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Got the Grimoire, Chapter 26
🕑 Added 2025-01-06 05:10:28 +0000 UTCI wandered aimlessly through the garden, enjoying the myriad of sights and scents. Everything was so peaceful and relaxing.
“Be on guard, dear child.”
Oh, you.
“Yes, me.”
You’re… yeah. That one person.
“You’ve already forgotten so easily? I suppose I am not offended, your soul was still weak when we first met. You likely shall not recall this encounter very well either.”
What is this place?
“A memory of perfection.”
Friday, March 4, 2011
Friday morning actually started off pretty good. I’d patrolled/ trained pretty hard the last several days, so I had the morning off. I still woke up and had the feeling that I’d had a really important dream though.
Probably nothing.
I was pulled from my introspection as the Grimoire offered powers to me.
Division Bell (Cultist Simulator, 400 CP): A handheld bell that rings with dissonant tones. Pointing this bell at something and ringing it can divide that which has been put together. Through this, and with enough haste, even the Worms can be separated from the still unwilling host.
Bottle Collection (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, 100 CP): While they might not seem like anything special these bottles are invulnerable to damage or spilling, and their corks are designed in such a way that they are both spill-proof and porous enough for living beings such as fairies or insects to be contained safely within them. One of the bottles is special; once a day, so long as it is empty, it will be filled with a random substance from this world ranging from oil, to a blue potion that is capable of restoring someone from the brink of death. There’s even a chance of it becoming filled with the rare tears of a Great Fairy, which are not only capable of restoring someone’s health to full, but also doubles the damage they do until they take damage themselves.
1700cp-500cp= 1200 cp remaining.
One was just generally useful (I could either use the vials for my own experiments or loan them to Chris, the poor kid was constantly breaking things) but the bell? A way to stop potential trigger events?
Oh hell yes.
Power filled me as I accepted the offerings and it coalesced into the Bell and bottles which promptly appeared within my hotel suite. I might have also said thank you and felt a reassuring warmth in return.
Weird.
Once I’d taken care of my morning rituals, I sent a text to Lisa and made my way toward our usual spot. The cafe was fairly busy, tourists coming in with increasing frequency with Brockton Bay having now become Magus base of operations and also the mysterious healer that occasionally still snuck into hospitals and cleared them out. Some corrupt or greedy admins still complained about it to the PRT, to which Piggot promised she’d get around to it… When we had the manpower to spare. Which would probably be never.
God I love plausible deniability…
Keeping things relatively peaceful in the city also helped Amy and her mental health. I wouldn’t say everything was fixed, but when I’d stopped by the hospital earlier in the week, she’d been in much better spirits than before.
I reached the cafe with a skip in my step and plopped down in front of Lisa with a more expensive cup of coffee than usual. I could splurge. “Morning, Lis, how ya doing this fine morning?” I asked cheerfully.
She gave me a death glare. “Mghrl.”
“Rough night?” I asked, knowing full well that the Undersiders had pulled a job the night before. Briefing alerts from the PRT didn’t really carry that much urgency to them when there wasn’t exploding buildings involved though, just bland information being conveyed to keep us heroes in the loop. Plus they’d been targeting the ABB. I rather approved.
Her glare intensified. “Why’d you text me so early?”
I checked my watch with a frown, “It’s already ten.”
“It’s before the afternoon you jerk.”
“You’re not beating the lazy teenager allegations,” I said.
“And you won’t beat the allegations I level your way if you don’t stop being so damn cheerful,” she growled. “It wasn’t just the job last night. I was up even later with a project. Your project, in fact.” She plopped a folder down.
My eyes lit up and I felt my adrenaline spike despite the lack of real danger. Just the thought was enough to put me in combat mode. “You mean…?”
“As close as I could get to the exact location of the Slaughterhouse Nine and a projected route I think they’ll be taking to their next destination based on available data,” Lisa said while fighting back a yawn.
“You’re the best.”
“I know.”
“Why were you even on a job last night anyway? Don’t you have a fortune now?” I asked.
She gave a small shrug. “My team… I haven’t told them yet that our mysterious ‘boss’ isn’t around anymore, which is kind of easy since I was the only one to have contact with him anyways, but it means I still have to keep up the pretense of being employed by him, meaning doing the occasional job. Besides, it was just the ABB, the money we stole from them will filter back into the city’s economy quicker with us.”
“Fair enough I guess,” I said. I still didn’t like her running crimes, mostly because I didn’t want her to get hurt, but it was her life to live I suppose. Both Magus and Kage had bigger fish to fry than the Undersiders anyway. “How do you avoid going stir crazy, between not having to really work a real job and no school?”
“Oh, this and that,” Lisa said evasively, which meant illegal activities. “You wouldn’t believe the secrets I can ferret out with just an internet connection or just watching people here.”
“Uh-huh… Just promise you won’t use too harsh of blackmail material when it’s time to bring the Protectorate under your sway?” I asked, only half joking.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m good, but even I have limits.”
“But you totally would if you could.”
“Eh, fifty-fifty. Being able to say I was able to would be kind of cool, but the work all that would require to maintain? Not worth it.”
I didn’t like that I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. I chose to believe she was. “Well thanks, really. I appreciate it a ton.”
“You can show your appreciation by staying alive,” she said softly. “Annoying as you can be, you make the world a slightly more bearable place to live in. Plus, you know, the money,” she added hastily. “Yeah. Lots of money.”
“Awww, I love you too, Lis,” I said with a grin.
Her blink of surprise, then massive blush as her power told her I was being sincere, was incredibly endearing. The foot that hit my shin, less so, though the pain was negligible. “Shut-up. Don’t you have a kitten to rescue out of a tree or some paparazzi to pose for?”
“Nah, I was going to take things easy today, give out some gifts. Oh, speaking of,” I reached a hand into my jacket and withdrew the silver amulet I’d crafted for her. Each of the amulets I’d made were unique, this one having a stylized eye similar to the one on her costume. “Here you go.”
Lisa’s brow furrowed as she examined the gift. “What is it?”
“Magic necklace.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Bullshit.”
“Look, I could go into a long winded techno-babble explanation on how it works, but it’s just so much easier to say ‘magic necklace’, so just think of it as that. It’ll give you a personal defensive barrier. Not invincible, but it will increase your odds of survival,” I explained.
She looked skeptical still, but slowly nodded and put the necklace on. There was no obvious tells that the shield was in place, but Lisa’s power must have told her something, because she nodded in satisfaction. “Thanks. But why exactly?”
“I’ve made some powerful enemies and I’m bound to make more. I doubt my identity will hold up forever and even then, there are people who can make connections or use Thinker powers to learn more about me and once they know how to hit me where it hurts… I don’t want anyone I care about to be in the line of fire, but I can’t be everywhere at once, so some defensive measures are the best I can do for the moment.”
Her eyes narrowed and I could practically see her power doing it’s thing. “Does this have to do with the files on my computer mysteriously vanishing?”
“Somewhat,” I admitted. “I got paid a visit. Not a bad one, but even that… I’m not omniscient, I still need to eat and sleep and all the other little things a normal person does to live normally. It’d be easy for a powerful or skilled enough person to kill me if they really wanted to. I walked into my home and was suddenly face to face with one of the single deadliest people I know of. I would genuinely rather make an enemy out of Eidolon than this person. And they were just… there. No warning. It rattled me. So anyway,” I forced a bit of levity into my tone, “just think of this as insurance. Hopefully you’ll never need it, but if you do, then I’m glad I could help.”
“With that bleeding heart of yours, I’m surprised that you didn't make one for each of my teammates too.”
“I thought about it, but I’m really just trying to protect you as an individual, not give the Undersiders all a minor Brute rating that would help them in their heists. Plus I haven't really interacted with them all that much, I doubt they’d have to worry about any enemies of mine.”
“What if I paid you?”
I snorted and shook my head. “I’m not desperate for money like I was when I first started out. Thanks for the offer, but no fancy tinker-tech out of me for your nefarious criminal activities.”
She looked a tad annoyed, but nodded in acceptance. “Okay. So,” a predatory gleam entered her eye, “how are things going with Laserdream?”
“Really, you wanna gossip about my love life now?” I laughed.
“Not much else to gossip about with you being a hero and all.”
“True. Well, our date went pretty nicely, but things have been kind of hectic. Got plans to patrol with her and the family on Sunday.” I gave a small shrug. “Not much else to report.”
“Damn, you are head over heels.”
I raised an eyebrow at the little menace. “And what makes you say that?”
“We’ve been friends for a bit now, so I know your tells, even without using my power. The more nonchalant you act about something serious, the more deeply you’re actually feeling. Maybe because you don’t wanna come off as immature or something. I bet you’re still feeling giddy inside over how the date went, aren’t you?”
I let a smile slip out. “Am I really that obvious?”
“Only to me or another social-Thinker.”
“Good to know. Well, I have other places to be-”
“Gonna go give Taylor her necklace?” Lisa guessed.
“Your power told you that,” I accused. “Cheater.”
“Cause, I know you. You’re a big softy, of course you’re gonna give the hero you’ve taken under your wing some additional protection.”
“Hm, maybe your genius isn’t all dependent on that little brain tumor of yours. Since we’re on the topic, have you two started hanging out or anything?” I asked hopefully. I’d planted the seeds of a friendship there, but I couldn’t exactly force anything, especially with how much I’d screwed up the actual course of events that would have led to their original friendship.
“We’ve gotten coffee a couple of times, I managed to get her shopping for some new outfits once, though that was like pulling teeth. Girl has serious confidence issues, plus zero to no money and is too stubborn to let me treat her. But she’s… Well, even if she didn’t hit me in the trigger, I think I’d like her anyway. She’s got guts and loyalty in spades, plus she’s pretty smart even if she doesn’t think so,” Lisa said.
“She’s a good kid. I… I thought I was making things better for her, but ended up just making them worse by accident. I need to check on her and see if things have changed since I took steps to correct that,” I mused, more to myself than to Lisa.
“Well good luck with that. Are you going to hang around her house like a creep, cause I know she doesn’t have a cell-” Between one blink and the next I’d changed my appearance into roughly what I’d looked like at sixteen, glasses included. “I’m not sure if that's more or less creepy than the house thing.”
“Actually this was more so that I can call her landline and pretend to be a classmate if her dad answers,” I corrected her. “Although I probably could sneak into Winslow… Nah, I hated high school when I was a teenager, it’d be even worse now. But that’s not a bad way to speak to her if I really need to.”
“Lemme guess, loner with no friends, just spent all his time playing video games and reading comic books.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Actually I had a rather robust social life in high school. Was always going over to friends’ houses, though there was lots of video games and Dungeons and Dragons involved. It wasn’t until I moved across the country and lost touch with all my friends that I became a shut-in.”
“Didn’t take you for a social butterfly.”
“Hardly,” I scoffed. “Just… I dunno, things were different when I was younger. Easier to make friends I guess.”
“You act like such an old man sometimes, it’s like you’re just begging to be made fun of,” Lisa laughed.
“Maybe I am. Someone’s gotta let you pretend you’re actually funny,” I quipped.
+-+-+-
After some more chit chat with Lisa, I headed off toward Winslow, invisible and undetectable as far as I knew, flying low over the Docks. It was still an awe inspiring thing, true flight, even if teleportation was more convenient. Still, it was good for practice, since teleportation wouldn’t always be an option against the foes I was planning on pitting myself against. Took too much concentration.
I timed my arrival just right and spotted Taylor sitting on Winslow’s rooftop, enjoying her lunch. Leftovers by the look of it.
“Want that reheated?” I asked, dropping my layers of illusions, suddenly right in front of her.
She yelped and shot to her feet, but I was able to catch her food with my psychokinesis before it hit the ground. “What the hell are you doing here?” She asked.
“Been a minute since I’ve seen my favorite vigilante. Felt kind of bad. You haven’t called or anything.” I carefully lowered the food back into her hands, then carefully focused on Lunatic Eyes creating a small cluster of microwaves around the container of cold spaghetti until it was steaming hot. I’d been practicing with what was probably my single most valuable power, other than the Vestment of Balance. I also flicked a finger toward the door to the rooftop, making sure it would stay sealed while we talked. “I mean, a week isn’t that long, but I figured I should still check in. How have things been around here?” I waved a general hand around Winslow.
“A little better,” Taylor said, warily taking a bite of pasta and nodding in satisfaction at the temperature. “Actually, a lot. Emma’s parents took her to a counselor and it’s… bad. She’s being home schooled for now while she goes to therapy.”
“How’d you find that out?”
“Our parents were friends. Emma’s dad is kind of having a meltdown himself, but her mom was pretty upset when she found out what Emma has been doing. Came by the house to apologize and talk to me and Dad.” She stirred her food around a bit, a conflicted look passing over her face. “Did you have something to do with that?”
“Alan Barnes works with Carol Dallon. Seeing as she’s my lawyer and I’m fairly good friends with one of her kids, friendly with her other one, and dating her niece, it looks like she took my advice to check in on what was going on with that family,” I informed her. “It helped that I had a lot of evidence. If you want to press charges or something…”
“I… Sophia is wherever she’s at, Emma is getting help and while the others are huge bitches, I don’t think they deserve jail. Plus Emma’s little kingdom has fallen apart, so I don’t really have to deal with too much these days,” she said with a downright cheerful (for her) expression.
“Glad to hear it.” I hesitated. “You know if you wanted, I could probably pull some strings, get you out of this cesspit,” I offered.
Taylor’s expression went through a myriad of forms before settling on contemplative. “Can I think about it? That sounds incredible, but… Well, things are a little different these days. It’d be a big change and I’m not sure how I could explain something like that to my dad.”
“Sure, just say the word if you want it,” I said. “Oh, this wasn’t just a social call, I also brought you some stuff.” I pulled out the amulet I’d crafted for her, this one having a spider logo on it, ripped directly from a certain comic book character, because why the hell not? I also took out a flip phone. “I’m guessing you haven’t gotten that burner yet?”
“I forgot,” she admitted, but accepted it once I handed it over. She eyed the amulet more warily. “Jewelry? You know my dad warned me about strange men offering me stuff like this.”
I grinned, more happy that she felt comfortable enough to actually banter than anything else. “Empowered item. Think Dauntless’ stuff. That should give you a personal forcefield, strong enough to tank a couple gunshots or so. Figured with how we’ve been giving the ABB some trouble and all…”
“You really think I’ll need this on top of my costume?” She asked worriedly, then paused and considered. “No, you’re right. The ABB, Lung especially, don’t mess around. Thanks. Hopefully I won’t need it…”
“But better safe than sorry,” I finished. “I think you’ll be alright, but over preparation never hurts when you’re a hero.”
“Unless by over-preparing you’re keeping yourself from acting when you should,” she countered.
Well… shit, she’s right.
“That’s a really good point. Anyone ever tell you you’re a smart gal?”
She snorted and flicked a noodle at me, but what she said actually did get the gears turning.
Why was I hesitating? I had the knowledge and the ability. It was time to put them to the test, maybe a little sooner than anticipated, but not soon enough.
“Well, I gotta go. Take care, text if you wanna patrol, all that jazz,” I stood and cracked my knuckles. “I got something important to deal with.”
“What’s that?” Taylor asked curiously.
“I’m going to go kill the Slaughterhouse Nine.”
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A/N: I got so close to getting you guys another chapter, but my brain just decided to die on me tonight. I'll try harder, I swear. Thanks as always to you guys for helping me out even just a little. Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Comments
ciaran mullen
Thanks for the chapter was a fun read. ❤️
