Legacy: Gardener

All characters are 18 years old or older. I realized that I didn't have any sort of villain or bad guys in this story. I have added one. If you dislike this idea tell me and I'll drop it. I also want to add in flashbacks to a younger Thomas and how he developed some of his skills. We are shaped by our past and this is my chance to delve into that and use some exotic locations, okay exotic for me. If you have any suggestions or comments fire away. Also, please vote and tell me how well I'm doing. Should I continue this or go back and finish Evil Bitch or one of the other older story lines?

Please visit my profile I have been nominated for Most Influential Writer of 2017. There is a link in one of my posts if you'd like to vote for me. Also, I'd like to thank everyone for following me and helping me break the 3000 mark. That is amazing!

*****

Overlook:

His footsteps were precisely measured and echoed off the tiled floor and massively vaulted ceiling of the hallway. The architecture wasn't just a show of majesty but also a security measure. It made it harder for an assassin to slip in and reach the inner sanctum. It wasn't the only security measure, just the most obvious one. A plethora of sensors, cameras, and a host of magical means to keep the unwanted from this point. He stood at the door that opened into his master's domain. The twenty-foot doors swung silently outward. He continued into the darkened interior. He mentally counted his steps as he entered the ever-darkening area.

'...14 ...15 ...16' He readied to stop. '...20.'

"Perfect as always Dekkard." The deep rumbling voice called out from the perfect darkness.

"Thank you Master." Dekkard replied as he always did. "How may I be of help?"

"Do you know what today is?"

"It is the anniversary Sir." Dekkard replied carefully emphasizing the words 'the' and 'anniversary'.

"Correct," his Master replied and then continued. "It has been two hundred years since the Pride of Arkham set out for the South Pole." His Master paused as the image of the wooden ship weighing anchor and leaving the harbor filled his mind. "How long have you worked for me Dekkard?"

"Sir?" Dekkard said letting the word reach his Master's ears before he continued. "If by work, do you mean when did my mother sold me as a slave to your grandfather?"

"That is why you are my most trusted," the Master said with a laugh. "How long have you been a slave Dekkard?"

"Ninety-one years," he replied without any attempt to hide his bitterness.

"Nearly ninety-two no?" The Master continued a hint of mirth in his emotionless voice. "You have a birthday coming up soon."

"Yes Master."

"That is grand, tell me then, which world would you like to retire to? Come here and look."

The orb illuminated blinding the old man at the edge of inner sanctum. Dekkard squinted and approached the orb. The sphere was one hundred feet in diameter yet despite its size it didn't dominate the chamber. That distinction belonged to the articulated skeletal remains of the Elder Dragon that hung from the ceiling. The beast in life was six hundred feet from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. The flickering surface of the orb show snapshots of the Earth. More specifically, the images on the face of the orb showed live feeds from a multitude of Earths. The technomagic involved allowed the Master to see key events as they unfolded across the Multiverse. History unfolded, and he was there to pounce when pivotal moments revealed themselves. It was his duty to shape the future so that imminent history came out in the proper fashion.

"Come closer Dekkard," the Master ordered with a motion of his cybernetic hand. "Tell me which one beckons to you."

"So many," the old man whispered. "Some dark and some bright... futures in flux while some already are doomed."

"Truer words were never spoken," the Master said placing a cold metallic hand on his slave's shoulder.

"The Thanatons are waking. The Thanatons are hungry." Dekkard's words echoed across realities.

The Master laughed as a single tear streamed down the old man's cheek.

Phoenix Born:

The leaves were well into their autumnal change. There is a distinct smell of fallen leaves and it filled the air. I walked silently over the bed of crunchy foliage. It was a simple thing but profound as I approached the front door of my home. I was dressed in jeans and a dark green hoodie, the hood pulled up. I rang the doorbell and Indigo answered the door. It took her a few seconds to realize it was me. The full beard and haggard expression made the process difficult. The shifter threw herself into my arms and cried out.

"He's home! Master is home!" She shouted and then whispered in my ear. "I didn't feel you. I can't feel you."

"It is safer that way. I would kill for a hot cup of coffee. How long has it been?"

"Three months Thomas," she replied as she led me straight to the kitchen.

"Oh good," I said as I settled into a chair at the kitchen table. "I feared it might be longer."

Everyone that was in the house piled into the kitchen. Lily was on her phone and talking to Victoria and Keisha. Katarina was speaking to Eleanor, who was still in China, telling her I was home and safe. Tiffany broke ranks and sat in my lap. She placed her head on my shoulder and clung tight. I placed an arm around her waist. As she wept I told her it was okay. The scent of coffee filled the air and I inhaled the mouthwatering aroma.

"It is so good to be home." I said.

"It is good to have you home." They replied.

"What happened Master?" Indigo asked.

"Well, it is a long story. My Osirian side of the family demanded my presence. I was teleported to an island they control. I underwent a traditional passage of manhood. I passed through a gate to a carefully chosen staging area or, so they believed."

"You make it sound as if that didn't happen." Violet said.

"It didn't. As I passed through the portal on the island the gate was struck by lightning. That surge threw the portal's destination off by thousands of miles. I used the time to practice my magic. So, I worked on elemental and telekinetic spells. It was while I was lifting blocks of stone and sand that I felt it. There was a vibration below me. I removed a stone obelisk. A second gate was revealed. Since I had three days and assuming the gate led to an earthly location I stepped through."

"Wait," Tiffany gasped. "If it didn't lead to someplace on Earth, where did it take you?"

"Osiris Prime, a world believed to be a dead husk floating in space and the home world of the Osirians."

I let that sink in and remembered my first visit to that strange place. It had been so plain and seemed barely alive. No, that wasn't right, it was as if the entire planet was holding its breath. As if it was waiting for something or someone.

"I returned to the earth to discover months of time had passed since I had entered the gate the first time. I returned to Osiris Prime with the elite of Osirian society. They confirmed it was indeed their home. We returned to Earth and they decided to call an assembly of all the Osirian clans. That hasn't happened since the fall of the Roman Empire. The outcome of the assembly was hardly a surprise. The bulk of the Osirians voted to leave and return home."

"What about you?" Serena asked. "What happens to you?"

"I am a child of two worlds. It was my presence that woke up a slumbering planet. It will take generations to rebuild and swell the ranks of the Osirian race. In the interim I am going to be the ambassador between humans and the Osirian people. I can live here part time. I will split my time between here and Osiris Prime. Now that the gate is properly aligned the time shift will be minimal."

"I don't understand, what time shift?" Violet asked.

"Oh, I guess I didn't explain myself too well. When I entered the gate the first time it led to Osiris Prime but five thousand years in the past. My arrival triggered machinery that had been asleep for millennia to wake up. That machinery repaired the atmosphere, restocked the animal, plant, and insect life. It caused the planet to start rotating again after being tidal locked for god knows how long. It also awoke the ship yard in orbit around a nearby gas giant. When I stepped back the gate attempted to align itself but failed. So, when I returned months had passed here. My second passage to Osiris Prime corrected the time/space alignment. The two worlds are now synchronized and there is no longer any distortion. When I arrived with the elders the world had been reborn."

"How long?" Tiffany asked. "How long until you have to leave for good?"

"I negotiated for one hundred years. None of you will worry about losing me. I have duties to assume as the Bennu King. I was born for this after all. I am happy to be of help. I owe them that and more."

"What do you mean by that?" Snow asked.

"It has everything to do with the wager our ancestor made with the Devil. It is why dad was so damn obsessed with the golden child. Our wealth was sustained by Asmodeus until the twenty generations had passed. If a golden child was sired, we won, and all was well. However, if we failed then every Blackstone would surrender their immortal soul to her. My father and Victoria saved us all. It was her innate magic that allowed me to be born."

"I never knew she had magic," Katarina muttered.

"It was an internal power," I continued. "It was her strength that allowed her to carry me to term. It was her womb that was the crucible of my creation. I feel honored to have healed her."

"You are a healer Master," Indigo added. "Forgive me, but that is your role. You healed Lao Fong. You gave him a second chance. You are healing an entire race. We are proud to stand with you for as long as we can."

"I was going to go to China and find out who is hunting Lao. I would hunt them and..."

"NO," Indigo cried out. "Please Master, you can't do that. You aren't a warrior. You are a healer. Send someone else, they will do what you can't."

I looked around and I could see that they all agreed with Indigo. Had I somehow become more than the head of this family? Was I now a figurehead? Was my role limited to a healer, a physician of souls, or a life-giving godhead? Tiffany clung tight as I nodded and agreed to speak with my father and see if he would be willing to help. But first I would speak with Sorcerer Cat and get his permission. It was his life after all and he deserved a chance to say no. I suggested a celebration and let them plan it. It could begin once Keisha and Victoria got home. I needed time to think. My siblings huddled around the table while I walked outside in the garden. There were still spots where late blooming plants were on display.

I remembered another walk on another world. The colors there were as bright and varied as any here on earth. The forms, shapes, and function were different but no less beautiful. The blooms unlike here were genetically altered to perform multiple functions. Not only do they exchange gases and help keep the atmosphere free of pollutants, but they provide access to the world neural network, a living version of the Osirian internet. Buried deep beneath the ground were a collection of archives that any Osirian can access with a mere thought. I had plumbed the smallest portion of that data and it was overwhelming. I looked forward to my visits to Osiris Prime. I wanted to learn more about what this ancient civilization had gleaned from the universe.

I sat on the grass and savored the silence. I had barely gotten comfortable when a car pulled up in front of the house. The driver stepped out, walked to the back, and helped the passenger out. I barely recognized the man using the cane to stabilize his balance. I got to my feet and approached the Amazing Randi. The world renown magician and skeptic looked like hell. Indigo came running and with the help of my sisters made him welcome. We sat in the dining room and as he rubbed his right leg he told me why he was visiting me at my home.

"I am here to deliver your check." He said his lungs sounding wet and raspy.

"What happened?"

"An opportunistic virus I caught in Egypt. Hit me like a truck and I'm having issues shrugging it off." He said wincing in pain. "Sorry, migraine like headaches... just a whole load of symptoms. How?"

"How what? Oh... how did I do it? How did I make it move?"

"I've spent the last six months trying to figure it out. On the bright side it has kept my mind at work. I've tried it all, but no one knew about the challenge. The only things I came up with would've taken months of planning and reprogramming the machine. I've found no signs of tampering."

"There's nothing to find." I said picking up a salt shaker. "When I talked about Psions and mind over matter I meant it." I said as several grains of salt fell upwards out of the shaker. "See."

"I'll be damned," Randi said as he leaned close staring at the myriad grains free floating in the clear body of the shaker. "I don't believe it."

'The Thanatons are waking!' The voice came from nowhere.

"Thomas!" Randi cried out in alarm.

'The Thanatons are hungry!' The voice declared across the void.

"MASTER!" Indigo shrieked.

The salt shaker was melting in midair. A blaze of orange as the salt burned and a floating puddle of liquid glass orbited the ball of ginger flame. I willed it to cool just before the entire mess clattered onto a china plate. I apologized, but Randi just smiled and in his waning years he had seen two miracles that he couldn't explain away as trickery or sleight of hand.

"Sorry. I don't usually lose control like that."

"What happened exactly," Randi asked his eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Just between us," I said, and he agreed. "Have you ever heard of the word Thanaton?"

"You mean Thanatos, don't you? He's the Greek god of death."

"So, I guess this means the embodiment of death," I said thinking out loud.

"Sounds terrifying," Randi said shuddering and I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You're dying," I said feeling the week pulse of his life force.

My heart went out and instinct took over. The trickle of power flowed into him and restored some of his own. It wouldn't last, but it would make his last years bearable. One day, perhaps a decade from now, he would pass away like a flame being blown out. He would simply take a last breath and fade like autumn leaves. Randi sat up and took a deep breath and grinned. The pain was gone from him and it was time for us to part. He handed me the check for ten million dollars and walked out under his own power. I kept the cane as a souvenir. I would find a place of honor for it. After all, it had belonged to the Amazing Randi.

"I am a healer huh," I said, and Indigo laughed.

"A damn fine one," she agreed. "It is your strength you know."

"Indigo, have a seat will you." I asked, and she sat in my lap as she dropped her human coloration. "That's better, I prefer you this way."

"I prefer my natural form as well Master. You have questions. I can feel them. What do you want to know?"

"A word," I said feeling the echo in my thoughts. "It has been bothering me."

"Let me help you." She said her voice soft and hungry. "What is this word?"

"Thanatons..." I said and watched her color shift darkly.

"Where," Indigo hissed hugging herself. "Where did you hear that word?"

"In my head," I said trying to explain. "It keeps repeating the same words. The Thanatons are waking... the Thanatons are hungry. Come here, I got you."

The fear radiating off Indigo was a palpable thing and I held her close. She was silent, but I could almost hear her thoughts spinning around trying to find the right words. I gave her all the time she needed. There were flashes of images. They were the great predators of her home dimension. She had called them apex predators and for good reason. They were massive things, all muscle, plated armor, and gods those eyes. The intelligence so keen and intense raging away in those sockets.

"They are death," Indigo whispered. "They are ancient and evil the way black suns blaze away in the shadowy corners of the universe."

"Black Suns?"

"Yes, I think humans use the term dark energy. There are entire solar systems comprised of dark matter planets circling dark energy suns. There is life there. The Thanatons rose from such a system as champions of entropy. They are the carrion eaters that all sentience fears."

"So, they are drawn to consciousness." I said, and she nodded. "Uh oh, looks like you are needed."

Violet stood in the doorway gesturing at Indigo. I kissed the shifter and promised to take her mind off such dark things. She joined the others getting things ready for the celebration. I pushed away the thoughts when they spiraled down towards the negative. Things were supposed to be festive. I was back and by god we were going to have some music, some drink, and fuck like bunnies. Indigo had snatched up the plate with the melted glass and spirited it away.

I hit the bathroom to empty my bladder and see how bad my hair and facial hair was doing. I flushed the toilet and then regarded my reflection. There were subtle and not so subtle changes after spending time on Osiris Prime. My eyes were now a deep almost violet color. I summoned power to my left hand and watched as an amethyst light spilled from my eyes. Had Randi seen that or was this simply my own perception of things? I'd have to check with others. The months of beard growth wasn't a surprise, but the change of hair color was.

"Thorn, can you find me a local barber for a hot shave and a haircut?" I asked, and she appeared.

"There is only one business that is open on Saturday. I will call and make an appointment."

"Thanks Thorn," I said as I brushed the tangle that was my unruly hair. "HEY," I hollered from my bedroom door. "When the hell were you going to tell me I was a fucking ginger? A little heads up might have been nice!"

The laughter that followed was infectious. I shared a few more curses but gave up. Maybe they thought I had dyed it for them. I hadn't of course. My dark brown hair was now a deep red. The shade wasn't unlike the one that Scarlett used when she played Black Widow. At least it wasn't orange. Coupled with my violet eyes it wasn't a bad look, just different. I wasn't used to the red hair. That was Scarlett's position in our relationship. How the hell was she going to react? I would get my hair under control and then take a few pics and send them to her and see how she felt about it. I had mixed feelings about the beard though. One part felt it was a pain in the ass to maintain but another thought it looked good or would once its trimmed.

I dressed for going out and grabbed my wallet and keys. I stuck my head into the kitchen and announced I was getting a haircut. I took one of the Bugatti and headed downtown. The traffic wasn't bad since it was the business center of the city. It was Saturday, so most people were heading to the county to where most of the bars, clubs, and strip joints were located. I parked in the lot for the barber. The place looked like it was busy. There were three young ladies in the chairs getting ready for a night out on the town. Two others were getting their hair washed and one was getting a pedicure.

"You must be Tom," a middle-aged woman with prismatic blue hair said.

"Thomas, but yeah that's me." I greeted her.

"I'll be with ya once I'm done with her nails."

"Take your time." I said and sat down.

"My husband was a redhead," an elderly lady sitting in the corner said. "He was hung like a bull."

"Grandma," one of the beauticians fired back turning crimson. "I am so sorry."

"It is okay," I said and turned to the lady. "I am hung like a bull."