t worry."

"So what happens now?" Jessica wanted to know.

"Up to you," he shrugged. "If you want trainin’, it’s yours. If not, I wish ya all the luck and kinky sex you can handle. If after the trainin’ you want out, same deal."

"I mean my cousisns," Jessica growled.

"You can’t help ‘em," he said flatly. "I can’t help ‘em either. Only one person can, and you’d just get in her way. Like it or not, your part in this story is over. But as for Vicki and Karen," he paused, his expression growing thoughtful, "theirs is just beginning. Bet on it."