Volk and Maribelle charged at them as Mr. Cede started to choke on his blood beneath her. Hazel got up and swung the bolt cutters, but Volk deflected her arm and slammed her into the wall. She crumpled to the floor and didn''t move. At the same time, Maribelle threw a front kick into Grim, sending her sprawling and jumped on top of her. They wrestled for the knife, and Grim gave a token resistance, but she knew she had no chance to keep hold of it, so she let it go. Maribelle held it to her throat a moment later.
"What the fuck have you done?"
"You can''t kill me," Grim said, very cognizant of how close the blade was to several major arteries.
"And why the hell not? Because I''ll tell you, I won''t lose sleep over it."
"I have his boon. You need me."
A sting of pain hit her as the lady slapped Grim. "Yeah? Do you have his contacts, too? His knowledge? People respected him; they wanted to do business with him. You''ll end up in a government black op in a week. Do you know the type of monsters you would help create?"
Grim faltered for a second, she hadn¡¯t accounted for all of that. Just having his power didn¡¯t mean people would believe or trust her, but she couldn¡¯t change her mind now, not that she would¡¯ve. This had been the only way to save Hazel.
"I won''t get caught," Grim said.
Maribelle''s face twisted into something ugly as her eyes deadened, "I agree."
Oh fuck.
Grim squirmed as Maribelle raised the knife above her, her eyes locked onto her neck. Grim dug her heels into the floor, but she couldn¡¯t get enough leverage to push her off. Her arm was trapped as well, pinned to the floor.
"Wait!" Grim shrieked.
Grim closed her eyes as Death came for her, powerless to stop it.
The sting of the knife never came, and after a moment, Grim opened her eyes, surprised to still be alive. A small trickle of blood fell from her neck to her collarbone as the knife shook, not allowed to pierce any further. Maribelle fought Volk''s grip on her arm; he was strong enough to hold her back with only one hand but that didn''t deter her. The knife vibrated with tension as the woman put all her strength into killing her.
Grim didn''t dare breathe.
¡°We could use her,¡± Volk said.
"She killed Sam," Maribelle said, her voice almost breaking from emotion.
"I get that, I really do, and I''m not going to pretend like I knew him as well as you did, so if you want to do this. I won''t stop you, but if you kill her, we¡¯re back to square one, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone else who can help us.¡±
"She''ll rat us out to the Witches," Maribelle argued.
She would, the second she got the chance.
"No, she won''t. Because if she does, she¡¯s going to go somewhere a lot worse than us. The pit would be a pleasant vacation compared to wherever she would end up."
That... was a good point.
Grim watched as Maribelle thought about it. She could see the gears spinning in her head, debating whether she should live or die. The look of anger and mourning on her face never got better, only uglier. Grim didn¡¯t speak or move, aware of how any perceived slight could set her off.
Maribelle''s hand grabbed her face before she could squirm away, evidently having decided on what she wanted to do. Her fingers dug into her cheeks until she could got a hold on her jaw. Once she did, her grip froze and it became impossible for her to move. The only thing she could see was Maribelle''s face as she held her there. Maintaining eye contact as if trying to force Grim to remember her face, to remember how she looked, to lock it in her dreams at night and haunt her thoughts in the day.
She didn''t say anything, but then again, she didn''t need to. Grim got the message loud and clear, she had just hurt this woman unspeakably, and if she betrayed them, she wouldn''t hesitate to do the same. No matter how long it took.
The woman removed the knife from her throat, satisfied or at least placated by whatever she had seen. When the knife got a safe distance away from her neck. Grim tried to slide away from her, and she allowed it. Letting her gain some distance to put her back to the wall. There was a slight draft in the window, and she leaned into the cold air as it brushed across her neck. She didn''t try anything, just took the time she was given to recover. Hazel was still slumped out, so she activated [FRIENDLY SHADOW] again, and Hazel morphed back into her shadow. Somehow, she could feel it was damaged, and she wouldn''t be able to use the skill again for some time.
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"So, we''re letting me go?" Grim said.
"Yes," Volk said, much to Maribelle''s disapproval. A small word Grim didn''t hear had her calm down, and he continued. "You''re going to go home, get treated for your injuries and wait for us to contact you. If anyone asks what happened to you, the injuries are from the gateworld. We¡¯re going to need at least a week to sort out this mess, get rid of the body and decide what to do next. When we have that figured out, you¡¯re going to help us.¡±
Grim chewed on her lip, "If I don''t?"
"Like I said, you''ll have worse problems than us."
Grim tried to think it through, but she was exhausted; her head still hurt from being hit, and she ached all over. She was at her limit and was ready to say anything to go home; she¡¯d deal with the consequences later.
"Okay."
------------------------------------------------------
They dropped her off a couple of blocks from her house. Grim could tell Maribelle wasn''t happy that they''d be working together but it seemed neither of them had much choice. Grim would have turned them in the first chance she got but she couldn''t risk them telling anybody about her boons. She was in a risky spot where she had access to really powerful abilities but she herself wasn''t very strong. Right now, she was probably one of the only people with an ability like [CEDE] in the whole of Eternity city and all it would take to kill or kidnap her was a gun.
She didn¡¯t know how to feel about that.
Mari and Volk didn''t seem to be completely awful, sure, kidnapping and stealing most people¡¯s only chance at an ability is terrible but at least they weren''t murderers.
Really? She shook her head. Was that the best she could do to rationalize working with them? They weren¡¯t murderers? At the same time, how could she really judge? She''d just killed someone herself and it wasn¡¯t like it was self defense. He was already unconscious when she drove a knife through his throat.
She felt like she should feel guilty about that, but despite replaying the events in her mind, it didn¡¯t bother her, which bothered her more. She wasn¡¯t a psychopath was she? She didn¡¯t think she was one but who knows? Maybe she had a streak of playing with roadkill as a kid she didn¡¯t remember, but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t like she enjoyed killing either. She just had to.
Grim started walking faster, she didn¡¯t want to get trapped in a doom spiral thinking about it.
Some passerby''s gasped and stared at her as she passed them by. They didn''t stop. She was on her street now, the lawns were maintained and the roads were clear of garbage. Her house was big and actually quite nice, it was painted white and had a red door with a welcome home floor mat. Her house was typical on this street, she didn''t quite understand how Jin and Louis could afford it on their salaries but she''d never pried. Likely it was some government support.
She walked in the door and lifted it up so it didn''t squeak. When she was inside, she rested her head on the solid wood of the door as she closed it, glad to be home.
She heard a gasp behind her.
"Grim, what the hell happened to you?" Louis said as he got up out of his chair. He was in his fifties with laugh lines etched as wrinkles on his face, with a grey beard and short hair swept to the side.
She cursed internally, of course he had waited up for her. If it was any other day he would have been asleep by now.
"Boon day was rough," Grim said, understating it a little.
Louis lifted her arm, examining the bandage. He frowned and eventually sighed, "Rough, yeah, you''re gonna get yourself killed one of these days. Here, follow me."
"Really, I''m fine," Grim tried to protest, she really just wanted to go to bed.
Louis put both hands on her shoulders, "Cut the shit."
She did.
Louis didn''t swear much, and she felt a pang of guilt for how worried he was. She still would have preferred to go to bed but she didn¡¯t have the energy to fight him. Not today.
He led her into the kitchen and made her sit down in one of the nice oak chairs. Oak was rare these days and Jin would be pissed if she got any blood on it, but it didn''t seem like Louis cared. It was part of a matched set in the kitchen with a table big enough to seat twelve. The room was large enough to accommodate the whole family and it felt weird with just the two of them. Not because of anything Louis did, it was just empty and she wasn''t used to that.
The chandelier above sparkled in the light and she let herself get entranced by it as Louis worked on her arm, it hurt as he cleaned the wound but she barely felt it. She was lost in her head, a sullen trance as she recounted the days events and what she would''ve done differently.
It was quiet as he worked on bandaging her arm and Grim didn¡¯t dare disturb it by speaking. It was¡ nice to let him help her, to be dotted on like when she was a little kid and she¡¯d scrape her knee.
As she had grown up those moments had gotten few and far between. She¡¯d always had to fight a little bit to get his attention, those moments where she could pretend he was actually her dad. There was too many kids in this house looking for that same thing and as she grew up she fought less and less for those moments. She didn¡¯t blame him, her siblings needed it more than her and she could live with sacrificing her own happiness so they could have it. They weren¡¯t as strong as her, they needed someone to look out for them.
Grim liked being alone better anyways, so it worked out.
"There, all done. It should be good for tonight but we''ll have to change the bandage tomorrow... unless you''re okay with going to the hospital."
Grim shook her head, "No."
"Didn''t think so," Louis clapped his hand and smiled. "So, what''d you get?"
Grim froze and sputtered for a second as she tried process what she wanted to say. Mainly about how much she wanted to reveal, she was already putting them in danger by being here. If they knew about her boon and it got out somehow? She was already breaking the law by not getting her abilities registered and if the government found out what she could do? She¡¯d probably get sent straight to the crater and with this many people under one roof, her secret getting out was almost inevitable.
She didn''t like lying to Louis but in this case it was necessary, if not to protect her, than to protect him.
"[DEFT WEEDING]," She decided to say.
Disappointment colored Louis'' face for half a second, before he covered it with a smile, "You can help me out in the garden then."
It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d seen him look at her like that, with disappointment. He was good at hiding it, but Grim had been around him long enough to tell when she''d fucked up again. He had this idea in his head of what she could be, but she knew she could never live up to it. She''d tried and failed before.
"Yeah, sure, anytime," Grim stood up. "I''m going to go to bed now."
Louis hesitated then said, "Actually, there''s something we need to talk about."
Chapter 7 - Happy Birthday, Grim!
"What is it?" Grim asked.
She felt a hot flash go through her; she didn''t like being surprised, especially when she didn''t know what it was about. In her experience, it could never be good.
If she wanted to, the stairs and the door were right there. She could take those two exits right now if she wanted to leave and avoid this conversation for another few days. She was going to, she''d decided, but before she could, she was interrupted by Louis bringing something out from behind his back.
"Happy birthday! We weren''t sure what you would''ve wanted, but we hope this will work," Louis said before bringing out a small box and handing it to Grim. It was small, a bit bigger than a ring box and in a uniform black. She opened it to find a small pouch inside; she shook it and heard the sound of glass-like objects clinking. She thought she knew what it was; she¡¯d just had some earlier before she used them. But it couldn¡¯t be, could it?
Louis was staring at her, a small smile trying to draw attention away from how his hands fidgeted.
"Go ahead. Open it," He said.
She obeyed, and as her fingers undid the drawstring and she dumped the contents onto her palm, her eyes opened wide. Several dull E-rank shards lay in her palm, enough to get a boon if she had to guess. Why? How did they afford this? Shards were expensive; only the desperate or those with loaded pockets could get their hands on them. It was the equivalent of a year''s pay to the average worker. To give it away to her? There was something wrong with this.
"Why are you giving me this?" Grim asked.
"You don''t like it?" Louis asked, a bit of hurt in his voice.
"It''s not that; it¡¯s just too much. How could you give me this?"
"Hey," Louis looked at her. "Don''t worry about how we can afford it; that¡¯s for us to think about."
Grim frowned but didn''t argue further; she put the shards back in the pouch and secured them in her pocket, "I don¡¯t know what to say."
¡°Then don¡¯t say anything,¡± Louis said. ¡°Happy birthday, Grim.¡±
He looked guilty as he said it, like there was something else he wanted to say. She gave a small smile as she waited for the other shoe to drop, for the whole thing to be revealed as some joke. But that moment never came. It was real, and it was hers. She nodded, still speechless.
¡°I¡ should go to bed.¡±
"Yeah, you¡¯ve had a long day, but before you go," Louis grabbed something from the kitchen table. "One more thing, this is for you."
Louis handed her a simple white envelope with the only text on it reading, ''Deliver to Grim on her 18th birthday.¡¯
She looked at him confused, "Did you get me a card, too?"
"I''m not sure what''s on it, it came in the mail a couple of years after we got you. You won''t believe how hard it was to keep Jin from reading it. I had to put it in my safe."
She could believe it, but she didn''t bring that up. She said good night to Louis and went upstairs. Jeremy and Chloe both had rooms up there as well, and she tried to be quiet as she made her way to her room. She could hear noise coming through their door, which meant they were still up. They¡¯d probably want to speak to her, too, but she was exhausted. There was a firm line in the sand on any more talking today, and she wouldn¡¯t risk them coming out by being loud. Her door hinges were already oiled from the last time she snuck out, so it made no noise when she closed the door behind her.
Her room was spacious, but much of it was cluttered by the mess of her packing this morning. She''d had to tear through her cabinets and drawers to find everything she wanted to bring. She had a desk with a laptop in the corner and a large bookshelf. Most people preferred reading on a screen nowadays, but she liked having a hardcover in her hand; besides that, a lot of history on the city was only available in old physical books. Much of that stuff had yet to be imported into digital, and what was online was often sanitized for public consumption.
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The rest of her room was decorated with posters of bands she''d liked when she was younger; she''d never bothered taking them down. The rest of her room was sparse with decorations or things that would make it more hers. When she was younger, she didn¡¯t feel like she was going to stay for long, as if she was going to get adopted. Then, when she got older, she didn''t want the rest of the people in the house asking her questions about what she liked or what she had up. What she was up to was her business, and she had never felt the need to be very open about that.
Though that might have changed with Hazel''s arrival, did she know everything she knew? Everything she was thinking? That would be troublesome. She tugged on the skill and found she could summon it, but Hazel hadn''t quite recovered yet. She didn''t know how she knew that, but it was a piece of intuition that nagged at her, so she''d let her rest for now and talk to her in the morning.
Her bed called to her. Her body was sore, possibly everywhere, and her arm hurt, but she still sat at her desk. She''d just gotten a mystery letter, and she wasn''t going to wait to read it.
She tore open the top of it, and found a small folded paper inside.
"What happened to you was not an accident."
The text was in bold letters and took up most of the page. She flipped it around, trying to look for anything else, but it was bare.
"That''s weird," Grim said.
What did that mean? That was the most unhelpful thing she''d ever been given because she didn''t even know what had happened to her. How was she supposed to know it wasn''t an accident when she had no idea what they were referring to? She''d deduced that most people were not covered in burns and missing an arm before; she didn''t need a mysterious letter telling her what she already knew.
She''d asked Jin and Louis before, but they hadn''t been told anything either; they just looked after whoever the government sent them. Her searches into her past had led to nothing; nobody else out there had heard of her before, and there were no parents she could find. No DNA, even her birth certificate, was a dead end. She''d never been given a last name; she used Jin and Louis''s if anyone asked, but it wasn''t officially on any paperwork.
Thinking about all this made her tired; she didn''t believe that was all the note contained, but she didn''t know where else to go. She''d have to do some research in the morning. She turned around and saw the morning rays peak through her window shades.
Well, It''d have to be the afternoon, then.
She slinked into her bed, and within seconds, she had fallen asleep.
--------
The next day, she was woken up by arguing outside her door. Arguing wasn''t unusual in this household, but being outside her door and doing it was. By the voices, it had to be the two gremlins she¡¯d tried to avoid last night.
She got out of bed, grumbling the whole time, dressed, and opened the door in record time.
"Do you know what time it is?" Grim asked.
Her two siblings froze, aware of the fatal mistake they had just made.
Jeremy was 17 and built like he spent most of his time on a computer, which he did. He was dishevelled and definitely could have been described as handsome if he would put any effort in. He wouldn¡¯t, but that was not her problem. Chloe stood beside him, she was 14 and more feral rat than teenager. An oversized hoodie hung off her petite frame, and only a slip of her face showed through her hood and the mess of her golden hair.
"What boon did you get?" Chloe asked with no shame.
It was almost admirable how quick she went from panicking to being on the offensive. She¡¯d be proud if it wasn¡¯t for the fact it was directed at her.
"None of your business."
Chloe ignored her and held out her hand towards Jeremy. "I told you she wasn''t going to get anything good," she said.
Jeremy slapped some money into her hand and then turned to Grim, "What was it like?"
"It was horrible," Grim said. She then tried to push past them, but they blocked her in an unforeseen show of solidarity.
How dare they.
"You have to answer our questions before you''re allowed to pass," Chloe said as she tried to look tough.
"What? No, I''m not doing this today. Move."
"Come on! You barely talk to us, and Jeremy¡¯s gonna have to go through the same thing since he¡¯s almost 18."
Grim sighed; it would take longer to get past than to humour them, "Fine, you get one question."
"Five," Chloe countered
"One."
"Three, and I''ll do your laundry."
"Deal, what do you want to know?"
"What boon did you get, and what was it like in the gate world?" Jeremy asked.
The questions didn''t surprise her, and she''d already planned out her cover story: "I got [DEFT WEEDING]. It¡¯s an E-rank skill that lets me weed much faster and not get tired."
"Lame," Chloe said before getting elbowed by Jeremy.
Grim waited to make sure there were no more interruptions as she glared at Chloe, "The gate world was hot and almost entirely hostile; packs of suicidal monkey things kept trying to kill me the entire time. My arm got a bit mangled by the last one I fought, but I killed it, and a Boonwitch called me a cab."
"What was he like-" Jeremy was about to ask, but Chloe jumped in before he could finish.
"Why are you getting kicked out?"
Chapter 8 - A month? Thats too soon.
"I''m getting kicked out?" Grim asked.
"You didn''t know?" Chloe said.
Grim rubbed her eyes. She did not need this right now. "No, I didn''t know."
"What was the Boonwitch like?" Jeremy asked, trying to interject.
"Already answered three questions," Grim said as she pushed past them; her relatively pleasant mood cratered as she stomped down the stairs.
Jin and Louis were in the kitchen making lunch while the rest of her foster siblings ran around the house. She didn''t pay them any mind; they were young enough that they thought she was still scary instead of just an asshole.
Her foster parents turned as she shouted, "I''m getting kicked out? What the fuck."
Jin was the same age as Louis but more serious compared to his easygoing nature. She had high cheekbones and a meticulously groomed appearance. She didn¡¯t seem surprised and looked like she was carefully considering what she was going to say. She''d dressed down from the more formal wear she wore for her job to jeans and a button-up.
Louis looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"You were supposed to talk to her last night," Jin replied.
"It was her birthday, it wasn''t the right¡ª look," Louis said as she turned back to Grim. ¡°We''d love for you to stay longer; we would absolutely love it, but after someone turns 18, we stop receiving funding from the government."
"So because you''re not making money off me, I''m getting kicked out?"
Louis scrunched his face, "It''s not like that; surely you remember Carlos? He had to move out too to make room for Jeremy."
"He had months to find a place and work, I don''t even have a job yet."
"You got a boon shard; don''t be ungrateful. That will cover your expenses long enough for you to get steady work. Carlos didn''t get that," Lin said.
Grim hissed in frustration, "It''s not about the money; I just wasn''t... ready yet."
"This was a bit quicker than we wanted to, but we got contacted for a new placement, and this kid needs a stable home right now. He''s in a crucial stage of development," Louis said, trying to soften the blow.
Grim felt her eyes start to water, but she blinked it away. She would not cry in front of them right now. Her siblings were watching, and she''d already embarrassed herself enough today, "Fine, fuck you too, then."
Grim turned and ran back up the stairs; Jeremy and Chloe were there watching.
"Hey, Grim, I''m really sorry¡ª" Jeremy tried to say before Grim pushed past him. He hit the wall a little harder than she meant, and she felt a flash of guilt when he coughed in pain.
She stopped before she slammed her door behind her, still feeling a little bad. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just need some time."
Jeremy was still winded, and Chloe looked scared, standing protectively in front of Jeremy. Grim closed the door before they could say anything and laid on her bed. She spread her arm out and stretched before curling in on herself.
"Fuck."
A month? That was too soon. She''d fantasized about moving out, planned it even, but she thought it''d be on her own time, not because there was a deadline from her replacement. It had happened before, once with Carlos, but he''d actually been good at school, fit in and had friends. As soon as he could go to university, he did; a scholarship had paid his way in. Others had left too, the younger ones usually adopted by good families or returning to their biological ones once they had their shit figured out. Nobody else in this house had lived here as long as she did; Jin and Louis had tried to find more permanent solutions and did everything they were supposed to, but a disabled and disfigured teenager wasn''t the most desirable of adoption options.
Eventually, they stopped trying, and a temporary option became permanent. She felt like she wanted to cry again, but a tug from her [Friendly Shadow] skill interrupted her before she could start. It was odd, like someone was knocking on a door inside her. Grim felt around the skill and found that Hazel seemed much better than yesterday. She¡¯d been close to being burnt out, but burning out a boon wasn¡¯t permanent. It would just take longer to recover.
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She ignored it. She was glad she seemed to be doing better now, but she wasn''t in the mood for her Hazel-ness right now. She needed time alone to process and figure out what she would do next.
The knocking stopped, and she relaxed more in bed, trying to let her thoughts empty. Her ceiling had those glow-in-the-dark stars, placed there by her and Louis when she was younger. It had been her first week there, and she''d had trouble sleeping, so he''d put them there so it wasn''t so dark. Jin had thrown a fit because she didn''t want anything damaging the walls, but she''d acquiesced after a long conversation with Louis.
Jin had always been more distant; if you were physically okay, everything was good. If you weren¡¯t? Then that wasn¡¯t her problem. Unless you were one of the little ones, but once they got old enough it was like a switch flipped in her. Gone was the kind, caring mother and instead, here was Jin. Pragmatic and cold.
She¡¯d asked Louis once why she hated her when she was younger and pathetic. She still cringed at that memory. How Louis explained it wasn¡¯t anything she did. It was just once she or any of the kids got old enough, she couldn¡¯t pretend they were hers anymore. The kids grew up and became a reminder of how she¡¯d never have any.
Grim had gotten the wrong message from his story; she¡®d thought she could change Jin¡¯s mind.
She couldn¡¯t.
She felt the tears start to come back, and along with it came the knocking again, louder and more insistent, rattling her from the inside. It was infuriating, and she grabbed the door before it could be knocked on again and yanked it open.
Her shadow slinked from her body and gathered together like inky tendrils. The tendrils grew from the ground and sprouted up and outwards before revealing Hazel¡¯s outline in black. Hazel pushed and stepped forward; as she did so, the colour came to her body, and she looked human again. She no longer had any visible wounds but her eyes had deep bags under them, her movements were stiff, and she looked exhausted.
"What do you want?" Grim asked, sitting up now.
Hazel limped to the edge of the bed, "Can I sit?"
Grim nodded; she was pissed, but she wouldn¡¯t take it out on her. Not after she¡¯d saved her life.
Hazel sat down beside her and rested her head on Grim¡¯s shoulder. She tensed up and side-eyed Hazel. She¡¯d normally have pushed her away by now, but she looked so tired still. It was warm, the two of them so close and it¡ wasn¡¯t horrible. She¡¯d let this slide, for now, but only because it looked like Hazel needed it. That was it. She wasn¡¯t lying to herself at all.
Grim sighed, "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty awful."
"You could''ve stayed in longer to heal, you know?"
"I know."
"Then what are you doing out here for? You''re probably making your injuries worse."
"I wanted to see you."
"I''m fine, as you can tell. Is there anything else? I''ve got a couple of things I need to do today."
Hazel used the least effort she could to push herself up, "I''ll help."
Grim prodded at Hazel''s ribcage, prompting the other girl to giggle, "You can barely move. Come back into my shadow or skill or wherever you come from. People will look at me weird if I don''t have a shadow."
Hazel batted Grim''s hand away and stood up, "Nuh uh, after I got knocked out and returned to your shadow, I spent that whole time worried about you. They could''ve killed you, and I was too weak to help or do anything, and we were lucky to get out of that alive; now you''re by yourself in your room upset, and I can''t watch that when I can help."
Grim leaned back, confused. She didn¡¯t know what to do. She checked her room for the exits and found they were still there, like always, but if she left, she¡¯d just run into Jin or Louis downstairs. She gripped her duvet, soft wrinkles forming on the fabric where she squeezed.
"You don''t have to do anything for me; I can handle it," Grim said.
Hazel blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Yes, I do. That is literally my job, and I love you, and I want to help, and we''re stuck together."
That had Grim standing up, a foot closer to the exit.`
"You love me? We just met."
"And if you put me back inside, I''ll scream and annoy you until you let me out again. And yes, I love you. You''re my¡¡± Hazel froze for long enough that Grim thought she was broken.
¡°You¡¯re my what?¡± Grim asked.
Hazel shook herself, her eyes unglossing. She crossed her arms as she talked faster, as if trying to make up for freezing earlier. Her hands fidgeted as she looked down, ¡°I¡¯m yours, okay? And I¡¯d do anything for you, I¡¯ve decided.¡±
"You decided all that? Right now? Any chance I can change your mind?"
Hazel shook her head, "No, well, probably if you wanted, but I¡¯m not going to help you learn how to do that."
Grim rubbed her eyes, and she thought through what she had just said. It was like a sense opened up to her, she could change her if she wanted.
She felt around in the void between herself and her skill. It took a second of searching, but once she''d started looking for it, she found threads connecting herself to Hazel. She tugged on the barest edges of one and instantly knew she could force Hazel to do whatever she wanted. Hazel stared at her as she plucked one, bending it slightly. She didn''t react, so it seemed she wouldn''t even know if it happened.
She let the thread go. It was helpful to know, but not something she''d ever see herself messing around with. Hazel was... Hazel, but messing with her mind just had such an instinctive wrongness to Grim that she felt nauseous.
It helped, though, knowing she could change her if she wanted. She didn¡¯t know why Hazel said all those things, but if she tried to hurt her, she had a way of fighting back if she had to.
Grim moved away from the door and sat down at her desk, Hazel close behind. She¡¯d let her help, for today, at least. She had a lot of things to do, and it would be pretty distracting if Hazel were inside her, causing a racket. Just the thought of it gave her a headache.
"Fine, you can help, but you have to take it easy; if you hurt yourself again, you¡¯re going back in my shadow.¡±
Hazel grinned ¡°Yay! What are we going to do first?"
"We''re gonna see what¡¯s actually in that letter."
Chapter 9 - Grims Inheritance
In front of them, they had lemon juice, a heat gun, and some sunscreen. According to their research, depending on the type of ink used, all were useful for decoding secret messages.
Hazel started with the heat gun because it was the least destructive. When she was finished, the paper was warm to the touch. She had been careful to cover every inch, but it was still blank.
Grim grabbed the lemon juice and spread it on the paper using a brush, like she was basting a steak. The lemon juice soaked through and made a mess on her desk, but not much else. They spread the sunscreen with high hopes and watched as¡ nothing happened. Both of them looked at each other and shrugged. The soggy burnt paper covered in lemon juice and sunscreen rested on her desk. Mocking them in all its disgusting glory.
"Maybe we did it wrong?" Hazel asked, trying to be nice.
Grim sat on her bed and leaned back. ¡°No, we did everything the way we were supposed to."
Hazel sat beside her, frowning, "Maybe we could hire someone to look at it?"
"Like with a boon?" Grim asked, but the question sent her mind through several different paths. If they needed a boon to find out what it said, then they''d have written it with a boon in the first place.
That didn''t seem too wild for her; boons could do nearly anything. Of course, it hadn''t always been like that. At some point in the past, the system had been a lot more functional, and instead of boons, people would specialize in an actual class. Her systems teacher had said most scholars believed that''s where boons were derived from, just a big list of skills people could choose and level up.
Some people weren''t happy with that and wanted to take more power for themselves, so they found the system¡¯s core and blew themselves, the system and half the continent up instead. Gate worlds started popping up shortly afterwards, which did start the Industrial Revolution, so maybe it wasn''t all bad.
Besides, of course, the small problem of humanity nearly being wiped out by the monsters inside.
It had been touch and go for a little bit, but they reached an equlibrium once they learned how to kill them. Even better when they discovered the shards they left behind were great sources of energy. Eternity City was supposedly founded on the crater of that explosion as well, although despite all their searching, they still hadn''t found the core yet.
"Yeah, if we found someone and you distracted them, I could take their power, and we wouldn''t even need to pay them," Hazel said.
It wasn''t a bad idea, but trying to touch someone for a minute was a long time. If there was a secret message hidden with a boon, it would have a specific trigger or something to reveal the message, and hiring someone would probably be the only way to find out.
Unless you had the boon yourself.
"Hazel!"
Hazel jumped up and turned on Grim, "Aaaaah, what? Why are we yelling?"
Grim smirked, glad Hazel was back to her usual self. She had healed the rest of her injuries in the past couple of hours. It seemed to be slower than if she wasn¡¯t manifested, but even if she was, it was still much faster than if she was human.
"Sorry, I just had an idea. Can you use [SHADOW VESTIGE] on the paper?"
Hazel thought briefly, "I''m not sure it works that way, but I can try."
Grim''s shadow walked up and grabbed the paper, closing her eyes as she did so, "I''m not getting anything- wait. I feel something, the edges of it. I can grab it, but I''d have to replace [SOMETHING IN YOUR EYE] first."
"Do it, we''ll get something better."
Hazel traced her hand over the paper, and Grim saw a thin trail of ephemeral smoke and shadow flowing from her fingertips to engulf the page. A minute passed as she watched, and nothing happened, but Hazel continued, never losing concentration. Her eyes traced over the page, and her brow scrunched harder until a smile crossed her face.
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She pulled the smoke back, and it receded into her fingertips, "I got it!"
Grim jumped up, "You did? So there was something there. What is it?"
"E-rank [Concealed Color], the system description says it will let me write with ink that is visible only by looking through an object of that same colour," Hazel danced as she explained. Grim inexplicably joined in, the two of them lost in celebration.
Hazel¡¯s eyes opened wide, at the same time as Grim realized what she was doing.
"Sorry," Grim said as she stopped dancing. Hazel¡¯s enthusiasm had been infectious, and she got lost in the moment. She made a mental note to be more careful in the future. "Anyways, what colours can you use? If we go through the list, we can try each."
"Only three: red, blue and yellow,¡± Hazel said, then, more hesitant as she carefully considered her words. ¡°And you can dance if you want to; I am the last person who will ever judge you, honest."
Grim shook her head, "Just forget it ever happened, okay? I think some of my younger siblings have some coloured binder pages for school. I''ll be back in a minute."
Hazel stared innocently at her with an upturned chin, "Forget what happened?"
She groaned and left, heading down the stairs. The house was abnormally quiet today; no doubt everyone was silent after the storm she had brewed up earlier. Still, her younger siblings had been working on their homework at the dinner table, so she was able to find the coloured dividers she needed. Jin and Louis had left earlier to do some errands, taking most of them along for the ride. She¡¯d make sure to return them before they got home so no one came to her asking where they went.
Grim walked back upstairs to Hazel and handed her a yellow sheet while she took the blue one.
"Nothing," Grim said.
"Can''t see anything here either. Red?"
Together, they grabbed the red divider and held it up so they could both see through it. It worked, and a whole new set of text appeared on the page.
"If you''re reading this, then you''re capable enough to have a chance to survive what¡¯s to come. Grim is not your real name, and what happened to you and your family was not an accident. If you want to know more, find me, but there is no turning back once you do. There is almost a certain chance you will be hurt, killed or captured. If this happens, no one will save you, and no one will be brought to justice. This must be your choice: live and forget or fight to remember.
There is a lone Withering tree in Centennial Park. Kill it, and I will find you.
M."
"Holy shit," Hazel said. "That''s a lot."
Grim took a moment to think, the weight of those revelations heavy on her chest. It couldn''t be true, but if it was? What the fuck was she? She kept being told Grim wasn¡¯t her name, but then, who named her? What had she done to deserve this?
She¡¯d been placed with Jin and Louis when she was five; her only childhood memories were of them. She didn''t exist before she was fostered, and they weren¡¯t supposed to exist either, at least on paper. It was almost easier when she thought she¡¯d just been given up for how she looked. Now someone was out there that had killed her family and crippled her. All for what? To leave her alone and confused? Why didn''t they just kill her?
Anger welled up in her like water filling a pond; it flowed through her and grew. She''d been angry before, many times, and it had often overflowed, but it had never emptied. She struggled with it for most of her life, just barely treading above a sea of anger that had nowhere to go.
Mr. Cede was the last person who had figured that out.
As she looked at the page and reread it, the more it called to her. She shouldn''t; she should sell the shard, get a place and find a job. Forget about everything that had happened. It was the right option, the safe option, and yet? She knew she could never take it; it would kill her just the same as drinking poison a drop at a time would.
It would just take longer.
"We''re going to the park; grab your things," Grim said as she grabbed her coat from the door and pulled it on.
"What? Right now?" Hazel asked.
The people who had done this to her were still out there, probably destroying other people''s lives, making them forget. They¡¯d fucked with her head. She ached at the thought of waiting any longer. She wanted¡ªneeded something to destroy. To make them feel how she felt, she had an entire ocean''s worth of anger to direct and no one to aim it at, yet.
But that would change.
"Yes, we''re going now. I need one thing," Grim said as she left her room.
"Shouldn''t we talk about this? Make a plan. How do you kill a tree?" Hazel asked as she followed her out of the house and to the backyard. The sun was bright and warm, starkly contrasting how she felt.
The lock to their shed was just for show, so she pulled it off and threw it away as she searched the dim interior. Cobwebs layered the inside, speaking to its disuse. She found what she was looking for in the back, hanging on a hook. She grabbed it and turned towards Hazel.
Hazel gawked, "What are you going to do with that?"
Grim lifted and rested the old axe on her shoulder, "We''re gonna chop down a fucking tree."
Chapter 10 - Im chopping down this tree.
Her first chop at the tree bounced off it.
"Damnit," Grim said.
"Maybe if I¡ª " Hazel said before being interrupted.
"¡ª No, I''ll do it. Just keep an eye out."
"Uhh, I am, and there are like twenty people watching us. And that old lady there, is calling the Stripes.
Grim paid her no mind. The tree was old and decaying. It looked like it should have already fallen over, but it was stubborn and clung to its last roots of life. It was twenty feet off the trail and in clear view of most of the park. Trees were in a horizontal line, providing shade to those who came here to relax. This one was instantly recognizable; it stuck out compared to the bright and vivid trees surrounding it.
She brought her arm back and swung the hatchet down into the side of the tree. This time, the bark gave, and it sunk in nearly half the blade.
"Hey! You can''t do that."
She turned to see a city employee jump off his cart and start heading toward her. He was an old man, nearly bald and sporting a belly. He wore an ID tag that identified him as a park employee.
"Yes, I can," Grim replied with another chop. A divot formed as a piece of wood fell out. It sagged dangerously to one side, nearly cut through.
Phil, according to his name tag, shouted, "Stop! That is a protected tree. The Watchmen are on the way, and you¡¯ll get into a lot of trouble if you continue."
Grim turned around and faced him. He stood a decent distance away, close enough to talk but far enough away from the axe she was wielding. Hazel held her face and stood off to the side, deeply embarrassed.
"If I stop, am I still going to get into trouble?" Grim asked, putting the axe down by her side.
Hazel tried to interrupt, "Don''t answer that."
Phil stuttered, face red with anger, "Yes! That is a protected species you are damaging."
Grim smiled, "Then I might as well finish."
She turned and smashed the axe into the side of the tree, cutting off enough of it that it started to tip. The bark split and cracked before smashing into the ground. Phil stared at them with his mouth wide, at a loss for words.
"I told you," Hazel said to Phil. "Your fault."
Phil turned on her, "How is this any of my fault? Your friend here is going to jail, and you too, if you don''t keep your mouth shut."
"Hey! Drop the axe and put your hands up," a woman ordered. She was in uniform, which consisted of a white breastplate with one orange stripe running down the side. Denoting her as one of the watch''s lowest and most prominent members. They were meant to deal with the more mundane threats in Eternity. A male partner was beside her but was content to let her lead.
That was going to be a problem.
Grim dropped the axe, "Oh, wow, you guys got here fast."
The woman sent her a look and turned to Phil, "What''s going on here?"
Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke, "This little Eco terrorist is destroying a protected species of Wither tree, chopped the whole thing down right in front of me. Some sick joke to her, I think."
"If it helps, it was dead already," Hazel added.
The officer pursed her lips, "You know kids usually drink in a park or climb buildings, right? Is this some video challenge thing going on?"
"Yeah, for a video. Everyone''s been talking about the ugliest tree in the park, and I got dared to do it," Grim said, lying through her teeth.
"You''ve got to take her to jail. Walking around with a weapon like that," Phil said.
The woman looked at her partner for a second and shrugged as she brought out a pair of cuffs and stepped towards Grim.
"Wait! I''ve got shards; we can figure this out," Grim said, throwing her hand in front of her. "Besides, that''s not going to fit me anyway."
She held up her empty sleeve. The woman stopped, sighed, turned to her partner, and nodded toward Phil; he grabbed him and made him walk away.
¡°You can¡¯t do this, I saw her with my own eyes. I¡¯m a witness, there¡¯s people recording.¡±
¡°Shut up and walk,¡± The male watchman said, unconcerned about the people watching.
Once he was far enough away, the woman raised her hand and whispered something she couldn¡¯t hear. She traced a square around them in the air, and glowing orbs left her palm to form a translucent box. Phil¡¯s voice became muffled as the box distorted the outside world.
This definitely wasn¡¯t her first time doing this.
"Standard fine for this is thirty thousand and three months in a cell," the woman said, almost bored. She held the cuffs beside her as her partner walked through the wall. It shuddered as he did so.
Grim was just now realizing how badly she¡¯d miscalculated. She was alone, except for Hazel, with the two stripes, who were very comfortable with bending the law. As if being punished for their corruption wasn¡¯t an option at all. Which, to be fair, it probably wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t legal but it was well known a few shards could lend you some leniency with the Stripes.
That was why she¡¯d offered in the first place. She hated to give up her shards, but she¡¯d rather be poor than arrested. That was not an option for her. She didn¡¯t know how, but they had some sort of device that could interact with the system to display your boons. And if they found her with an unregistered S-rank, well¡ she¡¯d either be sent to the crater or conscripted. Both of those options were a death sentence.
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Registering herself wasn¡¯t an option, either. Not if she wanted to keep her freedom, they wouldn¡¯t let someone with an S-rank just run around. Add in [CEDE]? She¡¯d be lucky to see daylight. No, if she wanted to be safe, then she needed to become a Witch. They worked with the government but were a separate organization. One almost entirely dedicated to responding to incursions and infiltrating Gate worlds.
The only requirement to join them was to survive the Witching, a selection test. What that entailed was a closely guarded secret, but it was highly lethal, whatever it was. It was rumoured only 10% of people survived but if you could? It didn¡¯t matter what rank or abilities you had, you were in.
They had a selection every year, which was coming up in the next two months. She¡¯d planned to try in a couple of years, once she¡¯d gotten to at least C-rank. But it was only a matter of time until someone found out about her, not to mention she needed to find out who fucked with her family. Whoever they were, they had to be powerful, and she needed to be strong enough to get revenge.
So, if she wanted to live, she needed to pass the next one.
"I''ve got twenty thousand in E rank shards," Grim said.
"Where''d you get all that?"
"Doesn''t matter, it''s what I got," Grim explained.
"We could just take you in, instead. Forty." The male officer said.
"Forty? Fucking pig," Grim said before she could stop herself.
"Oh, now you''ve done it," His eyes lit up with anger as he grabbed his baton from his belt and advanced on her. Hazel tried to mediate, but he swatted the stick into her side and knocked her to the ground.
¡°Hazel!¡± Grim shouted as she scrambled for the axe.
She slid towards it, but the Stripe kicked her in the stomach, sending her rolling away from the weapon. The hit flared up all her still-healing injuries and paralyzed her for a moment as she lay there, sucking in a breath, "Ah, that hurt."
"Oh, we''re just getting started-" The male officer gagged as a burst of blood flew from his mouth and dribbled down his chin; both he and Grim looked down to see a spear perforating his chest. He went limp a moment later as the spear and several green shards were ripped from his body. A giant purple bipedal lizard stood behind him; cracks ran throughout its muscular torso, and purple energy emanated from them.
The creature picked up the shards and opened its mouth, it¡¯s tongue drooping out.
"Mack!" A few feet away, the female officer drew a small calibre pistol as she turned on the Lizardman. "Officer down. We''ve got an incursion at Centennial Park! At least C rank, requesting backup."
A barrage of shots erupted from her pistol and struck the Lizardman, each leaving a small trail of blood to run down its chest. It flinched as it was hit, dropping the shards as it moved towards her. The gunshots continued, each one deafening Grim as she lay on the ground. She tried to muffle the noise by putting one ear on the ground and covering the other with her hand. It barely helped.
The woman''s radio went off, confirming that backup was coming, but she knew it would be too late as she heard the weapon run out of ammo.
She turned to Grim, "Run!"
The woman dropped the gun and drew her baton as she charged at it; she swung the weapon down, aiming at its face even as it towered over her, but was intercepted by the creature grabbing her forearm. A twitch and it snapped; the baton dropped to the ground. Her scream was cut short as the Lizardman bit into her throat and tore it out; it swallowed and turned to Grim. A row of bloody teeth salivated as it crunched on the broken shards.
"Hazel!" Grim yelled. "Where are you?
Grim flinched as she felt a hand on her back, "I''m here. It''s me." Hazel said.
She let her help her stand as the Lizardman approached them; she watched the pointed tip of that spear and felt a spark of fear inside her. With the reach of that, it could clear the gap between them in less than a second. She looked around for help and watched as a massacre occurred around them. The purple rift of a Gate World blared in the middle of the park as more creatures hauled themselves out of it and attacked the people around indiscriminately. A couple of orange stripes were at the far end of the park firing shots, but they wouldn''t get to them in time; they''d have enough trouble keeping themselves alive if a Boonwitch didn''t get here soon.
She still had her boot knife on her, but she already knew that wouldn''t help her here. There was still a pistol on the male officer, but they''d have to get past the Lizardman without being killed first.
"Hazel, run to the right and distract it. I''ll call you back before it gets to you, and I''ll grab his weapon. The bio-lock should be disabled during the incursion."
"Are you sure? You could just run for it; there¡¯s no need to risk yourself. I''ll try not to die too quickly."
"I''ll never get away from all of them; we just need to buy ourselves time for a Boonwitch to come."
Hazel nodded and took a deep breath, "Go!"
Grim took off a half second after Hazel, just long enough to confirm that the Lizardman wasn''t chasing her.
It didn''t matter.
The creature¡¯s eyes locked onto Hazel, crossed the distance, and lunged at Hazel¡¯s heart with its spear. Grim called her back right before it landed and she dissolved into a mass of shadow and crawled across the ground back to her. The Lizardman turned and followed the mass.
It wasn''t enough time.
It had caught Hazel too quickly, and she wasn''t halfway to the weapon when the creature leaped in front of her; a spear thrust followed, and Grim instinctively called Hazel forward.
The blood was warm as it splattered across her face.
¡°Oh,¡± Hazel said as she was impaled in her stead.
The spear''s point passed through Hazel and stopped an inch from Grim''s belly. She fell backwards as Hazel coughed out a lungful of blood. She held onto the spear inside of her as if trying to keep it from moving, but after a second, she went limp, and the only thing that kept her up was the spear.
"Hazel!" Grim screamed.
The lizardman ripped out the spear and stepped towards her. Behind it, Hazel fell to the ground with a heavy thump and dissolved into shadow. Her blood remained.
Grim closed her eyes as she crouched. She knew she had no chance, but she reached for the knife in her boot anyway. She could feel its presence above her, its hot breath like a corrupted summer breeze.
Her fingers scraped the edge of her knife, caressing the handle.
She grabbed it as it loomed over her, her eyes were still closed as she coiled herself like a spring.
It was close enough she couldn¡¯t miss.
She leaped, looking up and opening her eyes to see it was right there.
Close enough to be almost eye-to-eye with her.
It¡¯s hand wrapped around her torso and squeezed, robbing her of her momentum. Its grip was hard enough to crack her rib cage, and she screamed out from the pain as her vision darkened.
Her legs kicked against the air as it lifted her, its jaws opening wide to bite into her throat. She tried to jab the knife into its neck, but it squeezed again, and it took everything she had just to hold onto it.
With its other hand, it grabbed onto her hair and tilted her head back to expose her throat.
She activated [FRIENDLY SHADOW], but her shadow did not move. In the brief time their connection was activated, Grim could only feel Hazel¡¯s confused despair, before that, too, was shut off from her.
¡°Fuck you,¡± She said as she used [CEDE].
The skill didn¡¯t reply. There was nothing to latch onto, nothing that was surrendered to her.
It put her throat between its teeth as a low warbling sound came from its throat.
Was it¡ª
¡ª LAUGHING.
[FRIENDLY SHADOW]
[FRIENDLY SHA¡ª]
[FRIE¡ª]
[¡ª]
Her shadow ceased answering.
She screamed, not out of terror, but rage. That sick warbling was in her head, rending her thoughts. It was maddening. She wouldn¡¯t let it kill her for nothing, she wouldn¡¯t accept that.
She knew she couldn¡¯t kill it, but she would take what she could get.
Its jaws snapped shut at the same time she brought her knife down; both of them knowing she was going to lose that race.
Vines erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the creatures head, like a bridle on a horse. It stopped the teeth from puncturing her throat.
Blood erupted from its eye as her blade sunk deep into its skull.
"Leave the little terrorist alone!" A voice shouted.
Chapter 11 - Deux Ex Phil
The creature dropped her before it could go for another stab, seeing no other way to avoid another ruined eye.
She dropped to the ground and rolled, putting some much-needed distance between them.
Grim watched as the Lizardman strained its neck to see who had restrained it. The roots splintered and cracked as it did so, straining under its immense strength.
Phil, pudgy belly and all, was standing there, hands outstretched as the roots tightened around the creature. A bead of sweat rolled down his face as it got redder.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get the gun," Phil said.
Grim was stunned, out of everyone, Phil had come to her rescue? And what was most confusing of all, he was doing pretty good. Hazel¡¯s blood on her face was also existentially alarming, but she was trying to ignore that.
Phil screamed, and she started running for the Stripes corpse. The sound of wood groaning amplified as the lizardman fought his restraints to get to him. Progress was slow, but it was getting closer.
As she approached the officer''s body, she looked up and saw the lizardman take one last decisive step, dig its heels into the ground, and push. With a final cry, the roots splintered, and it was free.
Phil collapsed to his knees from the strain, gasping as he tried to catch his breath.
The creature looked between them, trying to decide which was more of a threat. It turned towards Grim, and its eyes narrowed, locking in on her. Its rage over its destroyed eye clouded its judgement.
¡°Over here, you big dumb animal!¡± Phil shouted.
That did it. The creature charged at Phil with a roar, bounding forward in powerful leaps. Phil threw himself forward like a wave, bringing roots out of the ground and towards it. With a twist of his hand, the roots sharpened into points, but it parried it with the spear before it could be impaled, shattering the last of the living wood.
The old man fell on his face, exhausted. He tried to get up, but he hadn''t recovered yet. In his final act of defiance, he lifted his head just enough to look his death in the eyes.
Grim disagreed and raised the pistol. A small screen on the side of the gun showing the ammo count flashed a warning that the biometric lock was engaged, but a second later, it flashed green, indicating that an incursion override had disabled it.
She fired the first shot and missed, the gun nearly kicking itself out of her hand. It was hard to fire a weapon one-handed; she hoped it looked cool at least.
Phil was behind the bulk of the creature, so she didn''t fear hitting him as she let loose, unloading the pistol until it clicked empty. Most of the shots had missed, but a few had sunk into the creature''s flesh.
It was bleeding and limping now, every breath ragged as it turned and roared at her. It wasn''t dead yet, and it seemed like it still had enough energy to kill both of them. It raised its spear like a javelin and prepared to throw it at her. Its eyes followed her every movement as it coiled back its arm like a spring.
Phil yelled again, which turned into a dirty, ragged cough halfway through. Blood dribbled down his chin as he sent forward a massive tendril of roots.
The lizardman tried to dodge, but it stumbled from its injuries, which gave the tendril enough time to tear through its stomach.
It shuddered and brought down the spear to use as a cane to prop itself up.
Viscera covered the ground as it bled, holding on to its life only through sheer unerring hatred.
Grim stared back, knife in hand.
Begging it to try.
It took a single step towards Grim as a torrential flow of blood gushed out of its stomach.
Her ribs screamed at her, but she took a step as well.
The spear flexed and bowed underneath the weight, but it was strong enough to hold the creature up as it approached Grim.
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¡°Come on, are you done yet?¡± She taunted. One more step.
It shuddered and tried to take another one before it finally slipped and slumped over, falling face-first into the ground.
The thing was finished. Its chest heaved as it tried to keep itself alive.
Grim stood over it, the creature too weak to even look up, ¡°I win.¡±
The creature raged, but its hiss was silenced by her knife entering the back of its neck.
The purple cracks in its body faded, and several bright blue shards materialized on top of the corpse. She knew they were C-rank shards by their colour.
Grim laughed, a deep, manic energy escaping her. She should be dead right now, but instead, they''d done it. They¡¯d killed a C-rank.
Phil looked to be half dead as he picked himself off the ground, and Hazel was actually dead. Well, as much as she could be.
The two Stripes had also been killed; their bodies rested in the field. The woman had tried to save her in the end. She didn¡¯t know how to feel about that, or how it contrasted with the woman who was so ready to take a bribe.
She looked around and saw that most of the other C-rank creatures were now occupied by a response force and were slowly being whittled down. A new squad of dual orange stripes had moved in, armed with heavier assault rifles that were doing much better against the Lizardmen than the pistol had.
"Are you alright?" Phil hobbled over to her as fast as he could, holding his back in a way that suggested he''d injured it.
Grim turned to him, smiling, "I feel great."
That did not reassure him, "It''s the adrenaline; you¡¯ll come down. What happened to your friend? I saw her..."
"Get impaled?" Grim asked with Hazel''s blood still covering her face. "She''ll be fine; it was¡ an illusion."
[BONE GARDEN]
She felt the notification inside her, as instantly half of the invaders in the area were slain by a mass of bones that jutted out and impaled them like they were pieces of modern art.
Two people touched down from the sky in the middle of the field. More bone growths occurred, separating the creatures from the remaining civilians who were alive with a large barrier of bone. Separating them like that made it easy for the Stripes to start cleaning up the rest of the invaders.
The effect was massive and debilitatingly effective. She knew there were only two people who could do that.
Valorant and Aegis.
They each wore heavy armour, entirely covered by a white cloak. The white was pristine, without a speck of dirt, and shone in the light. They wore deer skulls on their heads, and no skin was shown anywhere. They faced away from each other as they scanned the battlefield.
Grim was in awe; those were true S Ranks. That was the type of power she needed. That would let her get revenge.
She turned back to Phil and saw him limply use his power to knit the grass back into an acceptable presentation. It was painful, watching him work. Feeling a spark of pity, she went over to the blue boon shards and tapped Phil on the shoulder. He turned around, and she tried to give him the shards, even though it hurt her soul to do so. They were so valuable. Her eyes opened wide as he pushed away her hands.
"You killed it, besides I got no use for something like that. Grab that spear, too, while you¡¯re at it; it¡¯s enchanted." Phil said and turned back to his gardening. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the Stripe¡¯s shards either, I¡¯ll make sure they get to their families.¡±
Half of them at least, Grim had seen the creature eat the womans.
"What? You can''t just give away something like that; you did most of the work, and it''s yours by right. That''s law."
"Did you start caring about the law before or after you chopped down that tree?"
Grim raised a finger and put it down. He had a point. She put the shards in her pocket and grabbed the spear from the creature''s hands. It hummed in her hand, and she felt her vision sharpen. That would be useful.
When she was done, he was still working on the grass, using his power patch by patch to restore it to its former glory.
"You should probably get some rest; paramedics will be here shortly," Grim said.
"Don''t need them," He turned around and faced her. "But now that you bring it up, I need your name for the damage report for the tree you savagely cut down."
"What? Really?" Grim asked. "We almost both died, and you still care about that?"
Phil smoothed over a patch of dirt, and some flowers grew in it. "If I don''t, who will? Someone needs to keep people accountable; that''s the only way this world works. Consider the shards payment for your name if you have to. It doesn''t matter to me."
Grim considered it, those shards, while not enough for a Boon, were still worth quite a bit, and she doubted anyone would care about one tree in the aftermath of an incursion. If someone did, she''d say it happened during the invasion.
The other option was to lie or walk away, but she felt like she owed him, as much as she hated the thought of that. The truth was that she would have died if he hadn''t come to save her; Hazel had died.
She felt around her skill, and it was still burnt out. That was worrying, but it had only been a few minutes. It would probably take days for her to recover fully.
"Fine, my name is Grim."
"Grim? Have you no respect? You¡¯re giving me a fake na¡ªwait, Grim? Are you a foster?"
She backed away, unsettled by the sudden interest in his eye, "Yeah, I am, and it''s not a fake name."
Phil looked at her, at the burns on her face, her missing arm, "It''s been nearly ten years; how could I have forgotten? I should have recognized you, an axe? HA, I didn''t expect you would go for that. Right in the open, too. It was nearly dead! A little bit of weedkiller would have toppled that old broad down, and you wouldn''t have had any conversation with me."
Phil wiped his eyes and mouth as he recovered from his laughing fit. Grim stared at him. Had he gotten his old brain rattled by that creature when she wasn''t looking? He''d gotten so upset before about the tree, and now he was telling her to use chemicals?
How would he even know her? The answer staring her in the face didn''t seem possible, but it had to be.
"Are you M?" She asked.
Phil got serious, "You shouldn''t have found me."
Chapter 12 - Wounds Healing Stronger
"Shouldn''t have found you? You told me to," Grim said.
"That was ten years ago; things have changed. It''s too dangerous, and I''m too old and fat."
Grim felt that anger well up again, "No, no, no, you can''t change your mind. I fucking found you; we just killed that thing, and I only had to because you told me to be here. Tell me what happened!"
Phil looked around, fear in his eyes. Valorant and Aegis were still far away, but that seemed to do little to ease his worries. "Fine, but it''s not safe to talk here. Give me your contact information, and I''ll tell you where to meet. Otherwise, forget you ever met me. For both of our safety."
Grim tried to ask more questions, but as soon as he got her contact, he shuffled away, refusing to speak to her anymore. By that point, the rest of the creatures had been cleared out, and she and the rest of the civilians were rounded up and brought to a team of paramedics. They were quite alarmed by the state she arrived in, but once they found out the blood wasn''t hers, they relaxed.
She did have a couple of cracked ribs, so they gave her a painkiller, and before she realized what was happening, one of them held her shoulders while the other put their hand into her stomach. It was incredibly disconcerting, like someone was stirring a spoon in a bowl of soup, except the soup was her internal organs. He touched three of her ribs and removed his hand. The process only took a few seconds, but she could feel her ribs healing.
After that, they re-bandaged her injured arm and disinfected the cuts and scrapes she''d received. She¡¯d tried to complain about the soup stirring they had just done, but they hadn¡¯t cared. There was a long list of people they needed to help, and they would do it as fast as possible, so she dropped it. It wasn¡¯t worth fighting over.
She was cleared after their conversation. Valorant and Aegis had left at some point, called in to deal with another incursion somewhere else in the city.
They''d be busy for a while; it was the season.
She walked past the Watch Cordon and several Stripes. No one went to take the spear; they must have assumed she was a higher rank than she was, and none of them were brave enough to push the issue. That was a good way of ending up on the wrong side of someone powerful.
It was uneventful as she walked home. She snuck in through the backyard this time, so she wouldn¡¯t have to talk to anybody. It was pretty late by then, and she hadn''t received a text from Phil yet, so she went to bed.
The next day was similar, so she spent most of the week recuperating; three life-or-death fights in the span of two days had left her thoroughly drained, and anger could only take her so far. She crashed hard and barely left her bed for three days. It took around that time for her to get a good reading on how Hazel was doing; it seemed dying meant it took a lot longer for her to heal compared to being severely injured.
On the fourth day, she was able to materialize, and Grim filled her in on what happened after she was impaled. Hazel explained that she could usually see what was happening, but while recovering, she was in a dreamlike state, and what she could experience was severely limited.
Hazel was quite upset about how close the two of them came to dying, and they both agreed that they needed to get stronger. They concluded that the best way for her to do that was to go up a rank and gain access to more Boon slots, as that was her biggest restriction. They¡¯d gone into that fight with one free slot, and a utility skill had taken it up.
That had almost got them killed.
To advance to the next tier would cost four E-rank boon dice; she currently had one given to her by Louis, and she could probably trade the shards from the C-rank Lizardman for another two. The blue shards she''d gotten weren''t enough for a boon, but she''d still be able to get a good price for them.
That left her with only one more to advance, which was where the real problem lay. She''d have to get the money together to buy one, which would take her around two years if all she did was work and save towards it. Maribelle and the gang were supposed to contact her soon, but at this point, she needed to try and extricate herself from them as quickly as possible; the kind of work they did, she had no interest in.
The last option was the fastest and the most dangerous. Break into a Gateworld and kill enough creatures to get enough shards for another boon. She could do it, but that had problems; most Gate worlds were locked down by the government or private covens led by high-ranked Boonwitches. Most of the time, they functioned like small corporations. A stabilized Gate world was worth a small fortune, exponentially if it was high rank. Most of the worlds had rare resources you couldn¡¯t find on Earth that could be extracted. Not to mention the most important thing of all, the Boon shards you could get from the creatures that lived inside.
They were unintelligent and utterly hostile to humanity, but when they died, they all dropped shards, making them immensely valuable. Eternity ran off them, both figuratively and literally. They were an excellent power source and valuable to everyone with a pulse. They gave untold abilities and greatly increased humans'' natural lifespans.
The only problem was actually killing them. Generally, a ranked human was stronger than a similarly ranked creature, and they could be expected to beat them. Humans were smarter and had the benefits of Boons to help. Two or more? Unless you had really good abilities or were very well-trained, you were dead.
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If they were higher ranked?
Thoughts of the Stripe¡¯s broken bodies filled her head.
They got lucky it was a C-rank. They were still vulnerable to bullets. If it was a B? They wouldn¡¯t have been able to even scratch it, and they would have all died.
Most people who went into Gate Worlds had a team, and a Witch coven was no different. The exact mechanisms behind their structure were archaic and rooted in traditionalism. Most covens aimed for thirteen members and consisted of family members, or if they had to, recruited from those who passed the Witching.
Saving up the money or joining a team wouldn¡¯t happen for her, at least not for a while. So she''d have to break in. That would be the easy part; she could always return to the one with the monkey things. Surviving it would be the hard part. Arcadia and the other guides were the only reason she had a chance last time. They organized big groups so the creatures were spread out, letting people have a chance without getting swarmed.
She¡¯d go once she talked with Phil, hell, he might even come with her.
The other way she could get stronger would be to get a prosthetic for her arm, but that had yet to go well in the past; mechanical augments... didn''t work for her. Doctors said something about her brain being messed up, and once that happened, it was only a matter of time before they were politely kicked out.
A Boon augment was something they hadn''t tried before and was worth a shot, but that would get in the way of her plans to advance as soon as possible. She''d put that on the back burner; once she was strong enough to raid Gateworlds regularly, she''d get one. She lived most of her life without an arm, and a couple more months wouldn''t hurt.
With the options gone through, she and Hazel decided on a fitness routine for right now to build up strength; after some cursory searching, they settled on a simple calisthenic workout. Squats, sit-ups and modified push-ups. She was starting from a disadvantaged position and was forced to go for one-arm push-ups from the start. So she did them on her knees and lowered herself as slowly as she could while Hazel held her. She was able to do three push-ups and fourteen squats before her muscles gave out.
After that, she went for a run. Louis had looked surprised she was going out, but didn¡¯t say anything. Things were still a bit tense between them, and she wasn¡¯t going to be the one to fix things. If they could even be at this point,
Hazel came with her for the run but resigned to stay in her shadow. Grim had tried to protest, citing they should do it together, but Hazel had pretended she was getting a phone call and unsummoned herself.
That bitch.
She only came out to hold Grim¡¯s hair back while she threw up. There was a reason she didn¡¯t run.
The next day, after running without throwing up, she went to a broker who exchanged the C-rank shards for E-ranks. Going there, she was a little worried the process would be more complicated, but after explaining she got them from the incursion at Centennial Park, everything was fine. The teller, a middle-aged man, explained that someone else had managed to kill one as an E-rank as well, and they¡¯d come in a couple of days ago. He hadn¡¯t explained how and the teller didn¡¯t pry.
The man gave her some paperwork to fill out, which was pretty standard. She was pleasantly surprised when she found out she¡¯d been off in her estimates, and after getting enough for two boons, she elected to take the rest in cash.
Two days later, she received a phone call from an unknown number.
"Phil?" Grim said.
"Who''s Phil?" A woman voice asked.
Grim¡¯s stomach dropped.
"Oh¡ Maribelle."
A laugh came from the other end, "Don''t be too happy to hear from me, you knew we''d call."
"What do you want?"
"There''s a car waiting outside for you, get in it."
Hazel shook her head from across the room in big, exaggerated motions, making multiple Xs with her arms.
"I''m not home right now," Grim lied.
"Don''t play games with us kid, we know you haven''t left since this morning. Do I need to remind you what happens if you don''t?"
"No."
"Good girl, and don''t worry, you''ll get paid for this."
The line went dead.
"We can''t go out there," Hazel said as she paced across her room.
Grim sat, thinking, "We don''t have a choice."
"They could have changed their minds and just want a nice location to kill us, secondary locations! Remember the warnings at school about kidnappers? We have to go to the Watch."
"You know we can''t,¡± Grim paced. ¡°We have to go, but we don''t have to go unprepared."
"Like what? Leave a note or something?"
Grim went underneath her bed and took out the box she held the shards in. Inside, there were sixty, which was enough for three dice. She took them out and held the pile in her hand. They vibrated, and she could tell they wanted to be melded together into a boon. She clenched her hand and crunched them together.
| Fuse x20 E rank Boon shards? |
She accepted, and they coalesced into dice, but this time, instead of throwing them, she crushed them again and let them absorb into her hands.
Grim almost fainted.
It was one of the best feelings she had ever had, as straight vitality rushed into her body. She felt the aches and pains of her previous injuries wash away and felt new power rush into her muscles, but just as she was expecting more, it ended. The sudden loss of that feeling left her craving for more, as she felt a new hunger awaken in her body. A reservoir of power had appeared and only just started to fill. She figured that was a counter to keep track of her advancement.
"Woah," Hazel said, she''d been knocked on her ass.
"Yeah," Grim said. "Again?"
"A million times, yes.¡±
The second time wasn¡¯t as euphoric, and the third time even less so. That internal reservoir also ticked up until it was almost full. She looked in the mirror and couldn¡¯t tell for certain but she thought she saw more muscle definition. She definitely felt stronger.
¡°Are we ready?¡± Hazel asked, very stressed out.
"Almost, we need to replace your temporary boon before we go out there."
"With what? We¡¯d need someone to copy from."
"We''re gonna take a boon from Louis."
Chapter 13 - Fix us
Grim waited outside Jin and Louis'' bedroom. It was past ten, and they had both long gone to bed. Louis worked early in the morning and didn¡¯t like staying up too late, which worked out for them.
Their room was at the end of the hallway, and Grim had left the light on behind her, casting her shadow just enough to reach underneath their door. She summoned Hazel, and the tendrils stretched as far away from her as they could, underneath the door and into their room.
After she did that, she left Hazel and ran downstairs to the bathroom. Damp towels covered the floor as she walked on top of them to the sink, where the culprit of the watery mess was. Inside the cabinet, she grabbed a spare copper pipe that was lying there. It was hefty and would make for a decent weapon, especially once it was combined with Louis¡¯ boon. He had [As Light As A Feather], which made metal much lighter. He¡¯d never told her specifics, but it¡¯d be enough to make the pipe a good improvised weapon.
¡°What are you doing?¡±
Grim turned around, hiding the pipe behind her back. Sam stood there, staring at her with big, round eyes. He was seven or eight and clutched a Valorant and Aegis blanket around him like a cape.
¡°Nothing, just wanted to see how bad the sink was leaking.¡± Grim lied as she felt a tug from Hazel. She ignored it.
¡°Mason broke it, it wasn¡¯t me,¡± Sam said, in a way that made it quite clear to her that he very much did break it.
Another tug came from inside her. More insistent. She couldn¡¯t bring her back yet, not with Sam watching.
Grim shooed him out and back towards his room, putting the pipe down when he wasn¡¯t looking, ¡°It¡¯s fine, Louis will fix it. Just get some sleep, okay? You¡¯ve got school.¡±
Sam stood at the entrance to his room. He turned and whispered to her, ¡°Then why is everyone angry? Jin only hugged me twice before bed.¡±
Without warning, the tug between them no longer became a request, and Hazel came rushing back. Grim grabbed Sam¡¯s shoulders and turned him around gently as her shadow formed into a person behind her. He tried to turn around, but seeing no other choice, Grim wrapped her arm around him and squeezed, holding him there. It was a clumsy excuse for a hug, but Sam wasn¡¯t old enough to complain.
¡°There, that¡¯s three. Now get to bed, okay? They¡¯re angry about me, so you¡¯ve got nothing to worry about,¡± Grim said.
¡°What did you¡ª ¡°
¡°Shhh, if you go to bed right now, I¡¯ll explain in the morning.¡±
Sam sighed, ¡°Promise?¡±
¡°Promise,¡± Grim said as she closed the door.
Hazel stood behind her, her eyes darted back and forth as she fidgeted. She looked like she was going to speak, but Grim interrupted her before she could.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°He wasn¡¯t in his bed, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s home.¡±
¡°Where is he?¡± Grim asked as they walked upstairs.
¡°I¡¯m not sure. I tried to copy one of Jin¡¯s so we didn¡¯t leave with nothing, but when I touched her, she started waking up. I think she thought I was Louis. She asked me how it went, and after I didn¡¯t reply, she got up before I could grab anything. I had to leave, or else she would have seen me.¡±
That was weird. Where would he have gone at this hour? He had work in the morning and he was always the one harping on how important sleep was. Jin seemed to know about it, too, which at least meant he wasn¡¯t cheating on her.
¡°That¡¯s shitty, but it¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll have to make do without.¡±
The two of them left the house and walked up to a hover taxi sitting across the street. She had a bad feeling about how familiar it looked. When they got close, the window rolled down, and her fears were confirmed.
It was the Driver who¡¯d kidnapped her in the first place, sporting a new suit without a stab hole in it.
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"You''re late," He said.
"The fuck do I care? You kidnapped me, remember?"
The older man squinted at her before he recognized her, "Oh yeah, you stabbed me. Get in, we''ve got places to go."
"You don''t care?"
"No. It was a good reminder not to get sloppy, It could''ve been a lot worse. Now let''s go, if you want to talk we can talk on the way."
Grim had issues with this but ultimately kept them to herself. Her complaints wouldn¡¯t change anything at this point.
Hazel made sure to get in first and nodded once she confirmed it was safe. Grim followed her in but shot her a look when she was still sitting in the middle seat.
¡°Can you move?¡± Grim asked.
¡°No.¡±
Grim sighed and got in beside her. The hover taxi took off a moment later.
¡°You¡¯re okay with that?¡± The Driver asked, but not to either of them.
¡°Yeah,¡± Volk said from the passenger seat in the front. She¡¯d just noticed that he¡¯d been there the whole time.
Grim recoiled, ¡°Fuck me, where¡¯d you come from?¡±
The Driver laughed, ¡°Get¡¯s me every time.¡±
¡°Sorry, I felt something was wrong, but I didn¡¯t notice,¡± Hazel whispered.
¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Grim said, then turned to Volk. ¡°Very scary. What are we doing here?¡±
Volk paused, considering his words, ¡°I want there to be an understanding between us, about why we let you live.¡±
¡°Because I have your former boss¡¯s Boon, and I can make you a lot of money?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not about money,¡± Volk said. ¡°It¡¯s because we needed Cede. We needed his help.¡±
¡°Help you with what?¡±
¡°How old do you think I am?¡± Volk asked.
He looked to be in his forties or fifties. Strands of gray poked out of his close-cropped haircut while wrinkles marred his face.
¡°Is this a trick question? You¡¯re like fifty or something.¡±
¡°Fifty three!¡± Hazel guessed.
¡°Both of you are wrong,¡± Volk said. ¡°I¡¯m fucking twenty-two.¡±
¡°There is no way,¡± Hazel said.
He tossed his ID into the back seat, Grim picked it up and scanned the document. She saw a young man who vaguely looked like he could¡¯ve been Volk. His hair was longer, and he had no scar across his neck, but they had the same facial features. The ID was dated for three years ago and also had his full name.
¡°Yulian Volkanovski?¡± Grim said.
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Wow, you really got fucked up, how¡¯d that happen?¡±
¡°Bad Boon. Same as everyone else who rolls bad,¡± He pointed at his neck, highlighting the scar. ¡°Instead of being hurt, I age. Cut gave me ten years.¡±
Grim followed along and came to the obvious conclusion, ¡°So you wanted Cede to get rid of it right? Why didn¡¯t you?¡±
¡°I¡¯m a Blank.¡±
What?
That shouldn¡¯t be possible. Blanks were people without access to the system. Nobody knew why it happened, but they couldn¡¯t advance or get boons. He shouldn¡¯t have gotten one in the first place.
¡°Then how do you have one?¡±
¡°Not sure. Should¡¯ve died when I got the scar. Woke up instead. No one I found could help me, until Cede. If I could get rid of it? Maybe I¡¯d be okay. Maybe I¡¯d die. At least I¡¯d be in a body that was mine.¡±
¡°But you don¡¯t know the name?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Volk said.
Hazel piped up, ¡°I could find out the name! My Boon lets me¡ª ¡°
Grim shouldered her to shut her up. Volk turned around, now thoroughly interested in what she had to say.
¡°You could?¡±
Grim didn''t want to reveal that, but Hazel had already ruined that plan. ¡°Yeah, she could. Say, what¡¯s the chance we help you out, and you just let us go? We forget this whole job you wanted us to do today.¡±
Volk laughed, ¡°Tempting, but we¡¯d have to kill Maribelle, and I am not willing to do that. Besides, the job is worth five hundred thousand.¡±
Grim nearly spit, ¡°Holy fuck, why so much?¡±
That amount of money would buy enough shards to shoot her all the way up to C rank. She¡¯d still have to fight an E and D-rank Guardian to advance, but between her and Hazel they should be able to do it.
¡°Mari will explain. This is the offer. Do this job, fix me and her. We let you go, forget we ever saw each other, and you walk away with one hundred thousand. Good deal, yes?¡±
That¡¯d be enough for D-rank, at least, plus enough money to get an apartment and some equipment, but they needed her, not the other way around.
¡°Two hundred, one hundred for the job and fifty for fixing each of you,¡± Grim said.
He looked pained, but he nodded, ¡°One hundred after the job is done, the rest only if you can fix us.¡±
¡°Deal. What¡¯s wrong with Mari?¡±
¡°Are we sure we want to help her? She wasn''t very nice,¡± Hazel said.
Volk blew out a deep breath, ¡°You must give her some grace. I do not know the specifics of her and Mr. Cede¡¯s relationship, but she cared deeply for him. He is now dead, and you wield the ghost of his namesake.¡±
Hazel scowled, ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have messed with us, it was his fault.¡±
¡°Perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have, but it remains the same that he was the only hope of fixing us,¡± Volk said. ¡°Her problem is very different than mine, you have felt her grip, yes?¡±
Her grip was so tight it felt like she was rubbing her bones together, ¡°Yeah, I remember.¡±
¡°That is not a Boon. Functionally, she is D-rank, but she is weak everywhere except her hands. That is where she is strong, uncontrollably so.¡±
¡°Okay, that sucks, but what¡¯s the problem?¡±
¡°She has a baby she cannot hold without crushing.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Both Grim and Hazel said at the same time.
She didn¡¯t know how she was supposed to fix that. It wasn¡¯t possible to go down a rank once you advanced, at least not as far as she knew. [CEDE] wouldn¡¯t help either, it only affected Boons. She¡¯d need to find some other way.
¡°We¡¯re here.¡± The Driver said.
But they just left? No, they were at the scrapyard.
¡°That¡¯s freaky,¡± Hazel said.
¡°Agreed,¡± Grim said as they got out of the¡ª
¡ª There was nothing in front of them.
Volk was a couple of feet in front of them, closer to the entrance of the scrapyard''s office.
¡°Are you coming?¡±
Chapter 14 - Mix Up
Volk led the two of them into the building. The place hadn¡¯t changed much since she¡¯d last seen it. The only difference was there were none of the other goons she had seen last time.
"Where''s the rest of your guys?" Grim asked.
Volk gave her a look, "Downsized, just Maribelle and me now. Come, she¡¯s waiting inside."
She nodded and followed Volk as they walked inside what used to be Mr. Cede¡¯s office. The door that Volk had knocked down had been replaced with what was definitely the cheapest option they could find, while inside, the paintings had been removed.
Good. Gave the room less of a serial-killer vibe.
Maribelle was sitting in an office chair with her feet up on the desk, "Well, look who made it, and you brought your friend too. You''ll have to tell us about that."
"Hi, I''m Hazel,¡± She said with a little wave.
"Well, aren''t you a cute little thing."
"Enough, what do I have to do? Let¡¯s get this over with." Grim interjected, stepping in between them.
Maribelle''s lips pursed and then switched into a smile, "I''m glad to see you''re eager, but it''s not going to be that simple. You see, since your little altercation, things haven''t been going the best for us, and we''ve lost clout. People either don''t believe we can do what we used to or think we''re in line with the stripes."
"What am I supposed to do about that?"
"We''ve got a buyer lined up, good money. Money we need right now, or we''re all in trouble. Only thing is, he''s a small but powerful player in the underworld here and he doesn''t trust us enough to come alone. Especially after we fucked up getting his target last time."
"Only now they know Cede is dead, so they think you''re just bullshitting now," Grim said.
She looked furious for a second but then nodded, "Smart girl. Our memory wiper was in the room with us when you... he died. You probably don''t remember. So that''s no longer an option for us."
Grim thought back through her memories of that night; there had been more people there, but she couldn''t think of anyone notable besides Volk and Maribelle.
She didn¡¯t like that.
If she ever found him, she¡¯d probably take his power just so he didn¡¯t have it. She couldn¡¯t see herself ever using it, even though it seemed very useful. There were some lines she wouldn¡¯t cross, and fucking with someone¡¯s memory was one of them.
"I don¡¯t remember seeing anybody use a power like that," Hazel whispered to her. ¡°That type of stuff wouldn¡¯t work on me.¡±
So there wasn¡¯t someone with a Boon like that? So, did that mean they were lying about erasing her memory? She wouldn¡¯t put it past them, they were criminals, but after Volk¡¯s sob story in the car, she thought they were supposed to be doing this for a purpose? She''d have to confirm with Hazel later, once they found somewhere private to talk.
Grim turned on Hazel, "You''re just telling me this now?"
"To be fair I got bashed into a wall like a second later," Hazel smiled and tilted her head.
That was... fair enough.
Maribelle perked up, she¡¯d heard the end of Hazel¡¯s sentence. ¡°You¡¯re immune to it then? What is she anyways?¡±
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¡°Yep. It¡¯s probably because I¡¯m made of 95% shadow. No brain to mess around in.¡±
¡°Like she said, she¡¯s my shadow,¡± Grim said, then turned to Hazel. ¡°What¡¯s the other 5%?¡±
¡°Love.¡±
Grim rolled her eyes.
¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen anybody with a Boon like her before. If Mr. Cede got that¡¡± Maribelle trailed off. ¡°Anyways, the man with the memory Boon was named Graham. At some point, while we were dealing with you, he grabbed Cede¡¯s shards and took off. Little Hazel there might be exactly who we need to deal with him.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not our problem,¡± Grim said.
¡°No, maybe not. Either way, that will have to come after the job tonight.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡±
***
It was always an alleyway. Why was it always an alleyway? Did gangsters have a fetish with the smell of trash? The place was in the third layer, with high-density housing throughout the ring. The alleyway Grim was in led to an underground parking lot, which meant it was a dead end and only left a little room for maneuvering if they had to. The concrete walls of residential buildings boxed them in. Some gates led to them so the janitorial staff could take out the trash, but they were locked up tight with expensive-looking gates.
Maribelle walked in the lead, with Grim and Volk following beside her. They each wore gold masks. The cheap plastic itched and made it uncomfortable to breathe. Grim pulled on it to try and get some airflow into it, but it didn¡¯t help the condensation that had formed inside.
Besides the masks, they dressed Hazel and her in white cloaks. No idea where she got those from but they did give them a bit of a striking look.
All powerful twin Witches, here to steal your Boon.
At least, that¡¯s what they were going for; fear of the unknown was going to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
They reached the end of the alley, which spread out into a larger square. There was the parking garage in front, and more trash cans were piled up, along with an old beater of a vehicle. The space was big enough so a garbage truck could turn around. It was empty of people except the Ferals, the other gang they were meeting. There were about seven of them, and Volk had told her they were mostly E ranks, with their leader Bear being a C rank and his right-hand man, Cub, being a D rank. They were small, but Bear was strong enough to keep control of this block from some of the bigger gangs.
At least up until now, Mari had explained that a new drug-running gang that got its supply out of a Gate World had moved in¡ªthe stuff they were selling suffused enough system energy to temporarily move someone up a tier. It sounded great, but the comedown was horrible. Going from being able to run around the block to heaving going up the stairs wasn¡¯t easy.
There was also the small matter of it fucking up your ability to advance afterwards, but she¡¯d started zoning out around that part.
They were making a killing and growing rapidly, trying to spread out into Bear¡¯s territory. This was where they were going to come in. The Boon he was going to take was supposed to do something pretty similar. It would let him mimic a B or even A-tier as long as his mindset was right.
She didn¡¯t think he was going to have a problem with that.
They were about ten feet apart when they stopped walking. According to their plan, they didn''t say anything and waited for Bear to speak first.
He did, "Just three of you? Must be brave."
He was shirtless and in his thirties. His face was all angles, adorned with a long beard, and he wore a bear pelt as a cloak. The rest of his gang was dressed similarly, but not to the level he was. It took everything she had not to laugh; they looked ridiculous.
From how Hazel was silently vibrating, she guessed she agreed.
"The money," Mari said without moving.
Bear was eyeing them up, trying to decide if he could pull something, but they''d been expecting that. That was the purpose of their current act, and it seemed to be working. He nodded toward Cub, who stepped forward and threw a duffel bag full of cash at Mari''s feet.
She didn''t react as she continued to look at Bear. "All of it."
He looked like he would swing on them, but he laughed instead and slapped Cub on the shoulder, "Good eyes, I''d like to have them." He stopped laughing, dug a wad of cash from a pocket in his cloak and tossed it into the duffel bag.
Mari nodded, and Volk bent down and grabbed it before returning to his position.
"You''ve got my money; now I want what I paid for," Bear said.
He gestured at one of the Ferals, and a shorter guy walked over to the car and opened the trunk. He reached inside and ripped a man from the inside, he had a bag on his head and only had his underwear on. Old scars covered his body, and ropes stopped him from moving. The short man walked him forward and kicked him into the space between them.
The tied up man fell hard on his knee¡¯s, his skin dragging on the pavement.
"What do you want from me?" He said.
His voice sounded familiar, but she couldn''t put a finger on why.
"I want your Boons, you fucking pig," Bear said as he walked forward and ripped the hood off him.
Grim recoiled as she recognized him. He didn''t look the same without his armour or the spear, but now that she saw his face, distinct scars and all, she knew.
It was Arcadia.
Chapter 15 - The numbers stretched forever
He''d been beaten for sure; a black eye marred his face, along with several other bruises and cuts.
It didn''t make sense, how did he get here? This wasn''t like kidnapping a regular person. This would get you in big trouble, kill squad type trouble. No matter how big or powerful you are or what kind of boons you have. There''s always someone out there with one that can counter yours. Kidnapping a Witch was exactly how one would get put together, either by the government or their coven.
In the past, an S class named Striker had gone insane and aligned himself with a Gate World. A hand-picked group of C-ranks took him down.
"What''s wrong with your friend there? They never see a bit of blood before?" Bear asked.
Grim looked back up. She''d let herself slip and had been caught staring at Arcadia. Volk turned towards her, concerned. She wasn¡¯t supposed to attract attention.
Volk just laughed, ¡°They have seen oceans.¡±
Bear looked between the two, not sure what to make of that. Volk¡¯s plan was good; any little bit of mystery they could add to the character she was supposed to be playing would help.
The Ferals had the numbers advantage and would win in a straight up fight if it came down to that, but if they thought Grim and Hazel were high ranks? They wouldn¡¯t take the risk. At least, they hoped not.
She didn¡¯t know what to make of Arcadia¡¯s presence; she¡¯d forgotten to ask before if he¡¯d set her up. If he did? Then, he deserved whatever was coming to him. If he hadn¡¯t?
There wasn¡¯t much she could do, not at this point. She hoped he had because it would make this next part much easier on her conscious.
With the way Mari and Volk were reacting, she had to guess that they didn''t recognize him. Whether that meant he was innocent or they had never interacted without a mask before, she didn''t know. All it meant was that she was the only person on their side who knew he was a Boonwitch.
"I don''t know what you guys want from me, but I have money and power. I can get you whatever you want," Arcadia begged.
Bear grabbed a fistful of his hair and painfully jerked his neck, "You already have everything I want."
He turned back towards their group. "Let''s get this over with."
"Kneel beside him," Maribelle said.
"I don''t kneel."
"Then we leave with the money, and you receive nothing."
"You wouldn''t make it ten feet down this alley."
"Try to stop us," Maribelle said, her voice distorted and down-pitched by her mask.
For a moment, it looked like Bear would order his guys to attack. His eyes shifted to the weapons on Volk¡¯s hip.
He growled instead and knelt beside Arcadia.
Grim looked at Mari, and she nodded. Grim walked forward, flanked by Hazel.
They stopped, with Grim in front of Arcadia and Hazel in front of Bear.
She already had both Boon slots filled, so she couldn¡¯t take a boon into herself and trade it that way; she''d have to have a hand on both of them to transfer it directly instead.
She didn¡¯t have that, so they were gambling on it working with Hazel.
"The name of the boon," Grim said.
"What are you going to do to me? I''m a Witch of the Black Skies Coven; you''ll never get away with this. They¡¯ll come for you." Arcadia said, actual fear on his face as he looked up at Grim. She was glad she was wearing a mask; this felt¡ wrong. He¡¯d been a dick, but he didn¡¯t deserve this.
Not to mention, she believed him. They would come, they¡¯d just have to be gone when they did.
"[AS IN AS OUT], do with the others what you want," Bear said.
Arcadia shot him a look, ¡°That won¡¯t help you. It¡¯s affixed, it¡¯s mine.¡±
Grim hesitated, her arm halfway to his head. Volk nodded at her out of the corner of her eye, encouraging her.
This wasn¡¯t right, but she didn¡¯t have a choice.
She took a deep breath, and put her hand on Arcadia¡¯s forehead at the same time as Hazel touched Bears.
She activated [CEDE], and it worked for the first time. With the Lizardman, she¡¯d been lacking authority over it. Now? She had all of it she could want.
She pulled on the skill and felt it flare to life.
The alleyway disappeared and was replaced by a blank room with infinite space. A screen that stretched out forever appeared in front of her.
Names were stacked equidistant from each other, but the letters were unintelligible to her, as they flipped constantly. It was overwhelming, but she understood why she needed to know what she was looking for; this was everything. It felt like she''d been given a glimpse into the system, infinite but also only a tiny part of the whole of it.
Her mind stretched at the same time as her ego did, and her thoughts became hazy, as if trying to see through mud.
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Everything was so big, and she needed to see it all.
¡°Grim!¡± A voice shouted.
She turned and saw Hazel. She looked different, similar but not quite a clone of her anymore. She couldn¡¯t tell for sure, her head was covered in a fog that made thinking hard.
Hazel was beside her, but also infinitely far away, ¡°Think of what we came here for! Forget everything else, it¡¯s too much,¡±
Why hadn¡¯t she warned her it would be this hard?
She let her anger guide her. She was doing this for a reason. Arcadia had betrayed her, and now she was getting her revenge. He was on the ground, at her mercy. She had the name of his boon, and it was now hers.
SURRENDER.
Her right arm smashed into the screen simultaneously as the letters flicked to [AS IN AS OUT]. She ripped into the circuits and pixels while the system tried to pull her in. They were in a tug-of-war, but she had one advantage: The system was holding onto something that didn¡¯t exist.
Alarms blared as the screen shuddered. The white room took on a red hue as emergency lights came on. The whole place shuddered as she took a step backwards¡ª
¡ª She was back in the real world.
| You have taken [AS IN AS OUT]. |
| (Your durability is equivalent to your mental fortitude) |
| You have no available boon slots. |
Before she could answer that, another system notification popped up.
| TRANSFERRING [AS IN AS OUT] |
The transfer finished, and Grim took a step back. She lifted her cloak, but her right arm was still gone. It had felt like it was back, what just happened?
Arcadia¡¯s eyes opened wide in horror.
"What did you just do? You... it''s not there. Why the fuck isn''t it there? You can''t do that. You''re not supposed to¡ª are you missing an arm? Wait. Are you the girl from the Gateworld? The bitchy one? You are, aren¡¯t you? I know you, what was your name again?" Arcadia talked out loud, to her horror
Grim backed up, "Don''t!"
"Grace? No, something weird. Grail? Wait, it was Gri-" Arcadia''s head exploded and covered Bear''s gang in the remnant of his flesh. Her ears rang as chaos descended on the alleyway.
She couldn''t see who had shot, it seemed like a big gun, and she didn''t know who had brought one of those. Clearly, Bear didn''t either as he grabbed Hazel by the robe and chucked her hard enough to fly into one of the side walls of the apartments. She sunk into the concrete and stopped moving.
The rest of the group wasn''t idle, and Volk had already run forward and delivered a vicious overhead hook into the face of another man; he was sent straight to the ground and didn''t move as blood erupted from his face. Bear growled, and fur started to cover his body as he charged Volk; he hit him from behind and clotheslined him with a tackle.
At the same time, one of his gang got too close to Mari, and she hit him with a baton, which ripped a bunch of skin off him from where it hit.
Grim knew she was in trouble when she saw Cub and two other guys approaching her, each wielding bats or other makeshift weapons.
She stepped back and jumped in surprise. It was like she¡¯d just stepped onto tacks, but there was none when she looked down. She took another step, and the pain came back.
"Fucking stupid Lego fuck," Grim yelled.
By the way, one of the people with Cub was smiling; she''d bet it was him who''d hit her with a boon. It didn''t actually cause her damage, so she tried to ignore it as she turned tail and ran.
She made it about ten feet before realizing she wouldn¡¯t be outrunning these guys. She tried to pull Hazel back, but she felt uncharacteristically strong resistance from her. She tried to pull harder, but she wouldn''t budge.
"Hazel!" Grim shouted.
"No one''s coming to help you," Cub said to her as he advanced on her.
Grim raised her hand and held it up to him, "Any closer, and I''ll take every power you have."
Cub laughed, calling her bluff, "If you could''ve already, you would''ve. I think you have to touch me, and if you''re close enough for that to happen, you''ll already be dead."
"Try it and find out."
Cub frowned and nodded his head at the other two guys with him. They looked unsure, but after another prodding from him, they ran at her, one wielding a hammer and the other a machete.
She pulled on Hazel more and saw her stirring from her trauma-induced nap in the divot of the concrete wall. Grim didn''t know how she wasn''t paste, but she wasn''t going to complain.
She could tell Hazel was trying to respond, but whatever was wrong was still interfering with her recall, Grim would have to buy time.
The man with the hammer had long hair, and she baited him into swinging vertically down at her, and at the last moment, she jumped backwards to dodge it. Before the guy could recover, she tried to jab in with her knife, but she had to abandon that when a machete came within an inch of her neck. She might have got him if the phantom pain from walking wasn''t still hitting her whenever she took a step.
They were good at covering each other and were a helluva lot faster. She could tell that they wouldn''t fall for another trick like that. Which was a big problem because she only had tricks like that.
"Volk! Mari! Help!" She yelled out.
"Busy!" Volk screamed back as he took an enormous haymaker from Bear to the side of the jaw. To her amazement, he barely moved and turned right back to unleash his own combo.
Mari had left one guy laid out and bleeding on the concrete. Another one was in front of her, warily waving a baseball bat while she held a bloody hand to her side, holding in a big hunting knife.
Fuck this.
She used [CEDE] on herself and was back in that white room. She didn¡¯t let her mind wander, she didn¡¯t have time to waste in here.
Her right arm was back, and she dug back into the screen, into [FRIENDLY SHADOW].
If Hazel wouldn¡¯t respond, she would make her.
Hazel was hers.
¡°Wake the fuck up!¡± Grim shouted with the skill held in her hand.
The screen changed from the evershifting numbers into black smoke. Two eyes opened up in that darkness, gazing into her soul.
She heard Hazel giggling, ¡°Oh, oopsie. I overslept.¡± A malevolent undertone perfused her speech.
Grim¡¯s hand was forced out of the screen, her fingers intertwined with Hazel¡¯s. Grim tried to let go, but Hazel held on and used her to climb the rest of the way through.
The creature that climbed through wasn¡¯t Hazel, or the other version she had seen.
This was pure shadow.
With both hands, the creature shoved her out of the white space and into the real world.
She fell onto the ground as the man with the hammer stood above her mid-swing. Hazel held his arm, stopping him from hitting her.
A machete cut down, and Hazel let go, stepping back to dodge.
The thug with the hammer used the opening and swung at Hazel, who didn''t even try to avoid it. The swing hit her on the side of the cheek and reefed her head to the side, causing her hair to cover her face.
She started giggling.
The Hammer-wielding thug froze, "What the fuc¡ª "
¡ª Hazel¡¯s boot inverted his knee.
His arm went forward to try and counterbalance himself, and Hazel grabbed the hammer from his hand. She swung downward in that same motion on his face.
The man ceased moving beneath her.
Chapter 16 - Fighting retreat
Hazel giggled as blood and teeth dropped from the cold metal hammer she was holding. A dark purple bruise was forming on her cheek.
She whipped her hair back and revealed her face, blood stained the corners of her lips as they twisted into a grin.
Cub and the man with the machete took a step back, terrified.
"It''s just one girl, fucking kill her."
"Try," Hazel said as she whipped forward and unleashed a wild uppercut with the hammer. The thug managed to block it with his machete but the force snapped it out of his hands and sent it flying into the sky. She gripped the hammer with two hands and used the momentum from her last swing to bring it down.
The thug¡¯s hand turned to stone just in time to block the pipe and deflect the swing.
Hazel walked past him as he fell to his knees, screaming. Pieces of rock littered the ground around him, remnants of his now shattered hand.
Cub took a step back and roared as he hunched in on himself. His bones cracked as he grew up and outwards, ending once he reached eight feet. He now dwarfed Hazel, but her stride didn''t slow.
It didn''t hurt when Grim walked anymore, so she assumed he''d started targeting Hazel with the pain boon, but she didn''t seem to be reacting to it at all.
Cub ran forward and launched a kick at Hazel. She didn''t even try to dodge as she was launched straight into the air; she came back down hard on the concrete. When she didn''t move, Cub turned to Grim, "Look''s like you''re next."
A hand grabbed his ankle, and he looked down, "I''m not done with you yet." Hazel said.
Cub went to kick her away from him, but Hazel dissolved into smoke. Grim resummoned her, and she was already walking forward as Cub was still confused by the shadowy smoke swirling around his foot. He turned just in time to feel a steel hammer hit him in the stomach, which caused him to hunch over, and when he did, she stepped to the side and brought the hammer down on his head. He hit the ground and groaned as he tried to recover.
"Attention, this is the Watch. Drop your weapons and surrender. You are all under arrest," a megaphone blared at the entrance to the alley.
Volk and Bear were still fighting but disengaged when they heard the megaphone. Bear was bloodied and heaving, while Volk looked physically unharmed but more tired. She wasn''t sure, but she thought she saw more gray in his hair.
They separated, and Volk ran to Maribelle and helped her with her wound while the rest of Bear''s gang gathered around Cub, who was now getting up.
In the fighting, she had gotten separated from the others, and now the orange stripes marched in with their pistols raised. There were at least 10 of them, with a Sergeant with three stripes on his armour. She backed away slowly and made it to the car as gunfire erupted. She turned around and saw that Bear had run forward and clocked a Stripe in the side of the face. It hit hard enough to knock him clean out. The rest of the Watch didn''t hesitate and opened fire on him; the bullets were a low calibre and barely drew blood.
"Switch to BP rounds!" The sergeant yelled, and the Watch listened.
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She watched as the rest of the unit ejected their magazine nearly simultaneously and reloaded a new one. In the time it took, Bear was able to reach another one of them and snap their neck. Before he could reach another, a broadside of bullets hit him and knocked him on his ass. Blood now trickled freely from his chest, but he still tried to get up. A group of four stripes dogpiled on top of him and stunned him until they could get restraints on him.
Grim had hid behind the car and saw the tail end of Volk smashing a gate to get him and Mari out. They left without looking behind them.
"This way!" She looked up and heard a voice yell at her. She could tell he was holding a rifle, and he was on the second floor of the parking garage.
"Can we trust them?" Hazel asked, a goofy smile still on her face.
Grim frowned. "We don¡¯t have a choice. It''s either the creepy sniper guy or getting shipped straight to the crater."
"I''ll kill them if they try to take you," Hazel said as she shoved her face in front of Grim''s. They were only a couple of inches apart and way too close for Grim''s comfort. It was like staring into the eyes of a predator. She didn''t know what had happened to her, but she was glad she was on her side.
"Uhh, okay, sure. We''ll take our chances with the guy with the gun."
"Yup, yup," Hazel said as she backed off, giving Grim some breathing room. She took a look over the car and nearly got her face blown off by a round that took off the mirror.
"Shit!" Grim said.
The stripes definitely had their position clocked, and while the journey wasn''t far, she sincerely doubted she could dodge a hail of bullets coming at her. After leaving the car, there wasn''t much cover until she got through the garage doors. They were open just a crack at the bottom, which they hadn¡¯t been before; it was just big enough for her to squeeze under.
The rest of the gang had ignored them and were fighting a losing battle against the watch. At some point, they had gotten Bear freed, but they were a lot less bulletproof than he was, and the fight was quickly turning into a horror scene.
She looked back up at the shooter and shouted, "Cover me!"
All she saw back was a silhouetted nod, and before she could say anything to Hazel, she had already picked her up, almost effortlessly and shoved her forward into a run, "Go, I''ll be right behind you."
Grim didn''t need anything more, and she ran as fast as she could, a roar of bullets unleashed above her as their mysterious shooter took shots at the Stripes. Their response was swift, and half of them switched from fighting off the gang to suppressing their assailant. With their attention split, Bear and the rest of the gang were able to close the distance between them and the stripes.
It was a light show as various Boons from both sides activated and lit up the parking lot.
"Fighting retreat! Boonwitch is on route," The sergeant said as he sprayed blindly at Cub, he took a few shots and went down.
Hazel jolted as one of the shots hit her.
The force of the impact sent her stumbling forward and knocked both of them to the ground. They started to roll down the ramp to the parking garage together until they stopped at the bottom. Hazel covered Grim with her body as more bullets started to spray overhead.
"In here! Quickly," a voice said from the other end of the parking garage door. At the same time, they lifted it just a crack, but it was enough for both of them to roll underneath it. The door slammed shut as soon as they got in.
Bullets shot through the door, and they pushed off with one last burst of energy to get behind the thick concrete walls. Both Grim and Hazel sat with their backs to the walls and recovered.
"What kind of mess have you got yourselves into?" the man said. Grim looked up, and he was wearing a mask made of plant matter and bark. It was form-fitting around his face and rose into a horn that curved around his skull.
"Who are you?" Grim asked.
"The one who saved your damn life, kid. I thought you''d have been smarter than this. You really don''t recognize me?"
Grim saw a large man encased in plant matter roughly resembling a ghillie suit, but made out of living plants. The colours were a bit duller, and she could see them warbling as they tried to blend in with the colours around him. He also had a large rifle strapped to him that he was currently holding, which was super illegal. Something in Grim''s mind twitched, and she felt about how the plants seemed alive, his general demeanour, and most importantly, the slight belly protruding from his armour.
"Phil?"
Chapter 17 - Wrong side of a Witch
"No names, damnit. There''s gonna be a Witch here in no time, and there''s no telling who or what could be listening right now. We need to get out of here before this place is swarmed," Phil said.
"How''d you find me?" Grim asked.
Phil scoffed, "I''ve been tracking you ever since our last encounter. The trees have eyes, you know? Now come on, up you git and let''s go. I''ve got a car stashed out back we can use."
Grim looked at Hazel and shrugged, she got up and helped Hazel to her feet, who was struggling a bit to breathe.
"How are you feeling?" Grim said.
"I feel great! Although I think I have a couple of broken ribs," Hazel frowned as she grabbed her ribcage. "Ow, okay. Definitely broken."
"Can you move?"
"Help me?" Hazel asked, pouting. Grim narrowed her eyes, very aware of how she just walked off a bullet; in the end, she sighed and put one of her shoulders over her. Hazel was being a suck, but she''d cut her some slack for the moment; she did just save her life... again. There was also the slight matter of how unhinged she was a second ago; where that came from, she wasn¡¯t sure. Nice and timid Hazel was a bit of a relief, like the lights had switched on.
They were in a parking garage. The lights cast a dull orange haze around everything, and the air was slightly stale. A ramp went to a second level below, and a small room led to an elevator and a staircase. There were also cars scattered across the parking spots.
Outside, there was another burst of gunshots, and then everything went quiet. They all waited in silence for a minute or two before Phil spoke up, "Not a good sign. We need to move before someone starts wandering where we went."
"How are we going to get out of here?" Grim asked as they started walking over to the staircase, they kept their voices down, trying to be quiet.
Phil''s scowl deepened, "I''ve got my car parked around the block but they''re going to have this place surrounded in no time. We might have to find a different way out."
They got to the elevator, and after a moment of hesitation, Phil opened the door to the stairway instead. He sighed as they began to climb the flight of stairs.
"Could we find a place to hide and wait them out?" Grim asked.
Phil shook his head. "Not a chance. They''re gonna toss every apartment in this block, and anyone found hiding or with a boon higher than E tier will get brought in for questioning. Let''s hope the Witch hasn''t arrived yet."
They travelled up the rest of the staircase in silence, with only their footsteps echoing out. Grim helped Hazel, as she was still favouring one side over the other. There was no one else outside of their apartments. People in these neighbourhoods knew to take cover if shots started flying, so she wasn''t too surprised by that.
They got to the main floor, which had an open lobby. It was small and utilitarian. There was a small desk for the doorman to answer questions or receive packages. Although she noted that he was nowhere to be seen, that was good for them. Chances are he''d have been paid off by Bear to relay any information he''d get.
They stepped into the open area, the lights dimly casting the room.
"Get back!" Hazel shouted as she threw herself in front of Grim. The windows shattered and threw glass everywhere as a burst of gunfire came straight for Grim. Phil managed to throw up his hands, and the whipcrack of bark cracking sounded out as his armour unfolded, forming a wall.
Grim fell backwards as Hazel fell on top of her; pain ran through her back from the hard-tiled floor. She could hear the sound of footsteps moving in and fanning out to surround them.
"Contact! Bio-Fab, " a member of the Watch said. He was encased in a hard suit of black laminate armour. Two orange stripes ran down the side of his helmet, and he carried a submachine gun. Of what type Grim didn''t know, but she knew enough to understand that these were the reinforcements they were trying to avoid.
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"Get up! We''ve gotta go," Phil said as he stood in front of them with only a thin layer of the living wood covering his body. The rest was used to hold up the shield, and he was straining as he held it in front of them. Grim helped Hazel to her feet, and they ran back where they had come. Phil held up the shield and backed away until he could get through the doorway. He stabbed the tendrils of wood through the doorframe and left the wood behind to follow them.
"Where do we go?" Grim asked.
Phil scowled, "Little busy right now. Figure something out."
Phil walked backwards behind them as the roots from the door blew out in an explosion, spraying bits of plant matter everywhere. Tactical units flooded in afterward, and Phil waved his hands. Several tendrils burst through the wall to form a crisscrossing barricade. It became a battle of how fast they could cut it down versus how fast he could put it up. Unfortunately for them, he was losing.
"I can help! Let me touch him, the other boon is starting to wear off," Hazel said.
"What? Whatever you did to Arcadia, I''m not interested, lady."
"It''s just a copy! We don''t have time to argue, unless you can hold them off yourself," Grim argued.
A slicing burst of energy nearly took off Phil''s head as it chopped through the roots, he turned to her and growled, "Fine, get it over with."
Grim helped Hazel hobble over and laid a hand on his shoulder; after only a second or two, she took it off, "Got it."
"What? It usually takes you longer than that."
Hazel smiled, her teeth covered in blood, "I levelled up."
She flexed her hands, and the gap that had formed closed. With the two of them, the tug-of-war started to swing in their favour, and they were able to gain ground and get to the stairway without getting shot. By the end of it, Grim was practically carrying Hazel as she struggled with holding off the tactical unit.
Once they got through the thick doors of the stairway, they slammed them closed, and Phil used the last of his living wood to barricade the door. He took a second and jammed a finger in the air at Hazel.
"What are you?"
"My name''s Hazel." She gave her most charming smile, but the blood detracted from its charm.
"I didn''t ask for your name. What are you? You''re not an illusion, as Grim here tried to say you were, and you shouldn''t be able to use my Boon. That''s just... The system doesn''t hand out boons like that. Not at your rank; I''ve checked your public records, but you have to be at least a C, right?"
Grim coughed into her hand, "Still E rank."
"That''s not possible," Phil turned on her, a root spike coiled dangerously by his side. "Who are you working for? Who gave you the shards? Oh fuck, IWA? I was being careful with the trees, damnit!"
Hazel stepped in front of Grim. "Woah, we''re not working for anybody. You''re the one who left the note, remember?"
Phil scowled, and the coiled root recessed back into his sleeve, "You''ve got a point. If they knew about me, I''d have been in an unmarked van heading for the Crater by now. Still, explain what''s going on. I''m not asking."
Grim bristled at the order. Her first response was to swear at him, but she stamped it down. She needed him to get out of here for now, but that didn''t mean she had to tell him the truth.
"She can copy boons for a short amount of time, and I can teleport people I mark back to me into another dimension. She was in stasis in there until we could find a healer."
Phil looked between them, suspicious, "Useful, and you must''ve got lucky, but if that''s all you''ve got, you''re out of your depths."
"Thank you, that really helps," Grim said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you''ll excuse me, I''m going to find a way out now."
Grim shouldered past him with Hazel in tow, she was slowing down now and required more help from Grim to climb the flight of stairs. She wasn''t too worried about the tactical unit at the moment, it seemed they''d backed off once they got through and barricaded the door. She didn''t know what they were waiting for, but she wasn''t in the mood to find out. She''d fucked around enough this week and was tired of finding out.
"Hey, you doing alright? You''re looking a little pale," Grim asked Hazel, gently shaking her.
"Mmmfine, just [Omniscient Forest] takes a lot out of me. I''ll be okay," Hazel said.
"I can put you back in my shadow for a moment if you want to rest."
Hazel''s half-laid eyes opened wide, they¡¯d lost that feral edge they¡¯d had earlier, "No, no. Not yet. We''ve got to get you safe first."
She shrugged off Grim¡¯s shoulder and started walking up the stairs with a renewed sense of purpose. Grim and Phil followed close behind until they got to the third floor.
"Wait, we''re going in through here," Grim said as she opened up the door to the hallway.
"We should get to the roof, see if we can''t find a way down or to another building," Phil argued.
"Too visible; you two can make a bridge of some sort, right? We could make a pathway down."
"Yes, it wouldn''t be hard. Fat chance we''re not spotted, though."
"Better than our chances in here," Grim said as they walked down the hallway. Phil blocked off the door behind them.
She kept searching the hallways, looking for an empty apartment. She didn''t want to traumatize any innocent bystander if she didn''t have to, not to mention avoid witnesses.
[THE SLIGHTEST TWITCH]
They all froze as they felt a boon¡¯s effects encompassing all of them.
The Witch had arrived.
Chapter 18 - The slightest twitch.
"Oh shit," Phil said. "Fuck, god damnit. No, no."
He rubbed his face through his mask forcefully, moving his skin up and down, then dropped his shoulders, "We''re fucked, kid; that¡¯s Lifeline''s Boon. He gains proprioception on anybody that moves within his radius."
"What''s his radius?" Grim asked.
"What''s proprioception?" Hazel added, nearly at the same time.
"Your sense of where your body is, and nobody knows. Assume if you''re moving, he knows exactly where you are."
Grim frowned "Can he tell who''s who? He can''t tell the difference between us and someone else''s who''s moving, right?"
Phil thought about it for a second, scowling. "We can''t trust that."
"Well, we don¡¯t have much of a choice, do we? Unless you''ve got a boon you''ve kept hidden from us," Grim said.
Phil didn''t say anything, but she saw Hazel shake her head behind him. Damnit. Things were not looking good, and it was a safe assumption that backup was not coming. She had seen Volk take Maribelle, and there was no way they''d come back for her, even if they were scared of her squealing on them. No one fought a Boon Witch and won; the best-case scenario was surviving.
"I can feel you," They heard a voice squeeze into their minds like a parasite. It wiggled behind their eyes and wrapped around their brains to whisper sweet nothings. Grim and Phil stiffened up, trying to stop themselves from reacting. It didn''t work.
Grim coiled in on herself, trying to get it out. It was unnatural and felt like it was burrowing deeper every time she moved. She looked up to see Phil grasping at his head; his face turned red, and his eyes bulged. His armour shifted to cover the rest of his body, and she saw it harden, stopping him from moving.
"What''s going on?" Hazel frantically asked as she looked at them in alarm.
"He''s in our heads," Grim managed to get out between her teeth.
"Come to me," A voice whispered to their brain, and they knew exactly where he was. It was coming closer, up the stairs. "Surrender yourselves."
Grim covered her ears and flinched as Hazel looked around, she tried the door handle to an apartment next to them and found it locked. She stepped back and used Phil''s boon to twist the wood until it warped enough to open. Phil moved inside on his own while Hazel shoved Grim inside before fixing the door behind them. Inside, the apartment was well lived in; several pairs of shoes were at the front step but were the same size. The living room and kitchen were furnished but just barely. Not enough to feel like a home.
"STAY BACK, I''M ARMED," a man''s voice shouted from a closed bedroom. Grim barely heard it through the haze her thoughts had to go through. Still, she managed to look up and consider it. It didn''t seem like whoever was inside was going to come out, which was good for them. He was probably more scared of them than anything, but she¡¯d still need to deal with it.
"Can you barricade that door closed, Hazel?" Grim asked.
Hazel raised her hand and twisted the wood until it sunk deep into the wall. The man shouted once he saw what was happening but didn''t fire the gun. If he wanted to get through that, it''d take him at least a couple of minutes, giving them plenty of warning.
Grim took a second to get her bearings. She tried to frame her mind like when using [CEDE], which seemed to help. The experiences were similar, like there was too much for her brain to comprehend.
Once she could walk without falling over she went to the balcony and looked outside, the apartment she was in faced the front of the building, and she could see a line of watch vehicles. Big, thick armored trucks formed a perimeter around the building.
They were well and truly screwed; there were way too many guns and boons aligned against them to escape or even try and fight their way out. Her head was still in a daze, but it was getting easier to think. She could feel Lifeline moving up the stairs and getting closer.
Phil seemed to realize it, too.
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He sat down on a couch opposite her, ¡°Well, we¡¯re fucked, so here''s the plan. We''re gonna wait til that bastard gets close enough, and then I''m gonna spear him straight through the heart." Phil raised his hand, and a red-tipped vine travelled up his chest to his hand, where he formed it into a flower. "This is a flower of the valley from the end. Positively soaked in essence. It should be enough to pierce any defences he might have. One use only, though."
"Holy shit, you''ve been there?" Grim asked.
Phil smiled, "Damn right I have, stationed there."
"You were a soldier?"
Phil stood up and grinned as he formed the flower into a deadly spiral. "Witch. When you get a chance, run. That''s the best I can do for you."
She watched as he walked to the door, a floating death spiral in his hand. She could feel Lifeline walking onto their floor through that same sense he used to track them. She felt the flex and power he put into kicking down a door simultaneously. She heard it coming from the room next to them. There were several screams, but they were silenced as gunshots rang out.
Grim and Hazel hit the floor, not eager to catch a stray bullet. Phil was by the door waiting, getting tenser by the minute as the sounds of boots trampled down the hallway. First to the door opposite theirs, and after a repeat of the last encounter, Grim knew she had to come up with something else.
She could feel him getting closer. Wait. She could feel him, did that count? She got up and ran to Phil.
"Grim, wait!" Hazel whispered as she tried to follow but failed to get up off the floor.
She grabbed Phil''s arm as he turned to her, his eyes open wide. "Kid, this isn''t the time to get sentimental. What are you doing?"
"Giving you a gift," Grim said as she used [CEDE].
She was back in that room, the monitor in front of her. The feeling she had before, of the exact timing she needed to grab what she wanted, was faint. The tendril between them was weak; the proprioception they were sharing was acting as the physical touch but only just barely. What she did have was a name.
[THE SLIGHTEST TWITCH]
Her hand was back in the screen, wrapped around it. She pulled, but it didn¡¯t come as easily as Arcadia¡¯s did. He was stronger, and she had less authority over him. Her grip was firm, but it was only barely budging.
She dug her other arm into the console and tugged; with more leverage, it started to pull out.
A voice in her mind yelled at her, ¡°What are you doing?¡±
The link between them was close and far at the same time, she could feel Lifeline fall to his knees as he started to fight back.
She almost slipped as the Boon stopped moving, her grip sliding off it by an inch.
¡°Oh god, wait. You shouldn¡¯t be in there. You have no idea what you¡¯re doing,¡± Lifeline warned her in her head as they fought for control over his Boon.
Somehow, he started to win. It had to have been through a combination of factors either by the distance and or the rank differential between them but she felt [CEDE] start to lose power.
She opened one eye, basking in the light of the real world compared to the lifeless monotone of the console room.
"He''s too strong," Grim said through her teeth.
"What are you... never mind. I got it." Phil stayed in contact with her as he stretched out the tendril. When it finished forming into a foot-long spike, he drove it through the door. A burst of electricity flared out at the same time she felt Lifeline get bowled over. "Got him."
The boon snapped out of the monitor, clutched firmly in her hand. With the last echo of its power, she heard Lifeline whisper, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡±
The hold Lifeline had on his power dropped, and so did their connection. She chose to ignore his warning.
| ERROR |
| TARGET HAS NO REMAINING SLOTS |
"What are you doing, kid? Why''s my system screaming at me to discard a boon?" Phil asked her as a hail of bullets came through the door. They ducked down, and he cut off his connection to the flower.
Grim felt her start to lose the power to the abyss, her hold on it in the console room was getting weaker. "Just choose!"
"This better be worth it," Phil said.
The boon ran from the abyss and rolled itself into Phil. As soon as it was confirmed, she fell backwards as her eyes nearly rolled back into her head. That took a lot more out of her than she thought it would.
Phil slowly turned to look at her, "You... just took his boon. That''s not possible."
Lifeline screamed from outside the room, "They¡¯re in there! Kill them!"
A boot slammed into the door but didn''t give as the plant matter reinforced it. Grim crawled over to Hazel and helped her get up, an alarming amount of blood was in a puddle where she''d been laying.
¡°What happened?¡± Grim asked.
She hadn¡¯t noticed any blood before.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. Come on, we¡¯re almost through,¡± Hazel said as she hobbled over to the balcony where the Watch cordon was still surrounding them. Outside were several large trees that provided shade to the apartment block. Hazel barely had her eyes open.
"What now?" Phil asked.
"Use his boon to call them away; they won¡¯t know it¡¯s not him," Grim said.
"That might actually work," Phil said to himself as she felt [THE SLIGHTEST TWITCH] reassert itself.
She waited for the familiar slug feeling to wrap around her brain, but it never came; judging by how the Watchmen outside reacted, they probably couldn''t say the same.
"All Watchmen to the south side, their escaping!" Phil said out loud; it took a moment, but the stripes outside who weren''t reeling started to head that way. "Now what?" Phil asked.
Hazel perked up, a last-ditch feral energy to her, "We jump."
Grim screamed as Hazel threw the both of them off the balcony.
Chapter 19 - Truth in the blackened hallows
Hazel was wide-eyed and smiling at Grim as they fell two stories. Grim tried to scream, but Hazel shoved her hand over her mouth to stop any sound from coming out. Blood smeared over Grim¡¯s face as she did so, still warm from her stomach wound. The smell of iron contrasted with the scent of pine from the tree they were hurtling towards.
Oh, good. They¡¯d end up as a smear before they hit the ground.
"Trust," Hazel said, her eyes nearly glazed over.
They spun, and for a moment, she saw Phil jump over the edge too, and she felt any hope of them making it out of this situation die. The both of them were crazy and suicidal, she''d just hadn''t had enough time to figure it out yet. They flipped over again with hazel on the bottom, and she watched in horror as they hit the tree.
Only the tree opened up like a ribcage to swallow them up inside, tiny tendrils of wood acted as a net and broke to slow their fall until they came to a complete stop. The gap behind them closed, and the wood shifted to support them as the last of the light was cut off, leaving them in complete darkness.
"Oh," Grim said, at a loss for words.
Hazel coughed, and Grim felt specks of liquid hit her neck. Their bodies were intertwined, and they could move only a few inches in either direction. While Hazel was coughing, Grim put a hand to her stomach.
There was blood, lots of it.
"When did they get you?" Grim asked.
Hazel finished coughing and took a second to catch her breath, "Which time?"
She laughed before devolving into another coughing fit.
"Stop!" Grim ordered, and she did. "The one in your stomach."
"The lobby, but don''t worry about me. I''m not real, alright? I can take it."
Not real? A surge of anger hit her.
"You¡¯re pain sounds real. The blood on my fucking face feels real. Hazel, fuck. We¡¯re so close I can feel you dying."
Hazel tensed up and tried to breathe normally, like a wounded animal hiding their injuries, "Sorry."
"That''s not- Listen, I''m gonna put you back in my shadow, okay? We can talk later."
Grim felt Hazel¡¯s grip on her tighten, "No! If I go in, when my Boon drops, the tree will start to go back to normal, and you¡¯ll suffocate or get squished to death."
"So what? I''m supposed to watch you die?"
It was silent for a moment.
"Yeah."
She wanted to scream.
She didn¡¯t.
A deep revulsion roiled up through her core as the back of her brain started to throb. A cold sweat broke out across her body; she wanted to throw up, almost did, but she held it down.
The sweat intermingled with the blood from Hazel¡¯s wounds. It warmed her for a moment before it too became cold.
Hazel¡¯s breathing was slow enough that she was surprised every time she drew another breath.
The bark was quiet, deafening the sounds from outside. There was nothing to distract her, and she could not move beyond an inch or two; the tree limbs encased them like shells.
.
.
.
She flinched, trying to pull herself away from Hazel. She couldn¡¯t breathe, everything was too close. She gasped for air as she pulled against the bark.
¡°Grim! It¡¯s okay! You¡¯re okay,¡± Hazel said.
She reached for her knife, ¡°I can¡¯t fucking breathe, get me out of here. I can¡¯t do this. Get the fuck away from me.¡±
¡°We have air, there¡¯s holes. You¡¯re okay, you can breathe.¡±
She couldn¡¯t. She was lying.
Grim reached for [FRIENDLY SHADOW]. There was that thread connecting them, she had found it earlier. If she wouldn¡¯t let her out, she would make her.
She dove into the skill and grabbed that part of it that would let her change her, force her to do what she wante¡ª
"¡ª Grim?" Phil spoke, his voice in her head.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
She let go of the thread, a second away from doing something she couldn¡¯t take back. She sucked in air as she tried to calm herself down. She didn¡¯t know where the panic had come from. Maybe she¡¯d finally reached her limit. She wasn¡¯t sure.
"Phil? You''re okay? Where are you?" Grim asked.
"I can feel you speaking, but this isn¡¯t a two-way radio. I''m close by, in a tree of my own and we¡¯ll have to wait this one out. The Watch are currently swarming this place and I wouldn''t be surprised if more Witches come in response after we took out Lifeline. I won¡¯t risk using his boon anymore, and I suggest you keep quiet, too. Buckle in and try to get some sleep; we¡¯ve got a long night ahead of us."
Grim tried to ask him some more questions but he didn''t respond. Hazel was quiet too, silent in her suffering.
She¡¯d regained control of herself; the forced panic she had felt before was still there but manageable. She didn¡¯t struggle anymore; she didn¡¯t want to think about what she¡¯d almost just done.
How did it get so wrong so fast?
The answer wasn¡¯t hard to come by, she was weak. She¡¯d been trying to run from it her whole life, but at the end of the day, she was. Hazel wouldn¡¯t have to keep dying for her otherwise.
She couldn¡¯t live like this anymore, not with everything hurting. She¡¯d grown used to chronic pain, owed to the burns on her body. Most of the nerve endings had been overloaded until they¡¯d settled down with an ignorable buzz. This was different, it was born from a void. The numbness she¡¯d been living in the past few weeks. Years, if she went back that far.
Her thoughts were jumbled, and she couldn¡¯t keep her mind in one direction long enough to fix herself. There was a path forward, and she would find it, but for now, it could wait.
She hugged Hazel, squeezing her with the rest of her strength. She buried her head into the side of her neck, and in the darkness, she couldn¡¯t tell whether her face was wet from tears or blood.
------------------------------------
Grim was trapped, an immovable weight rested on her as the air was scorching. Her skin blistered as she screamed for help.
No one came.
She felt herself die as a voice screamed in her ear.
"Grim! Wake up, we need to go," Phil shouted, directly into her brain.
Everything was dark as she woke up, she tried to open her eyes but everything was still black, she squirmed but she was still trapped. Her heart rate rose as she realized there was nowhere to go, her death was travelling up her right arm, towards her head.
Her blade sunk into it but she felt no pain as the knife chipped off the bark of the tree.
"Hey, hey. It''s okay, we''re okay," Hazel cooed, her voice soft and delicate, barely audible even in the silence.
Hazel was¡ here? That didn¡¯t make¡ª they were still in the tree. That made sense, the air was hot but it wasn¡¯t scorching. She wasn¡¯t burnt.
She folded the blade back and maneuved it back into it¡¯s holster, her muscles complained at her the whole time. A combination of bad sleep and how fast she¡¯d moved trying to stab herself.
"Sorry, bad dream,¡± Grim said. ¡°Phil said it¡¯s time to go.
It took a moment for Hazel to reply, "That''s good to hear, what were you dreaming about?"
Grim chased at the echoes of her memories but they were fleeting and ran from her. She¡¯d only managed to recall vague impressions, more feelings than memories. Even the small glimpse she got was terrifying and she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to share it with Hazel. Not because she didn¡¯t trust her but something like that should be kept hidden.
Or should it?
She wasn¡¯t sure, but maybe just once would be okay. In the darkness of this tree¡¯s hollow, no one could overhear and that would be as good as she¡¯d ever get.
Grim recounted her dream in a hurry, conscious of Phil waiting on them. Hazel was quiet as she listened, not daring to interrupt her.
When she finished her story it was quiet, and the silence stretched on long enough for Grim to regret opening her mouth.
¡°Forget it, I shouldn¡¯t have said anything,¡± Grim said. ¡°We should go.¡±
Hazel didn¡¯t move.
¡°I said we should¡ª Hazel?¡±
The tree opened up behind them, the sunlight blinding her as she fell forward on top of Hazel. She flailed for a moment, too weak to push herself up. It was wet underneath her fingers and her eyes were still adjusting from the darkness they were in.
Once she could see, she caught the tail end of a blackened mass laying beside her dissolve into shadow. It limply nuzzled itself back into its proper place on her back.
[FRIE-]
Her boon recoiled away from her like a sprained muscle.
She wanted to feel surprised but she wasn''t. She just felt empty.
The sunlight was warm on her skin as she closed her eyes, the blades of grass dug into her back, giving an odd sensation of pressure but without the ability to tell what it was. The nerves had only half healed, leaving her to feel only the barest whispers.
She stayed like that for a long time, the moment seeming to stretch on forever.
"What are you doing, kid? This isn''t the time to be sunbathing. Do you know how long it took me to find you? Get up, let¡¯s go," Phil said, hovering over her.
She opened her eyes, Phil wasn''t wearing his armor any more, and looked like more of a dad on a walk.
Who dressed him? The thought caused her to start laughing.
¡°Not again. Fuck me, never should of come here,¡± Phil scowled as he lifted her to her feet. ¡°Up you git.¡±
He got her to take off the white cloak she''d been wearing and he opened up a tree to stash it inside. With that done he guided her by the back of her sweater like a little kid. She didn¡¯t have the energy to complain.
The apartment block was cordoned off and there were some Watch vehicles outside. Likely what had happened was still being investigated but since they hadn''t found them they had just left a token force behind to conduct interviews.
It felt like they¡¯d walked miles by the time they stopped but logically she knew it couldn¡¯t have been that long. There was an older SUV infront of her and Phil beckoned her inside. The interior was meticulously clean and the passenger seat felt like it was a bed of feathers as she sunk into it.
She caught him staring at the leaves and twigs she had brought into the car, a deep frown on his face.
¡°Sorry,¡± She said.
Phil looked up, the frown disappearing, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Your¡ friend. She uhh, okay?¡±
"She''s," Grim paused. "She''ll be alright."
Phil nodded, chewing on his words as he turned the car on, and after making sure no one was following them, drove off.
"That''s good. She''s a tough lady, been a long time since I''ve seen someone risk their life like that."
Grim was on autopilot when she replied, "Yeah, she¡¯s special."
"Keep her close, not a lot of people out there like that any more."
She almost laughed, "Trust me, can''t keep her much closer if I tried."
She felt a vine wrap around her throat as Phil spoke, "Because she''s not human? No more lies, what is she?"
Chapter 20 - Shes not human
Grim swallowed, trying to get more air, "I told you already."
She was fully restrained now and it was painfully tight around her wrist, Phil wasn''t even looking at her as he drove through the city. She tried to reach for her emergency shank but there was no hope of her reaching it.
"You said she was an illusion, now she can copy boons? Not to mention I''ve seen her die twice so far and I don''t believe for a second you''ve got access to a healer that good," Phil spit out the open window. "I couldn''t track her with Lifelines boon, you know what that means?"
"No."
"She''s not human, so that leaves three options, she''s an Arcotech, a boon or she''s a gate creature that''s latched onto you," Phil said. "I''m not a Witch anymore, but two of those three options means you die, right here, right now."
Grim fought against the restraints, impossibly tight around her body, "Fuck you, Phil."
Phil threw up his hands, "Girl, do not test me. Last chance."
She reached for [Cede] and to the connection the vines had to Phil''s Boon, [Omniscient Forest]. It was weak but it was the only chance she had.
She was back in the control room. The lights were dim, and the names on the console''s screen were barely visible. She could feel the energy left in [CEDE] was low, but if she did this right, it would be enough.
The screen flickered, the names changing. Phil was weaker than Lifeline, which made this easier than before, but she didn¡¯t have the energy left to fight him if it came to that.
Her hand reared back, and the authority she held helped her pinpoint the timing of his boon. A cycle passed, and she shot her arm forward.
A hand on her forearm wrenched her back.
¡°Are you stupid?¡± Hazel asked, holding her arm in her grip. Her voice was the same, but she was more shadow than person.
"Hazel?" Grim asked.
She felt Hazel frown, ¡°The one person who''s tried to help us and you''re gonna fight him? You know you have no chance, right? Stop trying to get us killed please. Thanks.¡±
"But he''s..."
¡°Stop,¡± Hazel said, her body disappeared and Grim could feel the last of the energy leave [FRIENDLY SHADOW].
Grim closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to calm herself down, "Fine." When she opened them, she was back in the car.
"You''ve completely lost it, haven''t you?" Phil asked.
"Instead of getting an E rank boon like I thought I was, I got an S rank called [FRIENDLY SHADOW]. Her name is Hazel, and she is a complete copy of me and all of my Boons. She died in that tree and is currently recovering back in my shadow. She should be back in a couple of days,¡± Grim, monotone and matter of fact, laid it out all at once.
She felt the vines loosen, "You have a S?" Phil asked, his mouth slightly agape.
"Yeah, so what?"
Phil abruptly pulled into a Burger N Go, "Tell me everything."
---------------------
Grim spent the next hour telling Phil everything she knew about her boon, Arcadia, what she fought on her selection day and getting kidnapped by Cede''s gang. He''d stop and ask clarifying questions while they ate the greasy food in the parking lot of the restaurant. After almost an hour, Grim had eaten her fill and Phil had exhausted his line of questioning. He was silent after that, deep in his thoughts as he drove her home. He made her promise to contact him if Volk or the rest of the gang came around again and he let her know that he''d be in touch in the next couple of days after he did some research.
She edged the door to her house open and snuck in, careful to close it slowly behind her. It was almost noon and both Jin and Louis should be at work by now but she didn''t feel like taking any chances. Not when she felt barely human, a long bath would go a long way towards recovering. Halfway to the stairs she heard the fridge in the kitchen close and she jumped just enough to bump a table.
"Hello? Jin?" Louis called from the kitchen.
Grim hurried up the stairs, "No, it''s me."
"Oh, didn''t hear you come in. Out with friends last night?"
She heard Louis walk towards her but she ducked into the upstairs hallway before he could see her. Her towel was already in the bathroom so she got in and locked the door behind her as Louis climbed up the stairs. She quickly combed through her appearance in the mirror, the jeans and sweater she had been wearing were a complete right off at this point, too much blood and damage to be worth the effort cleaning. Taking them off was a slow and delicate process, most of her body was sore and she''d gotten an interesting assortment of bruises. She wouldn''t complain about that, the alternative was a having a couple new holes to breathe out of and she was breathing just fine as it was, thank you very much.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
She washed her face as best as she could and picked off small pieces of dried blood from her hair, it stung a bit as she pulled but it had to be done. The orange highlights in her hair were more of a red now and she hoped it wouldn¡¯t stain. Did blood stain hair? She wasn¡¯t sure.
There was a small knock at the door and Grim turned, speaking through the door, "What''s up?"
"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You go out with friends last night?"
"What do you care?" Grim asked, a bit more bite to it then she meant.
There was silence on the other end for a moment, "You know it''s not like that, we love you."
"Let the new kid you get know how long that love is going to last, thank you," Grim said as she turned on the shower, drowning out his reply. She shucked off the rest of her clothes and got in as soon as the water got hot. Washing the dirt from her skin felt almost heavenly and the slow droning of the water helped soothe her mind. She was safe here, for now, and that low buzz in the back of her mind that was urging her to scan for threats, to prepare to run or hide, stilled.
It was only when she went to check on Hazel that she noticed something else had taken its place
| NOTIFICATION(1) |
| [UPGRADE AVAILABLE] |
When did she get this? She scanned her memory but she couldn''t remember. Hazel did mention she leveled up but was that at the same time? She didn''t think so but she couldn''t be sure, still whatever the reason she''d need to see what this meant. Upgrades weren''t an unheard of thing but they weren''t common, mainly do to the requirements being completely unknown in most cases. What worked for one person was a complete waste of time for the next, sometimes they were random and other times all you had to do was use the skill enough. The system seemed to like being vague if not downright malicious and she didn''t blame it either. If someone tried to rewire how she worked she''d be pretty upset too.
Grim opened up the interface and clicked on the upgrade.
| YOU HAVE LEVELED [FRIENDLY SHADOW] TO LEVEL TWO. PLEASE SELECT AN UPGRADE. |
| [MALEVOLENT SHADOW] |
|
[TWIN SHADOW]
(Your shadow splits)
|
| [HEALING GLOOM] |
"Okay, those are all properly ominous, but what do they do?" Grim asked out loud as she tried to find a description or something.
| YOU HAVE CHOSEN [MALEVOLENT SHADOW] |
| CONFIRM Y/N |
She declined, "No! I want to know what the hell it means."
Grim tried the other options but it kept giving her the same prompt to choose which she was not going to do without thinking it through. She wanted to ask Hazel but the Boon was completely worn out, earlier she hadn¡¯t even had enough energy to fully manifest in the console room.
She stepped out of the shower to grab her phone from her bag and then hurried back into the hot water, eager to escape the cold air. The internet was sparse on discussion on how Boons worked, all legal internet servers were rented out by the government so they could control what was and wasn''t hosted. They wanted to control the knowledge themselves so anyone would have to go through them to get knowledge or assistance. It was their pipeline to getting new recruits with powerful abilities to join excursion teams or the Boonwitch program. They could refuse of course but then they''d be on a database if or when a draft would happen. Either that or if they were especially interesting they''d get stopped for any minor crime they''d commit until they either joined or got sent to the crater.
Luckily for her she knew the one place she could get find what she wanted.
It was on EsoTube, a video hosting website of user generated content. A pop star from another mega city across the world had released a song with an incredibly popular dance move. Most of her middle school days were spent suffering from it.
When the ¡°music¡± started automatically playing she muted her phone and scrolled down to the comments. Somehow in the years after, it had become a bit of an open secret that people were posting information that would normally get censored in the comments of this EsoTube video. Half the information was just plain wrong or made up but their was occasionally some gems hidden in the rough, she scrolled past an obviously fake comment on how to get a guaranteed S rank boon and found something that was promising.
GanjiGrecko
Anyone else have [LOST DOG]? Just upgraded it but one of my options won''t tell me anything.
Pinnacle_93
same lmao, my brother said it means no ones picked it yet. be a hero dude im sure [LOSE DOG] is great.
She wasn''t sure how trustworthy a random comment was but it was the best she had for now and it did make sense. S rank boons were incredibly rare and upgrading them on top of that was even rarer. It was frustrating, it was like being given a christmas present early but gambling for if it was something you actually wanted. Hazel might be able to help in a few days but she wanted to know now.
There was a bundle of restless energy that had been growing inside her, contrasting the bone deep fatigue she felt. The night had felt like a total loss and if she could get at least one win, she might be able to sleep tonight.
It would be tough, but she thought she might have a way of forcing the system to tell her, like when she used [CEDE] on Hazel. Somehow that skill lent her more authority with the system and she was willing to crack the whole thing open if she had to.
Grim activated [CEDE] and dug into her system notifications.
Chapter 21 - Ripping out your secrets
[Cede] came to her like a dog coming to heel, and together, she used it on herself. The skill tried to move around her like water rushing past a boat in the river, but she didn''t let it. She forced it inside herself as it looked around, confused.
The console room was in front of her again, the lights off, bathing the area in darkness. A small light was cast off the screen, as only one name was illuminated.
[FRIENDLY SHADOW]
She touched it, as if expecting it to shock her. It didn¡¯t. There was only a slight sensation from her stomach. Seeing as it didn¡¯t harm her, she grabbed it, careful not to take it too hard. She didn¡¯t want to damage anything.
¡°Hazel, wake up,¡± She whispered to it.
A spark of life gently woke up, and a small voice spoke, ¡°Gri¡ª ?¡±
The spark died, taking the words with it, but in return, she could now see a thread left in its place, illuminated only by the tiny spark from the skill. She put the skill back into the console and grabbed onto the thread, eager to see where it led.
There was another door in the room, which she instinctively knew had always been there before; she just hadn¡¯t noticed it.
She entered and was led into a white room with blank walls. In the middle was a table with a black box made of pure energy. Her footsteps made no sound as she walked up to the table.
The box was emanating heat, and as she moved her hand closer, the heat grew scalding hot, forcing her to pull her hand away.
"Okay, don''t touch the spooky box, got it," Grim said.
There were more threads in the room, that only became visible as Grim looked for them. She had to keep the concept of what she was looking for in her head as she pulled harder on [CEDE]. Only then would it become visible. The skill had been on this whole time, but using it in this way took more effort, at the same time, she felt as if she could do it forever. It was like she was lifting a weight and getting tired but always having the energy to lift it one more time.
One of the threads was thicker, a black mass of energy that was in constant motion. She wrapped her hand around it and found it led out of the room. Her first step to follow it dropped her to her knees as she felt her mind expand. The consciousness in which she held herself split apart, and she felt everything that made up her get scoured away in the light of the system. Her hands scrambled to grab the pieces before they became too small to hold; she brought her knee up and pushed herself backwards as soon as they fit in her palm. Her head hit the floor of the white room as she knocked her mind back into her body.
She laid there on the floor until she was certain she was her again; down that way was somewhere she wasn''t ready to go yet, so she got up and tried to push that whole experience out of her mind.
It wouldn''t help, she knew the memory would reserve her nightmares for weeks.
The room took on a different temperature as she turned around; at some point, it had gone from a comfortable warmth to now nearly freezing. She hurried back to the box and looked for another thread, she focused her mind more, locking in the concept of the upgrades to her boon. Once she did that, she saw three more threads, they were thinner and, instead of leading out of the room, led back into her. The first she grabbed onto and nearly cut herself on how sharp it was, the thread had gained scales that ended in sharp points. She followed it back to Hazel and saw how the thread expanded into a thin covering all around her, ending in sharp claws on the end of her fingertips. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
She searched for more but there was nothing, so she retreated back into the white room to follow another thread.
The next one led into her shadow, but as she got closer, she saw that there were really two of them, mirroring each other as they mirrored Grim. This one must have been the Twin shadow upgrade, judging by what it looked like. It also felt more clear then the other one she¡¯d seen, as if it wasn¡¯t shrouded in darkness.
The last was thicker and darker than the other two, and as she followed it, she felt the weight on her lessen. It was pleasant and filled her with energy.
It was also warm.
So very warm.
She relaxed into it, eager to follow it deeper. She had grown so cold while searching through the system and she could use the rest. She¡¯d earned it, at least for a few minutes.
.
.
.
Just for a bit longer¡
Grim flinched as someone shouted her name.
She reached down to her ankle, trying to grab her pocket shiv, but only felt bare skin. She pushed back on the ceramic tub and reached for a razor when she stopped. Chloe was a foot away, with her hands out in front of her, staring.
Grim was on her back in the tub, freezing water pouring down on her. She turned the water off and stepped out so she could slip on a bath robe. Chloe looked away until she was covered again. Grim didn''t know how long she''d been there, but she guessed that she''d seen way more than she signed up for.
"Why are you in here?" Grim asked.
Chloe opened and closed her mouth as she flapped her arms in front of her, "What do you mean? You didn''t answer me when I was outside. I was screaming at you for ten minutes, and when I came in... you weren''t moving. I thought you were dead."
Grim scrambled, "I fell asleep, so what? What are you even doing home? Shouldn''t you be at school?"
"It''s SIX. You''ve been in here since I came home." Chloe shoved her phone in her face. The lock screen displayed 6:23.
She looked at it but didn''t believe it. She''d only just gotten in the shower. How could it be six? It''d been around eleven when she got home. If that was true, it meant she''d been in there for nearly seven hours. Did delving into her skill really take that long? It felt like only a few minutes had passed.
"Well, I''m fine. Thank you for your concern, can I leave now?¡± Grim tried to step past her but collapsed onto her knees as a surge of weakness hit her.
¡°Oh my god, Grim, are you okay?¡± Chloe bent down to pick her up but squinted, "Is that blood? Are you bleeding?"
"What? No-" Grim stopped as she stood up and looked in the mirror, her eyes roamed her face and she almost didn''t recognize herself. Her eyes were bloodshot, and an angry-looking blood cell had burst in her right eye, colouring the whole thing red. Her nose twitched, and a stream of blood poured out, tracing a groove in her face as it fell. She turned around to grab another towel, only to find one shoved in her face. Grim wiped the bloody tears away and cleaned herself up as best as she could, while it continued to bleed.
Once she could see, she saw Chloe edge herself closer to the door.
"I''m gonna go get Dad," She said.
"No! Not him."
"Mom?"
Grim closed the door before she could leave, "Stop. No. They don''t need to know."
Chloe took a step back, only to hit the wall. There was nowhere else to go, "But you''re bleeding."
"They''re not gonna care anyways; I¡¯m leaving, remember?" Grim said, wiping more blood from her face. "Listen, they can''t help me anyways, okay? I''ll be fine."
Chloe opened her mouth and tried to formulate an argument, but her gremlin brain didn''t know what to say. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I''m fine. I just need some-"
Chloe hugged her, her hands held onto Grim''s back and squeezed. Grim drew a sharp breath as some of her more prominent bruises squealed in pain. Her arm was held awkwardly above her, not quite knowing what to do with it.
"What are you doing?" Grim asked.
"I don''t want you to go."
She felt her hands twist and dig into her skin as she pressed herself firmly to her. She wasn''t equipped to handle this. Not as she was, not after the day she''s had. She wanted to feel bad, to try and console her, but she couldn''t. She tried to think of something to say, but she¡¯d just had Hazel die again, and she felt almost as numb as her body currently was from the cold.
She put her hand down on Chloe''s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before more firmly pushing her away. There was resistance at first; she didn''t want to let go, but she tried again, and gradually, Chloe released her. Grim''s hand drifted back to the door.
"Yeah," Grim said, knowing her reply was wholly incomplete and insufficient but yet it was all the comfort she could offer.
She grabbed her bloody clothes, careful not to leave any evidence behind and left.
Chloe watched her as she went, not saying anything.
Chapter 22 - Healing
Grim had just enough strength to enter her room and close the door before she collapsed. She tried to push herself up from the ground, but she lost consciousness before she could.
When she woke up, she wasn¡¯t sure what time it was. It was still dark outside, so it couldn¡¯t have been more than a couple of hours. Her arm was numb, and in between the deep-set exhaustion she felt, there was the soreness that came with sleeping on the floor.
She wiped her nose, and her hand came away with a smattering of crusted blood; beneath her was a large red stain from where she¡¯d been lying.
¡°Fuck me, really?¡± She couldn¡¯t really remember, but she¡¯d thought the bleeding had stopped. Guess not.
She wasn¡¯t going to bother with cleaning that up at the moment. She¡¯d dealt with plenty of blood stains in the past, so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but she just didn¡¯t have the energy for it. She¡¯d recovered enough to stand and drag herself to her bed, but not much more than that. Her phone was dead, so she checked her laptop and saw that it wasn¡¯t dark because it was the middle of the night.
It was the middle of tomorrow night.
Her stomach growled, which made sense. She¡¯d been asleep for almost a day and a half. She sniffed herself and scowled, she smelt like it too.
There were so many things she needed to do, but despite herself, she fell asleep again.
***
Several days after, she had recovered enough to limp. Phil finally contacted her and gave her a meeting location. It wouldn''t be for another couple of days, which worked for her; her hand was just about healed from when she¡¯d ripped off half her skin and the rest of her injuries should be managable. During their conversation, she also told him that she''d seen a vehicle that kept driving by her house, but otherwise, she hadn''t heard from the remnants of Cede''s gang. She didn''t think that would be the last she''d heard of them, but she wasn''t going to search them out for herself.
Things were tense around the house still. Chloe seemed caught between avoiding her and trying to figure out what she was up to, while Jin and Louis tried to pretend everything was normal. It wasn''t but they should have won an award for acting like it was. Grim didn''t leave her room much, partly to avoid them and partly because everything still hurt. She''d needed the time to recover; some of her wounds were still scabbed over from selection day.
Around that time, Hazel had recovered enough to be summoned again. She slithered out from her shadow in a tank top and shorts, dressed for comfort. The wounds she had taken were healed, which was not fair. Grim laid in her bed, too sore and in pain to get up.
"Goooood morning!" Hazel said.
Grim rolled her eyes, it was too early for this, "Look who¡¯s finally awake."
Hazel looked offended, "Says you, you''ve barely moved."
"Some of us aren''t made of shadows, you can''t blame me. You cheat. You¡¯re a cheater."
A pillow hit Grim in the face.
"I''ve never cheated at anything in my life. You know that." Hazel said.
Grim chucked the pillow back at Hazel, but she dodged it.
Before Hazel could throw it back, Grim threw up her arms, ¡°I surrender, if you don¡¯t throw that at me you can come under the covers.¡±
Hazel pretended to deliberate but as soon as Grim lifted up the blanket she dropped the pillow and crawled over her to scoot inside the covers. Once she was settled Grim grabbed her laptop and resumed playing a show she¡¯d already seen a thousand times. They weren¡¯t really watching it but she appreciated the background noise.
"So, you know anything about your upgrades?"
Hazel turned to her, "Oh yeah! [SHADOW VESTIGE] ranked up. There were a couple of different options, and I''m really sorry, but I picked one without asking you."
"It''s fine. What''d you get?"
"I can copy boons almost instantly when I¡¯m touching someone now."
Grim tilted her head, "That''s pretty good. Speaking of upgrades, I levelled up [FRIENDLY SHADOW]."
Hazel mouth dropped, "What? Really? Tell me everything."
Over the next half hour, Grim went over what had happened. Hazel usually could see everything that was happening around Grim, but her skill was so burnt out that she couldn¡¯t remember anything. Hazel was very curious about what her upgrades meant but couldn''t offer much in the way of explanation. After seeing that she couldn''t get anything out of her shadow, she went into detail about using [CEDE] to find out what answers she could get. Hazel was simultaneously intrigued and horrified. She made Grim promise never to do anything like that again without her, especially since it sounded like her ego almost got absorbed into the system. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
The thought was a little terrifying.
"So I''ve got a few guesses on what each one does," Grim said.
"Tell me."
"It seemed like [MALEVOLENT SHADOW] was all about fighting, you''d grow scales and claws to become a lot more scary. [TWIN SHADOW] was weird, I think it could go a couple different way but I think it would make another one of you."
Hazel shook her head and whined, "I don''t want scales and you''re not allowed to replace me."
"What about [HEALING GLOOM]? This one was the most confusing, it felt really good... but in a bad way. I¡¯m not sure what would¡¯ve happened to me if Chloe hadn''t come into the bathroom."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It was just really nice. Like I didn''t have to worry about anything anymore. It was very tempting, but at the same time, I didn''t even notice I was pushing so hard with [CEDE] that I was crying blood."
"It seems like the best option, you know, besides all of that,¡± Chloe gestured with her hands. ¡°I have a bad feeling about having another shadow. It feels like instead of another me it would just make both of us¡ less? If that makes sense. And the scales could be really good but if its permanent or turns me into a monster then I can''t be in public with you without somebody trying to kill me for boon shards."
"Yeah, I think it would help a lot but I really don''t want you changing too much. We''ll go with [HEALING GLOOM], and if it ends up being bad for me, we just won''t use it," Grim decided.
| YOU HAVE CHOSEN [HEALING GLOOM] |
She confirmed and she waited for something to happen but nothing did. She didn''t feel any different.
"I don''t think it worked," Grim said.
"No, it definitely did." Hazel said as she stumbled and fell down to one knee.
Grim picked her up, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, actually, I feel... great. Like my whole body is buzzing with energy."
Oh great, Hazel with more energy was exactly what she needed.
"Can you... I don''t know, use it? Or something," Grim asked.
She pursed her mouth, concentrating, "Yeah, I think so. Hold on. I don''t think my boons changed, I think I changed."
"And you didn''t exactly come with a user manual as is."
"If I''m difficult, it''s because you are," Hazel fired back.
She had a point, Grim conceded.
Beside her, Hazel threw off the covers, much to Grim''s dissatisfaction. She climbed over her to leave the bed and stand on the floor. She raised up one hand and flexed the end of it. Grim felt a pull on their connection and she saw Hazel partially turn back into a shadow. When she''d done that in the past she''d always been pulled back into place beside Grim but this time she didn''t. Her shadow got halfway towards her but stopped.
Grim could feel the connection start to pull harder, and if she wanted to she could force it but she just let Hazel experiment. She was curious on what was happening.
The shadow grew and Hazel rematerialized, "I think I almost had it."
"What are you trying to do?"
"Let me try again before I lose it, I''ll explain after," Hazel said.
Grim nodded, she could wait.
She lifted her hand again, and Grim felt the tug. This time, instead of melting back into a shadow, she lost her humanlike features but maintained her silhouette. She held this half-transformation for almost ten seconds before it dropped, and she was back in her human form. It seemed to take a lot out of her, and Grim even felt a bit of strain coming through their link.
"You''d definitely scare some little kids looking like that."
Hazel gave her a short glare but otherwise ignored her as she raised her hand again. She looked tired from her last attempt, but she still pulled on their link again. She did the same as before and got into that halfway state. Instead of her transforming into one or another, starting at the top of her head, the shadow moved down her body. Where it passed, she fully materialized, like pulling off a layer of skin.
Her brows furrowed as she concentrated on pulling the shadow back. She was moving slowly, careful not to let it get out of her control. The shadow grew darker as she pulled it; it seemed to compress. The volume of shadow never decreased; it was just put into a smaller area.
The last of it travelled down her arm, roiling like fire as she pushed it all into her hand. The pieces she lost control of turned into smoky shadows and evaporated into the air. She turned towards Grim and put her hand out. It was pitch black, and the shadow hugged her skin as much as it could.
Hazel grit her teeth, "Give me your arm."
Grim got up but hesitated, "Why? Are you sure this is safe?"
"I can''t hold it for much longer."
She hesitated, but she got close enough for Hazel to grab her and, by proxy, gave her permission. Hazel grabbed her arm, her fingers digging into the flesh underneath. Hazel winced, and relaxed her grip before Grim could complain. It had been a little strong.
The shadow poured forth from where she held it and fell onto Grim''s bandages. Hazel moved her hand until Grim''s entire arm was covered. The shadow flickered where it touched her skin, like embers from a fire. A cooling sensation came with it and to a lesser extent, the euphoria she had felt when she''d almost gone into the core of the upgrade. It was a lot more muted and manageable than it was before.
Just as she was getting used to it, it stopped, and Grim almost complained to Hazel about turning off the magic feel-good shadow when she saw her leaning against her wall, looking like she was going to pass out.
"Oh shit, are you okay?" Grim asked as she ran up to support her.
Hazel took a second, "Yeah, I''ll be fine. That was just a lot. I feel weird."
Grim considered that and felt around her skill. It actually was strained and resembled the time Volk had knocked her out. It hadn''t been as bad as the times she''d actually died but it was close enough to be alarming.
"Whatever you did ate away directly at your skill, if you went for much longer I think you would''ve burnt yourself out," Grim said.
If she had, she wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take for her to come back. [CEDE] felt like it was almost back, but it was still unusable.
Hazel grabbed her water bottle from her night stand and chugged it, when she finished half the bottle she put it down and wiped her lips, "I feel like it, but I think it was worth it."
"What did you even do?"
Hazel grinned, "Take your bandages off and we''ll see."
Chapter 23 - Upgrade
Grim gave Hazel a deadpan stare, "Do you want to help or should I use my teeth."
Hazel had the social acumen to look embarrassed, she didn''t want to take away from her moment too much but she didn''t want to rip into her bandage like an animal.
"Sorry! You don''t usually like it when people help you, so I just thought..." She trailed off.
"That''s not¡ª It''s fine. You''re different anyways."
"Because I''m a shadow?"
"No, you''re just... You''re okay, you are a good¡ª I trust you alright? Can you just take off the stupid bandage please?" Grim begged.
Hazel''s mouth crept up into a mischievous grin as she strutted towards Grim, "I''m what? Go on, you were saying something."
Oh, she was so annoying.
Grim scowled, "You''re not awful."
Hazel leaned forward with her hands behind her back, her head up in air, embodying the haughty mannerisms of an aristocrat. She preened in front of her, "I don''t think that was quite it, I''m just? Just what?"
Grim thought about shoving her back into her shadow but threw away that idea. She''d throw it in her face later, and she needed help with the bandage. Who Hazel learned to stoop so low from, she had no idea, but she''d be sure to carefully manage who was influencing her.
To be extorted by her own shadow was simply diabolical.
"You''re... I''m glad to have you, okay? I don''t know where I''d be without you," Grim admitted.
Hazel didn''t say anything; she just hovered beside her, basking in the moment. Once she had soaked up all the ambient vibes and Grim was suitably humiliated, she spoke, "You''re such a narcissist. Now give me your arm."
"What did I do to deserve this," Grim looked upwards and mumbled to herself.
Hazel grabbed her arm and started undoing the bandages, "You almost melted your brain! Without me! You''re lucky I''m so nice."
"I thought we were already over that," Grim grumbled.
"Well, we were, and then I remembered again, so there. Besides, if you die, I die for real, and there''s still so much I want to do."
Grim tilted her head, she hadn''t considered that Hazel might have her own goals. She wasn''t sure if she was a dick or not for not asking before. The ethics of how much autonomy her Boon should have was really not something she wanted to get into this morning.
"I didn''t exactly plan for that, how was I supposed to know?"
"That''s not the point, you should''ve waited for me," Hazel said, the bandage forgotten.
"I can''t wait for you for everything, there''s stuff I do have to do on my own."
Hazel frowned, "Not anymore. I don''t know if you noticed, but I am your shadow. You will never be alone again."
Grim stiffened despite herself, something about those words shook her a little. She¡¯d thought about that before but had never quite internalized that. Her whole life had been planned upon being alone, not necessarily by choice. She wasn¡¯t so arrogant to assume she was worth anyone actually caring for her.
The fact her only friend was a carbon copy of herself was pathetic but maybe she¡¯d take that? It¡¯s not like she had a wealth of options.
It was almost easier when she hadn¡¯t come along. She¡¯d gotten used to being lonely, but now that feeling had been replaced with a steady drum of anxiety. How many more people would she have to kill to protect her? To keep Hazel hers. In the future she¡¯d probably have to kill more and what if one day Hazel didn¡¯t¡ like her any more? With who or what¡¯d she¡¯d become. If the worst happened and she wanted to leave, she wouldn¡¯t force her to stay but she wasn¡¯t sure if she could survive being alone again. It wasn¡¯t fair how she wormed herself into her life and became her friend.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
It made her hate her a little, for how much she cared.
"I never asked for you, you know?" Grim said in a low voice as she looked down, not making eye contact. "My life would have been easier without you."
Hazel scoffed, "Yeah? And where would you be now? You would have had nothing after Cede and you''d be no closer to figuring out that letter."
Grim hissed in frustration, "It''s not about that."
"Then what? We''re stuck together," Hazel paused, her own face twisting in a way she''d never seen it before. "Unless you want to get rid of me. You could, you know how."
She wasn''t wrong, she could use [CEDE] and give her to someone else. Not that she would, she didn''t even give that a second thought. She was hers and she wasn''t going to give that up.
"Stop," Grim said.
Hazel did.
Grim bit the side of her lip, chewing on her words, "You just insist on saying I¡¯m never going to be alone, but then you keep dying. And you look just like me, which is another different kind of horrible. I¡¯m not stupid; I know you do it to save me, but then we¡¯re stuck in that fucking tree, and I can¡¯t move for hours. I have to hold you as I feel you dying.¡±
"Oh, I didn''t even realize," Hazel said as her face softened. She sat down beside her. "I don''t know what else I could''ve done, I''m not real, you don''t have to feel bad for me."
"What do you mean by that? Not real? You go back in my shadow when you die, but your fucking blood stays. I haven''t thrown out my clothes yet, I haven''t even touched them, they''re covered in it. What are you?"
Hazel froze, and for a moment she looked so sad. Her body locked up and she stared at something off in the distance, concentrating on it. She set her jaw as it looked like she made up her mind, "I am your..."
Her body contorted in on itself, her elbows jammed into her ribs as her shoulders bent inwards, "I am your¡ª"
She was forced to stop as she gasped for breath. It looked like a marionette was pulling her strings and slowly exerting pressure on her.
"I am your¡ª shadow," Hazel said. The pressure released her after that and she didn''t look to be in any more pain. Her mouth was raised, and her shoulder scrunched like she was so frustrated she could cry. Grim knew because she''d seen it on herself. "I''m your shadow, Grim. I''m here for you, and I''m sorry."
Before Grim could reply, Hazel undid the last fastening on Grim''s bandage, letting it drop to the floor.
"Woah," Grim said as she looked at her arm.
It was healed.
The scars remained, but the cuts she''d gotten from the monkeylike creatures and from when she''d torn off her skin were covered by the haze. It filled in the gauges and looked like her skin. Upon closer inspection, she could tell it was shadow, but she flexed her fingers, and it didn''t hurt anymore. So whatever it did made her body think it wasn''t hurt anymore.
"This is the upgrade?" Grim said. "I don''t feel any pain."
Hazel half smiled, "I don''t think it''s true healing. If I had to guess, it''s just speeding it up, like how fast I can heal. You''re still hurt underneath, but as of right now, it''s just mimicking you. If you got hurt again, I think the haze would break."
"That''s still amazing," Grim said. "Imagine how much harder we could train? I wouldn''t have to worry so much about getting hurt if you can heal me. Could you use it on others?"
Medical Boons were worth a lot of money. She''d have to survive the Witching first, but it might even be enough to fast-track her into a Coven. She could even go to medical school if she wanted; it would be enough to get automatic entry.
"I think it would, but there''s only one small problem."
"What''s the problem?"
"That took a lot out of me. I don''t know if I could do that again any time soon. Plus I feel it would be even harder for me to do it to others."
She had to admit she''d gotten a little ahead of herself, but she''d work with whatever they had. It was still amazing.
"Why''s that?" Grim asked.
Hazel put her arm beside Grim''s, "Because it''s your shadow. It wanted to come back to you. I only made sure it went where it needed to go. There''s also one more thing."
Their link activated, and Hazel went back into her shadow.
You only have so much of it to go around.
Grim looked behind her, and it was true: Her shadow was noticeably less than it was before. She''d only be able to put out so much healing before she ran out of shadow. Hazel must have literally been spreading herself thin before.
Hazel stepped out of her shadow again. ¡°So there¡¯s some bad, but I think it¡¯s still really good and now we can both cheat."
Grim frowned, trying to choose her words carefully, "You said before, there was stuff you still wanted to do. What... What do you want to do Hazel?"
Hazel didn''t hesitate, "I want to call you by your real name, I want to help you find out what happened to your family, I want to see you grow old and be happy. I want us to be Witches together."
Grim laughed, she couldn''t help herself. That was such a Hazel answer.
"What? What did I say?" Hazel whined.
"Nothing, I just wasn''t expecting that. I thought you were gonna say the Embertones or something."
Her face scrunched up, "That place? Too rich for my tastes, and I don''t think I''d do well flying."
"You''ve been in a hover before."
"That''s different," Hazel said. "Don''t worry about me, alright?"
Grim nodded, "Just think about it, okay?"
There was a knocking at the door, "Who are you talking to in there?"