Anes and Koyu are one of many of their kind in the special realm. They are two of many of the powerful beings within the realm who can influence the physical realm.
In order to launch their attack on Ivan and Clay, they knew that they needed a champion strong enough to contend with their combined magics that Clay wielded expertly as a beacon of his shared power with Ivan. Desperation had fought Clay before and Anes watched from the veil, impressed that Desperation had given the spider soldier such a formidable fight. It was the silver scar on his cheek. It did not match the combined might of Koyu and Anes, but it was significant and Anes figured that with the right boost, Desperation could be victorious. Of course she needed Koyu’s help for her plan, having lost most of her magic, Anes was too weakened to overpower another being of the special realm in order to siphon their power to Desperation, and she had to convince Koyu that Desperation was worth the effort.
Anes had whispered to Desperation and influenced his decision to be incarcerated and his display at the Lee Correctional Institution was an audition for Koyu that worked well.
Koyu and Anes worked together to lure the legend Anansi into a long sleep with an elixer they mixed into his drink, and they siphoned his fiery energy to Desperation in the physical realm.
It was difficult to keep Anansi’s wives from growing suspicious of their plans, but they organized a trip for the ladies that took them away from home and kept them distracted.
“We cannot keep this up forever woman,” Koyu complained often as they made the egress from the special realm and into the physical one, feeding the spider that wrapped Desperation as he stalked swamps in pursuit of Ivan Santana.
“I can’t imagine that this will last much longer. The soldier was rattled to his core, and the shaman is scared. When our man catches up, this will be over quickly and we can spring in to take what is ours.”
“So you say,” Koyu said refusing to be optimistic.
Clay’s aunt Bernadette lives in a home that is adjacent to a swamp. She and Brittany have enjoyed sitting out on her wrap around porch in rocking chairs, talking about their lives.
Brittany was hesitant to tell her about the ordeal that had brought her to the lowcountry months ago now, but Bernadette sensed the trauma that the young woman had suffered and she drew the story out of her. She was most interested in Brittany’s transformation into Ssin.
“You got the beast in you too then,” Bernadette said, very concerned for her niece. “I always wished your brother had stayed close so daddy protection could have been on y’all. None of this would be happening. It’s the spider, a nes, baby, she been spinning us up in her web since we was in Africa. She followed us here on the slave ship, she probably the reason we got caught in the first place.”
“What is a nes?” Brittany asked, not quite comprehending.
“The spider Brittany. Anes could kill us, but then she couldn’t toy with us. But the longer you here, the less you got to worry about that stuff. Ain’t no spiders in a wide circle around this house. Won’t be no more Ssin in you.”
It happened, too, Brittany forgot about the extraordinary abilities of her brother and his partner, the awful possession that had broken her, and she has been piecing together a semblance of normalcy with her aunt. Her job has been manageable, everything has been pleasant.
And then Ivan tumbles into the front lawn and both he and Clay roll, and then stop face down in the grass. The sun has set and Bernadette had been smoking next to Brittany. They both saw the flash of Ivan’s green glow, and as they passed into the boundaries of Bernadette’s yard,the green energy became yellow before it petered out
Desperation had seen Ivan as well and when he tried to follow them into the yard, he was repelled like he ran up against an invisible dome.
“Clay!” Brittany screams and runs down from the porch where she stoops next to him and Ivan. Ivan gets up and Brittany helps him drag Clay up the stairs and into the house. They lay him on a couch.
When Bernadette is inside she glares at Clay. “He was wrapped in a spider. I’m surprised he even made it through the barrier.”
“What barrier?” Brittany asks. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He doin magic he shouldn’t. Who dis then?” She looks at Ivan suspiciously.
“Please help him if you can,” Ivan says desperately. “Someone’s after us and I can’t stop them without Clay.”
“You damn right somethin after you,” Bernadette hisses. “They brought that tricky bitch right to my doorstep.”
“Who?” Ivan asks.
“Anes!” Bernadette yells. “The same bitch got granddaddy killed.”
“You help Clay and I’ll go fight him outside,” Ivan says and he leaves before anyone can stop him.
This experience feels very different stripped of Clay’s contribution, but the powers wield roughly the same. Ivan yells, channeling anger that he had witnessed from Clay in the past, and his hands burst into yellow flames, not his entire body like the green flame normally does. He scans the area around Bernadette’s house and soon Desperation emerges at the border of the property, a good ten feet away. He motions for Ivan to approach and he does, the flames at his fists raging more so as he approaches.
When they are face to face, Ivan says, “I’m gonna hit you until your whole body is a silver scar.”
“Ohh,” Desperation says with a laugh, “you’re not the one I wanted for this. Give me sweetness and I’ll decide what to do with you when I’m done.”
“You got me,” Ivan says and he remembers the ready moves of the love of his life and he assumes them, ready like a boxer.
“I don’t know of you noticed, but there’s something freaky about this property. That’s probably why you yellow.”
Ivan relaxes. “Then I’ll come out there.”
It is a bad decision. Desperation vastly out powers him, the silver scar at his cheek is practically pulsating with excitement at the prospect of pummeling him with the new powers coursing through his body. But Clay is down, and Ivan sees himself as the last defense.
Ivan steps across the invisible border that Bernadette had laid down herself to ward off the magics and the influence of Anes.
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