ut it was all a trap. The demons had tricked Ptah into believing their leader was Tim, who is our priest. Ptah summoned us, and while he was distracted during the summoning, they bound him with chains imbued with demonic energy. When we arrived, and saw Ptah..."
Kat stopped with a shudder, and Jade took up the story.
"Let's just say Kat wasn't very happy. The chains cause immense pain to any immortal that touches them, and Ptah was almost crippled by the time we arrived. Kat was prepared to slaughter them all on the spot, but I agreed to open the door they wanted opened, to save mankind."
"A door?"
"It was a door to the dimension where the demons reside," Kat replied. "They would have over-run the world. Better to have killed them, and their hosts."
Jade shook her head.
"In any case, when I agreed to open the door, I placed my hand on the door, they released the chains on Ptah, and suddenly their leader vanished."
"I forced him in incarnate," Marc replied. "I pushed him into his next life, and without his leadership, there was great confusion, and we escaped."
"So the demons didn't get their door open," Darryl queried.
"No. The door stayed shut, the lost their leader, and they lost their bargaining chip. But we didn't get the chains, and Ptah was badly hurt. It took a long time before he healed enough for us to go back there, by which time the demons were long gone," Jade replied.
"There's just one problem now," Marc added.
"What's that?"
"The mortal that I forced the demon to incarnate as bred with a mortal woman, and the demon passed from father to son. It's been on Earth for 300 years now, sliding through the generations of one particular family."
"And you seem to have a gap in your memories," Kat told him. "You said just before you blocked your past because you didn't want to remember what happened last time you saw me. But it's been 300 years since we were last summoned, 200 years since you healed completely and 100 years since you vanished from our home. And you have a darkness within your mind."
Marc closed his eyes, briefly.
"You're right, it doesn't line up. Burn the darkness away."
"If the demon is nearby, it will know next time it sees you."
"I want its taint gone from my mind!" Marc yelled, angrily.
"Alright."

To Darryl, it looked like a normal kiss, but when Kat sat back her eyes were blazing gold, tinged with red. Jade also noted the red tinge with apprehension, and hoped Kat would keep her emotions under control.
"Well?"
"I remember," Marc said, darkly. "The demons insinuated themselves within my temple, and the great-great-grandfather of the current incarnation of the demon became high priest, subverting my temple with its evil. They summoned me, bound me while I was weak from the summoning and kept me in chains for 15 years to cripple me, then spent 50 years manipulating my memories. Then they left me alone for some time, and finally forced me into the body of an infant, and thus..." Marc gestured at his body.
"So who is the demon?"
"I don't know. I know what his great-great-grandfather, his great-grandfather, and his grandfather looked like. I know what his father looked like as a young man. But I've never seen the current incarnation."
"Dammit!"
"There's one more problem," Kat said.
Jade noticed with a twinge of apprehension that the red glow to her golden eyes hadn't lessened any.
"What's that?"
"They have his immortality bound within the chains. If he dies... he dies. The end. No mortal soul, no immortal soul. Just... nothing."
"Shit."
"Approximately," Kat replied, the red deepening.
"So - what's our plan of action?" Jade asked, hoping to distract Kat.
"The demon would be near by. He would want to keep an eye on Ptah."
"Which narrows it down to anyone in town," Darryl said. "This isn't exactly a big town, everyone knows one another."
"It would be male," Marc added. "And around our age or slightly older."
Jade noticed with relief the red taint fading as Kat thought.
"So. We need a story to lure it into the open."

After several hours, they had come up with a workable story. They were suspicious of Cole, as it had been his idea for Darryl and Marc to summon the goddesses, but allowed that he could have been under the influence of the demon, just as Marc and Darryl had been. So Marc would contact Cole, and say Sekhmet had appeared to him in a vision as he slept, and told him that she would reveal herself to him as soon as he proved himself worthy. Marc would invite Cole and the rest of the group over to discuss how he could prove himself worthy, and while they were there, Kat and Jade would hide in different rooms, and try and determine how wide-spread the demonic taint was within the group. And once they had established that, they would plan their next move.

Reluctantly, Kat and Jade also decided they should remain at Bree's, to allay suspicions of their true identities. They stayed until sunset, then bid the boys goodnight and walked towards Bree's house.
"Why do you think it got them to summon us again?"
"To open the door, probably."
"I thought that too, at first. But I've been wondering..."
"What?"
"What if they worked out how to open the door?"
"What do you mean?"
"Say, as a hypothetical situation... You are a demon. You found the perfect world for you and your hoard to live. But it's already populated by an annoying mortal race - which wouldn't be an issue save that they have gods who like to keep you separate from their followers. Then, in a moment of lunacy, one of the gods creates a goddess, whose soul purpose is to kill all of those pesky mortals that are in your way."
"That is NOT your soul purpose, Kat."
"Not now it isn't. But that is why he created me."
"Continue your speculation."
"So you find a way to make her angry. To make the bloodlust rise. To make her lose her temper, and thus, clear the world for you and your brethren."
"It fits, except for one thing. Demons can't open the doors."
"There is something there, though. Something I'm missing. Some piece that, when I find it, everything will fit together in some horrible puzzle."
"Let me know if you find it."
"I will."
They continued their walk in silence.

"Are you happy?" Kat asked, eventually.
"Ecstatic," Jade replied. "You?"
"I'm glad I found him. But these demons... We have to do something about them, Jade. And we have to destroy those chains this time."
"We have Endymion - Darryl, I mean - this time. He is mortal, he will be able to carry them."
"I hadn't thought of that."
"What have you been thinking of?"
"Do you think we should ask Tim to come?"
"Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"
"Well, we could say that he's come in his capacity as my High Priest to check up on all Bree's been doing. Or we could say he felt us being summoned and came in answer to our call. Or..."
Jade laughed.
"It would take him several days to get here. It might be all over by then."
"It might be," Kat agreed as they mounted the steps to Bree's front door. "I'd feel better for having him around though."
"One of us should learn to drive, too," Jade commented. "This walking is all well and good, but driving would be easier."
"Count me out. I'm happy walking."
Bree opened the door to them, looking surprised.
"I did not expect you home tonight," she said. "I have company," she added in a whisper.
"No ball tonight," Kat replied cheerfully. "But I'm dying for a shower and bed. Last night was a late night and today was eventful. Who and where?"
"Of course, poor things. Have you eaten? There's food in the kitchen."
"I'll grab something before I shower. Jade, are you hungry?"
"Yes, I'll join you."
Together, they moved through the house into the kitchen, then glanced at the figure sitting at Bree's kitchen table.
"Why, hello, Cole. Nice to see you again," Kat said, sweetly.

"Kat!" Jade gasped as she entered the kitchen. "Uh, finished already?"
"It doesn't matter, Jade. I found something real interesting."
"What's going on here?" KatE asked.
"I think we should all stop playing games with each other," Kat said crossly, glaring at Cole, KatE, Marc and Jade one by one. "I'll go first."
Kat moved into the sunlight, and allowed the sunlight to magnify through her body. Surprisingly, nobody in the room moved.
"Nice trick," Jade said, nervously, glancing at Marc. Has she lost her mind?
Marc shrugged.
Kat? Jade sent.
Trust me.
Jade shrugged.
"In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose."
She dropped her glamour, and a few moments later, as Kat approached, her skin started glowing softly.
"What now?"
"Now it's their turn."
Jade and Marc exchanged another confused look, and then KatE shrugged, and suddenly seemed to grow half a foot. Her skin paled and hair became wet and dripping. Jade and Cole both gaped at her.
"I assssume there isss a point to thisss?"
"Poseidon is so pissed with you, Amphitrite," Kat grinned.
"He'sss a missogynist."
"Misogynist he may be, but he's still your husband."
"Well, it seems I'm surrounded by a sea of bright stars," Marc grinned.
"Go and watch the door, Ptah."
Cole startled at that, and stared at Marc in amazement.
"Well, that explains a lot."
"Why don't you just drop it, Cole."
"Very well."
A few moments later, the sound of cloven hooves upon the tiles was heard, and Pan stood before them in all his naked glory.
"Hello, sweet thing," he purred at Jade.
"Oh, please. Kat, how did you know?"
"I opened my eyes. Metaphorically speaking, I mean. You remember that I was meant to scan for taint?"
"Well, yes, but..."
"Here's the news flash. Everyone in the other room, except for Darryl is infected, and the only reason he isn't is because we burned it out of him last week."
"But how did you know about ussss."
"The both of you had glamour around you so thick it was like walking through tar. Not that I've ever done that. And you responded to the ritual request for entry to your mind."
"I did not!" Pan protested. "I was very careful that any probing only saw the blank mind of mortal canvas."
"To another mortal, perhaps. But to another god?"
"That isn't the point, anyway. What are you doing here?"
"That is a tale that will take some telling. Put simply, the nymphs are all gone. I came to see what was going on, and found these guys were all infected with some demonic taint. Even those who are supposed to be your high priestesses are infected."
"Bree."
"And Catie."
"Catie?" Jade queried.
"She's mine," Marc replied.
"And leads?"
"Well, until just now, I actually suspected Marc. But now that it's clear that isn't it... No idea. You?"
"I suspected you," Kat replied. "There was something funny about you. But now that's all cleared up... Nope."
"I just came here to get away from my husssband. I think maybe now I will have to move on."
"Or you could stay and help us figure out who the demon is," Jade replied.
"What do you have going for you?" Kate asked, blinking.
"Tim will be here tonight," Jade replied. "He is the High Priest of both Sekhmet and myself, he'll be able to talk to Catie and Bree, get them both on-side, and then we'll see what we can discover."
"The demon is a male," Marc said. "And someone we've all been in contact with. We'll have to keep our eyes open."
"I will ssstay, for a time. Now let usss return to the othersss."
"Glamour," Jade reminded, with a smile, and Kate paused a moment.
Then, the smaller, less sibilant Kate smiled.
"Bring drinks."