Swan Song

Sleepy Hollow

"I never said you could come," Chris said irritably, first thing after answering the door. Something hit the back of his head - not that he winced - and a voice called out behind him.

"Let him in, you idiot. We owe him that much." It was Lily, who didn't look as cocky as she usually did. She wasn't wearing her school clothes, either, and was instead dressed in a skimpy red outfit, coupled with fishnets and everything. "You said there's something we can help you with?" Though it wasn't a question, she phrased it as one.

"No parents?" Lock asked, looking around the shabby hallway.

The twins exchanged a look, seemingly surprised. As usual, it was Ted who spoke. "They died ages ago. You seriously didn't know that? It was the talk of all of Pandora for months."

The look on Lily's face darkened, and Lock felt himself blush from embarrassment.

I guess I should've paid more attention to the people I'm meant to be ruling, he thought. pulling his scepter out of its bag. The reaction of the Karma family was instant.

"Where'd you get that?" Ted asked, walking toward him.

"I take it you know what it is, then?"

The three siblings exchanged worried looks, then started entering through one of the doors of the hallway.

"Let's go," said Lily, and Lock followed. Once he was inside the living room, the girl added, "Make yourself comfortable."

The four of them sat down at the average table, so Lock set the scepter down in front of himself, waiting for an explanation.

"That thing is a holy relic," Lily began. "They used to be the weapons used by eves with weak angels. Rather than use their angels' abilities, they sacrificed them instead, converting their powers into the rubies embedded into the relics. That cane of yours is no trinket, kid."

"I'm only a year younger than you."

"A kid, then," the girl said with a smirk. "Anyway, this is gonna be a question for a question. We told you we know what it is, now it's your turn to answer Ted."

Weighing the pros and cons, Lock decided it was alright to tell them, since everyone at the ball saw him being handed the scepter. "Glinda Clover gave it to me as a present for my ascension celebration party."

"And where did she get it?"

"I thought this was a question for a question."

Puffing her hair out of her eyes, Lily nodded.

"How do I use it?"

Rather than answer him, the pink-haired girl looked to her brothers for confirmation. Ted looked hesitant, but Chris nodded.

"You have to make a deal with an angel first," Lily said. "Not Samael - never the angel you're tied to. It has to be one of the ten archangels, who stand above even Samael. Just like with your ascension, one of them will give you a task. After you complete it, they'll unlock your dormant ability to wield a holy relic. Now," she paused again, looking back at Chris, who nodded once more, "tell us why you'd ever want to use it."

"Samael is useless to me," Lock answered honestly. "I can't use his power to find the Head Hunter, and I have no way of defending myself. My uncle says there were traces of angelic power on the Head Hunter's victims. At first, this made us think it had to be an eve whose angel could decapitate people - that's why I was visiting Sebastian that night, by the way - but then I got this scepter, and found out it has angelic power thanks to a person whose angel can sense it. If the Head Hunter has a power like it, then I'm gonna need something similar to combat his own."