Helen Ch 4
#4 of Cadi, Volume 7: Helen
Helen found herself... oddly disappointed to say goodbye to Robin for the night. She'd been a very good friend, and... Helen liked spending time with her.
Still, she was happy to get to spend a little bit of time chatting with Dawn in the courtyard of Cadi's home. She walked up to the window stone and placed her hand on it, running it over the smooth rock curiously. "There are no markings at all in it... not even tool marks from the shaping of it," she said distantly.
Dawn nodded her head, "From what we understand, Nothing is entirely responsible for its shape, which is why there are no marks."
Helen nodded, looking intently at it for a long moment before she took a deep breath, and turned away from the stone, smiling at Dawn. "True, I suppose," she said, shaking her head a little, "You're very nice, Dawn... I like you a lot. I can see why mom likes you too," she said with a sweet little giggle.
Dawn blushed a little, bringing her hand up to rub the back of her head lightly. "Hah... yeah... I still kind of... can't help but smile over how we first met... I was out in the park back in the district... and suddenly, there was this powerful tigress right behind me and... just wrapped her arm around me," she said, her blush darkening. "From what I understand now... I think I triggered her prey drive... but I've never regretted it," she said with a shy smile.
Something in Helen's brain tried to make a connection as she was talking, but... she lost it. Still, she smiled as she walked up to the doe and gave her a nice, big hug, "She needs someone sweet like you. I am happy that she has you... and I'm happy that I get to be part of your life now, too," she said.
Dawn just melted into the hug, returning it happily as her little tail was just flicking about, as happy as could be. "Thank you... I'm very glad to meet you, too..." she said, snuggling in against her a bit. "You are very sweet... and I look forward to spending more time with you."
They chatted for a bit longer, Dawn telling Hellen more about the community here. It was a very pleasant chat, and a good opportunity for Helen to learn before she said goodnight and went to the room that had been prepared for her. She lay down and just listened to the peaceful sounds of nature in this place. None of the toiling into the night she'd had to fall asleep to back at the temple. It was almost... too easy for her to conk out.
Soon, she found herself in a clearing within an ancient jungle. But, as she looked, she realized that there was something wrong with this place. The ground under her feet was harsh and unyielding. The trees and plants were singularly still, even though there was a breeze drifting through the place.
As she looked, she realized that this place wasn't... alive. Not truly, at least. Everything was made of raw, unpolished crystal, the edges hard and uneven. She frowned as she looked around, realizing that she even saw animals around the clearing, all of them solid and unmoving. It was like... the place was frozen in time.
It made her singularly uncomfortable as she tried to make sense of it all.
"Curious place, isn't it?" The voice came from behind her, and she turned quickly to look at where it came from.
What she saw was another tiger, like herself. Only... not quite. He looked as though he was made of shadows... but the way he held himself... was poised. Refined in a way. What was more, she could tell that he was wearing clothes that were well-tailored.
She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. He continued without waiting for her to say anything. "There is a kind of... stark beauty to it. Raw nature... but it really does just... lack the main thing that makes nature truly beautiful. Life."
Helen looked away from him, letting her eyes sweep across the clearing. "Yes... that's... that's what feels so wrong about it..." she said, taking a long, deep breath as she closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "You are... Nothing, aren't you? The... being that my mother is connected to, that allows her to use her powers."
Nothing looked pleasantly surprised as she said that. "Clever girl. A good memory, and a sharp mind. You've needed those to survive your father's domain, so I'm really not surprised. But yes, I am Nothing. I am very pleased to meet you, Helen Carys."
She straightened up and turned to more fully face him. "Thank you. This place... is it... the magic that is inside of me?" She was quite sure of the answer to that question, but she wanted to confirm it.
"Quite so. It is ancient magic, indeed. Some... five thousand years old, if I'm not mistaken, but... the magic that was used seems to be much older, still. Early in the Harapan period, I believe that puts it. Heaven knows why they would have created something like this, though."
Helen crouched once more, placing her hand against the ground as she closed her eyes and breathed. "They didn't... humans didn't... can't you feel it? This isn't human magic..." her eyes clenched tighter shut, "There's... anger in it... hatred..." she said, grimacing as though that caused her pain.
"Yes... you feel it... don't you? They understood what was happening in the world... and they were trying to fight it... but it didn't work."
"It did... when I used it... because I didn't have the hate that corrupted them... the magic rejected their intent... but, because I came to it free of malice... it..."
"Accepted you. It didn't realize what it was doing when it was first activated, it simply followed its last instructions. But... by the time you returned, it understood what had happened. That is why it destroyed its hate-corrupted vessel and moved to you... and it destroyed the ruins that had been built for it, so as to prevent what had happened from repeating."
She was almost crying there in her dream as she held her hand against the cold, crystalline earth beneath herself. "It hates this... hates what they made it..." she said, starting to gasp for air as she ached with it, shared in its pain.
Nothing didn't offer any further comments at that, simply standing there quietly as he watched Helen. She was communing with the magic for the first time, and neither of them could stand what had been made of it.
Helen raised the hand that had been touching the ground and balled it into a fist before she brought it down against the ground. There was a powerful crack that echoed throughout the clearing as Nothing watched long if slender cracks radiate outward from where Helen had struck. The tigress repeated the action, again and again, causing more cracks to radiate outward, cleaving through the space. Nothing even deftly side-stepped one or two of the fractures as they formed.
As she continued to hammer at the earth, the cracks became deeper and more pronounced, until... the clearing was filled with the sound of shattering crystal. For a moment, it was hard to see around the place as the crystals fragmented into fine dust, which continued to crumble until there was nothing of it left.
Helen knelt there on the ground, her hands holding herself up as she panted heavily, just trying to catch her breath. Feeling the release, she could not stop her fingers from curling... but rather than scraping along unyielding crystal... she felt her claws digging through the soft earth.
Before she even opened her eyes, she could hear... the sounds of life surrounding her, echoing throughout the clearing. The wind was rustling through the leaves properly once more... birds were singing as they flitted among the trees, their songs filled with delight... and the animals... she could hear their hooves and paws striking the ground as they cried out at their liberation from their millennia-long imprisonment.
Helen began to cry and laugh, letting her tears fall onto the earth as she felt the release of the place, her face covered in a giant smile as she knelt there. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked about the place, her expression full of joy as she saw the creatures reveling in their renewed life.
She looked up at Nothing and smiled, bringing one hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes as she started to stand up once more. "I... thank you... for helping me understand... what I needed to do..." she said, still quite short of breath.
Nothing smiled at her, shaking his head. "You already understood... and knew what you needed to do. All I did was give you the nudge you needed. You are a remarkable girl, Helen. I am very proud of you."
He extended his closed hand to her, opening his fingers to reveal a... seed in his palm. It was quite a good-sized seed, but that was truly all it was. "I have a gift to offer you, Helen. A seed to plant within this grove. Yes... it is a seed of chaos, in a way, but what is life if not chaos?" He laughed softly at the question. "But, I can assure you that it is not a seed of destruction. This place needs new life in it, now that it lives again."
Helen looked at the seed, clearly thinking it through very carefully. "This won't... bind my magic to you, will it? Leave it at your whim?"
Nothing laughed and shook his head, "Oh, good heavens, no. I will have no ability to tap into the magic here. This seed will allow it to draw on the energy from my home, the way that plants draw upon the energy of the sun. Nothing more. This place is starved for real energy, and I offer this to help it recover and thrive once more," he explained.
Helen listened closely and nodded her head. "I... see..." she breathed as a wolf padded up by her side, leaning against her leg. She looked down at the wolf, holding its gaze for a long moment before she nodded her head, repeating herself more confidently. "I see." However, this one wasn't directed at Nothing, but rather the wolf.
Helen then took the seed from Nothing's hand, saying, "Thank you," before she walked over to a small stream that meandered into the clearing. She dug a hole in the soft, damp earth, where she placed the seed, covering it over with soil. She moved back and watched as the green shoot soon broke the surface, taking the shape of a small sapling before it settled down.
Nothing smiled and came to stand beside Helen. "It will grow as the place is ready for it. But it will give nourishment to the land... rather than suck sustenance from it. Be ready for your power to grow with it... though... I really don't need to say that, do I? Your heart is ready. You will use this wisely, I have no doubt... and you will work very hard to breathe new life into this world... and the one around you.
Helen then did something that Nothing didn't expect. She smiled at him and gave him a nice, big hug. "Thank you, Nothing."
He was quite taken aback by that, but after a moment, he smiled and returned the hug. "Thank you, Helen," he said, stroking her shoulders gently. "Have a good rest of the night communing with your magic."
He disappeared from her dreamscape, leaving her to stretch out on the grass as the animals of the space came to greet her.
Meanwhile, as Cadi slept curled around Dawn, Nothing came to her in her dream. "You have a truly remarkable daughter. Though, I suppose, it's fairer to say that we have a truly remarkable daughter," he said, chuckling before he left her just a little confused by his statement... but she just drifted along and relaxed within her dream for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Tammy was groggily making her way down to the lab, yawning nice and big as she sipped on her monster travel mug of coffee. Even as a human, she'd never been a morning person, but with everything going on right now, she knew that she needed to be on top of things at work.
She didn't quite register as Helen came up to her, though at the very least, she didn't swarm her. That wouldn't have done well for the semi-conscious Tammy. No, she came up to her, carrying some lovely, hot pastries in a basket that she'd just picked up from a bakery. "Tammy, I need to talk with you," she said, her voice gentle and easy.
Tammy's eyes lifted to look at Helen as she yawned. Her eyes drifted from the pastries up to Helen, her eyebrow raised as she chuckled a little. "Either this is something bad... or something really good..." she said with a little laugh. "Let's keep walking, otherwise I might zonk out standing up," she added, and... yeah. Helen could see that.
They kept walking as Helen breathed and smiled, "I slept at Cadi's home last night, and I had a dream... I communed with my magic and even had a conversation with Nothing. He's nice."
Tammy looked up at Helen as they walked, raising her eyebrow. "Are you sure you met the right Nothing," she asked with a laugh as they went along.
Helen giggled and smiled, "Yes. Anyway, when the dream started... my magic was... there was something wrong with it. Everything was frozen in crystal, unable to move. I think that whoever made the spell that I encountered... was trying to use something even more ancient to stop humans from developing in the area. Only, they did a very bad thing with it and made it... wrong."
As they talked, Helen could see Tammy properly starting to wake up, now that she had something to really focus on. "Really... that... could explain some of what I saw in your pattern... so... after you realized that, what did you do?"
Helen laughed and smiled as they were nearing the palace. "I broke the crystal."
Tammy stopped, looking up at Helen in shock. "You... what?"
"I realized that the crystal was what was wrong with it. The way that it was all just... frozen like that. It was meant to be alive. So, I pounded on the crystals until everything just... shattered. All of the life within the magic was freed. Nothing even gave me a seed to plant, which will let my magic regain its energy by drawing on his home, but I spent most of last night just... spending time with the animals in there, loving on them."
Tammy's eyes were sharply focused now, and she nodded her head. "Right. So, to the scanner," she said, moving quickly with Helen to the lab to where she could read Helen's magical signature again.
As soon as she got everything up and running, and Helen was standing in position, Tammy's jaw nearly hit the floor as she looked at her monitor. All of the harshness to Helen's pattern was gone. More than that, where her pattern had been static, it now flowed and swirled in an elegant dance, the central focus of the pattern directly over Helen's heart.
Helen could see the monitor from where she stood, and she smiled warmly, nodding her head. "That... looks like how it feels now," she said, giggling a little at the way that the energy flowed while Tammy fired off a couple of quick messages from the computer, including pictures of the new magic pattern.
A moment later, Cadi appeared in the lab without even opening a portal, striding across the room to look at the monitor. She'd still been wearing what she wore for bed, but within the first few steps, clothes had materialized around her body. She stared at the new, dynamic pattern for a long moment before she turned her head to look at Helen. "So... do you want to explain why Nothing just... randomly popped into my dream last night and told me that you are 'truly remarkable' before disappearing once more?"
Helen couldn't help but laugh, smiling from ear to ear. "He visited me in my dream last night, where I was communing with my magic... he helped me understand what I needed to do, and before he left... I gave him a hug."
Cadi stared at Helen in surprise. "You... gave him a hug... huh. Okay. Yeah. I can understand his reason now," she said with a laugh, bringing her hand up to her forehead while Helen recounted the events of the dream that night to Cadi.
Cadi looked at the monitor once more, her brow furrowed. "It does... kind of leave you wondering if it was the writings of those ancient people that taught Zaros his... world view..."
Helen frowned and shook her head. "I don't think it was just that... I think he was just... vulnerable to it... so that when he found it... it resonated with him. I still don't know why... but right now, it's not something that we're really able to worry about," she said with a heavy sigh, as Cadi watched the pattern swirl... comfortingly around Helen.
She smiled and just couldn't help but watch the pattern for a little while, a little mesmerized by it. "It is quite beautiful..." she said before turning back to look at Helen, walking over to her daughter, and stroking her cheek. "As beautiful as the young woman that you are. I am sorry that I wasn't able to be there for you for more of your life."
Helen smiled and wrapped her arms around Cadi, purring softly. "I'm... I'm not. Zaros would have done too much to you... hurt you too badly. Me... he just ignored for the most part." She nuzzled into Cadi's chest, purring and just breathing deeply.
They held each other for a long moment before Cadi's nose sniffed at the air, finally registering the scents in the room. "Are those... Ry's pastries?" She asked curiously, lifting her head to scan the room.
Tammy laughed and smiled, "Yeah. She brought a whole basket of them in. They're still warm if you want one," she said, giggling and nudging the basket toward Cadi.
Robin was also awake bright and early, though she wasn't exactly... up and running. She was still in her room in the castle, her wardrobe thrown open and clothes scattered around the room. She was dressed, staring intently at herself in the mirror before she scowled and growled, pulling the outfit off and adding it to the piles of discarded clothes around the room before she started rooting around for another outfit to try on.
Caroline knocked on the door, getting a highly agitated "Yes?!" from Robin.
She gently opened the door and stepped inside, closing it quietly behind her. She saw the mess around the room and smiled, chuckling softly. "Wardrobe issues today?"
Robin was halfway through pulling her next outfit on before she suddenly pulled it off and threw it to one side. There was anger, frustration, and the start of tears in her eyes. "I just can't find something that feels right..." she said, her breathing quick and anxious.
Caroline smiled and came over to her, gently placing her paw on Robin's shoulder. "Easy there, hun. Easy. Talk me through what you're struggling with, and I'll see what I can do to help."
So, Robin explained just what she was fighting with. Everything just felt wrong to her. Too formal. Too forward. Too playful. Too severe. As she listened, though, Caroline paid less attention to the specific details of the outfits that Robin was describing, and smiled softly. "Mmm... I think I see the problem. You don't know what to wear when you go to meet up with Helen again."
Robin froze, staring at Caroline in shock as the former nun hit the nail right on the head of what was going wrong. She was baffled at how she'd figured that out so quickly. As she relaxed from her frozen state, she slumped, breathing out heavily. "I just... don't understand... why this is so difficult..." she said, bringing her hands up to her face to rub it in frustration.
Caroline laughed softly and just pulled Robin into a hug, stroking her back gently. "My silly girl... you've never let yourself... really feel love for anyone after your mother died."
Robin lifted her head up and glared at Caroline. "What the hell do you mean?!? I've loved everyone from the crew! I mean... hell... I burned my way through the criminal underground of England to protect them... and the furs in the districts... I took down corrupt politicians for them... and the whole neighborhood... I brought them here... somewhere that they could be safe... and... happy..." she said, struggling more and more as she went on.
Caroline smiled and nodded her head softly. "Yes. You've done so many wonderful things for all of us. But... it's all been an arm's length kind of love. Good deeds done out of an honest interest in the happiness of others. But you've never... really had much to show from it all for yourself. You've fostered and nurtured the happiness of others... without a thought for your own deeper needs. Because those needs are connected to far too much pain for you," she said, her hand coming up to stroke Robin's head.
Her words were really hitting home for the young vixen, who was breathing rather heavily. "I... I mean... that... makes sense... but... what I don't get is why all of this is hitting me so hard right now... I don't get what has changed."
Caroline couldn't help but giggle and smile at Robin. "You are a brilliant girl... but also very silly. It's one of the things that I love about you."
Robin intended to scowl at the tigress for that, but... it came out as a pout.
"You've found someone who makes you... truly happy... not someone whose happiness you want to just provide for... but someone whose happiness means the world to you... and who makes you happy in a very deep and personal way."
As Caroline spoke, a look of mixed understanding and horror formed on Robin's face, her jaw falling lightly open as things started falling into place in her brain. They were pieces that... had been bothering her, like a cavity. "Shut up," she said, her heart starting to race in her chest as she stared at Caroline in disbelief.
The former nun laughed softly and smiled tenderly at Robin. "Oh... trust me. I've seen it enough times," she said with a little bit of a smirk, "Besides, I wasn't always a nun, even before I became a fur."
Robin grimaced at that, "I'm not sure I want to think about that right now..."
Caroline laughed and shook her head, sighing. "Well, without going into the gory details, I'll just leave it at saying that I've known young love, and I've been exactly where you are right now. Come on. Let me pick something out for you, and you're just going to have to trust me on it," she said, her tone firm and... there really wasn't any room for argument.
Soon enough, Robin was dressed in... what were, for her, fairly normal clothes. She tried, unsuccessfully to argue that these wouldn't do. Still, Caroline marched her out of her room and into the rest of the castle, despite the fact that she looked like a teenager being marched off to school all over again.
Caroline walked her to the castle's portal to the palace and went with her down to the labs, where Cadi, Tammy, and Helen were still chatting away about the magic that Helen now had. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Robin's sullen expression melt in a heartbeat when she saw Helen.
The younger tigress lit up when she saw Robin and came right over to her. "Robin! I've got exciting news! I... I kind of fixed my magic last night!"
Robin blinked as the tigress suddenly hugged her, but all three of the others in the room saw how happy that embrace made her as she returned the hug, resting her head against Helen's. It was a long moment before she said, "That's awesome news, Helen. So... what does that mean?"
Helen drew back just enough to where she could look into Robin's face without breaking the hug completely. "When I dreamed last night, I was... communing with my magic. It was an ancient spell that had been... misused. It was meant to stop the advance of humanity, but it just wound up... being kind of frozen in time. I unfroze it... shattered the crystals that were keeping everything trapped. Tammy and mom have been helping me explore just what I can do all morning," she said excitedly, pointing at the monitor that had her new aura scan still projected on it.
Robin stared at it for a long moment, seeing how it had changed from earlier. It... was almost like night and day... from something rigid to something truly alive. "Wow... that's unbelievable..." she said with a little laugh, "But, then again, so was it when I first connected with my magic."
Helen beamed at her. "I'd love to hear that story. Maybe a bit later? Dawn was telling me about a really nice park in the area that I think would be nice to spend some time at."
Cadi and Christine exchanged knowing smiles with one another, the smiles of two parents who saw what was happening between their kids... and genuinely approved of it.
Robin smiled goofily and nodded her head. "That sounds great. I might need to pick up something to eat on the way there. I've been a bit too preoccupied to grab breakfast," she said with a little laugh as her stomach growled.
Helen laughed and perked up at that. "I just found a really nice bakery. We can stop by there... maybe get some stuff for a picnic," she said warmly.
Robin could not help but smile from ear to ear at the suggestion. "That sounds... wonderful..."
Cadi and Christine helped the girls out, setting them up with a basket with plates and drinks, and a blanket to lay out for them to sit on. The two then popped by the bakery, and the bright blue dragoness behind the counter was more than happy to finish filling out their basket with pastries and even a few savory items, like sausage rolls and some nice cheesy treats as well.
They made their way down to the park, finding a nice spot to lay out the blanket next to the small lake before they tucked into the food together, just enjoying the quiet moment in the shade of a lovely oak tree while the wind rippled along the surface of the lake.
Neither of them were really in much of a hurry to get onto anything resembling business. Still, after a while, when they were contentedly full, Helen gave Robin a playful smile. "So... what was that you were saying about your first time connecting with your magic?"
Robin laughed and shook her head a little, sighing. "Well, for starters... when I graduated from school and had to get a job... I... really didn't have a lot of luck getting a normal job. I made a lot of money playing cards with people, but that was about it. Then one of my friends... started acting weird. I knew something was up, and when I found out that their douchebag of a boyfriend was trying to force her to take drugs so that he could control her and make her do... horrible things, I knew that I needed to do something about it."
"So, I found where he was getting his drugs from, and I watched the place, and when I was sure I knew how things worked there, I snuck in and set parts of the building on fire to get the attention of the authorities, so they'd find what was there. I... might have also stolen a lot of the money, too, but they were in jail, so they really couldn't complain," she said with a laugh. "I kind of... made a career of doing that kind of thing, and I used the money I stole from the criminals to help people who needed it. My whole crew is people I helped like that."
"Anyway, I went on one job where I ran into something I hadn't run into before. They had security cameras, and while I was getting the evidence ready for the authorities in the office, a bunch of the criminals came to deal with me. I hid behind the desk, and that was when Nothing finally spoke to me. He promised to help me, and I really wasn't in a position to fuss," she said with a laugh. "So, with his help, I knocked all of them out and tied them up. He even showed me how to teleport all of the money back to my home."
Helen was amazed by her story, listening intently. "So... in order to help people who... were being hurt... you... went after the kind of people who were hurting them... in order to help them..." she said, her expression becoming very thoughtful. "That... kind of sounds like what we need to do now... with my family..." she said, looking bothered by that.
Robin reached out and put her hand on top of Helen's paw. "Hey. Just because I had to hurt some of the people I fought, I never killed anyone. Even the fires that I set... I was really careful with those. It wasn't just about preserving the evidence for the authorities, I just... I've never been about killing. Even in the fight at the cafe, I was careful to only knock them out or stop them from being able to fight. So, as much as yeah... I'm an expert in going after the people who are hurting others, I'm also an expert in doing so without killing them. Your family will be alright," she said, though she couldn't feel entirely confident about Zaros, himself. That... that was eating at her pretty badly.
Helen frowned and nodded her head. "I think... a lot of them will be fine... we just have to get through to them."
Robin laughed softly, sighing as she shook her head, "And deal with the N-crystals that they've gotten hold of. Our saving grace is that they're not going to be experts on how to use them. We've got a better sense of how to use the powers to our advantage than they do. That, and we've got the wild card that is your magic."
Helen thought for a moment, nodding slowly as she processed what Helen was saying. "That's a very good point. And with what I've learned with my magic, I'm not worried about the army. The only thing I really have to worry about is if Zaros turns on any of them in frustration when they lock up," she said with a tired laugh, shaking her head.
"Still... it's kind of starting to feel like we've got a better chance at pulling this off than not, right? Almost makes you worry about what we're missing," she said with a sigh, putting her hands behind her on the blanket to prop herself up as she leaned back a bit. "But those are all questions for other days... or at least, not questions for a nice picnic on a pretty morning like this," she said with a little laugh.
She froze a little at what Helen did next, though, scooting in closer to her as she lightly nestled in against Robin's side. The vixen's heart started racing a little, her body tensing for a split second before she relaxed, taking one of her arms and wrapping it around Helen as she just breathed. She leaned her head lightly against Helen's, making a soft, contented noise to her as they just enjoyed the morning together.
Christine was right... this outfit was just fine... and fuck it... she was falling for this tigress. At least the feelings were mutual... at least as far as Robin could tell. She was hardly an expert... but this kind of cuddling was... nice...