《A stange sort of science》 Chapter 1 - Dislocate Judy had been told by various people over her life that she wasn''t normal. She considered this to be a ridiculous concept, after all if people were calling her odd, then they couldn¡¯t be too well-adjusted themselves. To tell the truth, she considered herself quite normal, which is why she was hovering 3 feet above the ground. Now this wasn¡¯t inherently surprising on its own, after all, the sheer technological advancements that have been made in the last 20 years were amazing, or so people said, for Judy, she had lived her entire life with wonders, so it was hardly something to gawk at. At 22, Judy Thernia had grown up during the storm that ravaged the way people saw science, the storm had a name. Potentia. The aforementioned storm of course, not being a literal storm, was a completely new technology. What had been done with it would have been regarded as magic by the prior generation. The closely guarded secrets of potentia allowed the creation of devices such as the belt Judy was wearing. A propulsion device made to negate gravity, making the user technically lighter, or, with perfect mathematical precision, allowing the user to hover. The issue with the belt is that it was broken, or rather, it never worked to begin with, a replica. See Judy wasn''t using the belt to hover, it was something else, something not quite normal, that gave her that ability, with far greater control than such a belt could achieve. ¡°Judy, hey! You coming back inside or what?¡± Evelyn Terce, where to start? Warm, dark hair that flowed to the shoulders, lightly kissing her chocolate stained skin. A bright, translucent pink dress that followed the current style ¡ª made of a synthetic, plastic material opaque only at the waist and chest. Light blue eyes and soft features, the only child of the man behind potentia, as the media so gallantly portrayed her. A compliment in their mind, but not so much in hers as Judy had learned. Sighing she opened her unusual eyes, straightening from her calming, meditative pose with belated movements before pretending to adjust her belt and descending to the concrete. ¡°Just give me a minute Eve.¡± Eve lowered her voice to a whisper ¡°Your not having one of your¡­ yknow¡­. attacks?¡± Tactful as always, Eve was referring to something that Judy called, at least in her own company, light sensory overload. Flashing lights, loud noises and too much on her mind left her feeling... overwhelmed. Judy of course considered this a fairly normal thing, but Eve insisted on seeing them as some kind of epileptic fits, never content with normality, it had to be dramatic, or it wasn''t worth time. ¡°You really should see a tendoc about that stuff, probably got some kind of enhancements that could help¡± ¡°A wonderful suggestion, except they¡¯re not attacks Eve and there¡¯s nothing wrong with me.¡± Was Judy¡¯s terse reply. Stubbornly without enhancements, a stance that was none too popular nowadays, she wasn''t about to look for a fix to something she¡¯d lived her entire life dealing with perfectly fine. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.¡°Sure sure, anyway. You gonna join us or what?¡± Silently cursing at Eve¡¯s ignorance, Judy moved to follow her. The wall seemingly melting with a wave of the hand from Eve. The bar was following the new style of furniture, meaning hidden doors that fade in and out, burnished steel tables and chairs with bright LED lights sunken in accompanied by garish projections of distorted animals wandering around. In other words, a catalyst of overstimulation for anyone, by Judy¡¯s estimation at least. She wasn''t even sure why she¡¯d agreed to come out, well that''s not exactly true, Eve had bullied her into it. ¡°Dislocate, Relocate¡± Judy repeated, muttering to herself as the door reappeared behind her, the urge to do so not completely removed by her short respite, and quickly starting to rise again. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sitting around one of the garish tables was the group of girls Evelyn had dragged Judy out with. Hannah, Leif, Niko, Yggdra and Ash. Judy stopped muttering, replacing it, or at least trying to with a smile. ¡°You alright?¡±Ash¡¯s husky voice intoned, her ice-white brows furrowing. ¡°Yeah, we were all kinda worried when you ran out like that¡± Leif jumped in. At this comment, Hannah raised an eyebrow before quickly resetting her face to one of concern. Judy assured them that she just needed a breath of air and the girls continued their conversation. The topic moved on to the newest ¡®tenmod¡¯ enhancements, causing Judy to shift uncomfortably. Everyone else on the table was visibly modded and as usual she found her eyes drifting to Eve¡¯s chest, where her low cut dress exposed the slightest shift in colour from her skin. Judy knew at this point not to ask her friend about it, but it didn¡¯t stop her wondering what function could possibly require such extensive modding. As she was musing, a table near them erupted into sound, accusations of cheat shouted at a short man, cards held in a fan in front of his bright red jacket. Trying to focus elsewhere Judy looked at the table, only to be met with a rapidly flashing white light. A lion with thin, green legs attached to massive yellow paws took the opportunity to sidle up to her and roar, the apparition not quite having mass but still somehow eliciting a response from her shoulder. The now familiar feeling taking over as Judy¡¯s gut began to sing, the sensation rising up her throat. Judy tried to tamp it down, but it started to sear, it needed release. Yggdra, Leif and Niko turned and narrowed their eyes towards Judy as she buckled in pain. The conversation stilled as Ash tried to help Judy to her feet, guiding her towards the bathroom, setting her down and handing her a paracetamol patch before closing the door to the stall. Ash was speaking, but Judy couldn''t hear, it was all muted, the only thing she could listen to was the force building inside her. Release. It needed release. And so it was, a strangled whisper of Dislocate, leaving nothing behind but a fluttering strip of painkiller. Chapter 2 - Command Judy Relocated into the apartment she shared with Eve, falling onto her bed, her head throbbing in pain. She sat there disorientated and shivering, focusing on breathing. After regaining her composure she took in her surroundings. Her room was quite bare, though not by choice. With Evelyn, you never knew when you were leaving, so it was best to keep decoration sparse. Her obsession with hiding from her father leads her to move every few months. A weird enough quirk on its own, it gets frustrating when you get dragged into it. Given the chance, Judy would drop everything to find out who her family were, let alone spend time with them, but Eve was paying for the rooms, a luxury Judy couldn''t afford at the moment, so she supposed she should be grateful. Moving over to her laptop to check the time, Judy stumbled, falling to a knee before collapsing entirely. This was wrong. The pain, her power rising unbidden, the weakness, it didn''t make sense, this wasn¡¯t how her abilities worked. Not that there was a rule book, she was, as far as she was aware, the only one like this, then again, she didn''t exactly ask around. She hardly needed anything else to set her apart on account of her deep violet eyes and general aversion of people barring Eve, and even that had been forced at first. Judy tried to stand again, pulling on the side of her dark wooden desk, before collapsing into the relatively new, office style chair. Her phone pinged, and she pulled it out to see a text from an unknown number. ¡®Its Ash, yknow from the bar, look I covered for you, said you had cramps and took you back home. I don''t wanna rush you or anything, but when your well enough I want an explanation, you just disappeared from a barstool like goddamn Houdini¡¯. ¡®Oh and I hope you''re ok.¡¯, the phone pinged again. Judy stared at the tinted screen. Shit. Explain. How was she supposed to explain. ¡°Hey ok, so i can teleport, i call it relocating, somehow my power got out of control last night and i teleported home, but dont worry im not dangerous or anything, I¡¯ve never lost control like that before. Oh and also i couldnt move when i got back and collapsed, so, you wanna go grab a drink sometime?¡° Shit. She knew she shouldn''t have let Eve drag her out like that. ¡°What¡¯s the worse that can happen, you¡¯ll actually enjoy yourself?¡± Instead of making friends, or hell having even socialized much, all she¡¯d done was embarrass herself by sprinting out of the bar, coming back in 5 minutes later just to collapse in pain before bailing. What''s worse is she now had to somehow come up with a plausible excuse as to why or how she managed to disappear from a closed bathroom stall. At least Ash hadn¡¯t gone back and told everyone that she had disappeared, but that begs the question, why cover for her? It didn¡¯t make sense. Her phone buzzed again, so Judy threw it across the room onto her bed, looked up and sighed. It could have been worse she supposed, she wasn¡¯t looking forward to it anyway and at least she had an out. Turning in her chair, she peered at the ¡®broken¡¯ bottom draw of her desk. She had fiddled with the original one, removing the locking mechanism so instead of using a fingerprint scanner, there was no obvious way to open it. Not for anyone without her disposition for materials at least. She had coated the latch on the inside of the drawer with lead she had Drawn from an old-fashioned weight she had found. With a disinterested thought, she tried turning the lead into a more spongy material that was separated from the latch, once a complicated transmutation, it barely took effort nowadays. Or rather, it shouldn''t have, but it didn''t work. Concerned she focused, glaring at the draw, then there was a sudden ripping sensation. Dazed she Reached for the lead again, but couldn''t feel it. She felt weird, like she had lost something. She then Reached around the room, mentally groping for her phone, before realizing she couldn''t sense anything. Bewildered she tried again, still nothing, why was it so fucking cold? She started to panic, she couldn''t lose this, not now, not ever, this was hers, she needed it. NEEDED IT. Getting up she frantically tried to Levitate, only managing to fall to her knees. She tried to Relocate to her feet, and failed. No. A sob escaped her. So that was it, all her life pretending to be normal, now she''d found it. Normality. Why had she ever strived for this, resented her abilities for further setting her apart? Her abilities, they were gone. Gone. Gone! The word tore through her mind as she slipped unconscious. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Judy. Shit Judy, Judy!¡± Eve violently shook Judy, her eyes wide. Eve spun on the figure standing behind her. ¡°Shit Ash, you told me she was fine, goddamnit Judy get the fuck up.¡± Judy struggled to remain conscious, not understanding what all the fuss was about. She tried to giggle, not realizing it came out as barely a rasp, why was Eve swearing, she never swore. ¡°Silly Eve, you never swear¡± She muttered. Except she didn''t, the words barely forming. At this display Eve lowered herself next to Judy, tears forming. ¡°Hey, hey Judes. whats wrong, please be fine, please.¡± Eve turned and glared at Ash again, who stood there, black lips on pale skin pursed in concern, remaining silent as she played with something in her pocket. Eve turned back to Judy and moved over to her shoulders, without looking back at Ash, she commanded her to grab Judy¡¯s legs. Ash jerked dropping the card she had been fiddling with and moved to help Eve deliver Judy to her bed without a second thought. ¡°Out.¡± Barely audible, a mixture of emotions clouded Eve¡¯s voice. Ash left the room without saying a word. Sitting down on the bed next to Judy, Eve buried her head in her hands. ¡°Judy, get up¡±. Those last two words ripped from her throat, more a guttural growl than true speech. The bed bucked as it lost weight and Judy materialized upright on the other side of the generous room, the look of elation dying as she met Eve¡¯s eyes. Dark streaks of ruined makeup marking tear lines trailed down her face, making her expression seem crazed rather than matching her bewilderment. Emotions flitted through her. Relief, confusion, then anger. ¡°Judy. What the Fuck.¡± Chapter 3 - Dreaded Questions Judy could Feel, she could Feel! Everything. It was so overwhelming. But it was brilliant. She could Relocate, how did she know that? She Reached for her phone, looking around the room, and met Evelyn¡¯s eyes. Realization sucker punched her. ¡°Errm, Eve i can-¡± ¡°How.¡± Eve demanded. That was it. All her life had been devoted to hiding her quirks, and now it was out, just like that, to the rich girl more concerned with fashion magazines and partying. Shit, of all people. The girl that had grabbed the first person not concerned with her fame and latched onto them. The girl that had taken her in after she was fired, supported her when she had no one else to turn to. Flashes of Eve¡¯s deranged concern crawled back to Judy as she remembered the last 10 minutes and she immediately felt bad for stereotyping her. This was Eve, her only friend. There were worse options, though it''s not really like she spoke to anyone else. Eve had dealt with Judy¡¯s ¡®normal¡¯ tendencies mostly without complaint, hell they¡¯d been living as roommates for nearly 3 years now, with Eve paying for everything. Judy owed her, so she moved to speak, trying to think of a way to explain something she didn''t herself understand. ¡°Ok, errm, so Eve, there ar-¡± ¡°What was that? You just bailed on me! I had to ditch everyone just to come back to find you collapsed? Whats going on, are you ok?¡± Judy hesitated, unsure of what to say. What could she say? ¡°Well?¡± Eve challenged. ¡°Yeah, I guess, I mean...I don''t know. I really don¡¯t know what just happened, I Relocated here and everything fell apart, then I thought I had lost...¡± Trailing off, Judy shifted uncomfortably, her gaze moving to an artistic depiction of a silver woman with a bow stalking a golden man. The only decoration in her sparse room, an old painting. She¡¯d only picked it up cause it seemed oddly familiar. ¡°Lost what?¡± ¡°My-¡± a sigh. Judy gestured at the air, trying to summon words. They were not proving co-operative. ¡°I''m going to assume you mean the fact that you just, and do correct me if I''m wrong, teleported out of bed? I mean, please tell me I am wrong, that I¡¯m just going insane.¡± A blazing fire tempering her words. Judy simply looked at her only friend, not sure how to respond. Eventually she let out another sigh as she made a decision. She gestured to her chair and made an Imprint, before Absorbing its energy and Forming it closer to her, then she fell onto it and slumped. ¡°So, you can teleport¡± ¡°Dislocate¡±, a quiet mutter, Eve leaned closer to Judy from the edge of Judy¡¯s bed. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°I ah, call it Dislocating and Relocating, but er, what i did with the chair was something different¡± ¡°Uh-huh. Right.¡± A pause, stretching for too long. Judy simply took in Eve, waiting, hoping for a positive response, though it didn''t feel as she deserved one. Her usually bright warm blue eyes seemed dimmed, muted. Her ruined makeup only making her look desolate. Eve moved to speak and stopped, then started to fiddle with her dark hair. She moved to speak again and halted, clearly lost. Finally, she shifted to the edge of the bed and leaned forward again. ¡°Judes I-I really don''t know what to make of this¡± She laughed, a short, sharp exhale. A sigh. ¡°What happened, you have one of your seizures?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not-¡± Judy cut off as she saw Eve¡¯s cautious smirk. ¡°Hah, alright.¡± She shook her head, grateful. ¡°Yeah I got a little, overwhelmed.¡± Eve flashed her a pointed look, unimpressed. ¡°Ok so a lot overwhelmed, worse than it usually is¡± Judy took a deep breath, gauging Eve. ¡°I ah, couldn''t take it, I couldn¡¯t really think. To be honest i don¡¯t really remember a lot of it. Next thing I knew, someone, one of you friends, was shoving something in my hand and I.¡± Again Judy paused. ¡°Well i Dislocated¡± She looked to Eve, who just nodded at her to continue. ¡°Ok¡± She sighed, gathering her thoughts. ¡°So i Relocated here. My head felt like shit, i tried to move and i just, collapsed, I was freezing. I pulled myself into my chair and started to panic. I¡¯d never had this happen before, then I -¡± ¡°Never happened before? So how long have you been able to do, that¡± ¡°Most of my life i guess, what i can remember of it atleast. I can''t really think of a time that i wasn¡¯t able to, my other abilities had to develop though.¡± ¡°Other abilities? What are they? Were you ever gonna tell me?¡± ¡°Well, i-¡± ¡°No, save it, just carry on, you said you¡¯d never had that before¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.¡°Ok, yeah.¡± Judy recited the ordeal from her perspective, including the rushed text from Ash and the sheer panic at losing her powers, which resulted in the state she was found in. ¡°So let me get this straight, Ash doesn¡¯t know anything?¡± ¡°No, tonight was literally the first time i had met any of them, you know her better than me, why would she cover for me? You don''t think she knows anything about what i am?¡± ¡°You mean you don¡¯t know what you are?¡± Judy shook her head dejectedly, her gaze lowering. ¡°I dont think Ash would know anything, its Leif and Niko that are into that wicca stuff. Why d¡¯you think she would?¡± Eve said, taking the hint. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if she does know anything then, i kinda wanna know.¡± ¡°And if she doesn¡¯t, or she has some kind of evil plan?¡± Judy rolled her eyes. ¡°I hardly think she¡¯s some kind of super villain, i hope she''s not at least, she was kinda cute, in a sharp, deaths daughter sort of way- so maybe not cute. But anyway, she just said she wanted an explanation, which makes sense, i disappeared from a closed stall right in front of her.¡± ¡°She¡¯s cute?¡± Eves voice started to rise. ¡°Never mind the fact that she could have been wrong, hell she WAS wrong. You were not fine when i got here, what if it had been worse huh? What if it was worse, no one would have known to help you because of her lies! You could have died! She just assumed you were fine? But oh well, she''s cute. Gah!¡± Eve took a steadying breath, to questionable effect. She had risen to her feet as she shouted and went to sit back down, but just slipped off and hit the floor. She hit her head on the side of the bed. ¡°You could have died, i could have come home to see a corpse, Your corpse, on the floor.¡± Her voice was at a whisper now, the anger drained from her features. Judy just stared at Eve, stunned. Sure emotional outbursts weren''t uncommon from Eve, but this was different, that was a quick flip even for her, and there was a weight behind her hollow gaze. This wasn''t drama for drama¡¯s sake but pure, genuine fear. Despite the circumstances Judy felt overwhelmed, Eve, mostly stripped of her dramatic airs, was actually concerned for her. Someone genuinely cared about her. Wordlessly she moved over to Eve¡¯s sniffling form and placed an arm around her, then pulled her fiercely towards her. Eve responded in turn, both of them forcing their emotion out into a brutal bear hug. ¡°So, ah-¡± Whatever Judy was going to say was cut short as Eve jerked her head towards the door, a rushed scuffling sound coming from behind it. Eve stomped to the door and flung it open, Judy eased herself up to see Ash, caught halfway to the exit of the apartment. Eve moved to speak, glaring furiously, but Judy placed a hand on her shoulder and moved in front, thanking whatever deity was listening that Eve took the hint. ¡°So. What did you hear?¡± This prompted a guilty look from Ash, who''s eyes then nervously flitted to Eve before failing to meet Judy¡¯s gaze. A silence followed, but Judy did not relent, forcing Ash to respond. Seemingly steeling herself, she straightened, looking pointedly at Judy. ¡°Everything¡±. Judy blushed slightly before she doubled down, controlling her pale face. ¡°I suppose you got the explanation you were looking for.¡± A pause, something flickered in her pale eyes. ¡°How much do you know?¡± ¡°What do you-¡± ¡°How. Much. Do. You. Know¡± ¡°About what!?¡± ¡°What I am! What i can do!¡± ¡°Nothing! I swear i just didn''t understand¡± Her protest sounding weaker and weaker. ¡°So what, no, why. Why did you figure i was fine huh? How did you know i was home? What the everloving fuck do you know.¡± Ash started to back away from the outburst, before Eve stepped forward to act a s mediator. ¡°Hey, Judy, i don''t think she knows anything¡± At this Judy deflated, she knew her anger was misdirected, to a degree at least. ¡°I just thought, i thought i had lost it, and if she knew anything, anything at all, about why I''m like this or even what it is. I just. I don¡¯t know.¡± Judy turned, moving back to her room. She hesitated at the doorway. ¡°Ash¡± A sigh ¡° I¡¯m sorry for that outburst. Eve I-¡± ¡°Its fine, just, just get some sleep all right? And hey¡± Eve saw an opportunity and jumped on it ¡°To make it up to me, you can let me buy you a new dress so you can come to that party with me eh?¡± Judy groaned at this, but hidden from view was a slow, almost maniacal smile growing. After closing the door she let out a soft chuckle, it was no surprise Eve had turned that to her advantage. Chapter 4 - Degrees of Normalcy Startled by her alarm, Judy groped for her phone and thumbed the slider off, silence taking the place of old american rock. She stared at the ceiling and laid an arm over her forehead, letting the ¡®events¡¯ of yesterday sink in. Gathering herself she looked around her room, half expecting to see it on fire and in various levels of disarray, but it was, for the most part, as tidy as normal. Her battered office chair had wandered to the other side of the room than her desk but otherwise, things seemed almost, normal. Good. She Reached around, just letting the other sense sink in to prove she still could. It was calming, almost meditative, just taking in the worlds varying degrees of energy, letting the ebb and flow settle around her. She partitioned her mind letting part of it to focus on the world as she turned the rest of her focus to her draw, separating the lead from the latch and then unlocking it. She got up and moved to her desk. Her movements were graceful, perfect, she glided as opposed to walked, everything else seemed ugly in contrast. A look of sheer, serene calm sat unnaturally on her face. It was ethereal, in a very, very, un-Judy like way. Any onlooker in their reverie would have sworn that her charcoal, evernight hair was moving of its own accord, to its own pattern, dancing as it took on a glowing, warm, white sheen. Her eyes were closed, but had been open they would not be their usual (or rather, unusual) deep violet. Instead they would reflect a myriad of colours, all of them impossibly dark, almost eldritch in their existence. She lowered to a crouch next to the draw, still unusually elegant in her movements. Withdrawing an item, a cube, she flexed her mind. Her disgruntled chair fell into existence behind her. Judy lowered herself onto it as she sensed a change in energy, a sudden abscence of it, in front of her and to the left. She ignored it, moving her full attention to the cube, the world silencing around her, withdrawing her Reach until it was all focused on the small cube. She sensed a small layer of air in that intense gaze, but as usual, she could not sense the cube. It remained a frustrating enigma. Judy could sense the ¡®energy¡¯ of anything inanimate she comes across, and if she could sense it she could manipulate it, yet this cube remained unresponsive, like a living thing, yet not. No matter how hard she strained, she could not figure it out. Suddenly her head snapped back, breaking her centre, the cube tumbled from her hands onto the carpet. Blinking, she opened her eyes, shaking her head. Her room came back into focus, as did Eve, who was looming over her. ¡°Eve?¡± ¡°You were zoned seriously out, like, no response. I literally shouted at you and, nothing. Not that it''s a complaint.¡± An unrepentant smile spreading over her glossy red lips. ¡°So you slapped me¡± Judy¡¯s response, deadpan, then she snorted, shaking her head. ¡°So, what is that, i mean you zone out from time to time but that was bad¡± Eve motioned to the cube Judy had dropped, curious. Before she had time to respond Eve spoke again. ¡°And, you kinda looked weird, you almost seemed to be glowing, it was weird¡±. ¡°Not sure about the glowing part but yeah i was focused, i can¡¯t figure that stuff out¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Eve repeated, moving closer to pick the cube up off of the floor. ¡°Well you remember that grav belt you gave me¡± At a nod from Eve she continued, sheepishly. ¡°Well i kinda, errm, took it apart¡± ¡°But -¡± Eve paused ¡°You were using it last night? At the bar?¡± She cocked her head, confused. ¡°Well, i ah, don''t need it. One of the things i can do is, well, levitate, sort of anyway. I only really asked for it so i could do it in front of you without, yknow, having questions come up. Its calming, i have to focus to do it and it helps, gives me something to do if I''m overwhelmed, or bored¡±. ¡°So you dismantled it. I cannot believe you, do you know how much that thing cost, the hoops i had to go through so that He didn¡¯t know i was buying his stuff.¡± Her tone was jovial until she mentioned her father. ¡°I don''t understand, why do you go through all that effort to avoid him? It''s not like it''s the fame, you eat that shit up, i mean, hell, on top of being your dad he''s meant to be the greatest man of the century, he is modern advancement.¡± Judy had rolled her chair closer to Eve meeting her eyes, searching. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about him¡± Eve looked down If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°But why, i don¡¯t get it, what did he do?¡± ¡°Just stop, ok. Why don¡¯t we talk about your parents, you dont speak about them either¡± A dangerous glint settled in her azure eyes. ¡°That¡¯s different, you know I don¡¯t remember any of that, I was just trying to help. If he did something to you, i don¡¯t know, theres gotta be people who can help with that¡±. ¡°Well in future, don¡¯t ¡®help¡¯, just leave it alone.¡± ¡°Sorry, I will.¡± Judy heaved a sigh. ¡°Anyway what did you want me for?¡± Eve¡¯s face immediately changed, resetting from one of anger before flashing a perfect smile. ¡°Shopping, you need new clothes, and, if i remember correctly, you promised to make things up to me by going to that party, and your sure as hell not wearing your usual stuff for it.¡± --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°What do you think of this Judes?¡± Eve was holding up a long, flowing, formal dress that just happened to be hot pink. Judy¡¯s eyes widened at this and she raised her eyebrows, getting her point across. ¡°You can¡¯t just reject everything i show you, you¡¯ve got to like something¡± Exasperated, Eve rifled through the rack again, not catching Judy¡¯s smirk. She pulled out a knee-length, dark forest green, halter strap and spun, surely Judy¡¯d like this, even if it wasn''t to her own tastes, but Judy was transfixed by something else entirely. She followed her friends gaze, and she understood, her look of puzzlement replaced by scorn. The centrepiece of ¡®abat-jour apparel¡¯ was a flowing, half formed black mass that convulsed hypnotically. True to the name of the store, a large fake skylight highlighted it. The display was obnoxiously over the top, Eve thought, arrogant even. In short, it was a perfect place to shop. ¡°That¡¯s incredible! Surely it can''t just reform itself, how does it work?¡± Judy¡¯s curiosity clearly piquing. Eve¡¯s countenance darkened further. ¡°Potentia¡± was all she said. Judy frowned in thought. ¡°hmmm, i wonder?¡± Musing, she continued to regard the shifting source of Eve¡¯s disgust. ¡°What.¡± Eve snapped at her, startling Judy, who blinked rapidly and turned to her. ¡°I was ah, just wondering.¡± A pause. ¡°If i could do something like that. Form clothing from my errm, powers.¡± Eves face softened slightly at this, realizing Judy was more interested in the concept than the ¡®clothing¡¯. As much as the idea was incredible, she still refused to have anything to do with potentia, her only concession to that was because of ¡®The Emergency¡¯ that had forced her to get modded at a tendoc. This caused her to eventually relax her stance on enhancements, it was near impossible nowadays to live without them due to how being unmodded was akin to social suicide. It was difficult to be scorned for not having any obvious mods, not when she owed her life to one. So really, she spurned potentia except in the case of mods, seen as she was only alive because of one, but she refused to see that as a weakness to her stance, the more distance between her and her father the better. ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to show me what you can do at some point, you know that right?¡± Judy had the grace to cringe slightly at that, still unsure of how to feel about her secret being known. ¡°Ah yeah, ermm ok.¡± ¡°Its a date¡± Judy snorted at this, clearly not flustered enough to miss a retort. ¡°If i hadn''t seen some of those online magazines you religiously subscribe to id be flattered, or, yknow, the steady stream of boys who never pass your ¡®test¡¯.¡± Eve just grinned shamelessly, then held up the forgotten dress. ¡°So, this to your liking¡±. Judy looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°If it means we can go get lunch, then it¡¯ll do¡± ¡°Incorrigible¡± Eve muttered. ¡°That¡¯s a big word Eve, careful, you might have to stop stealing my books¡± ¡°Wait, you know about that?¡± Judy just flashed a smug grin. ¡°You know, you could have asked¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to laugh at me¡± She looked to her friend, unusually shy. ¡°are you saying you wouldn''t have?¡± ¡°God no, the great media star Evelyn Terse deigning to read a book without pictures, why it''s a miracle¡± ¡°Look who''s finally comfortable saying more than a few sentences¡± Eve grumbled, trying, and failing, to suppress a smile. They started to walk to the checkout, clearly uplifted, then Eve gasped. Judy spun, alert, but it was her turn to follow her friends gaze. ¡°Oh my god! It¡¯s perfect¡± Fixated, Eve failed to notice the newcomer until she spoke in agreement. Chapter 5 - Truth ¡°For you, i would have to agree¡± Eve nigh on jumped out of her skin, Yggdra having manoeuvred right over her shoulder. ¡°Jesus Yggdra!¡± But Yggdra¡¯s attention had already shifted to Judy, her piercing, malachite green eyes accentuated by that odd flowing tattoo that slid up from her neckline, covering her entire face, reminiscent of tree branches, Judy thought. A large medallion of her namesake hung from her pale neck. The seemingly random and intense attention made Judy shift uneasily. The odd tension eased as Judy broke her gaze, shifting to look at Yggdra¡¯s brazenly modded ear, the entire lobe being replaced by an odd material, giving off an anodized purple sheen. Finally, Yggdra looked away. ¡°Sorry Evelyn, I did not intend to sneak up on you, I thought I would say hello when i saw you. It is good to see you again Judy, a shame you had to leave so quickly.¡± She cocked her head. ¡°How did you get home? I was somewhat worried¡±. ¡°I- Ash drove me back¡± Judy replied, catching herself. She thought Yggdra frowned slightly at that, but she wasn''t sure. A thought occurred to her. ¡°But i thought Ash told you guys that?¡± ¡°She did, of course, i apologize. Either way, it is good to see that you are ok.¡± Eve¡¯s countenance had darkened in confusion during this exchange as her gaze flitted between her two friends. She imagined this is what whiplash would feel like. ¡°Ooook, well.¡± Struck by a loss of words, Eve just shook her head, then returned her attention to the object that had caught her attention. The object in question was, to put it mildly, a necklace. A necklace being a loose definition, as it seemed to challenge the line between necklace, neck brace and upper chest piece. An intricate mess of ornate, interlocking wires, attached to a no less ornate collar that was probably required for it to stay around someone''s neck. In short it was garish, perfect. Eve grinned at Judy. ¡°I''m not sure you can afford that¡± Judy motioned to the price tag, an ironic smirk dying as she noticed the same flicker of composure cross Yggdra¡¯s inked face. Odd. ¡°Oh but that makes it all the more sweeter¡± Eve crooned. ¡°Trust me, its not My money going into this¡± a vicious note entering her voice, accompanied by her grin turning savage. ¡°It is perfect.¡± She clapped excitedly. ¡°Now come, time to pay for all this, Yggdra, you want to join us or?¡± Yggdra paused, as if considering, she moved to speak but cast an offhanded look to Judy, stopped and started again. ¡°I think i will finish up here, enjoy.¡± She turned, disappearing behind a clothing rack, Eve just shrugged and motioned for Judy to follow. ¡°Her speech, is it always so-¡± Judy paused, wobbling her hand in thought. ¡°Exact? It''s a little odd¡±. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°Hah, as if your anything but.¡± A teasing lilt to Eve¡¯s tone, but then she frowned. ¡°Hmm, on the topic of odd things, you have any idea what this is?¡± She reached into her pocket, pulling an oddly blank card out of her pocket between two fingers. Eve twisted those fingers, flipping it to display a similarly blank face on the other side of the card. Judy squinted at it, then took it from her friend. At her touch, the card seemed to vibrate, colour bleeding in from its edges, painting the nondescript surface a deeper and deeper green, until the card was almost black. Both girls stared at it, utterly lost. A thought occurred to Judy and she passed it back to Eve, the card started to slowly bleach, gradually turning blank again. They met each other''s eyes, searching for answers that weren''t there. Judy took the card again, causing it to darken a second time. ¡°It reacts to you? Why?¡± ¡°I''m not sure. Where d¡¯you get it?¡± Eve clenched her jaw. ¡°The bitch must have lied to us¡± ¡°Whoa, what? Who?¡± ¡°Ash, I¡¯d forgotten about it, she dropped this last night, it must react to your magic somehow.¡± ¡°Whoah, hold on, we don''t know that, we don''t know what it is, let''s not jump to conclusions. It could be reacting to anything.¡± ¡°Think, what else is it gonna be, a seemingly magic card reacting to you, who apparently has superpowers. This was hers, she dropped it, she knows something¡± ¡°Maybe she didn''t know what it was¡± Judy¡¯s protests sounded weak even to her own ears, she wasn''t even sure why she was defending someone she¡¯d only just met, no matter the intentions it was clear Ash had lied about something, at the very least she knew something. She gave a heavy, weighted sigh. ¡°Shit, alright, what do you reckon we do about it?¡± ¡°Me? I¡¯m just here to look pretty and buy you dresses, they''re your powers, but i would advise against taking the same tact with her as you did last night, scared the crap outta me and i wasn''t the target of your ire.¡± Chapter 6 - Telekinesis ¡°I¡¯ve texted Ash, she said she¡¯ll drop by in an hour¡± Judy shivered. ¡°Its bloody freezing in here.¡± ¡°I wouldnt call it cold, but i can turn the heating on. That gives us an hour for you to show me what you can do¡± Eve watched Judy with expectant eyes. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll start by explaining what i know i can do. I can teleport, sort of? I can kinda fade from the world and move through it, its not really teleporting but i can do it very fast. Its not instant, but it can definitely look like it from short distances. I call it Dislocating and Relocating. Dislocating is when I ¡®fade¡¯, Relocating when i return to, errr, substance i guess?¡± Judy punctuated this by Relocating behind her friend before she could register what had happened, Eve jumped out of her skin and swore at Judy, who was in hysterics. ¡°You''re an asshole¡± Judy took a breath and composed herself, crease lines reappearing. ¡°Ah, what else, i can change things? Like transmutation? No?¡± Eve just looked at her blankly. ¡°All right I¡¯ll just show you, hand me that mug¡± Judy stared at the mug for a couple of seconds before relaxing and then the cup shimmered seemingly dissolving. It pooled before reforming into a crude, ceramic likeness of Eve¡¯s face. Eve studied it, an almost conflicted look appearing on her usually sunny face, but Judy wasn''t done. The mug quickly reformed back to its original shape, the same stylized graphic of the moon looking up at Eve. The mug then disappeared, Judy pointed to the counter where what seemed to be the same mug resided. With a thought she used the Imprint she took earlier to make another copy of the mug in her waiting hands, pausing only long enough for Eve to register the two mugs. Judy¡¯s brow then furrowed, her face constricting in concentration, and she gestured grandly to her surroundings, making Imprints before absorbing energy. Objects from the kitchen started to flit out of existence, a lamp, the curtains, a knife block, a cupboard door, the blasted takeaway, they hadn''t eaten yet! Eve started to move back, edging to the door of the room. With a final motion Judy splayed her fingers. Eve shrieked and turned away. A statue of gleaming gold stood in the centre of the kitchen, an almost exact one to one likeness of Eve. She slowly lowered a hand from her face to find lifeless, yellow orbs in level with her eyes. ¡°What the f-. The, the? Damnit Judy what the hell!.¡± Judy sheepishly looked around to see the kitchen in violent disarray. ¡°Judy, why is half the kitchen missing.¡± ¡°Ah, well....¡± Judy motioned wildly to the statue. ¡°I can see that.¡± Eve turned a flat stare. ¡°Maybe i should have ah, warned you?¡± Eve just grunted in response. Then looked at her. ¡°You gonna clean this up?¡± Judy had the sense to look chagrined. ¡°You also realise that I don¡¯t understand what you just did right.¡± At this Judy looked thoughtful, then moved to presumably perform another demonstration, ¡°No, stop. Whatever you''re doing, stop, please, just don¡¯t do it.¡± Eve sighed, ¡°Look, just clean this up and we can figure out what were gonna say to Ash.¡± ¡°You mean you don¡¯t want me to explain anything else I can do?¡± ¡°Not if it¡¯s as destructive as that.¡± ¡°No, no I can control myself, I ah, just got a bit carried away.¡± Eve was about to give her friend another flat look before she noticed the over eager tone in Judy¡¯s voice. Something told Eve that despite everything, Judy wanted to show her everything she could do, her abilities, magic, whatever the hell it was, seemed to be a big part of her. Maybe the earlier teasing was her finally being comfortable with herself enough to interact. Maybe having someone who knew her secret was a relief, so instead of disapproval Eve just gave Judy a short nod, which elicited an uncharacteristic display of emotion in the form of a massive grin infecting Judy¡¯s usually passive face. ¡°Ok, ok so ah. I can ah, sort of sense stuff, or most stuff anyway, anything yknow, non-living, But I can kinda sense living stuff cause of it anyway, if i try at least, cause they leave a pocket of non-sensing? A void where i should be able to sense it, cause i can sense the air when i really focus.¡± At this Judy opened up herself to the current of energy, settling into the ebb and flow, searching for a way to show Eve what she could do. She stretched herself further, until she encompassed the whole apartment then beyond. There! There was, wait? ¡°Errr Eve? There¡¯s kinda someone at the door, I think they''re just standing there but I''m not fully sure, it''s kinda fuzzy, inexact.¡± Eve looked up. ¡°That¡¯ll be Ash then, just remember what i said, don''t go scary.¡± She finished with a glint in her eye. Eve moved to the door and opened it, and stilled. Judy moved to try to see who it was but Eve was blocking her view, dead as the statue in the kitchen. Then, jumpstarting to life she violently slammed the door, spun on her heel and promptly collapsed onto the sofa. ¡°Hey, Judes¡± She called, ¡°Vodka, now.¡± Judy¡¯s feet carried her to the bureau before she could protest, pulling out the half empty bottle she handed it to her friend before framing a question. ¡°You want a glass or? Nevermind.¡± Eve just took a large swig before grimacing and setting it down next to her. There was a knock at the door. Judy looked to Eve, a question in her eyes, but her friend just shook her head fractionally, looking defeated; she fixed a dead set stare to the beige wall. Unsure of what to say, Judy moved to the other side of the sofa and placed a hand on her friends shoulder, causing Eve to flinch away. She tried again, more slowly. Eve turned to look at her, knowing she had her attention Judy spoke, softly, the worlds only just carrying to Eve¡¯s ears. ¡°Who was it?¡± Then, the obvious guess, what else would have sent Eve into a spiral? ¡°One of your fathers men?¡± Eve shivered, then nodded, a weak pitiful movement, before taking another lengthy swig. Unsure of what to say Judy made towards the door, slowly. Before opening it she turned to look at her friend; Eve was immobile, vacantly staring at a thoughtless void. In the hallway was a pale, athletic man in an asphalt black suit. His short, muddy red hair seemed meticulously combed to a sharp point on one side. With a dismissive glance he moved to peer past Judy, through the portal and into their apartment. When Judy moved to block him he sighed, flicking his sunken gaze to her before speaking in a clipped voice. ¡°You are aware of who I work for I presume.¡± When Judy failed to respond he tutted. ¡°If you would be so kind as to step aside, i have business with the young heiress.¡± Judy put her hand in her pocket and fiddled with Ash¡¯s card, but otherwise remained silent. ¡°This does not concern you, I will be walking out of here with Miss Terce. Now, step aside.¡± Another pause, she only set her jaw. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.¡°I am warning you child, Step Aside.¡± She felt stuck, sure that letting this Wolf of Wall Street henchman get to Eve would be a very bad idea and sorely regretting her decision to open the door. Then she saw Ash, somehow gliding her way down the hallway without making a sound, she caught Judy¡¯s unusual eyes and started mouthing words. Judy just frowned, unable to read her lips, realizing this she pointed at the man and started tapping her wrist, three quick taps, three more spaced out and another three quick taps. The man, seeing her hesitation as a refusal, let out a final sigh. ¡°Any means necessary indeed.¡± He made a curt gesture, and Judy was thrown backwards into wall, eliciting a violent crack. Eve jerked from her seat and tripped backwards over it, scooting backwards as the man approached her, smoothing out his suit. An unpleasant grin spreads his face. ¡°You Father wishes to speak to you¡±. He said, grabbing her shirt and pulling her up, just as pale hands wrapped around his sallow neck, jerking it to the side with a second, bone deep crunch. Eve fell to the floor with a thud, as did the richly dressed stranger, revealing the rest of a lithe figure. Ash brushed loose, arctic hair from her searching eyes before offering a hand. Time seemed to stretch as Eve simply stared at short, black painted nails until a groan broke her out of her reverie. ¡°Shit Judy, how the hell did you survive that, that guy is the single most powerful telekinetic of our age, the force he threw at you looked like it could kill an elephant.¡± Ash withdrew her hand and peered at the cracked wall, concrete littered around Judy¡¯s injured form, several pieces of rebar were visible, distorted from the impact, one of which was jutting out of her side. ¡° ¡®That guy¡¯ is the man you just casually murdered. Ash, you need to give us answers, like, now.¡± ¡°Ok I get it, you have questions, but we need to get Judy to a healer, the very fact that she survived that is insane.¡± She gave a short chuckle. ¡°She has to have some kind of powerful innate¡±. Musing, Ash moved over to Judy¡¯s side, Judy tried to get up but failed and only managed to punctuate the room with another groan. Eve let out a heavy sigh, silently remarking that she seemed to be sighing a lot lately. ¡°And I suppose you know of a place where she can be healed? One that were gonna blindly follow you to?¡± ¡°Sounds bad when you say it like that, but that was my intention¡± ¡°What reason do we have to trust you¡± ¡°Well, the very fact that only one of you is, you know, conscious, means that only *you* have to trust me and well, I take it you want Judy to live on account of the fact that she just got thrown into a wall.¡± Defiance flickered in Eve¡¯s eyes as she met Ash¡¯s dispassionate gaze. ¡°There''s this thing called a hospital y¡¯know, and i just so happen to be rich.¡± ¡°No princess, you father is rich. And need I point out that the man who just tried to kill your friend with little provocation and abduct you works for your father¡± She hisses. ¡°Oh and not to mention, even if your father doesn¡¯t own the one hospital you manage to find he just about owns everything else in the country, fuck at this point he owns most of the world, I am your only option right now. I couldn¡¯t care less about your friend, but I¡¯m not stupid enough to think you''ll let me protect you if I leave her to die here; I¡¯m not about to let you run off into your fathers clutches when it is my one fucking job to keep you out of them. Do I make myself clear?¡± Eve glared, but after a short pause gave a similarly short nod. ¡°Good, now help me bring her to my car, she¡¯ll be better off where we¡¯re going than at a hospital anyway.¡± Chapter 7 - Refuge ¡°We¡¯re here¡± the click of the old-fashioned hand brake only emphasized Ash¡¯s clipped tone. She had parked in a dead end alleyway not too far from the bar, ¡°The Raving Tiger¡±. Eve could scarcely believe that this time last night she was walking into the bar with her socially awkward, but otherwise non-magical roommate of three years. How could something that happened less than 24 hours ago feel like it happened weeks ago? Judy stirred, making another grunt of pain as Eve moved to undo her seatbelt, waiting for the telltale hum of the slowing field to be deactivated, before remembering that this car didn¡¯t have one. Feeling stupid after Ash gave her an amused look, she opened the door and looked around. ¡°I take it your friends are hobo¡¯s then, either that or just wanted to make it easier to hide our bodies. I don¡¯t know what would suprise me more.¡± A hard edge entered Ash¡¯s voice. ¡°Its clear you¡¯ve never actually been homeless princess, in future, refrain from being scornful about things you don¡¯t understand, especially when you choose not to understand. And no, this wasn¡¯t just a ploy to dump your bodies somewhere easier, this would be a stupid place to do so. The whole point is getting you to- getting Judy to a discreet healer, preferably one that doesn¡¯t dabble in anything composed of tenebrum.¡± Tired of the conversation, Ash chose to skip the explanation. ¡°Duck. Strangle. Bob Marley.¡± At the spoken words the alleyway seemed to darken impossibly, the world suddenly seemed muted. Eve turned on Ash, trying to demand an explanation but no sound came out of her open mouth. Her eyes clouded with fear, then shock. The darkness faded; suddenly they were standing in a well lit, large open space, a courtyard of sandy brick. Eve gasped, partly from awe, partly from an irrational need to take in as much air as possible after the harrowing transport method. Ash smirked darkly. ¡°See, you¡¯re still alive.¡± She then stalked towards one of the 4 exits. Distrust of Ash warred with concern for Judy, but distrust won. Eve ran to catch up with the killer, rationalizing that her friend was fine sitting, or rather lying, in the car, best to make sure she wasn¡¯t forgotten about by Ash. Eve followed her through the large archway, revealing a long, branching, corridor. A few groups of people loitered around, amicably chatting, but the minute Ash was seen conversations died, replaced by wary side glances. People shuffled closer to the walls. Ash simply ignored them and continued, making a sharp turn down another hallway. Eve followed her through the maze, quickly giving up on trying to remember every turn, before finally coming to a stop in front of a beautiful white door inlaid with gold. A burly, young man with dark hair and an old graphic Star Wars t-shirt stood was standing guard, but upon seeing Ash moved to the side as if to allow her through. This revealed an insignia made of sharp, interlocking lines enclosed in an oval. ¡°Evening Ash, that your target?¡± The man said with a bored glance at Eve. ¡°Not saying anything about that Dereck, at least, not to you. I take it Tara¡¯s in?¡± ¡°Indeed she is, go right ahead.¡± He tapped a few keys on the previously unnoticed keypad. Eve tried to see what the code was but in place of the expected 0-9 format, the markings were all strange symbols that shifted after every key press. Dereck raised a hand in mock salute and tipped his head. ¡°All yours, Ice Heart.¡± He added with a smirk. Ash responded with a cutting glare and the humour quickly fled Derecks features, replaced by something akin to fear. Without looking back at her, Ash addressed Eve. ¡°Wait out here princess, youll be invited in once the adults are done talking.¡± ¡°Stop calling me that! And like hell I am, Judy is currently bleeding out in your goddamn car, you promised me a healer.¡± With an exasperated sigh, Ash turned on Dereck and told him to take Judy to someone called Ami, explaining that Judy was in the arrivals'' courtyard in one of the ¡®safe cars¡¯. Before Dereck had even rounded the corner Eve found the door closed in front of her, letting her examine the intricate detail in full, were she so inclined. She wasn¡¯t and instead stood there fuming over Ash¡¯s treatment and disregard of her. Her rage quickly dissipated and exhaustion followed as she started to mull over the days events. Nothing made sense, Judy having magic powers, Ash being a psycho killer and part of some secret society, a weird ass death lift and one of her fathers men trying to kill Judy, and for what? Why was any of this even happening? Fuck she had seen a man die today, and at the hands of someone she thought she knew. As far as she was aware she¡¯d never been wrong about anyone''s character, hell she prided herself on being able to tell who people were. People were simple, stereotypical. Judy liked her books more than social interaction, Yggdra was clearly autistic, Hannah was an airhead in love with herself and Leif and Niko were Wiccan hippies. There was little else to it. Stereotypes worked and secrets were all the same, just contextual, except Ash clearly didn¡¯t fit any bill as far as Eve could see, not anymore. How had Ash hidden this from her? Whatever this is. Eve¡¯s thoughts were cut short by the source of her discontent appearing in front of her, a mocking smirk fixed to her pale features. ¡°Well, come on then princess, Her Grace will see you now.¡± Ash shoved her through the newly made opening to reveal an incredibly opulent room. Veins of gold travelled along pristine, blinding white columns of marble, splitting off into capillaries of glistening light where they supported a massive cathedral-like roof. Banners of royal blue adorned the walls sporting the same intricate glyph as the door with a single addition, a sprawling structure that could only be interpreted as a sanctuary enshrouded the oval. A single column of onyx black spread through the middle of the rooms floor, ending in an imposing desk, at which sat a lone woman. She was the epitome of beauty, a perfect model brought to life. Her skin matched the ebony hue of the desk and her eyes were a dark, enriching hazel that exuded warmth. A grand robe of unadulterated white flowed to her radiance. She offered Eve a smile, raising unbidden feelings of home and love in her chest. The woman spoke, not moving her lips. Eve¡¯s mind quieted, a single, strange but familiar voice blossomed. ¡°Welcome daughter, to Sanctuary. I am so grateful Ash finally brought you here. But ah, you came with a friend. Fear not, she will receive the best medical attention we have to offer.¡± Tara Evanescent, the presumed dead wife of Jackson Terce and absentee mother of Evelyn Terce rose from her seat, moving to delicately embrace her daughter, her robe barely fluttering as she did so. ¡°M-Mum?¡± Eve stuttered, then suddenly shocked to her senses, she ripped herself from the embrace. ¡°Are you kidding me! I went to your funeral. You- you left me with HIM! You''re alive?¡± She wheezed, then started laughing uncontrollably. ¡°You cannot be serious.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°I understand that this must come as a shock, and perhaps not a pleasant one at that, but please, you have to understand-¡± ¡°Understand? Understand what, that you¡¯ve let me believe you were dead. That you let me be raised by that, that bastard?¡± ¡°No. Understand that what I did, I did for your safety. I did it for you my child.¡± ¡°Explain¡± ¡°In due time, my child but-¡± ¡°Stop calling me that! Not until you explain. You owe me that, ¡®Mum¡¯.¡± Eve¡¯s voice was filled with practised malice. ¡°Oh and one more thing, stop talking in my head, its weird and invasive. I literally only discovered magic existed like, yesterday. I swear to god if I hear one more person has goddamned magical powers I am going to murder them. Now, I am done with this, take me to Judy, and once she¡¯s better were leaving.¡± ¡°Dont you at least want my explanation, please stay, you will be safe here.¡± ¡°Safe from who? The man you left me with? You didn¡¯t protect me before. And i told you to stay out of my head!¡± With a sour expression that was quickly smoothed over, Tara moved to speak, her words sounding slightly disjointed, not quite right. Her musical, almost angelic tone fell flat. ¡°I knew you would be safe from him when your potential test came back negative, even a man like him would not kill his own daughter.¡± ¡°What does that even mean? Potential test? And he had a pretty good shot at it not even two hours ago!¡± ¡°A potential test is a way of testing magic, and it was your friend that was nearly killed, not you no?¡± ¡°So, ignoring your callous disregard for Judy, im just about the only normal person in the world, gotcha.¡± ¡°Hardly, this sa-¡± ¡°Get Out Of My Head!¡± ¡°Evelyn please, your being irrational.¡± ¡°Yeah no im done here¡± Eve turned on her heel and flipped her hair over her shoulder, moving toward the door, before realizing it wasn¡¯t there. Assuming it was more modern she waved a hand, but nothing happened. She spun back round to face her mother. ¡°Let me out. Now¡± Tara sighed, shaking her head. ¡°If you insist. Ashlyn, take her to her friend, then get her a suite,the best we have, im sure she¡¯s tired.¡± ¡°Have you forgotten that¡¯s theres still no door.¡± ¡°Check again¡± Irritated, Eve spun a third time to be faced with the corridor she had entered from, at least she assumed it was, they all seemed to look the same. ¡°Well, come on then princess, im sure the suites are up to your royal standards.¡± ¡°No. You, be quiet! You¡¯ve been working with my mother this entire time? I trusted you, we were friends.¡± ¡°Friends? Hah. Now that im free to say it, I find you insufferable. You didn¡¯t ¡®trust¡¯ me, frankly im not sure you trust anyone, youre far too self absorbed for it. Hell im shocked by the concern you¡¯ve shown Judy, but even then you cant give that much of a shit considering you followed me, leaving her to, how did you put it? ¡®Bleed out¡¯ in my car¡¯. No princess, we were never friends, you were an assignment.¡± ¡°You- you¡± Eve stuttered, wide blue eyes fixed on a stony expression. ¡°Don¡¯t bother to even try to think of a response, i simply couldn¡¯t care less, just follow me and stay quiet, ive spent too much time listening to you talk about yourself to ever want to hear your voice again.¡± Eve lapsed into a miserable silence, a seething anger towards her former friend beginning to brew in her stomach as she followed her through a seemingly random pattern of corridors. Finally, Ash stopped in front a narrower, dead end hallway with a door on either side. Outside of scaling, it didn¡¯t seem different to anywhere else in this blasted maze, still the same dull, sandy, beige like walls with an arching ceiling. Even the doors to the rooms were drab and simple. Clearly she was broadcasting her disdain as Ash couldn¡¯t help another remark. ¡°And you want me to stop calling you princess, hah. I dont think ive seen such snobbery before. Its not like your flat was much to look at, and that was before it had a Judy sized hole in the wall. These are the best suites in Sanctuary, and you¡¯ll see why in a moment. Yours is the one on the left, the other is for Judy when she recovers.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not necessary, we¡¯ll be leaving as soon as she is.¡± ¡°Regardless, it was what your mother ordered, and her word is law here. Besides, you may not want to stay but once Judy wakes up surrounded by people like her, she may just forget all about the spoilt, judgemental princess that shoehorned her everywhere.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± Eve¡¯s words were filled with enough poison to kill an elephant and her gaze was steel, but Ash only smiled saccharine sweetness, letting an incandescent fury surge. Eve had learned one thing from this at least, an unabated hatred towards Ash. But she knew that there was nothing she could do and so she snatched the key card Ash held out in front of her, earning a smug smile, and used it to unlock the door to the suite. She turned to angrily gesture at the door before realizing it wasn¡¯t a fading door. The stumped expression on her face clearly amused Ash even further, who unfortunately hadn''t burst into flames and disappeared screaming despite Eve¡¯s best wishes. Ash snorted ¡°It¡¯s manual princess, yknow, you close it by physical exertion. No Terce tech here im afraid, however will her royal highness cope¡±. This prompted the visceral image of Eve poisoning her tormentor with the sarcasm that dripped from her rough voice, but still nothing happened: she only managed to fumble with the door before finally grabbing the fairly obvious lip and sliding the door closed with as much force as she could muster, which didn¡¯t happen to be much due to the door getting caught. She took in the room, which to be fair was suitably opulent. Unlike her revenant mothers room, the colour scheme was a rich red and gold with splashes of white. It sported a curtained, queen sized bed and a myriad of ornate, gold lined furniture. There was a notable absence of any form of technology, true to Ash¡¯s word, likely the only true words that had ever left the psychos mouth, but Eve didn¡¯t even have the energy to complain and she didn¡¯t even know who she could complain to, with Judy hurt. She collapsed onto the massive bed and sighed in content. A drifting realization that she hadn''t actually been taken to Judy slipped through her mind as she succumbed to exhaustion. Chapter 8 - Vim Vitae Panic gripped Judy as she woke facing an unfamiliar, beige coloured wall, instinct took over as she let her mind sink in order to Reach around her. Instead of getting a sense of her surroundings, white-hot lances drove her mind alight. She tried to get up but it was at that moment her body decided to make her aware of how much pain she was truly in; the weak movement ceasing as her vision turned black. ¡°She¡¯s awake it seems.¡± A quiet voice intoned; then, louder. ¡°Ami, you''re newest visitor is awake¡± ¡°A minute please¡± The unfamiliar voice answered back. ¡°Stop shouting¡± Judy managed with a groan. ¡°So you are alive? I doubt even Her Grace could have survived being thrown into a wall at what seemed to be mach 4 and yet, here you are. It is good you''re alive, not sure I could have got the princess to stay without maiming her had you died. Though, now that I think about it, I would have enjoyed that, how exactly do you stand her?¡± Judy¡¯s vision began to return and she took in her surroundings. A simple, grey curtain enclosed her in a small space consisting of a bed, on which she was positioned, and an uncomfortable looking burgundy armchair. Situated on the chair was a woman in a tight, sleeveless turtle-neck, dark as her blackened lips, a light smirk dancing as her ice-grey eyes met Judy¡¯s. ¡°Eve is my friend.¡± ¡°Which is why she¡¯s here and not me, oh wait. Your ¡®friend¡¯ is a selfish, conceited spoilt little rich girl who only picked you up for validation. Trust me, you¡¯d be better off forgetting about her and finding a place here.¡± Judy fought to lift the cloud of pain that had enveloped her mind, enough to focus on the words and think of a response. ¡°Right, and i¡¯m supposed to be taking advice from a practical stranger who only seems to be getting more confusing and scary by the second. A stranger who very clearly lied to my face last night. Does speaking shit about people to their friends behind their back give you a kick or something?¡± Ash smirked. ¡°You forgot cute, ¡®in a deaths daughter sort of way¡¯¡± She quoted in a mocking tone. Judy glared at her but Ash made a placating gesture before she could speak. ¡°Believe me I said a lot worse to her face earlier, and the last thing I''m looking to do is ostracize or scare you, most people here are nice, I''m serious when I say you should stay here, among your kind. Im what you¡¯d call an abnormality.¡± ¡°And what the fuck is ¡®my kind¡¯, i dont even know where here is!¡± Before Ash had the chance to answer, the curtain was pulled open to reveal a pretty faced marred by what could have been frustration, but Judy struggled to place the emotion. Her rounded, hazel eyes were narrowed towards Ash and her mouth was set in a grim line. ¡°Ashlyn, stop antagonizing my patient, I don¡¯t know why I let you in here in the first place.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie, you still have a soft spot for me Ami¡± Ash replied in a breathy tone, a smirk playing on her lips. ¡°Out.¡± Was the strangers terse reply, the force in her voice brooking no argument. Ash winked at Judy before slipping out of the door. The newcomer allowed a small, comforting smile towards Judy. ¡°Sorry about her, to answer your question, you are in Sanctuary¡±. Judy cautiously turned to fully face her, taking in her tawny skin and lovely, dark green dress - emblazoned by a single snake coiling around a roughly hewn staff. ¡°Wonderful, you''re not screaming in pain. Its incredible really, you should be dead, I barely had to help you heal. I¡¯m Amida, nice to meet you¡±. ¡°Err, Judy. So what exactly happened?¡± ¡°Well, what do you remember?¡± Amida leant back in her chair and took a small notebook from her pocket. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind i¡¯ve been asked to record your version of events aswell¡± ¡°Why, by who? What actually is this place?¡± ¡°By Her Grace, leader of our little community, you¡¯ll have to ask her for the why but it makes sense that she¡¯d want to know, especially if Jaxon was involved¡± She tapped her pen to the paper. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it for now, i¡¯ll ask again later, it¡¯s a miracle that you¡¯re alive, you probably need rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, and you didn¡¯t answer my other question¡± Judy tried to sit up and immediately failed, slumping with a grimace. ¡°Fuck! Goddamnit why is it so fucking cold!¡± ¡°Hmm, you may have a fever, it wouldn¡¯t come as a surprise; some part of your recovery has to function normally and god knows what you had to fight off. If Ashlynn¡¯s account of the story is accurate.¡± She let out a sigh. ¡°And if theres one thing she isn¡¯t it¡¯s a liar, despite it all. What was I saying.¡± Amida muttered to herself for a second before recollecting her thoughts. ¡°Oh yes, if her account is anything to go by you were thrown across a room and impaled by a large chunk of rebar. Anyway, point is that should be fine, but frankly I have barely understood a second of your recovery.¡± ¡°I get it, I should be dead. Everyone is shocked by my current state of not dead. I hope thats the reason neither you nor Ash will give me a straight answer about this place, cause its starting to look shady as shit. Not only that but it clearly doesn¡¯t have any form of damn heating¡±. ¡°Everything will be explained, you¡¯ve only just woken up, the history of Sanctuary is not simple and it is fraught with sorrow, it would take more than a few minutes to explain.¡± She raised a small hand coveting a thin device. ¡°This is an old, digital thermometer. We don¡¯t tend to use Terce tech here¨Csomething that can be explained later.¡± She stressed. ¡°If you let me place this under your tongue I can better determine whether you have a fever.¡± Judy¡¯s eyes flicked between Amida¡¯s face and the odd stick-like device, uncertainty warring across her features. Finally she nodded slightly and parted her lips. Amida took Judy¡¯s temperature, frowning at the small display. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re temperature is fine, but you¡¯re definitely shivering, odd. How do you feel?¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.¡°Like shit¡± ¡°Hmm, yeah fair enough. That wasn¡¯t the best question. Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions that could mimic fever like symptoms?¡± ¡°Errrm, not as far as i¡¯m aware? I don¡¯t think I have any health problems?¡± ¡°Ok, well it should be fine as long as I keep an eye on you. Though again, I haven''t exactly done much to begin with. You''re healing is remarkable. Yes yes ill stop mentioning it now.¡± Amida interrupted again, seeing the flinty expression flit across Judy¡¯s strange eyes. ¡°Well I assume your hungry so -¡± A knocking sound suspended Amida¡¯s train of thought. ¡°I swear if that¡¯s Ash again.¡± She threw open the door, but in place of Ash¡¯s pale visage was a much darker woman. Looking down at Amida, she spoke. ¡°Is this where you people are keeping Judy?¡± ¡°A daughter of Terce indeed, yes your friend is here under my care, my name is-¡± Before Amida could finish she found herself shoved aside as Eve strode into the room, her imperious face melting into a winning smile as she saw Judy. ¡°Judy, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re ok, ive had such a terrible time here, but now that you¡¯re better we can leave. I have so much to tell you¡± ¡°Eve, hey, whats goin-¡± ¡°So it turns out my mum is the tyrannical ruler of this stuffy catacomb, as apparently she isn''t dead she just thought it was fine to abandon me! Not only that but she¡¯s as magical as you are. She is such a bitch aswell, kept talking into my head like some kind of freak.¡± She let out an exaggerated sigh. ¡°This place, is horrible. I am so done. Can we leave now?¡± ¡°Eve stop, slow down, please. Shit, I''m not even sure I can get up, let alone walk.¡± ¡°Well then hurry up and heal why don¡¯t you? This place is horrible, I just know youll hate it here anyway, filled with weirdos!¡± ¡°I was thrown into a damn wall, I literally only woke up 5 minutes ago. And what do you mean ¡®weirdos¡¯? ¡± Eve gestured grandly around her. ¡°They all do freaky magic, openly!¡± ¡°Magic, like me?¡± At this Judy made another attempt to properly sit up, her eyes watering from the pain. ¡°Of course they''re not like you! Honestly Judy, sometimes I question you. Anyway, listen, you need to know about my mum, my family is even more messed up than i thought, im starting to wish it was more like yours.¡± ¡°You mean no recollection of them, at all. No memory of their faces, their voices, their names?¡± Judy¡¯s voice was deadpan, her face caredully devoid of emotion. ¡°God that would be so great¡± ¡°Where would you get your money from then? Who would you be without your fame? You know what Eve, im tired, I need to rest. I still don¡¯t really know or understand what happened or fuck, how im even alive. I don¡¯t undestand what this place is or how im even here, the one thing I do know is that right now, it is taking every fibre of my being to stay cognizant, so please, leave. I feel like shit and i need to rest.¡± ¡°Leave?¡± An incredulous look darkened Eve¡¯s face. ¡°Why are you being so mean. I made the effort to come here to see how you were doing and this is-¡± A loud, lilting voice cuts Eve off. ¡°Enough! You will not disrupt a patient that is in recovery. You were asked to leave, and I expect you to do so as quickly as you can. This is an infirmary and the only damage you¡¯ve suffered is to your personality. Now leave.¡± ¡°How dare you. I¡¯d like to see you try to make me leave you skinny twig of a chi-¡± ¡°Finish that word princess, I dare you.¡± A gruff, whisper of a voice somehow cut through Eve¡¯s tirade. ¡°Amy wouldn¡¯t even bat away a wasp if it were trying to sting her, but you¡¯ve already seen me kill a man in cold blood. Your being the daughter of our leader means nothing to me.¡± Ash produced a plain, single edged knife with an odd looking button at the top of the rounded hilt. ¡°Now, I believe you were asked to leave.¡± Eve sputtered, failing to form a coherent string of words. She stomped out of the room, her face flushed. ¡°See what I mean about the princess?¡± ¡°Fuck off.¡± Before Judy could begin to process the flicker of emotion that passed across Ash¡¯s pale features she had turned to Amida, a silent conversation seemingly occurring between a few blinks of the eye; then Ash flowed out of the room once more. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That could have gone better Ash mused as she replaced her injection knife into the sheath in the small of her back. Granted it could have been a lot worse. She checked the rest of the few utilities she had on her, wondering why she had chosen to draw possibly her most vicious weapon (that she wore day to day at least). The princess may be frustrating, spoilt and self-centred but she was by no means a threat, hell she didn¡¯t even have any magic, though that may not be the best metric given her own abilities. By any account, she didn¡¯t consider it too deeply as the thoughts were quickly pushed away by the deep satisfaction she felt. ¡°Ashlyn dear, attend me.¡± Tara¡¯s presence arrived and faded before she could respond, but she wouldn¡¯t delay if she was needed, her purpose, as always, was as Her Grace¡¯s emissary, and her will was imperative. Chapter 9 - Ice Heart ¡°Your Grace.¡± Ash announced herself as she entered the personal rooms of sanctuary¡¯s benevolent ruler. ¡°Ah Ashyln, I have your next task, this time as my weapon.¡± ¡°Finally, something actually interesting.¡± Ash settled leaning against the doorframe. ¡°No more babysitting.¡± ¡°You question my will.¡± The Grace¡¯s face remained calm, serene, but her projected words had a hard edge. ¡°No Tara, of cour-¡± ¡°Tara? Are you my daughter or my tool? Is 2 months enough time for you to be corrupted?¡± Ash cringed, her eyes downcast. ¡°No, of course not. I am sorry Your Grace, I forgot my place.¡± She fidgeted, before looking up again as Her Grace edged closer. ¡°It will not happen again.¡± ¡°Of course it wont.¡± Tara¡¯s voice was unnaturally soft as she cradled the side of Ash¡¯s face. ¡°I raised you better, you are pure. You are intent made manifest, nothing could be of greater importance. You are magicless and yet, under me, you have gained so much power, so much skill. I trust you would not stray from my path, and lose all that I have given you.¡± ¡°Never.¡± Ash¡¯s voice was reverent, her faith solidified once again, this was her purpose. ¡°What would you have me do.¡± ¡°That pitiful wretch you Released, the corrupt telekinetic, a team has been sent to recover its body, you will cleanse them and then bring their remains back, to me. Astra will be your handler in her usual location, she will give you the rest of the details.¡± There was no need to question who sent the team, what she was up against, she inclined her head again, this time in subservience. ¡°Your will be done.¡± ¡°Our will Ashlyn, this is for us, for sanctuary.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ash sat crouched in the upper boughs of the central willow tree that adorned half heart park, relishing the way the wind flowed, catching the strands as they swayed carefully, as if unsure of how safe it would be to let loose. She surveyed the park, straining to pick out detail where the floating Terce Tech lights failed to illuminate. Satisfied, or perhaps it would be better to say frustrated, that Astra wasn¡¯t there, she turned her gaze to the midnight blue sky. She found it so easy to get lost under the arcane pull of the endless expanse, that was true magic, the very idea that there was more, it was terrifying. Pale stars dotted the canvas, marking what would be a lifeless void as something... more. It was a shame sanctuary was so small, and confined to one place, but that only made Her Grace¡¯s goal more important, if they could live freely, perhaps they could expand, create a place of safety for everyone, Ash as her right hand, her tool to pave the way. A faint rustle of clothing from below her caught her attention, drawing her out of her vision, finally. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± Ash said, without turning. A woman''s disembodied shriek, followed by cursing confirmed the source of the noise. ¡°Grace¡¯s tits Ash, how do you always know when im here.¡± Ash responded by gracefully dropping from the tree, right in front of where she had pinpointed Astra¡¯s voice. This elicited another shriek, but she still remained unseen. ¡°Impressive, you didn¡¯t stop refracting, you¡¯ve clearly been practicing.¡± Ash fixed her gaze to where she thought Astra was standing as Astra returned to visibility half a metre to the left. ¡°Not enough clearly.¡± She grumbled ¡°You still knew I was there.¡± ¡°You may be able to refract light, but you can¡¯t suppress sound, I advise finding some quieter clothes.¡± Astra pouted, pulling at her long coat. ¡°I like my clothes, besides we can¡¯t all have custom stealth suits.¡± Ash didn¡¯t bother correcting her, she hated the synthetic stealth suits that were sometimes given out to the lesser operatives in sanctuary. On top of the horrible material that she struggled to even touch without involuntarily cringing, the kevlar reinforcements around vital areas restricted movement. She needed the flexibility and she sure as anything didn¡¯t need armour. Her outerwear was custom made, a tight fitting, tailored long sleeve shirt made of a fleecy, thermal like material; a pair of perfectly fitted soft leather gloves with tiny slits in the thumb and forefinger and a pair of dark cotton trousers with elastic inserts around the knee and ankle to keep it tight. Her boots, finishing the ensemble, were sublime, made of supple leather with slipper like soles; in short, all designed so that she made the least amount of noise possible. It fit like a second skin, and if it weren''t for the array of weapons, tools and specialised artefacts hidden or strapped around her, she¡¯d honestly consider wearing it all casually, but walking around seemingly unarmed unnerved people enough as it was. As much as she didn¡¯t care what most of the people around sanctuary thought, it reflected poorly on Her Grace. Ash shook herself from her musings and cocked her head, looking at Astra, ¡°So, give me the rundown, how does She want it done and where are the body charms stashed?¡± ¡°Our benevolent leader wants them all ¡®purified¡¯¡± Ash frowned at the sarcasm the other girl employed. ¡°As for the charms, I¡¯ve got them on me. The targets team is currently holed up a few streets down, Ark way?¡± Ash nodded, encouraging Astra to continue. ¡°The little corner shop that sells cheap Terce Tech down there, Terrence¡¯s Goods, they¡¯ve taken it over and are using the upper floor. The team consists of 3, I don¡¯t think any of them had innates, but they were definitely all comfortable with magic. One of them was a pyrokinetic and another was an animator, but clearly not a practised one. I couldn¡¯t figure out what, if any ability the last guy had, sorry. I think that¡¯s it. Oh!¡± She pulled a small bag out of one of her many coat pockets and rummaged around, pulling out four nondescript ceramic discs, before offering them to Ash, who slipped them into the inserts on her inner bicep. She checked the rest of her equipment quickly, making sure her shortsword was strapped comfortably to her back and within easy reach, before nodding to Astra and setting off in a quiet jog. Most of her equipment was kept in spacial storage charms situated in various easy to access locations on her outfit, but she liked to keep a bare minimum on her, just in case. While magic had never failed her before she didn¡¯t like to rely on it. Ash didn¡¯t even have the slightest drop of potentia, to the point where not even an affinity could help, but she had no need for any of it anyway, there was a reason she was out here and not anyone else. Turning her mind to the task ahead she tried to think of the best way to deal with her targets. It was frustrating that Astra hadn''t managed to gather any more information on their abilities, especially with a pyrokinetic in the picture. She could feel the skin tightening on her thigh with every step, a gift from one of the first pyrokinetics she was assigned who had an innate for self healing; bastard woke up after she slit his throat and made a grab for her. Having an unknown was even worse though, and she didn¡¯t like her chances to purify all three quietly if they were all in the same room. ¡®Let''s just see how this goes¡¯, she thought as she neared the tech store. Unsurprisingly, the neon sign was still on, drawing Ash closer like a moth to a beacon, bathing the street in a harsh glow, revealing odd scorch marks in the road. She flicked her eyes back to the store and regretted it as they started to sting, having to take a few moments to rub them and regain her vision. Slinking into the alleyway, she regarded the side of the building. There, as she had hoped, a window clearly leading into the living space above the shop. Her form shifted blindingly fast as she turned and sprinted at the wall at the end of the alley, before kicking off it at angle to grab the ledge above her, pulling herself up to the neighbouring building. She peered through the window, just as a man in a navy blue suit turned to look out of it. Ash stayed crouched, going as still as possible, but it was no use, he narrowed his eyes, then disappeared, just as a fist entered her side. ¡®Astra could have mentioned one of them was a fucking sighter¡¯ she thought as she rolled with the blow, her training kicking in as she came back up in a crouch, her shortsword in hand. She pounced, ready to pull back when he teleported, testing the waters. He disappeared and she spun, already lashing out, but meeting nothing but air. Instead the man stood a few feet in front of her, smirking. Bastard knew how to fight with his abilities. Ash combed through her undestanding of acquired gifts, even if this guy was at the peak of his ability and fully trained, he can''t teleport indefinitely, but close enough to it; she¡¯d have to catch him out, anticipate. She let out a feral grin, perfect, a challenge, she¡¯d been babysitting for too long. She lunged towards him in a feint, before throwing herself in the other direction. She flew through the air, but again met nothing and was forced into a roll. She whipped her head around wildly, before meeting the bastards gaze, his smirk running even deeper. ¡®Fuck¡¯. She growled, reaching for a throwing knife and flinging it at him, he disappeared and Ash gambled, spinning to her left. Her sword met flesh, cutting into the bone, stopping with an unnerving jolt before it severed. ¡®Not the cleanest, but the prick wasn¡¯t fighting fair¡¯ she mused, stepping back and positioning her sword between them. He screamed, high-pitched and without abandon. Ash grinned and answered with an overhand cut, that met nothing as her own knife buried itself in her side. Her breath caught in her throat and she let out a guttural, rage filled snarl as she reversed her grip on her sword and drove it behind her into the man''s neck, then turned and hacked the rest of his head off. She inspected the cut, frustration etched onto her features. ¡®Clearly its fucking amateur hour, why the fuck did I reset when he can teleport. A few weeks of babysitting and I lose my edge.¡¯ She thought as she dropped to her knees, fighting to get her breath back. She turned her attention back to the window, sure the sounds of the fight would have alerted the other two, but she couldn¡¯t see any movement. She frowned, she had made way too much noise there and even if she hadn''t, the guy had screamed octaves higher than she could even come close to, not that her voice was too high-pitched to begin with. She pulled a body charm from its sheath and crouched to inspect her work, fighting a wave of revulsion. Once stripped of her bloodlust, Ash struggled every time she looked at someone she had purified. She never saw it as killing, it couldn¡¯t be, when the deaths were in service of a higher purpose, but that didn¡¯t stop a severed head from being unnerving. She hesitated, questioning that logic again, as she inspected the man''s suit. Images of a similar suit flashed through her mind, then of Judy, shaking as she healed, and she remembered why she was doing this. These people were a scourge, and one she would purify at Her Grace¡¯s behest. She tapped the charm to the sighter¡¯s body, willing him into it, before repeating the same with the man¡¯s head. Satisfied, she returned the charm to its sheath and looked to the window again. Still nothing. Well if they were deep sleepers it would let her finish her task without a hitch at least. Ash reached to her side, probing the wound, before hissing and pulling her hand away, carefully she turned her head to inspect it, the knife had entered at an upwards angle, but thankfully had glanced off her ribcage. It hurt like a motherfucker, but it was just a flesh wound, and her night wasn¡¯t over yet. She started off in a sprint, leaping to catch the ledge of the window. Thankfully, it was old fashioned, no fading in or out. Still gripping the ledge, she pulled out a thin turner and inserted it into the keyway, applying some tension before engaging the tiny inertia damper that would keep it in place, anything with Terce based tech was dangerous, but something this small shouldn¡¯t attract attention, and she¡¯d used it hundreds of times. Next she pulled out a hook and fiddled a bit, before putting pressure on the turner again, the lock yielded, letting her open the window. She pulled herself up and peered into the room once again, satisfied that nothing was amiss. Slipping into the room, taking in her surroundings, letting her eyes adjust to the darker scene, the light of the neon sign barely reaching this side of the building. The room formed an L-shape, created by what was presumably a bathroom to her left. There was a decrepit, threadbare sofa in the right corner of the room, next to a door, and a coffee table that had been broken in half, but no people. Ash crept to the door, trying to open it as quietly as possible, which only caused it to let out a slow groan. She did another sweep of the room behind her, before slipping into the hallway. She could hear muffled sounds of snoring, so she crept to what seemed to be the bedroom. As she opened the door though, she heard someone step into the hallway. Ash spun, only for the floor to wrap around the foot she was pivoting on, sending her crashing to the floor. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.¡°Gerald, wake up you fuck! One of those freaks is here.¡± Ash caught the sight of the suit shouting as she ripped her foot from the floor and flung herself to her feet. ¡®So this is the animator, meaning the one still sleeping is the pyro. Shit¡¯. She hopped to her feet, sheathing her sword and pulling out a throwing dagger. She rushed toward the animator, who, predictably, splayed his hands, causing the floor to try to grab her again. She flung the dagger at him in a single, short, practised movement as she dove to the ground, just in time for light to erupt above her. ¡®So he¡¯ll sleep through ear splitting screams but a single shout is enough to rouse him, just fucking great¡¯. Trusting her aim had been true, she rolled back to her feet and turned to the pyro, who, instead of the trademark suit, was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts with a hot rod pattern on it. ¡®Typical¡¯ she snorted, as another gout of flame erupted from his hand, aiming for her head. Ash rolled, drawing her short sword as she did, and lunged towards his neck. He lurched back, her sword barely missing, and he jerked his hands towards his chin, interrupting the stream of fire. Ash flicked her wrist to the right, cutting through his neck, then stepped back, letting him drop to the ground, blood pooling around his head as he twitched before falling still. She looked around, adrenaline still flooding her system, but no other threat emerged, so she moved to sheath her sword. She winced, noticing a burn on the inside of her wrist, and, as if looking at it gave it sentience, it started to hurt, a constant sharp ache. ¡®Fucking pyros¡¯. More carefully this time she sheathed her sword, and inspected her surroundings. The animator lay against a wall, a knife in his throat, a section of the wall burning merrily above him. She gave the pyro a little kick and checked her side again. Satisfied she wasn¡¯t going to die of blood loss, she went into the bedroom the pyro emerged from, looking for the body she had been sent here to retrieve. Finding nothing but a bright orange suit strewn out on the floor she went back into the hallway, pulling out two body charms. She didn¡¯t dwell on them, just willed them into the charms and put them back into their sheaths, before checking the rest of the apartment. She found her target in the bathroom, zipped in a body bag lying in a bath full of ice. ¡®Mission complete¡¯ she thought grimly, as she hit the signal beacon on her belt and stashed the target, noting that the pallor of the redheads skin had barely changed in death. ¡®Though I won¡¯t hear the end of it from Ami, I haven''t taken a hit in nearly a year.¡¯ Her thoughts drifted to the medical bay, thinking of ways to stop Amida insisting she stay the night in a hospital bed. ¡®Though it¡¯d put me next to Judy, and I haven''t even begun to irritate her yet.¡¯ but Judy¡¯s words seemed to echo in her head ¡ª ¡®she was kinda cute, in a sharp, deaths daughter sort of way¡¯. Ash shook her head, clearing her thoughts, relationships didn¡¯t work, couldn¡¯t work for her, Amida was proof of that. Besides, once Judy got to know her, she wouldn¡¯t be interested, that was a certainty. Ash shook her head again, and set off back to sanctuary.