Reviewing the legal paperwork Franklin had brought him, Jack grinned. At long last Circe's Amusement Park would go national.
The last 17 years proved interesting for the warlock. Two attacks on the park left his demonic mother Lilith dead and him in charge. Embracing his role as the Guardian of Dark Magic and CEO of Circe's Park, Jack went to work, rebuilding the park to be bigger and better than ever. Still, it didn't mean everything was sunshine and rainbows.
Jack's daughter, Annie Pendragon became a demon queen of Hell, assuming the role left vacant by Lilith's demise. Kellie Pendragon, Annie's mother and the Guardian of Light, was none too pleased. It led to an argument between the pair, but for Jack that was par for the course. Throughout their first and second lifetimes, Jack and Kellie were either passionate lovers or bitter foes. There seemed to be no middle ground between the pair. At least though, they could put their differences aside when it came to their duties. A knock on the door now drew the warlock's attention. "Come in."
Jack smiled, the man straightening the tie on his dark suit as he smoothed his golden blonde hair. "Kellie, what a surprise."
Kellie Pendragon offered a stiff nod as Jack admired her. Adorned in flowing white robes with long white hair, the 39 year old woman strode confidently towards Jack's desk. Despite Kellie's insistence on her homosexuality, Jack could tell she carried a flame for him. After all, the pair had produced three exceptionally powerful children, Katie Carlson the Catalyst, Annie Pendragon the Demon Queen of Sorrow, and Ty better known as Villar a timeline conquering titan who continued to worry both Guardians despite having not been seen in years.
"So is this trip business or pleasure?" Jack smirked.
Kellie rolled her eyes, groaning in annoyance before glaring at the handsome 39 year old man. "Why are you always such an ass?" she sighed.
"I prefer overwhelmingly confident," Jack grinned. "And we both know deep down you secretly like it."
Kellie simply sighed, hating the fact that part of her did indeed love Jack's charms. "That's besides the point," she exclaimed. "Obviously you forgot about our weekly meeting."
"Was that today?" Jack asked as he signed the last of his paperwork. "I completely forgot. Was too busy securing a deal to make me one of the richest men in the world."
"It's about Annie."
Jack paused, the arrogant smile fading as a concerned look crossed his face. "Is she okay?" Jack asked, his voice anxious. Kellie could see she now had his attention. Despite the couple's tumultuous relationship, when it came to their children he was always concerned.
"She's fine," Kellie continued, noting a wave of relief washing over Jack's face. "She came to visit, apparently her old girlfriend resurrected."
"Oh, I see," Jack sighed in relief. "You had me worried for a moment." A sly smirk now crossed the warlocks face as he studied his old flame carefully. "Why is it we never tried for a fourth child?"
"Because the third one tried to destroy all of reality," Kellie stated. "But that's beside the point. Did you know about her old girlfriend resurrecting?"
"I can't say that I did," Jack shrugged. "Remember, I'm not an actual overlord of Hell, I just watch for dark magic. As long as the scales between light and dark are balanced, then it's none of my concern."
"None of your concern?" Kellie asked, her voice rising in irritation. "This girl resurrected herself and it certainly wasn't done with anything on my side of the aisle. If you don't know either then it could be something serious."
"Or she simply found a way to return from the spirit realm," Jack countered. "Honestly sometimes you worry too much."
"And you worry too little," Kellie countered. "I'm sure you heard about what was going on in the kitsune and vampire realms."
"Of course I did," Jack grumbled. "We both receive reports on what transpires in different realms, that's part of our job. However, I would remind you that things seemed to have balanced themselves out. The civil war is over and the Morelands were dealt a critical blow with Caleb's injuries. Everything remains in balance."
"And what about the appearance of Fenrir?" Kellie pointed out. "In case you've forgotten, the Norse gods have been relatively quiet over the last several decades. If Fenrir has appeared, does that signal that they are once more making their presence known in the mortal realm? Could it be them ushering in Ragnarok? You are aware that means Armageddon. A war that could consume all the realms. We haven't had to deal with a situation like that in years."
"I'm sure everything is fine."
No sooner had Jack finished his statement did his lawyer Franklin burst into the room. Franklin was an anthro. Half man half animal and under the protection of Rick and Kellie within the magic timeline. Jack and Kellie now studied the blue furred cheetah lawyer, noting his disheveled appearance. "Mr. Martin," he exclaimed. "You better come see this! Someone's opening a portal in the park."
Jack and Kellie ran to the entrance of the theme park when they were alerted that a magic portal was opening. They readied themselves, hoping that they wouldn't have to have a fight with anyone. They now watched as a woman who looked to be in her mid fifties, but who Kellie thought looked an awful lot like Jamie Lee Curtis with short white hair and wore a black cloak emerged from the portal.
"Announcing the self proclaimed ruler of Helheim, daughter of Loki and Angrboda, Hel." The woman said as a woman now exited the portal following her.
Jack and Kellie saw as the woman looked to be in her late 20s to early thirties, but that wasn't what was the most noticeable thing about her appearance. Half of her skin looked like normal white skin, while the other half of her body, as far as Kellie thought, looked like the flesh of Emily from the movie Corpse Bride. Half of her face looked beautiful while the other half of her face was covered up with half of a mask like from the phantom of the opera. She wore a black and white blazer similar to the Batman villain Two-Face. But she also wore a small crown on her head. Her hair was half brunette, while the other half was a sort of bluish-black color.
"Greetings mortals of the realm, I have traveled far from my domain in the hopes I may find my kin who has been liberated from his confinement so that I may...." The woman, Hel began as Jack and Kellie listened to her speak and Hel noticed they found her manner of speaking pretty formal. The woman now cleared her throat before continuing.
"Sorry let me start over. Hi, I'm Hel, the Norse guardian and queen of Helheim. But please, call me 'Helen'. This woman here is my friend, assistant, and guardian, Modgud, but honestly we both thought that sounded terrible, so she prefers 'Maddy'. So....what are your names?" Hel, or Helen asked more politely.
Jack and Kellie were a little surprised by the woman's change in tone, but went with it as Jack went first.
"I'm Jack Martin owner of Circe's Amusement Park. I'm also the guardian of darkness, and this woman is Kellie Pendragon." Jack said introducing himself and shaking Helen's fair skinned hand. Kellie shook Helen's hand right after Jack, although shook Helen's hand a little longer than she probably should have, she was looking at Helen's face and couldn't help but admire her beauty.
"Hey, that is, uh....hello, yeah, I'm Kellie Pendragon, guardian of light and daughter of Merlin, yes that Merlin if you're wondering." Kellie said while still holding Helen's hand before she realized she hand been holding it a little too long and broke away with a little blush.
"So....uh....what....what brings you to our amusement park, your highness?" Kellie asked trying to be formal with this self-proclaimed ruler.
"Oh, please, no need to be formal like that, please just call me Helen. Anyway, I was hoping to find my big brother. See for the longest time he was imprisoned 'for the good of all', but I recently felt him being freed and came here hoping to find him. His name's Fenrir, have you seen him?" Helen asked.
Jack and Kellie looked at each other and shook their heads 'no' in response to her question.
"Sorry, but we haven't seen or heard about your brother Fenrir coming through here recently or at all for that matter." Jack replied.
"Oh, alright. I do hope he's okay though. I guess I'll have to look somewhere else." Helen sighed as she then took a good long look at the amusement park as Jack and Maddy spoke with each other.
"So is this the first place you stopped at?" Jack asked Maddy.
"No, we've been to a few of the other realms already, also with no luck in finding her brother. This was our first trip we took back to Midgard in quite a while, eh, sorry, Earth to you mortals." Maddy explained to him as the two spoke.
Kellie noticed and couldn't help but smile at Helen's interest at the amusement park. It was something she saw in everyone who saw an amusement park for the first time with the woman's growing smile and amazement at the sight before her.
"The place looks pretty fun, doesn't it? We've got rides, games, snacks, all the best fun you could ever have here. But I suppose you have to get back to finding your brother, right?" Kellie asked sounding a little disappointed.
"Huh? Oh, yes. My priority is finding my brother, but I don't think I've ever seen a domain quite as captivating as this place of yours. It is yours too, right?" Helen asked Kellie.
"Yep, I'm the co-owner of it. If you'd like, I can show you around here?" Kellie suggested as Helen looked to be delighted as she grew a large smile on her face.
"Co-owner?" Jack asked. Kellie simply elbowed him in the ribs. Technically she wasn't wrong, yet the park was his domain. Still, he could see Kellie becoming annoyed if he tried to lay claim to the Magic Shop.
"Maddy! Maddy, Kellie has offered to show us around her fascinating domain, let's take her up on this offer!" Helen said excitedly.
"But....ma'am, I thought we were keeping a schedule?" Maddy asked sounding a little worried.
"Oh, my brother can wait, I'm sure he's doing fine right now. But I REALLY want to see what this place is like, please?" Helen begged.
"Well, alright, I suppose you are due for a vacation." Maddy relented to her.
"Great! Kellie, would you do me the honors of showing me your amusement park?" Helen asked happily holding Kellie's hands.
"Uh, sure Helen, I'd be happy to." Kellie answered with a smile and nod.
"Oh, what a happy day!" Helen cheered as Helen pulled Kellie towards the entrance of Circe's amusement park with Maddy and Jack following behind her.
"Doesn't get out much does she?" Jack asked.
"She rules a realm where people who died come in and moan and groan about how it wasn't their time, how would you feel about spending thousands of years down there listening to all of that?" Maddy explained.
"Oof, I can't say I blame her now for being so excited." Jack said.
Helen and Kellie entered back into Circe's Amusement Park as Helen looked around fascinated at all the exciting sights, sounds, and she also took notice of park goers who looked unique from everyone else.
"Kellie, why are there animal and mythological creatures that walk inside your park? Is this some sort of gathering for them?" Helen asked.
"What? Oh no Helen, many of our guests are just regular people, but in my world, magic is known to exist here and the people you see are transformed when they go on the rides, if they want that is. Take that woman with her teenage son over there." Kellie said pointing out a woman and her teenage son who were getting onto the teacup ride.
Helen watched with fascination as the mother regressed physically into a teenager with her clothing having changed to fit her new appearance.
"Amazing! We've got to try that one, come on!" Helen said excitedly as she pulled Kellie towards the teacup ride.
"Uh, your majesty, I don't know if I'm really comfortable riding that one." Maddy said calling after Helen.
"Then ask Jack to choose another ride for you!" Helen called back to Maddy as Helen and Kellie boarded onto one of the teacup rides and Helen began to laugh with excitement as she began spinning in the cup.
"Well Mister Jack Martin, would you choose a more leisurely ride for me?" Maddy asked Jack who looked towards Helen and Kellie feeling a little jealous inside.
"Mister Jack?" Maddy asked Jack again.
"Sorry, if you want, I can show you our carousel, it's a little easier to start out with. I guess you're not too much of a woman for excitement." Jack assumed to the older woman.
"I am not. Please, if you would, show me your carousel Mister Jack." Maddy said.
"You can just call me Jack, and I can show you." Jack said as he led her over to the carousel.
"This looks.....beautiful." Maddy said looking at the beautifully decorated carousel before her. "I've never seen something so beautiful like this before, come let us choose one of those mighty steeds to ride." Maddy said.
"Okay, but if you'd like, you can maybe change your age to a lot younger? Like 16 years old or so? That's the common age for young girls to go on a date." Jack suggested although he didn't mean to say it that way as they boarded onto the carousel and Jack changed his physical age to 16.
"Won't your wife be jealous if she were to see you on a date?" Maddy asked as Jack turned around to see Maddy holding out her hand for him to take so he could climb on board one of the horses.
Jack had to admit that the woman who previously looked like an older professional business woman, now looked like a woman with stunning looks and her short white hair was now in a long ponytail.
"Oh...uh....that is....we're not exactly a couple. I mean....the two of us have had a relationship in the past but.....we're not really a couple." The young Jack explained to her.
"I see....then perhaps you would consider showing me around your amusement park as a date?" Maddy asked Jack.
"Y-Yeah, I mean, yes, I'd like to do that." Jack replied. Jack didn't mind hanging out with the currently young woman. At least the two of them would have their own fun while Kellie and Helen had their own fun.
Helen and Kellie were having the most fun of their lives that they both seemed to not have in a long time. Helen found the bumper cars to be a bit troublesome, but Kellie assured her that's how they were sometimes. She still found it fun to bump into the anthro fox woman, and her friend, an anthro rabbit. She was overjoyed when they went on the vertical loop coaster and gave a little laugh when a mother and daughter who had been riding on it got off and the mother was getting dizzy and crying about how scary the ride was, but the daughter asked if she could calm her mother down and she agreed, so the daughter became an adult while her mother regressed into a baby and began to breastfeed her to calm her down. Helen shouted to Kellie that she thought she could almost touch Valhalla when they went onto the drop tower as she laughed joyously.
Meanwhile Jack and Maddy were doing the more relaxing rides. They went on an omnimover ride, where Maddy didn't mind the dark, it was sometimes dark in the realm she came from anyway. They also went on the Ferris wheel, which Jack thought was a classic ride, although Maddy blushed a little bit when she saw some of the other people who were on the ride above or below them kissing. Maddy also had plenty of laughs to spare when they went through the hall of mirrors. Jack noticed that unlike Helen, Maddy seemed to enjoy the more simple pleasures of life. She accidentally bumped into a zebra woman with her horse girlfriend, but Jack explained that it was just a little accident and the two went on with their time. Jack even got Maddy some cotton candy, which she had never tasted before and savored each moment.
Eventually, although the four of them didn't know it, they both ended their day on the tunnel of love. Kellie told Helen they could just take it as friends as Helen devoured the cotton candy Kellie had given her earlier.
"So, Helen, I take it you've really enjoyed your time at the park here?" Kellie asked.
"Yeah, I have. It's been one of the most exciting days of my life. Thanks for showing me this incredible place." Helen thanked Kellie as she finished her cotton candy.
"You know, it's not my place to say, but people can change however they want here. But I noticed you didn't do that once today. I also noticed that you....didn't change your....uh....face." Kellie said trying not to sound mean.
"I....had thought about it, but then I would look like every other woman I've seen here. Young, fair, beautiful. I saw many people change themselves in a variety of ways because they don't seem to like how they look. But....I think I like how I look, do you?" Helen asked a little worriedly.
"Well, I've only seen you with the mask on. If you want to, you can take your mask off and show me what you look like. That is....if you feel comfortable with doing so. I....I promise I won't become frightened." Kellie promised as Helen took a deep breath and took off her mask and slowly turned towards Kellie to face her. Kellie gasped slightly in alarm as Helen turned away in fright.
"I know....I'm hideous, it's what all mortals usually say about me." Helen said softly with tears coming out of her eyes.
"No, no, that's not what I meant by that at all. Helen, did....did someone do this to you?" Kellie asked sounding concerned.
"No, it's just always how I've looked since I can remember. The gods saw me and thought I....looked monstrous, so I remained with them in Asgard for a while, before they gave me dominion over Helheim to rule. I thought they were being thankful, but I soon came to realize they were just casting me away." Helen said as Kellie gently lifted Helen's chin.
"Well, I think you're beautiful the way you are." Kellie said gently holding Helen's hand.
"Thank you Kellie." Helen thanked as she gently grasped Kellie's hand.
Meanwhile just a few boats behind them on the tunnel of love, Maddy was sitting quietly with Jack. Jack was feeling a little bit awkward. He might've only been physically 16 years old, but he still felt like a teenager in some ways, like being attracted to Maddy. He wasn't sure what Maddy would think of this, but he slowly reached his arm around her shoulder, hoping she didn't think it was moving too fast for what seemed to be a first date.
"Jack Martin, are you flirting with me?" Maddy asked raising her eyebrow at Jack.
"I...I...I don't know, maybe, I mean....you are a very pretty girl and I'm a young boy and....well, we are in the tunnel of love, so I just assumed that you might. I don't know, maybe it's stupid of me to think that you would like me that way." Jack sighed as he now saw Maddy applying lipstick, he looked a little confused before she turned to him and smiled.
"Jack Martin, I had one of the most fun times I've ever had in my life, and I want to thank you personally for that." Maddy said as she now pulled Jack in for a kiss on the lips before kissing him all over his face.
"Wow, I...I don't think I've been kissed like that in a long time." Jack said in amazement as they went back to kissing before feeling the boat stop.
"Ah Jack, that's so sweet. I didn't realize you and Maddy got to be so close today. If you're starting a relationship, I wholeheartedly approve." Kellie said with a smirk.
"Well....I....I mean, it's only a first date and....well...." Jack tried to say feeling a little embarrassed.
"I'll save the date for our second date Jack." Maddy said getting off the boat and shaking her hips.
Jack looked to see Kellie and Helen holding hands and smiling as all four of them now walked out of the ride and towards the front gate.
"Helen, I've got to tell you, today was one of the most fun days I've ever had in a long time." Kellie complimented Helen.
"It was also mine as well Kellie, you really know how to show a girl a good time." Helen complimented Kellie in return and Kellie giggled at that.
"Maddy, are you almost ready to go?" Helen asked Maddy as she and Jack still looked 16 before Helen exited the park and she changed back to her appearance she had when she first entered the park.
"I'm ready your highness, I suppose now we go back to searching for your brother." Maddy said.
"We will be, if only I knew where to look next." Helen sighed.
"I might have a lead for you on that," Kellie answered. "the kitsune realm recently had a civil war come to an end and I had heard some speak of a large wolf that fought in the battle. You may want to check there first. Their leaders are Lord Tatsu and Lady Shizen, I'm sure they'll welcome your beautiful highness to their realm if you come there in kindness." Kellie suggested.
"Thank you once again Kellie Pendragon. Oh, before I forget, let me write something down." Helen said as she wrote a note down in runes before handing her the note.
"What's this?" Kellie asked.
"Those runes will help send you a portal straight to me, so if you want to visit me, or I can visit you, all you have to do is cast those runes out." Helen explained as she gave Kellie a wink.
"Jack, before I go, I'll give you something too." Maddy said as she wrote her own set of runes down before planting a kiss on it. "Next time you're free, let me know and we can have our second date." Maddy said blowing him a kiss as Jack was still 16 and had his mouth open wide.
"Close your mouth Jack, and change back to normal." Kellie reminded him as he forgot for a moment.
"Thanks again, hopefully it won't be too long before we see you again." Helen waved.
"Wait, I have to know, if your brother's loose, does this mean Ragnarok is coming?" Kellie asked.
"No, and one god lies patiently waiting his time for the moment to strike." Helen said.
"I thought your father Loki was imprisoned?" Kellie asked again before Helen opened up a portal.
"It's not my father you have to worry about." Helen said turning back to Kellie.
"Then who?" Kellie asked sounding worried as Helen gave Kellie a gentle smile.
"I pray that you never have to find out. Just know this: not all the myths are accurate." Helen said as she and Maddy stepped through the portal leaving Kellie and Jack alone outside the park.
"I pray we never have to find out either." Kellie said as she looked down at her note from Helen and saw on the back she had written something else: 'You're also beautiful the way you are.' Kellie smiled at that hoping to see Helen again soon one day.