Twisted Sister

Chapter Three

One moment Callisto was in the blurred, shadowy landscape of her home village, the next moment she was back in front of the cave where she had been resurrected. She was frozen in place once more, and Vector was standing in front of her. He was looking at her and shaking his head.

"It makes so much sense," he muttered. "I remember Saris's trip overseas. I wish I had known about you years ago. You might have been of use to me."

Callisto wanted to scream and demand he send her back to her parents, but even her voice was frozen. She tried nevertheless, and felt searing pain as a result. She refused to let it stop her.

"Whhh..." was the only sound she could manage. Vector raised an eyebrow.

"By the book, itself!" He exclaimed. "You shouldn't be able to do that. It would cause you unbearable pain even to try."

"Tell me something I don't know, you idiot," Callisto thought as she continued trying to speak. The pain intensified, but she refused to acknowledge it. Vector watched her for a time with a look of fascination on his face. Finally he altered the spell to allow her to speak, though she remained frozen otherwise. After unleashing a torrent of profanity and death threats, Callisto ordered the wizard to let her see her parents again.

"Those were just images from the past," Vector replied. "Your mother and her husband are long dead."

The wizard's choice of words struck Callisto as odd, but she repeated her demand. "I don't care! I want to see my mother and father again!"

"Bah! You don't even know your father."

"What?"

"Let me show you the truth," Vector said as he reached toward her and placed his hands on either side of her head. "It will probably destroy your idyllic memories of your family, but after all the indignities you've heaped upon me today, it's the least I can do."

Callisto saw Vector's lips twist into a cruel smile as images flooded into her brain. The wizard was showing her the truth of her parentage. Callisto could sense that there was no deception involved. She didn't know how to deal with the knowledge. Vector seemed to sense her confusion. He laughed at her.

"My...my father?" Callisto finally said.

"Your real father doesn't know you exist," Vector said mockingly. "He wouldn't care if he did know."

Callisto felt rage well up within her. "NO!" she screamed. "I don't believe you! Tell me about my father!"

Vector still had his hands on Callisto and his link into her mind was still active when she started screaming at him. The undiluted purity of her anger took him aback. He started to break the spell, and was frightened when he discovered he could not.

"Tell me!" Callisto demanded. Through sheer will she had managed to push her way into Vector's mind via the spell link. He tried to cast her out but she would not stop. A vast store of arcane knowledge was at Vector's disposal, but Callisto's mind was filled with a chaotic insanity that refused to yield. It was the darkness of the Blackpool heritage taken to the ultimate extreme, and it could not be denied. Vector could feel Callisto pulling thoughts from his mind. Desperate to keep her from learning any secrets that could return to haunt him, he surrendered some knowledge that he hoped would satisfy her. The mental contact between them ended abruptly and Vector dropped to his knees. The sudden collapse of the link left Vector dazed and unable to concentrate. He realized that the spell that held Callisto frozen had been disrupted. She was free and he was momentarily helpless. He watched the warrior nervously as he tried to gather his wits for a simple teleportation. Callisto didn't move. She stood staring off into space, a blank look on her face. Finally she spoke.

"That's why I'm back," she murmured. Then she turned her attention to Vector. "Don't you see?" she asked in a louder voice. "That's why I'm back! I have another chance!"

She became animated as she spoke, and her face lit up. "All these years I thought I was alone, but I have a family. I still have a family!"

There seemed to be a look of joy on Callisto's face, but there was an intensity to her expression that Vector found disturbing. At least, she seemed to have no interest in doing him any harm.

"It's sad that Papa is in a coma," she said somewhat subdued, then added hopefully. "But, he could get better someday."

Vector was glad he'd managed to keep the knowledge of who had caused Saris's coma from Callisto.

"And now I have a sister again!" Callisto went on. "And brothers! I always wanted brothers!" She started giggling. "Dirk, Geoffrey, Galen.... I can't wait to meet them!"

She turned and kneeled down to Vector, a wide smile on her face and her eyes moist with tears of joy.

"This is just so wonderful," she said, and then kissed the wizard full on the lips. When she broke away, the stunned Vector could only watch dumbfounded as she skipped, literally skipped, away.

As she faded into the distance, Vector managed to compose his thoughts and stood. "I'd best tell Dirk about this," he thought. "I don't know who Callisto will find first, but in any case, it should be quite a family reunion."

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