Legends of Amacia Return of the Beowulf
Chapter 37: Empaths and Visionaries

Empaths and Visionaries

“What about me? I want to help too, but I have no gifts,” Emma suddenly blurted out.

Hannibal turned to her with a sweet smile, saying, “Nonsense, sis. You indeed have gifts. You’re a powerful empath. That’s why you spent so much time with the wounded. Your very presence helped them deal with the pain and suffering they were enduring. Granted, you’re not telepathic, but being empathic is just as important. We need an empath here.”

Emma was flabbergasted at what he told her. She never even considered that she had such gifts. She just believed that was just the way she was. “You mean that I am gifted too?” Emma cried in astonishment.

Hannibal winked at her with a smile, saying, “You got it, sis. Let me ask you this. While you were tending to the wounded, did you see anyone in great pain and sit with them, touching them, maybe holding their hand or stroking their head?” Emma nodded and he went further with his line of thought, adding, “Now tell me, these people you did that for were crying out in agony, right?” Again Emma nodded, and Hannibal began to smile as he said, “And after you sat with them, holding their hands for just a few moments or making physical contact with them for a few moments, their cries of pain and agony slowly abated and they were able to relax, right?”

Emma’s face exploded with amazement as she asked, “How did you know?”

Hannibal walked over to her and stretched out his hand to her. She took it and he lifted her to her feet saying as he looked her dead in the eye, “Empathy is a great gift Emma, just as great as Amelia’s healing touch or Crystal’s ability as a seer or even my telepathic abilities. No one gift is greater than another is. You see, you have the unique ability to draw the pain out of a person with your touch. That’s why I have always liked your touch. Nearly every time you have touched me, held my hand or even hugged me, I could feel it. Now let me tell you a little something about it.” Emma’s face filled with delight as Hannibal said, “You do your best work with your hands. But sometimes the hands can be slow to draw the pain away. If you want to draw pain away quickly, you must hug that person; embrace them. But be careful in doing so. Pain is not nice to you or anyone else. If you try to absorb too much pain at once, it can hurt you seriously. Let me ask you something. Don’t you feel drained when you held hands with some of those you helped in the infirmary, say Rachel for instance? I know you held her on several occasions. I saw it. Did you not feel your energy drain away, making you weary?”

Emma thought for a moment, and then said, “As a matter of fact, I did. Some patients were worse than others were about that. I just thought I was tired because of the long hours and physical work of changing bandages and cleaning wounds. It never occurred to me that it was something like this.”

Hannibal looked at Emma’s beautiful hands, saying, “When you touch others who are in pain, your own energy flows into them through that contact while you absorb the pain they are feeling. Do you know what pain is?”

“It hurts,” Andrew said humorously with a chuckle. A brief laugh escaped everyone’s lips at his humor.

Hannibal smiled and said, “That it does. But pain is in fact nothing but an electromagnetic impulse generated by the body when something is out of kilter. Take this simple example for instance. When everything is all right, there is no pain. But say you cut yourself badly or say burn yourself like I did when Hades’ fireball nearly incinerated me in the Black Fortress’ arena, the flesh is damaged. The nerves in that flesh relay the message to the brain that the body has been damaged. The brain then interprets those messages from the damaged area as pain. You see, pain is nothing but an electrical discharge of nerves telling the brain that something isn’t right. Now to prove the point, let’s take Selina here as an example. When there is a disruption of the pathways in the nervous system, the pain signals that were supposed to reach the brain do not so as a result, there’s no pain below where the disruption is. The result of that is there’s also no feeling at all. Tell me Selina, can you feel your legs any yet?” He walked over to Selina and squatted down next to her.

“Not really,” Selina replied. “My hips tingle and legs are tingling some, but there’s still no real feeling in them to speak of. I bet you could stick me with a knife there and I’d not feel it.”

“Selina has a disruption or partial disruption in her nervous system somewhere near her hips,” Hannibal stated. “Above that, there are no problems.” He abruptly reached out and pinched her on the arm.

“Oww! What did you do that for?” Selina cried when Hannibal pinched her.

Hannibal rubbed her on the arm where he pinched her, saying, “I’m sorry. Forgive me. I just wanted to make a point.”

At that, Selina realized where Hannibal was going with his demonstration. She smiled, saying, “Just give me a little heads up next time, all right? I can’t read you like I did before we came to this savage land.”

Hannibal grinned and nodded, saying, “Yes, ma’am. But as you can see, her nerve pathways are intact there. I pinched her. The body said there was something wrong and the nerves relayed the message to the brain, which is interpreted as pain of being pinched. Now watch when I pinch her on her leg.” He reached out and pinched her hard on the thigh of her leg. She didn’t flinch or cry out. “Did you feel that, princess?” he asked.

“Not really,” Selina replied. “All I felt was some pressure that was in no way painful. Fact is, despite my hips and legs tingling and I have some control over them, they’re still weak and fairly numb.”

“Does everyone see my point,” Hannibal stated. “The pathways are disrupted. The electromagnetic impulses the periphery nerves send to the brain didn’t reach it, and as a result, no pain; just numbness. When the flesh is robbed of those nerve impulses, it doesn’t behave like it should. Muscles don’t move without messages from the brain and pain doesn’t show.” He rose and took Emma by the hand again, saying, “As an empath, you have the unique ability to mesh with the nervous systems of other people and drain the pain out of them so they can relax and begin the healing process. When the pain is gone, the body can heal itself like it should, so in a way, you are a healer like Amelia, but you go about it in a different way.” His head began to ache just a bit while he was talking and declared, “Shall we try a little experiment to see if what I say is right?”

Emma just looked at Hannibal as he said, “I have a headache coming on as I speak. Emma, put your hand on the sides of my head.” He reached out, and took her hands with his and placed her hand on each side of his head at the temple. Almost immediately the pain from the headache subsided. “Can you feel it, Emma? The pain being drawn into you and your energy flowing out into me?” he asked.

“Yes, I can,” Emma answered softly in great amazement.

Hannibal pulled her hands off his head and let her go, saying, “You’re an empath. You have not just the gift for it, but also the heart the Almighty requires to make it work. That’s why you have it. You have such a passion and love for those not as well off as you. You literally feel for them when you see someone delirious with fever or with a body that is battered and torn. Treasure it, and most importantly, don’t ever let your heart be hardened to where you cease to care. When that happens, you’ll lose the gift. It takes a soft, tender heart to make it work.”

Tears abruptly ran down Emma’s cheeks. Without warning, she grabbed Hannibal and hugged him tightly, crying, “Oh, thank you, brother! Thank you for showing me that I’m special too.”

Hannibal returned the embrace, and then pushed her back so he could look her in the eye, saying, “Emma, you have always been special. You would still be special even if you didn’t have this empathic ability. I knew that you were special the moment I first saw you at the table while I was still Hanna. Don’t forget that.”

Emma smiled from ear to ear as Hannibal declared, “Your gift will be very useful in what we are about to do.” He turned suddenly to Seras as he stood by Enoch, staring at Muriel in fascination.

“Seras, son of Hrothgar,” Hannibal called out as Seras stared at Muriel. “Do you know why you are here?”

Seras turned abruptly to Hannibal and replied, “Not a clue. I have no idea why I’m here. I have no gifts like the rest of you. All I can do is fight, like all Cimmerians.”

Hannibal stepped up next to him, putting a hand on Seras’ shoulder. “All people are gifted in one way or another. Some just don’t see it,” Hannibal returned as he and Seras looked at Muriel. “Look at her, Seras. This strange creature drew you here. She’s so exotic and unique, is she not?” Seras nodded, wondering where Hannibal was going with his line of thought. Hannibal looked into Seras’ eyes, declaring, “You have abilities that you are completely unaware of. See, you must understand that everyone here, including Enoch, Hunter, and Andrew have gifts in their own right. Take Enoch for instance. Look at him. You can’t say that he isn’t a gifted leader, capable of organizing and making things happen when they need to happen, right?” Seras nodded again. “Now look at the Sons of Thunder there. Do you realize they are a perfect mixture of Enoch and Kida?” Hannibal asked. “They have Enoch’s strengths and leadership abilities. But they also have inherited Kida’s beauty as a Lynxian as well as her telepathic abilities, though they have used it little. That is a mighty combination of traits. I’m sure that Kida and Electra have been teaching them to use their gifts, trying to give them the discipline to use it properly. However, as all children are, they’re a bit cocky and rebellious, thinking they don’t need Kida’s and Electra’s instruction on the use of their telepathy. Am I right, Kida?”

Kida nodded with a condescending smile on her face aimed directly at Hunter and Andrew, saying, “That’s right. We have tried and tried to teach them to develop their gifts, but they are always too busy or lazy to engage in the exercises we give them. I finally gave up on it.”

Hannibal looked at Hunter and Andrew, who were looking a bit ashamed of their actions. “It’s not that they don’t have the skill,” Kida added. “They just don’t see the practical applications of it. They are, in fact, very gifted, especially Andrew.”

Hannibal shook his head sadly and said to the Sons of Thunder, “You should be ashamed of yourselves. Here you both have the potential to be on par with your mother and grandmother telepathically, but you chose to indulge in other activities. You still wonder whether it is good to develop the gifts within you. You’ll find out this day where the practical applications for it are. Electra, have they ever been inside the mind of another person?”

Electra shook her head, saying, “No. They have never tried to use their gifts except with us when we would try to teach them.”

Hannibal sighed, saying, “All right. The potential is there, but undeveloped. This will be an education for the boys.”

Seras listened to Hannibal and asked, “That’s all find and dandy. But what about me? I’m just a plain Cimmerian with no telepathy or special powers. I envy you because I’ve seen how it binds you and Selina together. I’ve always wanted to share like that with someone special.”

Hannibal looked at Seras and asked directly, “You don’t have a wife or girlfriend, do you?”

Seras shook his head, saying, “No. I have some friends, but nothing special. I’ve been a....”

Hannibal finished Seras’ thought, saying, “Loner, right? You’re a lone wolf. The joys and pleasures of the fairer sex you’ve not partaken of, nor have you had much of a friendship with anyone else for that matter. You felt yourself unworthy of such friendships because you thought yourself different because you can sense things about people, right?”

Seras’ mouth dropped open in shock because Hannibal had nailed his life to the wall perfectly. “You know things that others don’t and don’t understand why, correct?” Hannibal asked. Seras nodded and Hannibal added, “You also have seen and experienced things you cannot understand. You’ve seen things like I have, and watched them come to pass shortly after seeing it, right?”

Seras sighed, finally saying in a somewhat troubled manner, “That’s right. I can hear what people are thinking and see things I wish I never saw. When I tried to tell my friends about it, they mocked me, and when what I told them happened, they shunned me. Only a couple of guys now have anything to do with me.” Hannibal glanced at Muriel, and then back to Seras as Muriel stepped up to Seras and Hannibal.

“See, you are gifted,” Hannibal declared. “You’re like Jacob’s little girl, Crystal. She’s a telepathic seer and so are you. Tell me, when you see these things that come to pass, are you asleep or awake?”

Seras looked at him, saying, “I’m wide awake and when it happens, it rarely lasts more than a few seconds. However, when it does happen, those few seconds feel like an eternity.”

Hannibal nodded knowingly, saying, “That makes you a telepathic visionary. You see visions whereas Crystal dreams them. How often does this happen?”

Seras gazed into Hannibal’s eyes with hesitation, saying, “It used to only happen once a month or so. But here in the last few months, particularly after you first arrived, the frequency has increased dramatically. Since leaving Arionath, I’m having these visions often two or three times a week. It’s very disconcerting.”

Hannibal looked around at everyone, and then at Muriel, who reached out to Seras, taking him by the hand with her scaly reptilian hand. “And everything you’ve seen has transpired?” Muriel asked. “How quickly does it happen?”

“Here in the last two weeks, the visions or dreams or whatever you want to call them have been coming to pass many times in the same day,” Seras replied, shaken to the core by what was being discussed.

“What was the last thing you saw?” Muriel asked gently.

Seras thought for a moment, saying, “I saw your face on a giant building surrounded by other weird buildings on a featureless desolate plain with ominous dark clouds hanging over the buildings. I saw....” He looked around and his heart sank as he said, “I saw everyone here except for Enoch and Josephine standing in front of the building. I saw drakens flying around. I saw skeletal warriors rise out of the ground and attack you as you approached the building with her face on it. I saw strange monsters come out of nowhere and attack from the sky. The drakens fought with the monsters as you fought with the skeletal warriors.” He looked at Hannibal, saying, “Only you, Selina, and Morpheus were able to break through the lines to the building. I then saw an explosion that blinded me. That’s when the vision ended. I fear what might be because of what I saw, and because I have had in the last two weeks, eight of these so-called visions and every one of them have happened to the letter. I even saw the quake and eruption that killed Jacob, along with Master Hannibal bringing him back from the dead. The visions are getting worse, becoming increasingly violent and detailed. It takes a lot to scare me, but this has me terrified. I don’t know what to do about it.”

“I’m sure it does,” Nemesis rumbled, stepping up beside Seras, putting his organic hand on Seras’ shoulder. “I would be scared too if I were seeing the future like that. But don’t let it rattle you, my friend. I’m sure Hannibal can help you figure this out. Isn’t that right, Hannibal?”

“Yes,” Hannibal agreed, seeing Seras’ worried expression. “You’re not alone in this. You don’t have to bear this alone. We’re here to help you carry this burden, and help you learn how to control it. Crystal has the very same problem you have. I told her I’d teach her to control her gifts. I give you the same promise. Trust me. You don’t need to fear this gift.”

“I hope so,” Seras replied softly. “Seeing things before they happen is not my idea of a good time. It sickens me when I see the visions happen with uncanny accuracy. What am I supposed to do with it?”

“Just what you’ve done,” Hannibal stated. “When you have visions like this, you must tell them. Many times, they’re a warning of things to come. Remember, future events are not set in stone. Even the smallest person can change the course of the future. Do you know what you saw?”

Seras shook his head, saying, “Not a clue.”

Hannibal stood directly in front of him, put both hands on Seras’ shoulders and looked him in the eye, saying, “You saw what we are about to do. The buildings on the featureless plain, especially the one with Muriel’s face on it are where her memories and identity are locked away inside her mind. What you saw was Muriel’s mind. We know that there is a high degree of danger and difficulty to what we are going to do. This is going to be a telepathic assault on her imprisoned mind...a telepathic jailbreak so to speak. What you saw as the skeletal warriors, and the monsters are the traps and defense mechanisms the Cadre left behind when they sealed her memories in those buildings. We have to demolish those buildings to release her mind from its prison. Now I know that you are telepathic, but just not very skilled at it. You have problem blocking out the thoughts of others. That is why you’re a lone wolf. In order to quiet your mind, you seek solitude. I can relate because when I first discovered my telepathic power, I too sought solitude to quiet the voices from the minds around me. It’s one reason I spent so much time down in the pool area as Hanna. The therapy pool was one of the few places where I could find telepathic quiet before Selina showed me how to tune them out. If you want, we can teach you how to silence the voices. But first, I must ask you a very serious question: are you going to help us with this? Will you come with us into Muriel’s mind and help us?”

Seras looked at him for several moments. He was trembling, scared to death by what Hannibal was asking. “I know you’re scared,” Hannibal said bluntly. “We all are. It’s all right to be scared. But as I told my adopted daughter, Rachel, we cannot let fear rule us. We will all be right there with you facing the dangers with you.”

Seras finally with a trembling sigh said, “So must be the reason I’m here. You yourself said that our God drew everyone here that needed to be part of this mission. Who am I to resist the God that delivered you out of the hand of the Emperor and reversed your mutation. I will help, though I know not how. Besides, I saw myself there helping you free Muriel. If what I saw is truly destined to come true, then I must be there to help.”

Hannibal patted him on the shoulder, saying, “You’re a good man, Seras, son of Hrothgar. Do not fear. We will show you how to do this. Who knows, you may find something in this that you don’t expect.” Seras managed to crack a smile as Hannibal looked at Muriel. She was obviously shaken by Seras’ vision. “Don’t be afraid, Muriel. I made a promise that I intend to keep,” Hannibal said softly, putting an arm around her, giving her a friendly squeeze. “It will be all right. You’ll see.”

Looking around at everyone before focusing on Enoch, Hannibal said, “Enoch, the time is now for us to do this. Go find Joshua, the Elders of Arionath, Xavier, Corso, Kusanagi, Joel, Liu, Izanami, Myra, Tasha, Trinity and Lola. Bring them to the top of the Tower. Tell everyone you meet what is happening. Ask them to pray, especially the women of the Harem. Bring along anyone who wishes to come, but keep them back when we do this. We’ll meet you on the roof in an hour.”

“All right, little brother,” Enoch replied, walking away.

Hannibal walked to Selina, saying, “All right, people, let’s do this. Follow me.” He pushed Selina toward the exit and Muriel followed at his elbow with Morpheus close behind her. Amelia walked with Kida and Nathanael walked with Electra. The Sons of Thunder followed them with Seras, Nemesis, Amelia, Josephine, and Emma.

Fifteen minutes later, they stood on the roof. Harry was there with Argus, Aeolus, and Tethys, talking quietly. Several of the smaller drakens were present as well, including Thantos and Calliope. Hannibal led the group into their midst and said to Harry, “Good job, bud. I knew you’d get them here.”

Harry nodded with a smile, saying, “It wasn’t too difficult. Argus was already here and I got him to go for Aeolus and Tethys.”

Hannibal looked around and saw six of the older draken children present with Aeolus and Tethys. “Hmm,” he murmured. “More help. Thantos, Calliope. How are you today?”

“Good, Beowulf. I’m good,” Thantos replied. “Thanks for asking.”

“Very well, thank you. But what is going on?” Calliope answered.

Hannibal’s face took a sober look as he looked at Aeolus, asking, “At what level are your children telepathically?”

Aeolus looked at the six young drakens, saying, “They are not at our level, but do have significant skills telepathically, especially Thantos and Calliope. They are far ahead of their siblings.”

Hannibal rubbed his chin, saying, “Hmmm. The others are less disciplined?”

Tethys nodded, saying, “Yes. Of all our children, Thantos and Calliope have the most skill and discipline.” Hannibal nodded as he looked at Muriel for a second. Muriel was standing next to Selina, holding Selina’s hand, unsure and a little fearful about what was going to happen next.

It was decision time for Hannibal. He looked at the drakens saying, “Thank you for coming, all of you. This is why I called for you.” At that, he explained what he wanted to do for Muriel.

After telling them, Aeolus looked at Argus and said, “This is unheard of. You have done this before?”

Argus looked at Aeolus, saying, “Yes. We did it with Amelia. However, with her it was only Hannibal, Selina, Nathanael, Amelia’s avatar before she was freed, and me. We had Nicodemus and the Elders of Arionath as well as Hannibal’s people from the surface praying on the outside along with Xavier, Khan, and Carver. At the time, Hannibal was just beginning to realize his potential. He was just awakening to it. We broke the monolith in her mind with a great deal of difficulty. Hannibal was injured in the assault, but survived.”

Aeolus looked into Argus’ memories and saw what the five of them had to do in order to release Amelia’s memories. “Hmmm,” Aeolus growled. “What you propose is very dangerous. The Cadre’s work is very treacherous. Someone could get hurt or worse.”

Hannibal nodded solemnly, saying, “I know. Muriel’s mind is going to be much more difficult to free than Amelia’s was. Amelia was just another royal captured as breeding stock. Muriel is much different because of what they wanted from her. Apparently, they considered Muriel an asset they just couldn’t get rid of. Therefore, they went all out when they stole her identity and past. I know the infernal defense mechanisms are layered. We have already dealt with the first level: a demon that was set over those forbidden memories to torment her whenever she strayed near them. That beast has been vanquished, but there are many more defenses to overcome. However, several things are different in this case. Number one: I am much more skilled now than I was when we did this for Amelia. I no longer have the liability of being a fragmented soul. The merger and completion of my soul has allowed me to take much greater control over my gifts, especially my telepathy. I don’t have to fumble in the dark not knowing how to use it now, which is a major plus to this operation. Number two: there are many more of us involved this time. I have already spoken with everyone here. They have consented to help. I’m going in with not just Selina, but Nathanael, Electra, Kida, Nemesis, Morpheus, Seras, Amelia, Hunter and Andrew. We’re going in together as a unit. If you, Tethys, Argus, Thantos and Calliope consent to help and come in with us, I’m supremely confident that we will be able to free her mind. So, I’m asking all of you, please help us. Help us undo the damage the Cadre did to her. You know how long she has been there and like this. Please, help us help her.”

“I’ll help,” Argus said plainly.

Aeolus and Tethys looked at each other as Thantos called out, “You want my help? You’ve got it.”

Calliope walked up to Hannibal and Muriel, saying, “It would be an honor to help you, Beowulf.”

Aeolus looked at Calliope and Thantos’ eagerness to help and said, “All right. We’ll help you. But be warned. This isn’t going to be pleasant. The mechanizations that the Cadre put in her mind are very dangerous. They’re designed to destroy anyone or anything that wishes to free her without the Emperor’s permission, including her should someone try to undo their work.”

“I agree,” Josephine stated. “They bragged not even the Almighty Ancient of Days could retrieve Muriel’s true identity from the vault they sealed her in. But I’m not convinced their work is as powerful as they claim. Using the power of the Almighty, Hannibal rescued me from my everlasting prison in the Black Fortress; breaking my identity out of the prison the Cadre locked me in when they did their diabolical cyberization of me. If he could do that for me, then this shouldn’t be a problem. However, he will have to act quickly when they start to keep the Cadre’s telepathic defenses from killing her.”

“You’re right, Jo,” Hannibal agreed. “We’re going to have to find the source of the defense mechanisms and destroy it quickly.”

“Are you going to be part of this operation, Josephine?” Aeolus asked. “You’re not up to a telepathic assault of this magnitude.”

“Yes,” Josephine replied, “But only as a supporting position from the outside. I’m very aware I’m not powerful or skilled enough telepathically to be directly involved. Therefore, I shall help lead the prayer vigil while this operation is underway. Hannibal swears prayer made the difference when they freed Amelia.”

“It did,” Hannibal insisted. “The prayers of Nicodemus, the Elders of Arionath, and our friends helped strengthen our angelic support tremendously. Without it, we wouldn’t have succeeded.”

“I see,” Aeolus rumbled. “So you’re going to have everyone not directly involved praying while we work to breech the Cadre’s telepathic fortifications in Muriel’s mind.”

“Exactly,” Hannibal stated. “You will see for yourself how powerful a weapon prayer is when it’s directed against the forces of Darkness. I’ve seen the monolith city that imprisons Muriel’s identity. It reeks of the Darkness. We will take the light of our God and smash that dark city to bits, freeing Muriel’s mind.”

“This should be interesting,” Tethys commented. “I’m eager to see our God move like you say in this operation.”

“Believe me, you will, Tethys,” Hannibal chimed. “You will. Now we wait until Enoch returns with our prayer warriors. Once he gets here, we’ll do this.” Hannibal turned to Muriel and saw that she was very anxious and nervous, even fearful. He put his arm around her, saying, “Relax, Muriel. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

Muriel looked at him with fear in her eye and said, “I can’t help it. I’m afraid of what might happen.”

Morpheus stepped up to her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder, saying, “It’s all right. What you’re feeling now is perfectly understandable. But don’t worry. You’re among friends here. We will do all in our power to help you.”

“That’s right,” Selina agreed as she held on to Muriel’s hand. “We’re here to help. We know what we’re doing.”

Josephine leaned down and kissed Muriel on the cheek. “You will be okay, Muriel,” she assured. “Hannibal is the Last Caverias and the hand of the Almighty Ancient of Days. You’re in very good hands. He won’t let you down, and neither will I. We’re all here to make sure you remember who you are. I look forward to finally calling you by your true name.”

“We all do,” Argus chimed.

Muriel looked at Aeolus as he said, “Both Selina and Josephine are right. We’ll help you remember. That’s a draken’s promise.” His words seemed to placate her a bit, causing her to relax some.

A half hour later, Enoch arrived with Xavier, Kusanagi, Liam, Corso, Liu, Joel, Izanami, Tasha, Myra, Trinity, Jennifer, Lola, Joshua, the elders, a dozen women from the Harem, Magnus, Bruce, Doug, and Naomi. All of Hannibal’s original team accompanied them along with General Gulez and Dr. Drew. Enoch walked up and said, “All set. The people are praying. Your original team and General Gulez insisted on being present too.”

“I see. Good,” Hannibal crowed. “Very good; and these are who wanted to come?”

Enoch nodded, saying, “Yes.”

Hannibal looked over the crowd and noticed Izanami, Myra, Tasha, Trinity, Jennifer, and Lola with a dozen of their friends from the Harem. Izanami, Tasha, Myra, and Jennifer were still confined to wheelchairs like Selina. He walked over to the three wheelchair-bound women and stopped in front of Myra, asking, “How are you feeling today, ladies? I couldn’t help but notice the wheelchairs. Do you still need them?”

“I’m afraid so,” Izanami replied. “Even though we can walk with some difficulty, we’re still pretty weak. Master Enoch suggested we use our rolling chairs so we wouldn’t wear ourselves out standing while you unlock Muriel’s past.”

“Yeah,” Tasha agreed. “It’s just like sister Izanami said. We’re still weak and cannot stay on our feet for too long. We haven’t had time to rebuild our strength yet.”

“I see,” Hannibal replied. “That’s perfectly all right. And what about you, Myra? How are you?”

Myra smiled a bit, saying, “Much better thank you. I’m not as far along as my sisters, and am still weak. I can’t walk without help, but I’m getting there. I just hope I can be of some help.”

Hannibal smiled pleasantly at her, saying, “Just your very presence is a help as are the rest of you. The bond we forged in the Harem will be most useful here. Your faith is your most powerful weapon at this point. It’s time to let it show.”

“Are you really going to undo what the Cadre did to Muriel?” Jennifer asked.

Hannibal abruptly turned to Jennifer, who had Corso standing behind her chair, asking, “How are you, Jennifer?”

Jennifer nodded, saying, “All right I suppose. I still weak, but my strength is improving each day. I’m here in this chair because I’m still not one hundred percent.”

Hannibal squatted down in front of her, looking her in the eye. He could sense her telepathic potential. “It’s quite all right. Do you know what we are going to do here?” he asked. Jennifer shook her head and Hannibal explained to her what was fixing to happen, saying it loud enough for everyone to hear it. After explaining to everyone what was going on, he added, “You have great potential, Jennifer. The gift is there, but you haven’t chosen to use it. Understand this: even the smallest person can change the course of history. I know that you haven’t exercised the gift like the rest of us have. So I ask only one thing of you: watch, pay attention and pray as we do this.”

Jennifer touched Hannibal on the arm and said, “I will. You have my prayers.”

Hannibal smiled as he stood back, saying, “Thank you. That’s all I can ask.” Turning to Izanami, he asked, “Izanami, are you going to be part of our telepathic assault team? I know you to be a formidable telepath of the 1st order.”

“I must decline,” Izanami replied. “I’m still not strong enough telepathically to help you do this. I’d just be a burden. You need telepaths that are at full strength for something this dangerous. I’ll pray with the others while you go into Muriel’s mind to free her.”

Hannibal patted Izanami on the shoulder, smiling warmly. “It’s quite all right,” he declared. “If you think you’re not ready, that’s all right. I just thought I’d ask. Besides, your prayers will be most helpful.”

“I’ll pray earnestly with the others while you demolish what the Cadre did to Muriel,” Izanami stated. “After all, since you came into our lives, we’ve seen our prayers answered time and again. I’m sure the Almighty will answer these prayers as well.”

“I’m sure he will,” Hannibal chimed, approaching his original team who gathered around Harry. “So, you guys want to participate too?”

“Yeah,” Thomas stated. “We remember when you freed Amelia, and wanted to help out like the last time. Isn’t that right, fellas?” Ned, Sam, Cracko, Jonathan, Arabella, and Morrison confirmed Thomas’ statement.

“They insisted,” Harry stated. “I couldn’t stop them, not after what you did for Jacob. They wanted to be present just so they see you do the impossible again.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s impossible,” Hannibal stated, “But it is going to be extremely difficult and dangerous. We can use all the help we can get. When we do this, pray like you did the last time when we freed Amelia’s mind.”

“You got it,” Ned answered boldly. “We’re still a team, so we’re here to back you up.”

“I really appreciate that,” Hannibal stated, patting Ned on the side of the upper arm. “It’s good to have backup I can rely on. I suggest you stay close to Kusanagi since he’s taken Nicodemus’ place as prophet.”

“We’ll do that,” Thomas replied, speaking for the group as Kusanagi approached Hannibal with Liam. “I just hope we can be of more help than the last time.”

“I’m sure you will,” Kusanagi stated, hearing Thomas’ comment. “I wasn’t there when Master Hannibal freed Princess Amelia’s mind, but I’m sure he knows what to do.”

“That I do,” Hannibal stated. “Thanks for coming, Master Kusanagi. Do you know what we’re preparing to do?”

“From what I understand, you’re about to launch a telepathic assault on the Darkness imprisoning Muriel’s mind,” Kusanagi stated. “You must be very careful when you attack those dark defenses the Cadre put inside Muriel’s mind. They’re designed to entrap and destroy anyone who gets too close.”

“We’re well aware of what those defenses can do,” Hannibal answered. “In fact, Seras saw it in a vision early this morning, so we’re not going in blind.”

“The Cimmerian Seras is a seer too?” Kusanagi asked.

“Not just a seer, but a telepathic visionary,” Hannibal stated. “He’s just awakening to the gift. He’s going to be part of this assault. But let me get to the point. I need someone to help Enoch direct the prayer vigil, and you’re the perfect choice. Will you help the people focus their prayers while we do this?”

“It would be an honor,” Kusanagi stated. “I shall work with Enoch to direct the people’s prayers so you and your telepathic assault team don’t get trapped or worse by the Cadre’s dark mechanizations.”

Hannibal reached out and shook Kusanagi’s hand firmly. “You’re a real lifesaver,” he chimed, “Between you and Enoch, getting the people to focus shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You’re welcome,” Kusanagi replied. “I’m happy I could be of service. After all, the Almighty let me know this morning you’d planned to do this today. I was just waiting for you to make the call.”

“There’s my second confirmation,” Hannibal crowed. “The first one came from Seras. Now, I have no doubt this is the right time to do this. Thanks for sharing, Master Kusanagi.”

“Not a problem,” Kusanagi chimed, “Now, I think you should go ahead and do this. You haven’t time to beat around the bush. Do what you have to do.”

“You’re so right,” Hannibal said bluntly, turning back to Muriel. “Well, are you ready, Muriel?”

Muriel nodded with hesitation and Hannibal guided her toward Aeolus. They stopped in front of ancient draken.

“The last time we did this, Argus was our heavy hitter,” Hannibal stated. “He was the most powerful mind present. He told Amelia to touch him while we did it. I think we should follow the pattern. But since you are the eldest and most powerful mind among us, I think we should use you as the anchor. Is that all right with you, Aeolus?”

“It is,” Aeolus replied, looked Muriel in the eye. “Don’t be afraid, Muriel. Touch me on the face.”

Muriel reached up and touched Aeolus on the snout, immediately relaxing after doing so. “Good,” Aeolus rumbled softly. “That’s it, Muriel. Relax. Everything will be okay.”

Once that happened, Hannibal explained where he wanted everyone, and what he wanted each person to do. He pushed Selina up to Muriel so she could lay hands on Muriel. Hannibal and Selina laid hand on Muriel, with Hannibal putting his hands on the sides of her head while standing behind her. Selina touched her side. Morpheus came in and stood opposite of Selina, laying his hand firmly on Muriel’s shoulder. Amelia stood close to Morpheus, laying hands on Muriel’s back. Kida stood next to Selina with Electra and they laid hands on Muriel’s arms and shoulder. Nathanael stood next to Hannibal, reaching out touching her on the back. As per Hannibal’s instruction, Hunter and Andrew put their hands on Kida and Electra respectively. Emma came in, and laid one hand on Hannibal and touched Muriel’s back with the other hand. Nemesis laid hands on Hannibal, as did Seras. Harry touched Nathanael’s back and Enoch touched Morpheus on the shoulder. Everyone else gathered around and laid hands on the person next to or in front of them. Argus, Tethys, Calliope, and Thantos surrounded them in a semicircle with Muriel and Aeolus in the center, helping to close the perimeter. Once everyone was in position, Hannibal called out, “All right, let’s do this. Those of you who aren’t going in with us, start praying now.”

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