We Are Bulletproof

"Hello?"

Cori wandered through the darkness, completely lost. He peered off into the distance in several directions but all he saw was the darkness; it stretched on forever. Slowly and cautiously he began to walk, feeling the air in front of him for obstacles. He didn't want to faceplant into a pole or a wall or something!

It was a frightening situation that he'd been thrust into but strangely, Cori didn't feel scared. Normally he was a big old ball of nerves unless Lieve was around to keep him calm. Here he was alone, surrounded by darkness, and... nothing. If anything he was curious. Where was he? Which realm was this? Was this a dream of some kind?

The last thing he remembered was helping Brayden Smith. He touched his wrist and then... poof! He ended up here! Cori was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen... (Duh!) But he also didn't know that for sure because it felt like the second he activated his abilities, envisioning Brayden Smith coming back to life, someone pulled him here. Someone had been waiting for him maybe, or waiting for this moment.

He kept walking slowly and cautiously and eventually a tiny pinprick of light showed off to his left. In the darkness, it was very noticeable so he headed for it. Each step brought him closer and the light grew brighter until he came upon two small figures off in the distance, which turned out to be... "Two?!" Cori gasped in shock. They both turned to him but only one seemed shocked. The other one immediately held out his hand to Cori in a welcoming gesture.

"Hi...?" Cori approached. He took the one Brayden's hand and was drawn into a warm hug, while the other one continued to look stunned. "Um. I'm Cori. I—they said they needed somebody to help bring back... you?" But which one?! Was this a good Brayden, bad Brayden situation and he had to make sure he chose the right one? Both of them seemed nice though!

"Hello Cori," said the one hugging him. He pulled back and led Cori over to a large throne and drew him down to sit, while the other Brayden perched on the broad armrest on the other side. "I'm Brayden. And this is..." He laughed softly. "This is also Brayden. He's the one who needs to go back with you."

"You can call me Bee," said the other one gently but he had an anxious look on his face. "Is everyone okay? Jack?"

"Everybody seems okay. And Jack—oh he's umm." He wasn't doing so hot... but Cori didn't want to make Bee worry. Cori wasn't the lying type but Bee seemed to know without being told. His eyes grew a little misty and he quickly turned away. Out of politeness, Cori didn't stare but his heart throbbed sympathetically.

"Are you a soul weaver?" Brayden lightly touched his hand to draw his attention.

Cori shrugged. "I'm not sure. My mom's a celestial but she never told me she was one and then she got kidnapped so... I don't know what she was. And my dad... Rip told me he's the King of the Fallen. Oh Rip's my friend... He knows a lot about this stuff and I trust him." He felt that he needed to stand up for Rip pre-emptively since so many people didn't seem to like him. Even Lieve, who was normally so friendly and cool with all kinds of different folks, didn't trust him but Cori did. Rip was his brother!

Brayden seemed disappointed. He passed a gentle hand over Cori's hair but now he, too, looked terribly sad. "So not a full-fledged soul weaver then," he sighed.

Cori felt the sting of disappointing him acutely but at the same time he had no idea what he was doing—outside or here. "I-I can still try though, right?" He leaned forward, eager to help but so clueless. "I mean everybody says I have a ton of power and Lieve's been training me to use them! Can't I try it?"

Brayden's hand stilled; he looked at first pensive, and then conflicted. "You can try," he said slowly, as though very carefully choosing his words, "but you don't have enough power to bring Bee back into his body because you are part Fallen. The only way you might conceivably succeed is if..." He stopped altogether and appeared reluctant to finish his thought.

Meanwhile, Cori was hanging on to his every word. "What? How? How can I do it? I'll do anything Brayden!"

"...you need to bridge the land of the living and the land of the dead. With another soul."

"What? Where would I—" Cori trailed off, eyes wide. "There's no other way?"

"No, I'm afraid not. It's a miracle you managed to get here, but you only have enough power to bring yourself in and out. You'd need the power of another one to take Bee back with you..."

"What kind of soul—"

"No." Bee spoke up so firmly that Cori felt almost chastised. "No I can't ask anyone else to do that."

Brayden didn't say anything; he looked down into his lap, still so sad, so conflicted. Cori felt a sudden desire to... to move around so he leapt to his feet and began pacing. That was horrible! To have to ask someone to give up their soul so that Bee could come back with him... Who would do it?

"What'll happen to them if I take their soul? Will they get stuck here?" He turned back to the throne, frowning, fretful.

"Yes. Or they may move on. It depends on the person and where they are, what stage of growth their souls have achieved. But I... have to agree with Bee. It's too much of a sacrifice."

Cori began pacing again, up and down, left to right. "Can't we—" he began, but cut himself off. Whatever ideas he had, they were all pretty bad. Taking anyone's soul was bad. "What if I find another soul weaver? Like a full one? Then they could do this right? Right Brayden? Bee?"

They looked at each other and exchanged some kind of gentle, resigned smile. "Yes," Brayden sighed, but he didn't look all that hopeful. "Yes if you can find one in time... Yes, it's possible to save Bee."

"What about you Brayden?" Cori returned to the throne and sat back down beside him. He felt a kind of strange connection with Brayden. Bee was nice, but he was a stranger; Brayden on the other hand felt very familiar to him, in a very strange way. Latching onto Brayden's hand, he squeezed it. "Are you gonna get out too?"

Brayden squeezed his hand back and there was a fond look in his eyes. "No, darling. I'm tethered to this realm. If I leave, the entire realm will collapse and... that can never happen. But don't worry—" he added hastily, seeing Cori beginning to rise again in his agitated state, "—once Bee gets out, he knows how to free me. Right Bee?"

"Right. We've been training here and planning for when I get back."

Cori nodded slowly but his heart felt heavy. "And what if..." He hated voicing the thought but it seemed to need to be said aloud. "What if I don't find somebody in time? What happens to both of you?"

There was a long silence. Brayden's voice sounded as heavy as Cori's heart. "Then I wait for the next cycle... And Bee..." The way he trailed off made Cori feel ultra jumpy and unhappy and just... upset. He was very, very upset.

"I'll be okay. Either way. I know you'll do your best, Cori, but don't... don't feel like it's your fault if you can't find someone in time." Bee leaned over to touch his hair too, a brotherly, genuinely comforting touch. Cori's heart lurched in his chest. "I'm sorry we have to put this on you. Whatever happens, please, don't blame yourself. Please. Brayden and I will be okay, whatever the outcome."

Cori leapt up again. "I'll go back and look right now! I'll find a way!" He felt an ugly frantic desperation inside to help them. He had to help them! Look at them! They were so... sad. And so nice, and Jack was counting on him—he couldn't let down his own brother!

"Tell Jack I'll meet him in his dreams," Bee said with a small smile. "And thank you, Cori. Thank you." He stood up and embraced Cori, and Brayden did the same. Then they faded and the darkness claimed Cori's vision again.

"Okay." Cori gulped nervously and looked back at Lieve when Lieve let go of his hand. He didn't drop it, though. He just let go, like... like a mama bird gently letting go of her baby bird so that it could learn to fly on its own.

Honestly Cori didn't know what a soul weaver was or even how he was supposed to bring someone back from the dead! But so much of what happened to him that exposed his powers involved touching things. People. Touching lights, touching peppers that blew up. Touch and imagination seemed to be his conduits so he thought it wouldn't hurt to touch Brayden Smith and see what happened.

Slowly he approached the bed. The grief and sorrow became overpowering but he imagined himself with a shield in front of him, and the sensations dimmed. Okay... good. Cori clambered onto the bed (having toed his shoes off at the door like a good boy) and sat on Brayden Smith's other side. Poor Jack--his brother, which was weird to think of--looked so heartbroken and miserable that it made his own heart throb.

Cori looked at Leive again as though looking for guidance--but really he just wanted some kind of visual moral support. And then, after taking in a deep breath, he reached out and lightly slipped his fingertips over the inside of Brayden Smith's wrist.

And then the entire room went dark and Cori fell onto the bed beside him in a heap.

Cori looked over his shoulder just before they entered the bedroom and he saw everyone sitting together, holding each other. Mik was guiding Rip's head onto his shoulder and hugging him tight. And for a few seconds, his light--weaker than the others' because he was human--beat in time to Rip's light. Then they separated, pulsing gently to their own slightly mismatched beat.

That didn't seem like a terrible thing to Cori, the fact that Mik's light was starting to beat with Rip's. He looked again; the others' lights were much more in synch, much closer in their brightness and color. Theirs were like his and Lieve's so he assumed that they were soul mates.

Once they passed into the bedroom, all else was forgotten. Cori was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of grief radiating off of the man in the bed holding on to Brayden Smith. Jack. His brother. Cori squeezed Lieve's hand tighter as they approached but he didn't say anything. There was nothing he could say to comfort someone in such an advanced stage of grief. Even his light was dim, as though it, too, had started to give up.

"I-I'm not sure what I am," he said softly as he gripped Lieve's hand. Maybe Lieve could see the faint light too, in Jack's chest. There was nothing in Brayden Smith, though. Cori sensed that he wasn't fully dead because there was still a kind of gentle, pure aura coming from him but he... he sure looked dead.

"I can try to help. Um. Maybe if I can touch him? Is that okay?" He didn't want to lay hands on Brayden Smith without Jack's permission--that just seemed like an insensitive thing to do.

Okay cause
I don't want to...

Anyway I'm gonna get ready so we can head out!

Yeah!!

Wait I don't have to hurt anybody do I? :(

It's gonna be okay guys

I can do it! What good is having all this power if I can't use it to help people right?

I'll be okay guys! 🙂

Let's go see what's up before it's too late!

:( if rip needs help we gotta help him

"...RIGHT!" Cori said loudly, as though only sheer volume could convey how much he understood Lieve's instructions. Putting out the lights sounded. Uh. Bad. Like... like he could kill them if he did that. And he didn't want to die and he didn't want Lieve to die, most importantly!

So he imagined the lights being covered up, but not extinguished. Not even switched off, that sounded alarming as well. Just covered. Cloaked. He cloaked everything--himself and Lieve, their lights, their True Names and true forms--because even in his naivete, Cori understood that there were some mighty bad people out there.

Once the lights were covered--covered--he breathed out a sigh of immense relief. Then his stomach rumbled and he let out a silly laugh because this didn't seem like the time to be hungry... but it had been a really long time since he'd had any food! "Crepes?" he asked Lieve hopefully, still clinging to his... soul mate's hand. It kinda seemed like the sorta thing they should talk about on full stomachs, that soul mate business--the kind of thing which needed them to not be distracted by empty tummies.

NVM!! I'm staying at my current place but thanks anyway!

"He seemed really invested..." Cori glanced down at his hands. Magic hands, huh? Magic fingers! Just like Lieve's! They really were soul mates. Something in that warmed his heart and settled him, just the knowledge that he had his soul mate here anchoring him. At least, he wasn't panicking anymore! That was a good thing, right?

"Um. So. What... what happens now?" He looked down at their hearts, at their lights now twinkling as one. They pulsed and beat together, both shining brightly. Cori put a hand over his eyes. Too bright!

"Can you teach me how to not see the light?" He blinked again, eyes watering. "It's blinding me!"

As soon as Lieve whispered his True Name, Cori felt like something snapped inside—in a good way. Like when his glamor had bound him too tightly, and when he imagined it falling away, it suddenly did. But this time Lieve did it! Lieve freed him from the constricting feeling just by whispering the word that flashed through his mind.

"Yeah..."

He felt like he was finally awake. He had awakened. A whole lot of feelings—very intense feelings—surged out of him and suddenly he realized with blinding clarity that he... he loved Lieve very much. Not only with his heart, but with his whole soul, too. With everything that was him, he loved Lieve.

This was... new. Cori thought he had feelings for Lieve but he didn't know if they were enough. He doubted his own feelings. He heard about love, listened to songs about it, read stories about it, but what they described didn't seem to describe him. And he never felt anything for other people except platonically, even though a handful of people seemed to quite like him. If he felt anything it was only for Lieve and he loved Lieve quietly on the side, thinking that maybe he was just emotionally stunted or something.

But now he understood that there was a barrier there protecting him. Who put it there? His mom? Didn't she want him to awaken? Or maybe she wanted him to realize his abilities first... so that he could protect himself and Lieve. That seemed more in line with who she was because Cori knew that she loved Lieve like he was part of the family!

"I think... um... I think..." His voice cracked a little in the middle, as his brain raced to keep up with what was happening. Cori leaned in closer; he couldn't keep his eyes off of Lieve. Was it just him or was there something different about Lieve too? Like he was extra pretty somehow (even though he was unbelievably pretty normally too). "Mik was right..."

Soul mates! It had a nice ring to it, didn't it? The mate to his soul was right here sitting next to him. Cori wondered how soul mates worked. Was it set at birth? Did he have a soul mate even when he was a tiny little baby held in his mom's arms? How come he never knew he had one? This seemed like something he should've known or felt...

His mom must have known something he didn't though, to hide his True Name from even himself. She let Cori think he was human all his life! To protect him? From... his own father, the man who kidnapped her? There was so much he didn't know! But first things first, he needed to get this soul mates thing settled, because it felt important. It felt like a thing he should know, who his soul mate was and what his own True Name was!

Cori nodded and reached out to touch Lieve's chest too, right over his heart's light. He closed his eyes tightly like he did earlier, thinking that somehow it might help him to visualize his name. That barrier inside shivered and he began to see the fuzzy, blurry word in his mind more clearly. Slowly it drifted to the forefront of his mind.

Aidna.

No, Cori didn't know what it meant that Lieve had his True Name—and vice versa, apparently! He shook his head, still searching for that name that wouldn't be recalled. It was with Lieve. His True Name resided within the heart and soul of his mate, where it could be kept safe for all time. The only one who would not use it against him was Lieve.

"Oh... soul mates..." He watched Lieve demonstrating with his hands, making a heart. Cori was one half heart, Lieve was the other. Left hand and right hand—both indispensable. "We? We're soul mates?" It was a strange thought but a romantic one. Was that why he was so drawn to Lieve from the beginning? They became best friends so easily that Cori never gave thought to how or why. They meshed; they got along. It seemed a given that they should be close.

"Maybe if we touched each other at the same time, we'll both get it." He didn't know if it would work but they could just do it and find out! Now that Cori knew it didn't hurt, he was less afraid to try different things. He reached out but only touched a shoulder. "I think I know it, it's just... stuck behind something. Like somebody didn't want me to find it so they hid it..."

Cori let Lieve's hand drop at the same time that he let out the breath he'd been holding, coming back down to Earth with a bump and a shake of the head. His eyes snapped open and the images and visions of Lieve's past lives faded. He only saw the present Lieve, who seemed... surprised? Perturbed? A mixture of the two, perhaps?

"I saw it," he said thoughtfully as his hands clasped in his own lap. "In my mind. That was the word I saw. Is that your True Name? Zilveri? It's... it's so pretty..."

It was pretty just like Lieve, just like the stately tree out in the back yard that represented Lieve's soul, with its silver trunk and delicate green leaves. Cori repeated it silently in his mind; even he knew that he shouldn't be yelling a fae's True Name out loud every chance he got. But the more he repeated it, the more another word swam up through the myriad thoughts circling around and around in his mind.

"I have one too... I think..." Frowning, he lifted his gaze up to Lieve's face. "It's with you."