I was blinking away my fatigue as Mim released my hand. The memories of her efforts were poured into my head, and the experience behind them inflated my soul like a balloon. The new perspective, the unique interactions, and the sheer length of time came together to gift me with an extreme amount of growth. I felt the Menagerie with excitement and hope blaring. Knowing no time will pass, I allow myself to witness the acquisitions.
Three looms rested on stone brick floors, humming in anticipation. With a roaring crescendo, energy flooded the air and saturated the world in a rainbow of power.
The first solidified from vapors, coating the leftmost loom in dark steam. The image of an ominous brackish water line formed. Rainfall and rocky outcroppings made it evident the seas were treacherous and fraught with danger. Trawling through the deadly waters was a mechanical horse head attached to a metal paddle boat, a spiteful glow in its eyes. The Floaty Boaty Knight patrolled the foaming sea, preying on anyone in its path.
The second resonated with the ambient magic. The colorful eddies of mana vibrated into place upon the center canvas. Dense foliage and towering jungle trees materialized in vibrant hues. Within a hollowed tree trunk, a pile of shiny and old treasures was kept hidden from their owners. Sorting its pilfered bounty was a russet-furred bipedal critter with big floppy ears and soulful black eyes. Mischievous Muttamoks like this one were seen on the ground below returning stolen items to reluctantly amused travellers.
The last had gales of aura fly fiercely into the far right frame. The winds of an ancient mountain range carved themselves upon reality. One mountain peak pierced the sky, and on its zenith, a nest was perched. On the edge of the nest was a young bird, head too big for its body and feathers flared in the wind, determination and bravery evident from its readied posture, preparing for its first flight. The Pokémon Rufflet was prepared to take the dive and the massive shadow of its parent looming over the nest showed they were ready to catch them if needed.
The powers that followed were named Independent Agent and Self Transformation.
I felt a shudder wrack my newly healed body. Turning towards Panacea, I feel an amused grin form beneath the concealing towel and reach up to the cloth in question. Medusa forms on my repaired self as I toss the primitive mask over to Mim.
"Looks like that's twice you've saved my ass, Panacea. Is there any way I can repay you?"
Unlike what I would expect from someone I had angered recently and then later kidnapped, a focused and contemplative gaze was levied in my direction.
"Just call me Amy... I want a room here."
Glory Girl's aura sizzled against my psyche, fear and horror attempting to burn their way through my mental defenses. With what feels like double my previous prana levels and three partitions to handle it for me, it failed to do so.
"Ames?!"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, relax. I'm not leaving New Wave or whatever. Calm down, and control your aura already!"
Victoria grumbled as the effect weakened, but did not fully disappear.
"Anyway, I want to be able to crash here whenever. I also want in." Her sharp stare was cutting, but I was a little confused.
"In on what?" Mim asks for me.
She locks eyes with The Mirror, purpose glinting in her iris. "I want to join you in experimenting with this power. On the condition that you send a replacement to the Hospital for me sometimes."
I contemplate her request. "The room is no issue. Participation in the magecraft research, however..." I trail off as my mind wanders a bit.
The healer biokinetic (what an amazing discovery to find from recording and analyzing her active power expression) snorts, a wane smirk on her lips. "It's really called magecraft?"
Even as Mim clears her throat while glaring at Amy, I chuckle. "Most of the powers and summons I've obtained already have names. Whether they are for species or individuals seems a bit random, but most things I get have some background context built in. This is one of those things that already has terminology, so why waste effort on renaming it?"
"Hmm, so it's not because it is actually magic?" Amy asked sarcastically.
I still, shock hidden by my mask while Mim twitches and Victoria whips her head towards her sister.
"You think I wouldn't notice that you have no Corona Pollentia? No Gemma either. Without the one organ that all parahumans in some way have somewhere in their bodies, how are you capable of so much?"
"You mean all that cult stuff is real?!" Vicky screeches while zipping to hide behind Amy.
The smug look on the biokinetic grows stronger. While looking into her eyes, I saw a glint of hope that was slowly building. The room grew heavy as the tension rose. My partitions go over the risks and the gains of accepting.
Having someone to talk to about magecraft without lying (sorry Thomas) would be far more healthy. Thomas has been bugging me to be more social with my age group, maybe this will get him off my case about it. If Amy truly is serious about putting in the time and effort to learn magic, there's a decent chance that Victoria will join her and add another researcher into the mix, too. More perspectives mean more varied research, more varied research means more robust mysteries, et cetera, et cetera.
Having Amy's help specifically would hasten my research into anything relating to biology, as well as granting the opportunity to modify my mundane creatures into either combat or utility summons. Training would be much more efficient if she gave all my creatures a maxed-out baseline to improve upon. Depending on where she places the majority of her studies, she could develop some very potent or synergistic magecraft.
Considering age, the likelihood that they will find the time and passion to dedicate to learning is honestly not great. Their possible level of responsibility is also suspect, so they have a much greater risk of hurting themselves by ignoring rules or guidelines. On the other hand, their age is a good thing when taking into account their creativity and overall knowledge base.
As parahumans, they both have connections to Scion, and that might give away one of my more potent avenues of attack when the time comes. If Mim's hypothesis about a conflict drive is right, then their parasites might influence them too much to be trustworthy with the abilities of a magus. However, if I find a way to communicate with these powers directly, I could work some magic and possibly get a backdoor to the golden genocider himself.
The time I would need to sink into teaching any form of magecraft would be counted on the scale of weeks at best, and months at worst. With her power and a few Mystic Codes, the possibility of growing artificial magic circuits is high, but not certain. If, in the end, it isn't possible, all the time I would have spent would be a complete waste, and time is a resource I don't have much of at the moment.
I see a bead of sweat on Amy's brow, a growing anxiety tightening her shoulders, but the hope in her eye stays. Victoria was nervously fidgeting, her gaze flicking between the two of us like a cornered animal. Mim is audibly shuffling behind me, a sense of worry emanating from her side of the room. I sighed, and the tension doubled.
"... against my better judgment, I'm willing to allow it." I raise a hand to halt her celebration. "On the condition that you sign a contract that prevents any of this information from getting out. I already have an inkling that the morality of humanity is too dark to allow this to be widespread. And, I will need at least two weeks to drill the basics into you before you come anywhere near creating your own mysteries. Furthermore, this will be on a probationary status. Magecraft is not a toy, and reckless actions might just have permanent, if not lethal, consequences. Am I understood?"
With a serious expression, Amy nodded. I stare skeptically at her for a bit, searching for any signs of rebellious or mischievous intent. There will be no leniency on my watch.
"Hmm. Then we're in agreement." The grumpy healer lights up and fist pumps to herself while Victoria behind her looks on in slight envy and a lot of worry. This transitions to anxiety when my mask turns to her.
"As for you, you will also be signing a contract to keep this secret." I see her wide-eyed shock and ignore the affronted posture. Amy begins to look mutinous before I continue.
"I don't care how trustworthy you think you are. I don't care if you think you're great at keeping secrets. The possibility of Masters forcing this information out of you is too high. These magic contracts will enforce the secrecy necessary in mostly nonobstructive ways." They both look mulish but don't disagree any further than upset grumbles.
Without further ado, I stand and do a couple of stretches. "Mim, would you be a dear and get the geas written and enchanted?" The Mirror nods and copies my form before reaching out to Revere.
As they both flash away, I turn to the girls and feel a smile on my face.
"Well, if we're going to be working together, sharing a roof and workshop, I do believe we should be properly introduced." I grab Medusa's mask and remove it while smiling a bit too innocently. "My name is Arnold Polke. I'm a barista by trade, and like to spend my off time getting creative in the kitchen. It's a pleasure to meet you both."
The looks of recognition flashed quickly, and the sound of shocked screams rang throughout the cabin.
"Arnold??!"
"You!!"
My grin grew. These two will be a blast to rile up, I can just tell. Thomas will have a field day for sure.
"I can't believe my favorite coffee guy was a hero... actually, wait." The humorous tone at the end made me chuckle. A small dainty finger was suddenly thrust into my face.
"You're the bastard that kept sending those lunches! The whole hospital is gossiping about my 'secret admirer' because of you!"
"They are?!"
"Don't sound all excited, Vicky!"
I couldn't help it and let out a barking laugh at their banter.
"Ooh, Glory Girl and Panacea are getting all the attention? Wowie, that never happens. What a totally original and completely fresh concept!"
I mean, it seemed the most probable way the conversation would go in, but reading it, to me, feels like a bit of a cop-out. Y'know? Hmm.
Whatever. What's done is done. With the Dallon girls primed for learning magecraft, what do you think would be their Origins? I'm open to suggestions since I'm just wingin' it here. Elements will probably be randomized, maybe some munchkinning if I think of something interesting...?
Meh, that's future me's problem. Fuck that guy, he's a dick anyway.
Sorry for the shorter chapter, I've been having a bit of burnout lately.
"How, exactly, does the contract protect the information?"
I hum deliberately to give myself a bit of time to phrase this with as little jargon as possible.
After calming down from my reveal, the two heroines were given parchment that had the wording and enchantments of the geas they were signing. In simple terms, it would "greatly discourage" the voluntary spreading of magecraft-related knowledge, identities of affiliated parties, and sworn secrets between members of the geas. Involuntary actions will be filtered to keep the necessary details unknowable.
"It will depend on the way that the data is being exposed. If you try to simply tell someone, you will be given a slight headache to discourage it. If you are about to accidentally mention it, you would feel a measure of discomfort equal to the urgency involved."
Amy, who is sitting at the desk after we moved to the office, looks up from the documents.
"That doesn't sound very secure."
I nod. "That's kinda the point. This is both a safety measure and a test. It won't stop you from, say, telling your parents, but it will stop you from giving away the information while under duress. If you attempt to speak it under some Master's control, it will blur your lips, mute your voice, and censor your thoughts entirely."
Vicky floated closer, a look of hunger on her face. "But how will it do that? This contract can't possibly be active twenty-four-seven, right? There's gotta be limitations!"
I lean back into the leather chair in the room's corner. My smirk is on full display, my mask in my lap.
"With geas, in particular, the limitations are in the wording of the contract. Loopholes exist in geas magic, just like in modern laws. Terminology, intent, workarounds, all of this comes together to give the agreement limits. In this case, multiple pages are needed to give the magic the specific effects required to keep magecraft secret.
"For example, a geas with just the words: "I will not trespass on X's property on pain of death" has a lot of loopholes to exploit. You could hire someone else to trespass for you, you could be at the edge and use a drone or power to manipulate the property from a distance. With so few specifics involved in the agreement, the effect is lackluster and more or less pointless."
I see Amy looking at the swath of papers wearily, while Victoria is all but vibrating in place at the abbreviated explanation.
Mount Vicky eventually explodes. "UUGGH! This is so frustrating! All this power talk is so cool, but I don't get to use it for anything?! This is what I was aiming for with parahuman studies, speculation on powers and their interactions, and stuff! I literally talked about this with my guidance counselor at school, like, two weeks ago! I was going to go to college for this!"
I stare at the fuming blonde in bemusement. Amy just looks uncomfortable, shifting in her seat and looking pensively at her sister while she rants about how unfair the whole scenario is.
With a slight head tilt, I consider pushing up my plans to include Vicky in this whole adventure. She is rolling around, doing floating flips to express her feelings at being sidelined from what seems to be her dream job. I'm sure the fact that it's actual magic isn't helping her disappointment.
"Hey, Vicky?"
The flying brick sighs and looks at me with sadness.
"What?"
"If I gave you the choice to sign a contract more along the lines of Amy's, would you?"
It took a second for her to get what I meant. I could tell exactly when she figured out what I meant because suddenly all her melancholy evaporated into happiness so pure it would be gladly welcomed in the Empire.
"Really??!"
I smile tiredly.
"It'll be a while before you can perform any mysteries. I'll need Amy's help to grow artificial magic circuits, ones that don't get immediately rejected or need her constant maintenance to function, but once that happens...?"
I'm suddenly lifted into the air and spun as the peppy blonde repeats "thank you" over and over again in a pitch most dogs would cry at.
Finally, she plops me back into my chair and round on her sister with sparkles of joy.
"Did you hear that Ames!? We can be magical girls together!"
!!!!!
I choke on a bit of spit in my rush to laugh. Amy has the face of someone telling an artist their art style is based on tyrannical propaganda, like her life's work was insulted in a way that she can't argue against. Oblivious to the effect of her words, the flyer soon has a new captive for her impression of a carnival ride, spinning her loudly protesting sibling in a hug of torment.
By this point, I'm laughing so hard I'm crying. My side hurts and Mim is suddenly fretting about how I could re-injure myself as I fall out of my chair.
Through blurry eyes, I take a second to have a partition memorize this scene. I all but burn this moment into my soul, because I haven't felt this good since the breakouts. My vow to protect grows to envelop these two rambunctious teens, accepting them as family.
My smile stretches wider.
Line Break
After Vicky got her happiness under control and let go of a now very dizzy healer, I reminded them both to call their parents to assure them they were fine. While a second of horror flashed across Amy's face, Vicky excitedly punched in her mother's number. Before the frazzled girl can stop her, Victoria starts to babble into the phone for a minute. Eventually, through my enhanced hearing, I caught the mother's words.
"I see."
The positive atmosphere vanishes. The cold, aggressive delivery of those words snuffs out all the joy and Victoria slowly floats to the ground.
"I'll need to let the PRT know."
Panicking, Vicky tries stammering out a rebuttal. Brandish talks over her.
"Kidnapping a pair of underage girls out of their home is unacceptable, I don't care about the circumstance. I might even press charges."
"No!! I mean, we don't need to go that far, right? It was just a mistake! Made in an emergency, too! Surely that allows some form of, like, leniency?" Victoria's voice gains a hefty dose of desperation.
Suddenly remembering the rest of the room's occupants, Vicky gives a pained smile. "Excuse me, I should really take this outside."
Before I could comment, she flew out of the office. Amy just looks off into nothingness for a moment. Before I could comfort her, another pull on my soul dragged my attention inward.
The loom spins. The smell of iron invaded my senses, and the flowing threads lazily twine around the loom before tightening into seamless cloth. In the center of the fabric, a deep red splotch spreads. A form eventually takes shape, a rooster head of blood with pure white eyes glares out of the tapestry. Slowly, more colors and shapes appear, and the red headed rooster that continues to diligently watch me is finally completed by growing a serpent's tail. The background sprouts into a deeply wooded forest to house the Gallotrice inside. The new power of Accelerated Training is engraved upon me with a potent flourish.
"So, these contacts. Is it possible to keep someone from using their power in a specific way?"
With an unnoticed pause, I study her expression, looking for something that might hint at the context of her question.
"Pretty easily, as long as it takes a conscious effort to do. Why do you ask?"
Amy shuffles a bit, discomfort and caution warring on a freckled battlefield.
"If this is about you not strictly being a healer, I feel I should tell you that I know."
Amy whips toward me, shock and fear encompassing her face. I raise an eyebrow, a silent "so what?" left unsaid in the office.
"You knew?? For how long?!" I raised my hands in a calming gesture.
"Since you healed me. Mim had an array under my bed to monitor me, and to scan your power expression. All told, I don't really care."
Amy begins to grow red, and her first huff sets off a cascade of irritable ranting whispers. As she curses herself, her mother, Carol (as different people, depressingly enough), and Mim for 'cheating,' I politely keep my mouth shut while she works through her emotions.
With one last puff of annoyance, she collapses into the chair behind the desk. The not-only-a-healer glares at the stationary while she mumbles under her breath.
"If you knew I was a BioTinker, why haven't you put a clause in the contract about not using it?"
I could only stare at her aghast. Has she been ignoring the urge to use her power creatively? Ever since she's gotten it?
"No wonder you're so irritable. Who's the idiot that told you not to Tinker?"
Amy looks through her hair to give a confused glance. "Uh. Carol, my mother? Idiot?" She sits up. "Why the hell would I use it? It's beyond unethical to experiment on people! BioTinkers are universally evil! Nilbog, Bonesaw, even Blasto as close as Boston are all super-scum!"
I just look at her for a second, not quite comprehending her argument.
"You aren't limited to people. You could just toy around with a plant, right? People have been genetically altering plants since agriculture was first discovered. Every food on the market that isn't hunted has been selectively bred for hundreds if not thousands of years."
A crack formed in her facade, a ray of hope that got squashed by a frankly inhuman will.
"Hell, like with penicillin, you could help make superior medicine to what we have. If you can find a way around the black boxes, you might be able to fully cure things like the common cold, infections, even cancer! The lives you would save would be incalculable!"
The light is showing again. There's a growing moisture in her eyes while her lip quivers.
"You can do so much good with your ability! Owning a gun doesn't make you an active shooter, and being a BioTinker doesn't make you evil."
The tears are beginning to flow, and her shoulders are shaking.
"No matter what anyone says, you are and always will be my hero."
The chair rattled as Amy leaps over the desk and rams into my stomach, her silent sobs wracking her dainty frame. I wrap my arms around her and mutter gentle comforting nothings.
I hear Vicky about to burst in, and make a projected voice over her shoulder to quickly explain.
After a couple of minutes, the door slowly opens, and Victoria offers her own comfort, drawing the freckled hugger off me as Amy tackles her sister and cries even harder.
With a flex of will, I project a note onto the inside of the office door, making my way outside to give the girls some privacy. The note says they can find me in the kitchen, where I head to start making dinner.
Before I even get to the fridge, I'm all but barreled over by a much younger crying child.
"Arnold!!" Theo exclaims, emotion pouring off him. As I hug him back, I feel how much lighter he is, and a more focused look shows his slimmer frame. His dark eyes were bruised from a lack of sleep, and his grip was weaker than I remember.
"I thought you were dying. I thought... I thought I would never get to see you again." My heart cracks at the cloying desperation in his voice, his unkempt blonde hair whipping about as he shakes his head into my armor.
I tenderly caress his back, feeling more guilty with every tear he sheds.
"I'm sorry, Theo. I'm so sorry, for everything you've gone through these last two weeks." I try my best to keep my own tears at bay, determined to be strong, for him.
"Arnold?" I hear Kayden at the end of the hallway and look to see her still wearing that amulet. In fact, as water gathers in her eyes, I see her gripping it like a lifeline.
My vision blurs as I lose ground to my emotions. I give a shaky smile and hear my voice crack.
"Hey, Kayden. Long time no see?" The single mother rushes over, kneeling to hug around her stepson.
"You utter bastard! Do you have any idea how scared we all were for you?! You just go out there, fight Lung of all people, and get carried into the cabin looking like... like a... you better not ever come anywhere close to that state again or I swear to god I'll, I'll... God, Arnold there was so much blood..."
I can fight them no longer, my tears flooding out while my heart shatters. I hold them tight, apologies and guilt dripping from my lips as the two whimper and sob. In the back of my head, the partitions I've been using to offload my feelings crumble into spirals of self-loathing, self-doubt, and sorrow. I feel a phantom of fear creeping over my shoulder, looking on and waiting for its time to break me.
I hear a longing, haunting song in the air. Looking up, I see Revere trying his best to help, taking the edge off our pile of pain, and pushing the demons back for just a little longer.
With my will buoyed just enough, I herd the group into the living room opposite the dining room and kitchen, to find Thomas nursing a glass of rum at the counter.
Upon seeing us, the anger I expected to find is nowhere to be found, only a bone-crushing weight relieved from his sunken shoulders. His mouth is hidden behind his beard, but the way his pale skin pulls alludes to a tiny hopeful smile. What was once a glorious and sculpted masterpiece of graying pride, was a scraggly and uneven mess.
"Arny, thank God." He pushes his alcohol aside, and I wince at his drunken stumble, watching in pain as I see the kind of effect my injuries had on the people I care so much about.
"Arny, you little prick. You said that there wasn't anything what could happen to you out there! That, the, even if you were jumped by the entire city, you'd be fine!"
I run forward and grab him, using the contact to send a Cleanse into his system, and begin to cry into his prominent belly, begging with a fervor that he forgive me. I remember him once telling me that alcohol was a vice he would never fall back into. I hate myself for being the reason he broke his own promise.
As his eyes clear, no longer glassy and unfocused, he clamps his massive arms around me and I hear him take a quivering breath.
"You can't be doing this to my old heart, Arny. Seeing you in that bed, broken, so much like... I can't go through that again, Arny. I can't."
We all spend the next hours seeking as much comfort from each other as possible. I hardly notice when Amy and Vicky leave, asking Revere for a ride home to give us the time we need. I had hoped to get the geas signed before they left, but tomorrow is another day.
~~~<[ I return! ]>~~~
Yikes. This chapter was brutal on my psyche. I can never tell how my more emotional scenes will work out, so if you have any suggestions on how I could improve my writing, especially for the feelings parts, I'd love to hear it.
On my hiatus, I've been rewatching Gurren Lagann, hoping to hype myself back into a writing mood. It worked, evidently, but it makes me sad there isn't more Fanfic on it. I don't have enough experience or confidence to write it myself, so I can understand why there isn't, but I'm still sad about it, y'know? I want to read about the Digger's multiversal adventures and shenanigans, kicking some random anime villains around while shouting nonsense speeches that have no right going as hard as they do.