Legends of Amacia Return of the Beowulf
Chapter 40: Anastasia Karac

Hunter looked toward the place where the city used to be and gasped in astonishment. “Would you look at that!” he cried in utter amazement.

Everyone looked, seeing a bubble of bright, blue sky over the ruins of the city, spreading in every direction replacing the dull, depressing darkness that was the norm from the moment they first entered Muriel’ mind. The ruins of the city underneath the rapidly expanding bubble of pleasant blue sky suddenly changed from a wasteland to a beautiful plain. Grass and flowers sprang out of nowhere instantly, following the expanding bubble in every direction. In seconds, the bubble passed over their position and they watched the grass and flowers spring out of the desert of her mind, growing to a full eighteen inches in the matter of moments. They looked at each other in amazement.

Hannibal came around, seeing he was lying in a bed of wildflowers and grass. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Aeolus and Argus turned to him with wide smiles. “You did it,” Aeolus chimed victoriously. “You were the deciding factor. The monolith is gone and her mind is free of the Darkness that took her.”

Hannibal struggled to his feet with the help of Amelia and Emma. Caverias and Tsang looked at each other with smiles and vanished, resuming their positions within Hannibal and Nemesis. Hannibal looked back toward the ruins of the monolith city and sighed as Amelia and Emma helped him remain standing. He smiled and praised the Almighty Ancient of Days for their success. Suddenly, he remembered the price of their victory and turned to Selina. Kida was on her knees holding Selina in her lap, rocking her gently, humming a soothing Kaitian tune. She had tears in her eyes. Selina lay unconscious in her lap. Her breathing was shallow and pulse erratic. His heart sank and everyone could feel it. Amelia and Emma took Hannibal to her, asking Kida, “How is she?”

Kida shook her head, saying, “Not good. Amelia and Emma were able to stabilize her a little, but she is dying. I can sense it. I don’t think we can stop it.” She sobbed softly for Selina.

Hannibal’s face fell dramatically as he answered with great grief, “I know. She saved my life. There was a Hydra in the monolith. It had me, and she killed it before it killed me, but not before it got her in the arm.” He looked over at Muriel, saying, “We found her in the monolith beyond a labyrinth of lethal mind traps. She was sealed in a tomb guarded by the Hydra that nearly killed us both. Muriel is a Lynxian hybrid. I’m sure of it now. But where is she?” Hannibal looked back toward the city and saw little balls of light, thousands of them rising out of the place where the towering monolith once stood, saying, “We did what we came for, but at a terrible price, and we still don’t know where her identity is.” He pushed toward Muriel, leaving the support of Emma and Amelia. He dropped next to Muriel with a groan and pulled her into his lap, taking her from Morpheus. She appeared to be dead. He began to cry for her, but not just for her, but also for Selina. They looked on in silence as Hannibal wept for the lost Muriel. After a few minutes of grieving, a brilliant flash of light from the direction of the monolith ruins blinded everyone. Before anyone knew what was happening, everyone except Hannibal, Selina, Kida, and Morpheus were expelled from Muriel’s mind.

It took Hannibal only a fraction of a second to see what had happened and he became very concerned. There was intelligence behind the disappearance of everyone except them. He, Morpheus, and Kida looked toward the ruins and saw a blazing avatar rising out of the ruins like a phoenix rising from the ashes and floating toward them. Kida began to fear as this being of pure light approached. So did Morpheus. However, as it approached, Hannibal stifled his sobs and managed to smile, saying, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Don’t be afraid. It’s her! It’s Muriel.”

The shining avatar approached, and when it was seventy-five yards away, the brilliance of it faded away, revealing the same nude Lynxian Muriel Hannibal and Selina had seen in the monolith. Kida’s eyes grew round as saucers as her mouth fell open. Morpheus gazed in absolute wonder at the goddess that approached. She was almost six and a half feet tall, and was Muriel without any genetic or cybernetic fusion or clothes, completely unashamed of her nudity. Morpheus gasped as she walked up, dropping to his knees before her as she walked by him with a smile. Her long snow-white hair reached almost to her knees and floated in the pleasant breeze that was now blowing. The Lynxian Muriel avatar immediately went to Hannibal and squatted down in front of him and the avatar of Muriel he was holding. She looked into his eyes and he felt a connection to her that puzzled him. Reaching out to him, she smiled, saying, “Thank you for releasing me from my prison. I have been imprisoned there for so long.”

“Who are you?” Hannibal asked in stunned reverence of her as he shook her hand. Still, his concern was for Selina, and she knew it.

The Lynxian Muriel looked over to Kida and Selina, saying, “Ah, the sisters reunited after so long.” Rising, she went to Kida and Selina, kneeling down in front of them. “You look like your mother,” she told Kida. Kida was speechless as the Lynxian Muriel took Selina from of Kida’s embrace. She clamped Selina to her chest and Hannibal, Morpheus and Kida watched in utter astonishment as the Lynxian avatar of Muriel began to glow brightly. The glow encompassed both her and Selina. After a few moments, she rocked Selina, calling to her gently saying, “Selina. Wake up, little one. Come on back to us.”

Selina moaned as color returned to her face. She opened her eyes and looked up into the face of the Lynxian Muriel, who was smiling sweetly as she said, “Welcome back, sweetie; feeling better now?”

Selina’s eyes got big as saucers as she looked at the Lynxian Muriel. “Who are you?” she breathed. “You saved me. I must know who you are!”

The Lynxian Muriel kissed her on the forehead, saying, “I am Anastasia, last descendant of Leila, wife of Ezra Karac, who was sister to Ariel...queen of Amacia.”

Hannibal’s eyes opened wide, as he could not fathom what she was saying. Anastasia looked Hannibal in the eye, adding, “You have a hard time believing it.”

Hannibal nodded as he could literally feel the antiquity on Anastasia, saying, “The thought did occur to me. Could you please explain?”

Anastasia handed Selina back to Kida and rose, moving with all the poise and grace of a great queen toward Hannibal. She squatted down in front of him, looking first at the avatar of Muriel, and then at Hannibal. “For now, just think of me as a long lost cousin,” she chimed, “All will be revealed in time.” She reached out and touched Hannibal on the cheek with the palm of her hand, adding, “I can never thank you enough for what you’ve done. I’ve been imprisoned inside the sarcophagus for seven hundred and thirty cycles.” She undid Muriel’s coat, throwing it open revealing all the cybernetic enhancements as well as genetic fusions. Her face fell with shock. “Look what they did to me!” she cried out in shock, and growing anger. “This is terrible! They are going to pay for this!”

Hannibal looked at Anastasia as she covered Muriel back up, saying, “They’re already paying for it. I have come to right these wrongs. Do you have any concept of who I am?” Anastasia looked deeply in his eyes. Hannibal knew she was the most powerful mind he had yet encountered apart from Aeolus. She searched his face and mind. He smirked slightly as her mouth fell open and a gasp of astonishment rolled out. “Oh, my Lord Beowulf!” she cried in astonishment. “You’ve come back!”

“Yes, Anastasia,” Hannibal said softly. “I am the Beowulf...the Last Caverias, heir to the throne of Thoth and Ariel. I have returned to claim the throne of our family. I have come to release the captives and crush the snakes of evil. This is my first real taste of the Cadre’s dark telepathic handiwork. We have to stop them. But before we do, you must merge with Muriel. Muriel is what they turned you into. You know things that caused them not only to lock you away in the monolith, but also to imprison Muriel for over six hundred cycles in the pits underneath the citadel of Acheron. I brought her out of that darkness at great personal risk while I was still a mutated woman. She has no memory of you. We told her of Amelia’s rescue from a similar monolith and told her that if we could, we would do the same for her. She wanted it, and we delivered, though at great cost to us. I’ve never seen such dark telepathic defenses around a mind. The Emperor obviously saw you as a great threat to him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the Cadre go to such lengths to seal you in that sarcophagus. You know things that we desperately need to know. The war is on. The Emperor is moving against us. The Rising is upon us. If we don’t stop him, what he sought to do before the Kragonar will happen again. Please, help us, sister.”

“You mean you were mutated into a woman, as the prophecies foretold?” Anastasia asked in amazement.

“I was,” Hannibal stated, “But thanks to Josephine and the Nano-Chamber in the Red Tower, I have reversed that mutation, and gained the mark of Ragnar Caverias of the silver eyes. If you doubt me, use your telepathy to see for yourself. I will not hide who I am from you.”

Anastasia stared into Hannibal’s eyes for a moment, confirming what he said telepathically. “By the elder gods of old,” she breathed. “You’re right. I can see it in your memories. You really are the Last Caverias. Forgive me. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“It’s quite all right,” Hannibal replied. “At times, I’ve doubted who I am, but no more. I know who and what I am now. Now, my ancient sister, will you help us?”

Anastasia looked down at Muriel in Hannibal’s arms, and then looked at Selina in Kida’s arms. She then contemplated Morpheus, who was kneeling just opposite of Muriel and Hannibal. She turned her gaze back to Hannibal, and a wave of intense gratitude washed over her. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek, holding on for a few moments. “You’re my deliverer, salvation, and my kin,” she declared, “I will help you, my brother. Maybe together we can undo some of what they did to my body. You say Muriel is the personality that was left after they sealed me up?” Hannibal nodded as she backed off, kneeling in front of him with her hands clasped together in her lap. “And she wanted me free?” she asked.

Hannibal nodded, saying, “Yes, Ana. She knew there was a missing piece to her mind as I’m sure you feel the missing piece in yours.”

Anastasia’s face lit up in amazement as she said, “My, you have such a powerful mind. I’ve never encountered anything like it! You knew I was missing a piece.”

Hannibal shrugged with a smile, saying, “Yup. That I did. I sensed it when I first opened that sarcophagus you were entombed in. In order to complete yourself, you have to merge with Muriel here. Only when you do will you be as before. Only then will you be complete.”

Anastasia looked Hannibal in the eye with utter gratitude and kissed him on the mouth. He didn’t respond to her kiss, and she knew it. She instantly knew where his loyalty was. Looking over to Selina, who was a little disdained at Anastasia, she said, “Do not fret, sister. It has been over seven hundred cycles since I’ve kissed anyone like that. Besides, you have him body and soul. There is no way I could ever get him away from you. Treasure him. Such loyalty and love is worth more than all the treasures of the Etherian Empire.”

This caused a pause in all of their faces. Hannibal looked at Anastasia with great interest now, saying, “What are you saying? What do you know about the Etherians?”

Anastasia grinned mischievously, showing her Lynxian canines slightly, saying, “Not just yet. First, I must merge with Muriel here.” She shuddered as she looked down at Muriel, who was still as death, but still alive. Her mind was seemingly frozen and unable to respond. Anastasia looked at her, and then Hannibal, saying, “You realize I allowed you to stay, don’t you.”

Hannibal nodded, canting his head to one side, saying, “Yes, I figured that you didn’t want anyone else to be here when you came.”

Anastasia looked over at Kida and Selina, saying with a smile, “Sisters, I look forward to meeting you in the real world. I’m sure that you are as impressive there as you are here.”

“Thank you for saving me,” Selina called out. “Had you not been moved by the Lord to do whatever it was that you did, I would be gone to meet Him. Thank you. I’m eternally grateful I don’t have to be parted from Hannibal yet.”

Anastasia smiled at her sweetly, saying, “What else could I do? I very well couldn’t let you die when I had the power to help you. Besides, when I saw that you were a Lynxian, I had to, sister. We’re related.” She turned to Morpheus, who hadn’t stopped staring at her since she walked up. His heart burned in his chest for her. He’d been alone for such a long time, and was hopelessly smitten with her. She noticed it and smirked, saying, “You like what you see, don’t you?”

Morpheus hesitated for a moment, and then stammered, “Y...yes, I do. I’ve never seen such beauty. And your mind is so crisp and clear.” He hesitated, embarrassed by his actions.

Anastasia reached out and touched him on the hand, saying, “I know you’ve been smitten by me. To be perfectly honest, you’re something of a fascination to me too. You’re not like these others. Maybe we can be friends?”

Morpheus tucked his head as he said, “In a way, we already are. I have been the only one to visit Muriel in her prison before Beowulf came and rescued her. She was always happy to see me when I came. I care for her a great deal.”

Anastasia smiled, saying, “I’m sure you do. Maybe after this is done we can do things together.”

“I’d like that,” Morpheus replied, smiling.

Anastasia turned back to Hannibal, saying, “I guess it’s time. Once again, thank you for coming for me, Beowulf.”

Hannibal smiled and touched her hand with his left hand, saying, “You’re welcome, sister.” He shifted position and lifted Muriel into a sitting position, holding on to her. Anastasia looked at Muriel and sighed, removing the coat from Muriel. With a smile, she wrapped her arms around Muriel, pulling her into a full embrace out of Hannibal’s arms. Everyone watched this unprecedented action take place in awe.

It was the first time anyone had ever witnessed a mind heal itself from the inside. As Anastasia pulled Muriel to her chest, they both began to float off the ground. A glow very similar to the glow they saw when Anastasia healed Selina enveloped them both. Hannibal crawled away, back to Selina and Kida as everyone watched the Anastasia avatar and the Muriel avatar begin to merge, seemingly melting together. They floated about six feet off the ground. The glow around them increased while they merged into one avatar. The closer to becoming one avatar they got, the brighter the glow became. Just as they were about to completely merge the glow became so bright that nothing could be seen except a ball of blinding light. Immediately before the two avatars completely merged, a voice came out of the light that was a composite of Muriel and Anastasia, saying with great gratitude and happiness, “Thank you, great Beowulf. Thank you, beautiful Selina. Thank you, majestic Kida. Thank you, mighty Morpheus.” After the voice died away and the two avatars fused into one, a blinding flash forcibly expelled Hannibal, Selina, Kida, and Morpheus from Muriel’s mind.

When they came to, they found themselves on the top of the Red Tower, looking up from a position flat on their backs with everyone that had been part of the action gathered around them, looking down at them. “Everyone back,” Enoch ordered. “Give them some air!” He knelt down beside Hannibal. Unknown to Hannibal, Muriel was lying on his legs with her head lying on his belly. Selina was out cold in her chair. Kida was also out cold, lying next to Selina on her side. Morpheus lay flat on his back, heavily stunned.

Hannibal opened his eyes, seeing Enoch, Harry, and Joshua hovering over him. Everything seemed like a dream as Enoch checked his pulse, and then the pulse of Muriel, who was laying on him. “Hannibal,” Enoch called to him. His voice was muffled and dreamlike. He called to Hannibal several times as Hannibal’s head wobbled from side to side. Slowly, he came to.

The first thing Hannibal noticed was his chest hurt like a toothache. He moaned and his hand went to his side. “Ugh, where am I?” he asked, completely disoriented by the violent expulsion from Muriel’s mind.

“You’re on top of the Red Tower in Antilla,” Enoch replied.

Hannibal suddenly rose up to a sitting position and cried out, “Selina, where is she?”

“She’s here,” Electra called out as she tended to Selina and Kida. “But she’s out cold. So is Kida.”

Hannibal dropped back on his back as he clenched his teeth because of the blinding pain he was in. “Se...Selina’s seriously injured. Take her to the Healer right now,” he ordered urgently. Nathanael immediately took her away to the Healer.

“What happened in there?” Enoch asked.

“How long?” Hannibal asked weakly.

“We were in forty-five minutes,” Electra stated as she managed to rouse Kida. “What happened after we were kicked out?”

“Muriel’s imprisoned identity threw you out,” Hannibal wheezed in pain. “She’s much older than we thought. The imprisoned identity is who she was before the Cadre engineered her. They imprisoned her mind before they messed with her body.” He then felt pressure on his legs and looked down, seeing Muriel laying on him, saying, “Uhhh, help me sit up, brother.” Enoch, who was kneeling next to him, put his arms under his shoulders and lifted, sitting him up and pushing up close so that he wouldn’t fall over. Hannibal latched on to Muriel and dragged her unconscious form closer, gathering her into his arms. He looked down into her face intensely for a moment, and then shook her gently, calling out, “Anastasia, Anastasia.” He called out several times, getting no answer. “Ana, come on girl, wake up,” he pleaded with her. “Come back to the light. Wake and remember.” Finally, after five minutes, he became desperate and his anger rose. “Damn it, Ana. Don’t do this! You get your ass back here right now! Wake up!” he growled in frustration, shaking her much harder than he had been. A moan suddenly escaped her lips and he calmed down. “That’s it, Ana. Come on back; you can do it,” he cooed in her ear as he rocked her gently. Everyone was dead silent as this went on. She moaned again and Hannibal caressed her face with his hand, saying, “That a girl. Come on, sister. You can do it.” Finally, her eyes opened and the first thing she saw was Hannibal’s face with a very large smile on it. “Ana?” he called to her gently.

Muriel smiled faintly and gripped his arm with her cybernetic hand. “It’s been so long.” Anastasia whispered. “I’d forgotten what it was like to feel.”

Hannibal embraced her, saying, “That it has, Ana. Welcome back to the land of the living.”

Anastasia moaned softly, saying afterwards “Ugh, why can’t I move?”

Hannibal looked down in her face, saying, “I’m not entirely sure. But I think your fusion with Muriel may have drained your strength. I know that when you merged, we were forcibly ejected and it drained us as well. I know that my ribs are really hurting where that Hydra had me.”

Anastasia tried to raise her hand, but couldn’t. “I have no strength,” she whispered. “I can’t even lift my hand.”

Hannibal rocked her, saying, “It’s all right, Ana. It will pass. It always does. Remember what Muriel taught you in merging and you will be all right.” He looked around at everyone and announced, “People, hybrids, drakens; may I introduce to you Anastasia, Muriel’s long lost past and the last descendant of Leila Karac, Ariel Caverias’ twin sister.”

Enoch shifted his position to where he could look into Ana’s face. She looked up at Enoch and was puzzled. “You look familiar,” Ana whispered.

“This is Enoch Caverias, another descendant of Thoth and Ariel, just as I am,” Hannibal informed her.

Ana looked back at Hannibal in shock, asking, “You have the line as well?”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “That I do, sister. I am the Last Caverias after all. You saw it before you merged with Muriel. Enoch is my brother because of it and that makes you my sister.”

Ana began to become light-headed, saying, “I don’t feel too well. My head is spinning.”

“It’s all right, Ana,” Hannibal cooed. “You haven’t adjusted yet. Remember, you have been imprisoned for over seven hundred cycles. It’s natural that you are having this reaction after the extensive solitary confinement you were in. We are here for you, all of us. We’ll help you cope and adjust to your new freedom. But for now, just take it one little step at a time. Remember Muriel, Ana. Learn of her. She can help you a great deal.”

Ana gripped his arm with a smile, saying, “Thank you, Beowulf. Thank yo....” She passed out cold.

Hannibal checked her breathing and pulse, seeing it was slightly elevated, but all right. He then gently probed her mind and saw that Anastasia was still merging with Muriel, adapting to her mind. Anastasia had been locked away for so long that she had to learn basic bodily functions over again. There was one thing that Hannibal immediately noticed and that was when Muriel and Anastasia finally merged as they should, she would be one of the most powerful telepaths ever to walk the face of the Earth. Her power would be comparable to his. He also could see that she had great gifts that went beyond the telepathy. One of the obvious ones was the fact that she was a healer. He backed out of her mind and looked at Enoch, saying, “She’s going to be all right. She just needs some rest and time to adjust. Enoch, could you take her to her room?”

Enoch nodded, saying, “Of course, brother. But don’t you think she should have a stint in the Healer? It’ll help her regain her strength.”

“You’re right,” Hannibal stated. “Do it.”

“You got it, little brother,” Enoch chimed, scooping up Anastasia and walking away.

Hannibal remained sitting as he looked around at his team. “Well done, my friends, well done indeed!” he congratulated them. He looked at Argus, Aeolus, Tethys, Calliope, and Thantos, who were standing almost in front of them. With a smile, he said, “Thank you Aeolus, Argus. Thank you too, Tethys.” He turned to Calliope and Thantos, saying, “And you too, young ones. You have great potential. I couldn’t have done it without any of you. And that goes for everyone else, even those who prayed. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was our ability to work and act as a unit that won the day. Thank you!”

Hannibal looked up at Harry and Joshua, saying weakly, “I’m done.” He laid down on the hard tower as they squatted down next to him. Electra, Kida, Emma, Seras, Amelia, Nemesis, and Morpheus stood around him. Morpheus was leaning heavily on Nemesis. Josephine stood beside them, gazing down at Hannibal with a concerned look.

Harry reached out and Hannibal grabbed his hand. “Are you all right?” he asked Hannibal.

Hannibal sighed and said, “Not really. I was injured and almost killed in there. Selina and I saw things in there that boggle the imagination. Amelia’s mind was a picnic compared to this. This was war. We were literally fighting for our very souls. The mechanizations the Cadre used on Muriel were a nightmare.” He groaned in agony as his ribs throbbed painfully.

“Come on, let’s get you to the Healer,” Joshua ordered. He motioned for those standing around to help.

“I’ll carry him,” Josephine stated. “It’s the least I can do.”

“Okay,” Joshua replied. “Be my guest. I know how close you are to Hannibal. Take him to the Healer.”

“Right,” Josephine answered, gently picking Hannibal up with all four of her arms.

“Careful, Jo,” Hannibal groaned, his ribs flaring. “My ribs are on fire.”

“Nemesis, relieve Hannibal’s pain,” Josephine ordered as she stood cradling Hannibal in her arms.

“I have just the thing,” Nemesis chimed, administering a potent pain-killer directly into Hannibal’s neck through his machine fingers. “There, my friend, that should cut your pain a bit.”

Hannibal noticeably relaxed after receiving the shot. “Thanks, Nemesis,” he replied. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“You’re welcome,” Nemesis stated. “Now, get to the Healer. You’re not much help to us all banged up.”

Hannibal chuckled painfully. “Don’t make me laugh, Nemesis,” he wheezed in pain. “It hurts to laugh right now.”

“Go on,” Nemesis stated. “Get him to the Healer, Josephine.”

“I’m on my way,” Josephine stated, heading into the Tower with Nemesis, Morpheus, Seras, Emma, Electra, Kida, Joshua, and Harry following close behind her. The remaining crowd began to disperse. The drakens who were involved remained there, exhausted by the operation.

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