Page 68 of Claiming Demons
“Me?” I asked, confused. What did I know that he didn’t?
“Yes. The plan was for you to live your life. Fully. Right through to your death of old age. Then after your death, Inanna would return and she would bring you back to life as our daughter. But… something went wrong. You were never supposed to tap into your aspects, never meant to have powers at all. We suspected some of our aspects might leak out and affect you in small ways. You never got sick, thanks to my healing, and your mother’s fertility meant you couldn’t stop getting pregnant. Not to mention your mother’s sex going just a little nuts during your teen years.”
“And twenties and thirties,” I added with a sigh and nod.
“But beyond that, you were never supposed to have the powers you do now. I don’t understand what happened,” Raphael admitted. “It’s a mystery to me how you came to be who you are today.”
Silence hung over the group. If Raphael didn’t know, I certainly didn’t.
“Oh!” Grey breathed. Then he gave a louder and more significant, “Oh!” He blinked a few times at whatever realization he was having, then turned to us. “I think I know what happened.”
ANAIS
Grey wassilent for just long enough to drive me crazy with curiosity. “What? What happened?” I demanded.
“When did you get that tattoo?” he asked. “The flower.”
I blinked. “My tattoo?”
“Tattoo?” Raphael echoed.
“Tattoo?” my three girls said at the same time.
I wasn’t going to show it to anyone because it was in a rather intimate spot. Still, for clarity’s sake, I explained, “Yes, I have a tattoo. It’s below my belly button.”
Grey quickly picked up from there. “I always thought it felt… odd, from the moment I first saw it,” Grey said. “A stylized rose, with eight petals.” His gaze shifted to Raphael. “I’m assuming that means something to you?”
My father nodded slowly, still looking slightly confused.
“It does,” he said softly. “It was our failsafe. If at any point humanity desperately needed Inanna to return, I could use that symbol as part of a ritual to bring her forth into the world again. It’s a blending of a rosette and an eight-pointed star, both of which are Inanna’s symbols.” He looked at me. “And you got it as a tattoo? How? Why?”
I laughed a little at the strangeness of all of this. “That image has always been there, floating around in my head since I was a girl. I didn’t know what it meant, but I’d seen it in my mind and in my dreams over and over. And when I decided to make a change in my life, I got it as a tattoo, a symbol of my new life.”
That… may be my fault,Inanna said within me.Just like our aspects managed to leak out of me into you, some knowledge of my symbols may have joined them.
“Mom thinks it’s her fault,” I said without thinking.
It was only when everyone stared at me, that I recalled I hadn’t told any of them about hearing a voice within me. “I ah… started hearing this voice… just recently… It’s Inanna reaching out from within me,” I explained.
Raphael smiled. “Yes, of course. She’d be awakening. How long have you had your tattoo?” he asked me.
“A couple months.”
He nodded. “Sounds right. Since it wasn’t done as the full ritual it wouldn’t be instant, but the timeline seems logical otherwise.”
“Timeline for what?” I asked.
Raphael laughed. “For Inanna to return to this world.”
“Any idea when?” I asked Raphael as I posed the same question internally to Inanna.
Now,Inanna said within me.I think I’m strong enough to return to the world. Be prepared my daughter, I don’t know what this will feel like for you.
Thanks for the warning,I said.
“Well,” Raphael began. “I don’t really know—”
“Mom’s coming out,” I interrupted him.