Celestial Worm [Worm AU crossover] (COMPLETE)

[Ack]

Celestial Worm

Epilogue One: Taylor

[A/N: this chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by the author of Ties That Bind and The Long Way Home, Karen Buckeridge.]
[A/N 2: for other (non-Worm) Celestial Wars sidestories, see here and here.]


2023 (Twelve Years Later)

"... and that's it." Sagun closed the leather-bound tome and made it vanish into a pocket dimension. "We're done here. Every plan has been implemented, every government is in compliance. And whaddaya know, it only took a bit more than a decade."

Taylor, wearing the high-priestess garb she'd been sporting for the last nine and a half years, grinned from alongside him as they observed Earth Bet from high orbit. "With only the occasional break to rescue a cat from a tree."

"Hey, I have a soft spot for cats in trees," Sagun protested. "I know what it feels to find myself in a situation I don't want to be in, and no way to get out of it without help."

"Been there, done that." Taylor rubbed her upper arms and shuddered, then looked for a way to change the topic. "So how's Edeena doing, anyway?"

"She's getting better." Sagun smiled. "We bloodlink every day. While she still has bad days, they're getting fewer and fewer. She still doesn't want to visit, for reasons I can absolutely understand, but it's always good to see her face and hear her voice. She's really pleased with our progress here, too. And of course, there's everyone else we've got to thank."

Taylor rolled her eyes, but smirked anyway. Sagun had been getting more and more excited about finalising the Plan over the last few weeks. She figured it was only fair to let him have his moment. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in. Go on, tell me how much Dad helped."

Sagun gave her a serious look. "You know he did. Some of the advice he's given me over the years was just what I needed. And you know you're going to have to let go of that grudge sometime. He did what he thought was best for you at the time."

"Hey, I'm civil to him," she protested. "I know he thought he had a good reason for doing it. I'm just pissed off that he totally took away my agency in the process."

"And your new best friend," he reminded her. "Or is that the main reason you're still unhappy with him? That we haven't heard from her in all this time?"

She grimaced. "Maybe? I mean, has she totally forgotten about me? Was our friendship like me getting attached to one of my bugs or something, just a few weeks and it's over?" If she was being honest with herself, Sagun may have just hit the nail on the head. It was never about Dad. Well, mostly.

"No." He shook his head. "We both know she's not like that. Maybe they're not letting her contact us in case you've still got a worship thing going on for her."

"Well, no." She snorted. "I like her and I admire her, but I'm your high priestess, not hers. I don't care where she's a goddess of, just so long as I can find out if she's okay or not."

"Well, there is something I can try," he said. "No promises." He took a deep breath, ignoring the fact that they were both standing—and conversing—in what was effectively hard vacuum. "I'm Zeus's bastard, which means I have access via bloodlink to the Olympian pantheon."

"But you're also a hybrid, which means they'll want to kill you on sight." She shook her head. "Not a great move. Just saying."

"Normally, no." He grinned. "However, I've had Edeena asking Lady Columbine questions on my behalf. Turns out that Chance's daughter Emmalyn, their Goddess of Festivities, had a fling with Dionysis once upon a time. She had a kid called Yitzak, who ended up as Mystal's god of the drink."

"So the goddess of Festivities hooked up with the god of Booze at a party and got pregnant." Taylor rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised."

"Trust me, nobody was astonished at that revelation." Sagun raised a finger. "But it does mean that I've got a direct line into Mystal."

"Let's just hope you can make sense of what he's saying." Taylor snorted. "From what I've read of Dionysis, he was absolutely plastered ninety percent of the time."

"Yeah, well, apparently it's the other way around with Yitzak." Sagun shrugged. "Alcohol doesn't affect him unless he wants it to. He's always exactly as drunk as he wants to be, and so is anyone around him." Poising his hand, he looked at Taylor. "Did you want me to make the call now?"

Taylor felt her breath catch in her throat. "Could you?" Her heartbeat threatened to hammer out of control.

In lieu of replying, Sagun made a waving gesture. "Yitzak," he intoned. With his other hand, he clasped Taylor's.

She found out why a second later, when the image formed in front of Sagun. A tall, well-built celestial in the Mystallian uniform looked back at them; she fancied she could see a little of Chance's features in his cheekbones and jawline, though that may have been wishful thinking.

"Ah, so you're Sagun," the Mystallian said, his eyes narrowing with interest. "Lady Columbine notified me that you might be calling on me. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes, Lord Yitzak," Sagun said smoothly. "Lady Janesha visited my realm about ten years ago, and accidentally ended up being established for a few days. I was wondering if I could ask you for news of her. She's Lady Armina's granddaughter, if that helps."

"Oh yeah, I know about her." Yitzak nodded. "Poor kid, I'm pretty sure she's still in a coma. Lady Col's taking good care of her though, so she'll get through it eventually."

Taylor gasped. She'd had no idea. "Does it normally take so long to get over this sort of thing?"

She realised a moment later that she'd asked the question out loud, and that Yitzak could hear her. He frowned at her interjection but answered anyway. "Well, yeah. I've heard of bad cases being laid out for centuries, but she had a fairly light dose and the actual establishment wasn't really traumatic, so she should be over it in another ten or twenty years, easy."

Even with all the powers Sagun had granted her over the last nine years, Taylor had never been a precog. But right then, she knew the answer to the next question she was going to ask. "So, let me guess. It's Lady Columbine who's caring for her?"

"Well, who else?" He paused and peered at her. "Who are you, exactly?"

"She's with me, Lord Yitzak, Thank you for your assistance." Sagun shut down the bloodlink and sighed. "Have you ever had a day where you realise that you've just outsmarted yourself?"

"Occasionally," Taylor said with a smirk. "I have to admit, I didn't see that one coming."

He ran his hand over his face. "Here I thought I was being so clever, making sure I had a back-channel into Mystal, when I didn't even need it." He gave her a dirty look. "It's not that funny."

"Well, it would be if I felt like laughing," Taylor said, sobering. "So …" She didn't want to say it out loud.

"So do you think we should link through now, or give it awhile?" He rubbed his beard. "I don't see why not. Edeena will still be awake, if I recall her schedule correctly." Raising his hand, he made the gesture again. "Edeena."

Once more the link formed, to show a woman with long platinum-blonde hair, so slender as to be waif-like, kneeling beside a garden bed. The flowers were almost impossibly brilliant in colour, though Taylor thought she spotted a weed in one of the beds behind the woman. She decided after a moment that she'd been seeing things, because the rest of the garden was immaculately tended.

"Hello, Sagun!" Edeena stood up with a brilliant smile. "Do you like Lady Columbine's flowers? I was just admiring them. They're beautiful, aren't they? Oh, is this your high priestess? Hello! Taylor, isn't it?"

"Yeah, hi, that's me." Taylor essayed a wave. "It's nice to meet you properly at last. Sagun tells me you're getting better all the time."

"Uh huh." Edeena nodded vigorously. "And all the guards are really nice. If I need Lady Columbine, they take me to her straight away." She tilted her head. "But we spoke earlier today, didn't we, Sagun? What's up? Or did you just want to introduce Taylor to me?"

"It's nothing serious," Sagun assured his sister. "We were just wondering if you knew of another patient of Lady Col's. A girl called Janesha. She would've come in not long after you did."

"Oh, yes." Edeena's eyes dropped. "She's still here. Lady Col says she's getting better, but it's going to be a little while. Sometimes I sit and read to her. She seems to like that."

"Oh." Taylor leaned in to Sagun for comfort, and he put his arm around her shoulders. "So, um … would you be able to tell Sagun when she wakes up? If you could, please?"

"I can totally do that. Any friend of Sagun's is a friend of mine. It was really nice to meet you, Taylor." She gave her brother a suspicious glance. "Is Sagun treating you alright?"

Taylor mustered a weak smile. "Yeah. He's a good boss. We actually finished our main plan for fixing the world today. Now we're going to start expanding into the solar system."

Edeena beamed. "Well, good for you!" She lifted her head a moment later, at some unheard sound. "Oh, that's the dinner gong. I'll talk to you later, okay? Don't let Sagun push you around or I'll have to come and rough him up for you!"

Sagun snorted. "You're welcome to try."

"Bye!" Taylor called, just before the bloodlink closed. Then she closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the comforting warmth of Sagun's arm around her shoulders.

"Well, she's getting better," he ventured after a moment. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah, but the fact that she needs to get better isn't." She heaved a sigh. "Can you take me home? I think I need to have a long talk with Dad."

"Yeah, probably a good idea." He gestured, and a portal opened. "Edeena looks happy, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "Yeah, she does." They stepped through the portal and disappeared.



End of Epilogue One

 

[Ack]

Celestial Worm

Epilogue Two: Janesha

[A/N: this chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by the author of Ties That Bind and The Long Way Home, Karen Buckeridge.]
[A/N 2: for other (non-Worm) Celestial Wars sidestories, see here and here.]


Fifteen Years Later



"Ugh," groaned Janesha. "Why does my everything hurt?"

"Because you have not consciously moved your body in twenty-seven years," Columbine said gently, helping her sit up. Edeena stood to the side where Janesha could reach out for support, but giving her a chance to stand upright by herself first. Even though she was tempted, she refrained, determined to own this and move forward.

Taking a deep breath (and when was the last time she'd done that?), Janesha tensed and prepared to lever herself to her feet, aches and pains be damned. Then she paused. "Why in all the realms am I doing this the hard way?" she demanded.

"That is a question only you can answer, sweetheart," Columbine answered with a gentle smile. "Shifting is quite within your capability."

"Realm-damned right it is," Janesha retorted and sent a stimulation wave throughout her entire body, resetting everything to optimum function in an instant. Then she stood up smoothly and stretched, enjoying the sensation. For all of two seconds.

"Strike one," Columbine said, holding up one finger.

Realising what she meant, Janesha's eyes widened and she turned to face her cousin. "Oh, uh, I didn't mean to swear," she said. "That was my bad. I won't do it again." She knew of some relatives who had been sentenced to 'profanity jail', unable to voice any kind of rude language for a month, for swearing too much around Columbine. Nobody came back for a second try.

"You have two strikes left, sweetheart. You are now on notice for your first offense." Columbine smiled and just like that, the issue was dealt with. "Did you wish to bloodlink back to Mystal immediately, or stay for a while? You are very welcome to do either."

"Where's Cloudstrike?" Janesha asked immediately.

"She is back in Mystal with the rest of the herd," Columbine said. "She misses you, of course, but your cousins have been spending time with her and taking her for regular rides."

A pang went through Janesha's heart. Twenty-seven years was a mere pittance to a celestial, but for a mystallion awaiting her rider's return, it would be forever. "First thing I do when I get back," she promised herself out loud. Then she gasped, her eyes going wide. "Taylor! Earth Bet! Did Armina—are they—"

"They're both still there," Edeena assured her with a smile. "Sagun bloodlinks me on a daily basis. They wanted to know as soon as you woke up. I think Taylor misses you, too."

"Can you bloodlink with him right now?" Janesha didn't want Taylor worrying any longer than she had to—realms, she has to be over forty by now! That's half her life, just gone!—and she also had questions about exactly how Armina had removed her establishment so easily. A little embarrassed, she turned to her host. "I didn't mean to just ignore you like that."

"It is entirely understandable," Columbine said graciously. "I would indeed advise you to get your bloodlinks over and done with in good time, because the moment I pass on word to Mystal and Rangi-Taurea of your recovery, there will be several people competing for your attention. Your father, so that he can yell at you and ground you. Your mother, so that she can yell at you and ground you. And your grandmother …" She trailed off.

Janesha nodded. "So that she can yell at me and ground me … into dust. Yeah, I kinda see the pattern." But she was happier than she normally would've been. Yes, being yelled at and grounded by three of her elders was going to rate among the least favourite experiences of her life, but Taylor was alive and Earth Bet hadn't been obliterated by vengeful gods. "Thanks for the heads-up, Cousin Col."

"You are welcome." Columbine smiled, then looked back at Edeena. "I, of course, will be incredibly busy for the next … say, two hours. I suggest you make the most of my absence." Implicit was the understanding that her family would know if she tried to stall for too long, and of course the fact that she wanted to get back to Cloudstrike as soon as possible. Nobody knows how to brush her down like I do.

She didn't even bother asking why Cloudstrike hadn't been brought out to Earlafaol for when she woke up. It was incredibly difficult for the flying mounts to travel through a bloodlink, and Lady Col preferred that none of her family knew exactly where in the Unknown Realms her home realm was situated. Besides, giving Janesha access to a mystallion in the Unknown Realms was what had started this whole mess in the first place.

With a polite nod to both Janesha and Edeena, Columbine removed herself from the room, with Bianca and Dee close behind.

Immediately, Janesha hugged Edeena. "Thank you for sitting with me. I remember you being here, from time to time."

"It was all my pleasure," Edeena said, returning the hug. "Lady Columbine said it was good for the both of us, so I didn't have any problem at all. Did you want me to bloodlink to Sagun now?"

"Oh, totally." Janesha stepped back from the older woman, so that she could perform the link.

Edeena kept hold of Janesha's hand and gestured with the other. "Sagun," she said clearly.

The link formed immediately, showing Sagun holding out his hands and projecting some sort of power from them. A brilliant blue sky above a distant cityscape was visible behind him.

"Excuse me one moment," he said absently. "Dealing with a tsunami. And … done. So what's …" For the first time, he appeared to notice that Janesha was in frame as well. "Whoa! Janesha! You're awake!" A broad smile split his bearded face. "When did this happen?"

"About five minutes ago." Janesha couldn't keep the silly grin off her face. "It's good to see you again, Lord Scion."

"Pfft, call me Sagun." He laughed delightedly. "Oh, wow. Taylor's gonna be so thrilled. She's been counting the days."

"Oh, uh, what's she been doing with her life since I, um, left?" Somehow, Janesha had trouble visualising Taylor as a middle aged housewife.

"Well, just now she's been calming the population while I took care of business, but I've told her you're up so she'll be here in a moment." Sagun shook his head. "How are you feeling? Is everything alright with you? When are they going to let you visit?"

"I'm fine … wait." Janesha tilted her head. "Calming the population? She's there with you right now?"

"Well, yeah, where else would my high priestess be?" Sagun reached off to the side, out of range of the bloodlink. "Check it out, Taylor. Janesha's back."

In the next moment, Taylor came into view. Her outfit wasn't quite as formal as the high-priestess robes Janesha had given her, but it was still definitely along the same lines. Her hand clasped with Sagun's, she smiled through the bloodlink at Janesha and Edeena. "Janesha, how are you? You look amazing!" Her eyes were dancing with excitement and she couldn't keep a smile off her face. Far from looking old, as Janesha had feared, she simply looked … grown up. As Janesha herself was. Her eyes were clear and her long curly black hair bore no tinge of grey.

"... you too, petal." As she spoke the familiar nickname, Janesha felt an odd jolt behind her sternum. You were my high priestess! It wasn't betrayal, exactly, but she couldn't help but feel a little let down. "So, you went straight from one high priestess position to another, huh?"

"'Petal'. Wow, that takes me back." Taylor laughed light-heartedly. "No, Sagun made the offer but Mom made me finish high school first. I took college courses in civics so I understood the underlying dynamics, too. We finished what you started, by the way. Took us a couple of years to get some traction, but once the holdouts saw the strides the compliant nations were making, they voted the asshole politicians out and fell into line."

"... oh. Right. Good for you." So they'd even done it the way Danny Hebert had wanted it done, and it had worked. Janesha nodded, forcing her smile to look natural. Everything I tried to do, they did it better. "Do they … do they even remember me?"

"As a goddess?" Sagun shook his head. "No. But there's a statue, of you and Cloudstrike, outside the United Nations building."

"And don't forget the feature films, the TV show and the Saturday morning cartoon," Taylor added with a mischievous grin. "'Janesha' was the third most popular girl's name in the continental United States for about four or five years running. Just saying."

A statue was actually kind of cool, but … "Wait, Feature films? As in, more than one? And a TV show, and a cartoon? All of that, in twenty-seven years?"

"Oh, yeah." Taylor nodded. "The first one came out just a couple of years after you left, and the second one …" She tilted her head in recollection.

"Year before last," Sagun supplied. "The TV show was good at first, but the second season lagged, and the third season really didn't work at all. They had to wrap it up with an ass-pull reveal that you were really an alien princess, going back to your people. Which I suppose isn't too far off the mark." He waggled his hand. "In a manner of speaking. And the cartoon … oh, good grief, the cartoon."

"Why, what was wrong with the cartoon?" asked Janesha suspiciously.

Taylor smirked. "They de-aged you to about eight years old, and had you going on wacky adventures with younger versions of the Wards and Protectorate. Li'l Armsy had the biggest crush on your character. It was hilarious."

Janesha really wasn't sure how to take that. Celestials were not supposed to be figures of fun. Unless their establishment field dictated that, of course. Now I know how Uncle Avis felt. "At least tell me the films were okay."

Sagun rubbed his chin. "They were … good," he decided, then glanced sideways at Taylor. "Would you say 'good'?"

She nodded. "'Good' works for me. They didn't have a lot of the background details, for obvious reasons, but they didn't mischaracterise you beyond a few verbal tics that Sagun and I didn't feel like correcting them on. For the most part, they got you down pretty well."

"The fight with the Simurgh was a lot more dramatic, of course," Sagun said. "Taylor wasn't involved, and it went all the way down to the wire. You had a great one-liner when you finally punched her out. "'Sing this one off', or something like that."

"The TV show was a spin-off of the first one, and you know how that turned out," Taylor added. "The second one was a remake, and they went deeper into your character and background. Added some totally fictitious elements, but kept your core concept valid. Though this time around you apparently rescued Cloudstrike from some unscrupulous bio-Tinker's lab." She shrugged. "I thought it wasn't terrible, for something that was made up from whole cloth."

Janesha shook her head. "Well, one thing's for certain. Even if I was allowed to come visit before I'm finished being grounded, I'd never be able to get an establishment there again. My image there's so fractured, it would take me a thousand years just to get everyone believing the same thing about me all at once."

"Well, you're still totally welcome to visit anyway," Taylor said without hesitation.

"It totally sucks that you had to go through the withdrawal coma then get grounded on top of that," Sagun added. "So how long do you think you're gonna be grounded for?"

"I have no idea." Janesha sighed. "Considering how many people are mad at me for running off like that and refusing bloodlinks, anywhere from five hundred to fifteen hundred years." She looked sadly at the girl who was still her best mortal friend. "Sorry, petal." I'm gonna miss her.

"What are you sorry for?" asked Taylor. "It's not like it's your fault or anything … well, yeah, yeah, I know. It kinda is. Shut up." She elbowed Sagun in the ribs.

"What? I didn't say anything." The smirk on his features said otherwise, though.

"You were gonna. I heard you do your 'well, actually' inhale." Taylor rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Janesha. This big golden lunk couldn't find his well-toned ass with both hands and an atlas unless I was there to hold the atlas, so I'm gonna be around for awhile yet.."

"Hey!" objected Sagun. "I resemble that remark!"

Taylor pretended to ignore the interjection. "So whenever you want to drop by, I'll be here."

Janesha tilted her head. "... so how long have you two been a couple?"

"What?" Taylor looked startled. "A couple? Us?" She looked around at Sagun. "We're not a couple, are we?"

He looked just as bemused. "Not the last time I checked. No, we aren't a couple, Janesha. She's my high priestess. That's as far as it goes."

"Could've fooled me." Janesha looked from one to the other. "You two are finishing each other's sentences, did you know that? You're more comfortable with each other than some happily married couples that I know of."

Sagun cleared his throat. "Well, I do like Taylor a lot, but there's the whole dipping the pen in the company inkwell thing, you know? I don't want it to get awkward."

"What, more awkward than having people think we're a couple when we're not?" Taylor raised her eyebrows. "I've been wondering why Mom and Dad smirk whenever I say I'm going out to meet up with you."

"Well, whatever you decide, just make sure nothing comes out of it," Janesha said seriously. "You know how pure-blood celestials think about hybrids."

"What, even inside their own realm?" asked Sagun. "Not bothering anyone outside it?"

"Even then," Janesha insisted. "If anyone in the Known Realms heard that a celestial-mortal couple in the Unknown Realms was getting it on and having hybrid kids, there would be a crusade the likes of which you've never seen before. They'd swarm the Unknown Realms until they found you, then they'd kill off every hybrid they saw, and burn your realm down to the bedrock just to make sure it won't happen again."

"Wait, didn't you say Lady Columbine had hybrids in her realm?" asked Taylor.

"Yeah, but they never get to leave." Janesha shook her head. "Her power level is off the scales, and then there's her army at her back. Nobody wants to mess with those bad boys."

"Just out of curiosity, what do you personally think of hybrids?" asked Sagun. "I mean, would you recognise one if you met one?"

"Only if I knew their parentage," admitted Janesha. "Showing off divine powers outside their own realm would be a big indicator, too. But … well, after getting to know Taylor, I can empathise with mortals a lot more now, so if you did end up having hybrid kids and I found out, I wouldn't rat you out. But I would put guards up around your borders, to make sure you all stayed put. The threat would have to be contained. If so much as one got out, I'd have to alert Mystal. It's my duty to the Known Realms."

Taylor laughed. "Well, there's no danger of that happening right now. So let's not even go there."

"Oh, good." Janesha felt a surge of relief. "So, I guess I'll see you when they finally unground me."

Sagun nodded. "We'll be looking forward to it. See you tomorrow, Edeena."

"See you, Sagun. See you, Taylor." Edeena waved, and cut the bloodlink.

"Well, that was interesting," Janesha said thoughtfully. "They really seem to be doing well."

"Yeah, Sagun's happy." Edeena smiled. "They've got a couple of lunar colonies and one on Mars, and they're talking about terraforming Venus. Hey, did you want to go swimming in the lake? The hatchlings will be down there, and they're so silly."

Janesha considered that, the issues of Earth Bet discarded for the moment. Swimming with true gryps hatchlings? Who even got to do that? "I'm in," she decided.

"Woo! Last one in's a—hey, no realm-stepping!"

<><>​

Taylor

"Well, that was interesting." Taylor looked around at Sagun. "Do you think she knows?"

"That I'm a hybrid?" He shook his head. "No. She would've been even more direct than she was already." He paused awkwardly. "So, do you, uh …"

"Do I what?" She frowned for a moment, then light dawned. "Oh. Oh! Do I like you like you?"

"Well, yeah, um …" The golden tone of his cheeks darkened. "I didn't want to say anything before, because you weren't saying anything and I didn't think it was the sort of thing I could just bring up. I mean, it's the ultimate 'dating the boss' scenario, and we both know how that kind of thing goes. Besides, I'm like seventy-five, and—"

She put her finger up to cover his lips and he shut up. "Hush. I'm forty-two. Neither one of us looks our age. And yes, I do like you like that. I've just been waiting for you to say something."

Sagun looked into her eyes for the longest time. His lips parted. "Something," he whispered.

"Right, of course." Taylor rolled her eyes. "What else should I expect from a comic book nerd?" She took him by the hand, lacing her fingers through his. "Well, we've got all the time in the world. Let's take it one step at a time and figure this out."

"That works for me," he agreed. "So, uh, what if we—"

"Have kids?" Taylor glanced over her shoulder at where the bloodlink had been. "What the Known Realms don't know won't hurt us. Let's go home."

"Right." Sagun opened a portal, and they stepped through.



End of Epilogue Two



End of Celestial Worm

Hope you enjoyed the read!