River grins, “Van did tell you that we were technically the good guys.”
Baz chuckles, “He did, and now I understand where the ‘technically’ comes from.”
“I promise we will explain in a bit more detail in a moment,” Griff says to him. He looks at me, “I want to know where that shirt came from.”
Baz nods. He inhales sharply, “It’s got blood on it.” His eyes widen, and then become sharp as he studies me, “Not just any blood, the blood of a Beriudeita.”
“A what?” Raiden asks curiously.
“It’s like a vampire kind of creature, but its teeth are different from the vampires' that we have here. At least the ones that I have seen anyway. It communicates via clicks and gurgles, but can talk too, and they die if their heads are cut off,” I explain.
Chapter Eight
Neith
Baz watches me closely, “That’s true. They don’t exist in this realm. They’re native to a particular realm.” He frowns and rubs his head before growling, “But I can’t remember what realm, I just know that you shouldn’t have the knowledge of it.”
“How did you get the shirt and the knowledge?” Doc asks curiously.
“From my dream,” I reply.
“What?” River asks. “I swear you just said that you got the shirt from your dream?”
I nod. “Yeah, I did, and what’s even more confusing is that I burned it in my dream to protect Styx. It was ash.”
“Styx?” Van asks. “As in the river Styx? Where my new black water comes from?”
“You can control the River Styx? As in the underworld river?” Baz asks incredulously and shakes his head. “You know what, never mind, of course you can.”
Van smirks, “It’s a new development.”
“Of course it is,” Baz replies. He looks at me, “You were saying?”
I shake my head as I answer Van’s question, “No, she’s a person. Although that is a pretty weird coincidence. I am reasonably certain that it’s a coincidence though. I have no idea what it would mean otherwise.”
Honestly, I hadn’t put two and two together, and now I’m wondering if maybe I should have. I’m struggling to come up with even a vague reason that the two would be connected though, and I feel like this time it really might be a coincidence. Of course, the universe loves to prove me wrong, so maybe it isn’t?
Fuck knows.
“Neith, you’re going to have to start at the beginning,” Reed says.
I nod. That’s fair.
So, trying to be as un-twisty as I possibly can, and not take any detours in my storytelling, I fill them in on what happened, all of it. None of them is particularly pleased that I didn’t tell them I was in pain this morning, but they understand better than most how it can get.
At the end, they all look as confused as I feel about it.
“So the Voices definitely aren’t the dead, then,” Raiden replies after a few moments of silence. “But they behave similarly, which is curious, and if they aren’t the dead, then what or who are they?”
Baz growls.
“Are you okay, man?” Ransom asks as we look at him in concern.
“I know something,” he says through gritted teeth.
“You do?” I ask with surprise.
“Yes, it’s right there, and I know it’s important,” he confirms.
