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ORDER AND CHAOS

F aris and Grace came back with the reports of what had been stolen from the gods’ and demons’ facilities. We spent the next several hours looking through them, trying to figure out what all those random magical herbs made when they were put together.

We didn’t have a clue.

But Cadence did. She and Damiel arrived sometime around midnight for a little magical knowledge backup.

“All those herbs put together,” she said, “it’s the formula for the Cure.”

“The cure to what?” Bella asked.

“The Cure to Nectar and Venom,” I told her.

“The gods put a great deal of effort into mining Nectar,” said Faris.

“And the demons put a great deal of effort into mining Venom,” Grace added.

“So why should we wish to ‘cure’ it?” Faris huffed, looking quite indignant.

I looked at Cadence. “Do you want to explain it?”

And so she did. She told everyone how the Immortals had developed a Cure to counter the infertility caused by the poisons in Nectar and Venom. And that it was an all-or-nothing spell. Either everyone was cured, or no one was.

“So if this Cure is cast, it will wipe out all Nectar and Venom in the universe?” Nero said.

“Yes,” replied Cadence.

“Preposterous!” growled Faris.

“Agreed,” said Grace.

“Gods and demons would keep all their powers, and they would have no more dependency on poison,” Bella pointed out. “You could have children.”

“We already have a child,” Faris snapped with a glare for my mother, “and she is trouble enough as it is.”

“I never thought I would say this, but I agree with Faris,” Aerilyn said. “Sure, the Cure would remove our dependency on Venom, but without Venom, we would also find ourselves unable to create new soldiers for the Dark Force.”

Harker nodded. “And the Legion of Angels. No, this is a very bad thing.”

“The effect of this extends far beyond the Dark Force and the Legion. Demons and gods would be unable to give anyone the gift of magic. We couldn’t make new witches, vampires, or any other supernaturals.

” Grace’s glance slid to Faris. “Things would go back to the way they used to be, before we could bestow magic on humans.”

An ominous shadow darkened his face.

“How were things back then?” I asked.

“Bad,” Faris cut out. “Times were dark. There was so much waste.” His gaze shifted uneasily. “So much death.”

I couldn’t imagine what ‘too much’ death looked like to Faris, but apparently even brutal gods had their limits.

As though he’d read my thoughts, Faris said to me, “You think us cruel and callous, child, but back then, it was so much worse. We were all so much worse. We had to be. In order to survive.”

Grace’s lips thinned, and her cheeks paled. What the hell had the gods and demons done that was so bad, so horrible, that they could scarcely bear to think of it now? Deities weren’t known to be squeamish when it came to dealing out death and destruction.

“Everything changed when we discovered how to give magic to humans,” Grace said. “We can’t go back to the way things were. It would destroy everything we have worked for these past few centuries.”

“Things would not go back to the way they were,” my dad spoke up.

“Because unlike before, deities would be free of their dependence on Nectar and Venom. They would be able to have children more easily, unhindered by the poisons’ side effects.

And so, unlike before, you would be able to replace your fallen soldiers in the armies of heaven and hell. ”

“That’s only part of it,” Faris said coolly.

“Yes, and now we come to the crux of the issue.” Dad’s eyes hardened.

“Power. This is about power. Your power.” He folded his arms over his chest. “You’re afraid you will start to lose your hold over your worshippers if you can no longer perform this miracle, if you do not have the power to bestow magic on people. ”

“That is ridiculous,” Faris snapped back. “We fear no such thing.”

Dad’s eyes locked with his, and he didn’t disengage. “I don’t believe you.”

“So you want to let Lavinia cast this so-called Cure?”

“Actually, no. I believe we need to do everything in our power to stop her.”

Faris looked genuinely surprised.

“After the Cure, deities would be able to have offspring with magic, but the same isn’t true of angels,” Dad said.

“The children of angels are not usually born with magic. With no new soldiers to replace those who fall in battle—and no way to level up the soldiers we already have—the Legion and the Dark Force would die out in a matter of decades. And then who would protect the humans?”

Dad was looking out for the greater good over his own personal wishes. That was so like him.

“Lavinia cannot be allowed to use that Cure,” my dad declared. “No matter what else that means,” he added, taking Mom’s hand.

“You’re right,” she replied. Her nod was slow but certain. “We need to preserve the Legion, humanity’s protectors. If the Legion falls, who will protect humanity? Certainly not the gods and the demons.”

“What about Nerissa’s project?” Bella asked. “Wasn’t she looking for alternative ways to give people magic based on the Immortals’ research?”

“On one Immortal’s research, actually,” Mom said, “and even after all these years, Nerissa has only just scratched the surface of that research. She doesn’t understand how it works in theory, let alone how to recreate it in practice.

Nectar and Venom are still the only methods we can use to accurately and reliably give someone magic.

For now, they’re all we’ve got. We can’t lose them. ”

Silence filled the room while everyone mulled that over.

“There’s one thing I don’t get,” Tessa said finally. “Why does Lavinia even want to do this spell, this Cure?”

“Yeah,” Gin agreed. “Why can’t she just use Nectar and Venom on herself to gain magic, like any sensible person?”

Their words were somewhat ironic, of course. There wasn’t anything inherently sensible about Nectar or Venom. They were poisons, plain and simple. And taking them was literally do-or-die. You were either strong enough to survive the poison and it leveled up your magic, or you died.

But I knew what my aunts meant. There was already an established way to gain magic. And here Lavinia was, spending years of her life working on this plan that involved two very old, very obscure Immortal research projects.

“Most magic doesn’t work on Lavinia’s people,” Mom said. “So it’s questionable whether Nectar and Venom would do anything to her. In fact, I doubt either substance would give her any magic at all.”

“Even if it could work, from what you’ve told us of her, I don’t believe she would use it,” Cadence said. “Someone like that would not wish to be weakened, to be dependent on poison to survive.”

“And as to why Lavinia wishes to get rid of Nectar and Venom entirely, she sounds like a real cuckoo,” said Damiel.

“This is about power. She wants it all for herself. She must believe what Faris and Grace fear, that without the power to bestow magic on humans, the gods and demons will lose their hold on their followers. And then there she is, powered up and primed to take their place.”

“Lavinia couldn’t be the Queen of her world, but she intends to be the Queen of Magic,” Mom said quietly.

“Ok, this is all swell, but how do we stop her?” I asked, addressing the whole room.

“I believe there is a way, and it’s in here,” Cadence said, showing us the book in her hands. It was Transformations. “This book tells us that magic is not as simple as light and dark, active and passive. There’s a third axis, a third dimension.” Her gaze shifted from Dad to Mom. “Order and chaos.”

“Ok,” Mom said. “So how does that help us?”

“Lavinia’s rituals—the rings ritual, the Cure ritual—are spells of order. Of precision,” Cadence said. “But if we could dial up the chaos while she is performing them, if we could inject chaos into the spells, they might fall apart.”

“So when Lavinia tries to drain magic from the rings, the power they’ve collected from the original supernaturals—pure magic—the chaos makes it all go wonky and overloads the spell?” Mom asked.

“That is the theory,” Cadence said. “But it is only a theory.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Mom said. “I’ll do it.”

“You?” Dad frowned.

“Who better than me?” She smirked at him. “I am the Angel of Chaos, after all.”

“There is a catch,” Cadence said.

“There always is,” Mom chuckled. “So, what is it this time? Do I have to drink some weird potion or wear special armor?”

“No, Leda.” She set her hand on my mom’s shoulder. “You have to die.”