Jelly Babies

Many thanks to Doll\'sEyes, FlamesEmbrace, Moonstar, Rabid, Snidne and Rin-chan for their lovely feedback! I posted the first part of this story at another site, and got a very mixed reaction (because of the whole mpreg thing) so I was really nervous about how people at AFF would react. The fact that y\'all still like the story means SO much to me. Thanks.

Love,
Falcon

Jelly Babies

Chapter One


September. The lull before the Halloween storm. In order to keep busy, Nicholas had resorted to cleaning the crystals which hung from the candy shop’s main chandelier – a laborious process involving a lot of patience and ladder climbing. But recently, the very mention of climbing anything made Marzi and Pepper blanch, so someone needed to do it.

After he’d finished about half the chandelier, the cleaner fumes started to make Nicholas dizzy. In order to prevent a dangerous head-rush, he paused for a moment, and gazed down at the gleaming glass counters and wondrous sweets displayed within them. And as he did so, a sense of pride filled him. He didn’t own the shop in any legal sense. He couldn’t even claim to be instrumental to its success, since that honor belonged to Pepper, and Marzi, and their enchanted creations. But on some level deeper than deeds or profits, this place was his. He’d given it his last scraps of energy too many times for it not to be. He’d tended to its needs in hundreds of little ways, and it had rewarded him by flourishing.

Nicholas shook his head. If he’d kept his pact with Balberith, he would have earned fame, fortune, and screaming groupies. But he wondered if all that could possibly have made him as happy as he felt right now.

Then, as he looked down, he noticed a young girl, about ten years old, standing by herself. She kept staring at the woman working behind the counter, but seemed too intimidated to approach her. That was a feeling Nicholas could sympathize with. Even after working at Sugar Hearts for a little over eight months – and being the boss’s acknowledged boyfriend for seven of those – Margaret still intimidated him. Climbing down from the ladder, Nicholas crossed over to the girl, and offered her a warm smile.

“Hello,” she greeted, in the solemn manner of a child trying very hard to appear adult. “I’d like to buy some candy, please.”

Nicholas nodded and waited for the girl to continue. Adults often got flustered when faced with his ongoing silence, but children seemed pleased by the chance to express themselves without being interrupted or corrected.

“It’s for my sister. She’s in the hospital. We were going to go on vacation to Las Vegas, to see the games, and the circus, and the pretty dancing girls, but then she got sick, so we couldn’t go, and I got mad. I said some bad things. But I’m not mad anymore, and she likes chocolate, and I’d like to buy her some really good chocolate. Please.”

For a moment, Nicholas ran through his mental catalogue of the store’s current inventory. Then he decided on the perfect item. Motioning for the girl to wait, he went over to a row of nearby shelves, and lifted a miniature slot machine from one of them. Then he carried it back over. As she stared at him with inquisitive eyes, he pulled the lever on the side of the machine, sending images of different candy types spinning past its central window. It took him three tries before he got them to all match. But when the row of jellybeans lined up, the slot machine made a cheerful beeping noise, and a handful of foil-wrapped chocolate coins spilled out of it.

“Oh!” the girl gasped, her eyes as wide as moons. “That’s perfect. Is this enough?”

Nicholas looked down at the crumpled five dollar bill she held in her hand. Technically, that would barely cover the cost of the chocolate coins, much less the machine that had produced them. But he took the money and nodded. He doubted Pepper would mind. Clutching the slot machine to her chest, the girl raced out of the shop.

Soon I’ll have a child, Nicholas thought as he watched the girl leave. And no matter what I do, eventually they’ll get sick, and maybe even end up in the hospital. Heaven help me then.

“Nicholas?”

With a silent sigh, Nicholas turned around, expecting Margaret to lecture him about virtually giving away the miniature slot machine. But Margaret stared past him, her expression dazed. “Nicholas? Will you help this gentleman? I—I have to go.” Then, still not sparing him a glance, she walked past Nicholas, and straight out of the shop.

Somehow, Nicholas managed to keep his jaw from dropping. During all his time working at Sugar Hearts, he’d never seen Margaret leave her post -- not for fires, floods, or plagues of locusts. Unable to imagine what might have inspired her departure, he turned toward the customer she’d instructed him to help. From the back, the man didn’t appear particularly unusual. He was tall, with large hands, and an unruly mane of sandy hair that fell down to his shoulders in waves, like the patterns that desert winds carve into dunes. A large, loose overcoat obscured most of the other details of his appearance. Shrugging to himself, Nicholas circled around the counter and got in front of the cash register, prepared to take the man’s order.

And nearly choked when he looked into the man’s golden eyes. It wasn’t the color that jolted him, but something about their intensity, about the way that they seemed to glow even more brightly than the store’s fluorescent lights. Nicholas had seen eyes like that once before. And the memory of it didn’t give him any warm feelings.

The man, however, seemed unbothered by Nicholas’s adverse reaction. “The girl’s sister will die in a week,” he informed, with a voice as deep and brassy as the echo of a gong.

Nicholas tried to blink. He wanted to look away, to keep those golden eyes from piercing him and seeing his sorrow, but he couldn’t move. He could only stand there, like a creature dazzled by the blinding brightness of approaching headlights.

“Don’t grieve for her, Nicholas Foster. Her fate is part of a great and compassionate plan. Every life is part of The Plan. Including yours. And that of your child.”

At the mention of his child, a shiver of dread raced down Nicholas’s spine. No. It can’t be about that. Let him have come to punish me for making deals with demons, let him have come to collect my soul. But don’t let this be about my child...

“I have come to see the brother and sister. You will take me to them.”

Nicholas didn’t want to take the man anywhere. But he doubted he could stop him from entering the kitchen. Also, he remembered Margaret, and he didn’t want to be dispensed with in a similar way. Whatever happened, whatever threat this stranger might pose, Nicholas wanted to be with Marzi and Pepper when they faced it. So he gestured for the man to follow him.

Inside the kitchen, Pepper sat on a stool, using a tiny knife to carve faces into chocolate pumpkins. She was seven months along, and the billowing fabric of her maternity dress concealed neither her belly, nor the fact that her usual red shoes had been replaced by fluffy slippers. But Nicholas thought she looked beautiful. He’d read that some women blossomed during pregnancy, and as far as he was concerned, she got more beautiful every day. Of course, it was possible he might have felt that way even if she hadn’t been carrying their child.

As she heard the door open, Pepper grinned at Nicholas. “Hey, I had an idea while I was working. For Halloween this year, I’m thinking of painting my belly orange and dressing up like a--.” Then she noticed Nicholas’s companion and the words died on her lips.

“Peppermint and Marzipan Penicandey. I’ve come to take you.”

Pepper’s knife slipped, cutting a jagged scar into the face of the pumpkin she’d been working on. But her voice and expression remained calm. “Take us? Take us where?”

“That is not your concern.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Your departure is part of The Plan. That’s all you should need to know. However...” For the first time, Nicholas could hear some hint of emotion in the man’s voice. A slight undercurrent of weariness. “I was told that you would not understand, that you would be afraid. You are, after all, only human. So I was instructed to explain. Ask your questions.”

Nicholas and Pepper exchanged a look. And that look told Nicholas everything he needed to know. As Pepper clambered off the stool, and walked over to the sink, Nicholas began to inch toward the stove.

“Who are you?” Pepper asked, as she peeled off the gloves she’d been wearing in order to wash her hands. “And what?”

“My name is Aryeh. I am not an angel; although that is the nearest concept you have for me. I am God’s Agent.”

“I see.” The corner of Pepper’s mouth twitched, and Nicholas guessed that Marzi had made some internal wisecrack. But again, Pepper kept her emotions under control. “Why should we go anywhere with you?”

“There is a prophecy. It may, or may not, apply to your child. But where The Plan is concerned, heaven is not inclined to take chances.”

“A prophecy?”

For the first time since he’d entered the kitchen, Aryeh glanced at Nicholas. “You’ve heard it. During your initial encounter with the demon lord. Although, at that time, you did not recognize it for what it was.”

Nicholas forced his thoughts back to his first meeting with Balberith. He remembered the scrolls, and the brief discussion about prophecy, but there had been so much else on his mind that day. Balberith’s exact words hadn’t made much of an impression. Anyway, what he’d said sounded impossible. Something about a triple goddess...a child born from both a woman and a man, and...oh.

“You will come with me,” Aryeh continued, “to a safe place. A place where I can protect you from any demon interference. Then, when the child is born, I will take her. If she is the one the prophecy speaks of, it is crucial that she be raised so that whatever decision she makes will be in accordance with The Plan.”

“But why can’t she stay with us?” Pepper shifted a few steps sideways, until she stood in front of the white plastic bins stored under the counter. From the corner of his vision, Nicholas could see her hand slip behind her back as it snuck toward the scoop sticking out of the largest bin. Tensed, and ready for her cue, he let his own hand inch closer to the stove, and a pot of syrup boiling on top of it.

“You? You struggled against angels, and still refuse the heavenly rest that is your proper reward. Your brother drank your blood in a ritual to gain magic he was not supposed to have. And your lover betrayed you to demons in exchange for something he already possessed.” Aryeh shook his head. “No. I’m afraid that the three of you have failed to demonstrate true commitment to The Plan.”

Pepper’s hand closed around the scoop. And, finally, her emotions burst through – hatred, and fury, and fear, unfurling their terrible wings like fiery birds. “I don’t care what you are,” she hissed. “You’ll take my baby when hell freezes over!” Then, screaming an arcane spell, she hurled the scoop of sugar at Aryeh. As the tiny grains flew toward him, they transformed into a swarm of vicious insects. At the same moment, before Aryeh could raise his hands to fend off Pepper’s attack, Nicholas snatched up the pot of boiling syrup, and hurled its contents into Aryeh’s face.

Aryeh howled, temporarily blinded. The sound of his rage shook the floor under their feet. Drained by the energy she’d invested in her spell, Pepper stumbled, and probably would have collapsed, if Marzi hadn’t snatched control of their body from her. Dropping the empty pan, Nicholas rushed over.

Go! he mouthed, pointing at the kitchen’s rear exit. Get out of here!

“Without you? Pepper would kill me!”

Frustrated, Nicholas shook his head. And it only took a second for Marzi to realize what Nicholas already understood. Someone needed to stay behind to deal with Aryeh. Three lives depended on Marzi’s wellbeing, while Nicholas only carried the responsibility for one – his own. Math made the choice inevitable. Impulsively, Marzi grabbed Nicholas, and kissed him once on each cheek. Then he turned and fled.

After watching Marzi pass safely through the exit, Nicholas turned to face Aryeh. By now, God’s Agent had managed to deal with the scalding syrup, wiping it from his face as if it was nothing more than water. Amazed, Nicholas noticed that the boiling liquid hadn’t even scarred his skin. A curt command from Aryeh’s lips transformed the biting insects back into sugar, which dropped to the ground like sprinkling of snow. Then, Aryeh threw open his overcoat, and drew out the hilt of an ornamental sword. For a moment, Nicholas wondered if Aryeh intended to bludgeon him with it. But Aryeh spoke another command, and a blade of fire sprung up from the hilt, burning the same bright gold color as Aryeh’s eyes.

“Get out of my way, Nicholas Foster. You know you can’t stop me.”

No. But I can sure as hell slow you down. Grabbing one of the wheeled cooling racks, Nicholas rolled it at Aryeh. Candy flew everywhere as the rack struck its target, knocking Aryeh back a few steps, but he quickly shoved it aside, and resumed his advance. Desperately, Nicholas scanned the kitchen for another weapon. And, finding nothing, he decided to settle for quantity over quality. Snatching up everything he could reach, Nicholas unleashed a furious barrage of objects – measuring cups, spatulas, pans, trays, anything.

Their first attack had caught Aryeh off guard. Now, however, he was ready to fight. The battery of kitchen implements hindered him a bit, but mostly he knocked them out of the air with his fiery sword, and they fell to the floor, smoking and burnt. Still, Nicholas kept throwing whatever he could lay his hands on, until Aryeh had him backed up against the kitchen’s rear exit. There, Nicholas braced himself, prepared to make his final stand. Perhaps the time it took Aryeh to kill him would buy Marzi the few extra minutes he needed to get away.

As he reached Nicholas, Aryeh grabbed a handful of Nicholas’s hair, and raised his sword. But instead of decapitating Nicholas, he spoke. “I am not confined by the same laws that bind angels. Your life would be mine if I chose to take it. But today, you will not die.”

Aryeh moved his sword until it was barely an inch away from Nicholas’s face, and Nicholas could feel the heat radiating off it, like standing too close to the sun. “Do not, however, mistake this for mercy. It is simply The Plan.” Then, Aryeh pressed his blade against Nicholas’s cheek.

Burning pain surged through every nerve in Nicholas’s body, and he screamed so loudly that he heard it inside his head, even though no sound escaped his lips. The contact only lasted a second, but to Nicholas, it felt like a lifetime suspended in hell. Then Aryeh yanked back his blade. And Nicholas sunk to the ground, choking on the scent of his own scorched flesh, too weak to do anything but watch as Aryeh pushed open the kitchen’s rear door, and stepped outside.