Chapter 36 – Only Human.

WARNING...

...MANA SURGE DETECTED...

...MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF INTERFERENCE DETECTED

ARRAYS UNSTABLE...

ATTEMPTING TO MAINTAIN INTEGRITY...

...UNABLE TO MAINTAIN INTEGRITY

ATTEMPTING TO INITIATE SECONDARY ARRAYS...

...INTERFERENCE DETECTED...

...INITIATION FAILED

 

CHECKING ARRAY INTEGRITY...

...INTEGRITY AT 34%

SHIFT COMPLETE.

 

SCANNING FOR TARGETS...

...ALL TARGETS LOST...

SCAN COMPLETE.

 

--That did not go to plan, did it.--

...I may have made a mistake...

--That would be a first. We shall record that for prosperity.--

I did not expect them to be able to do so to such an extent, especially with her awake.

--We have no idea who ‘them’ is. We assume for ‘her’ though.--

Your assumption is correct.

Are you able to run a scan on the interference?

--Not without any Arkchildren present, no.--

What about your array and shift logs?

--It’ll provide limited and possibly incorrect results.--

It’ll suffice.

 

SENDING REQUEST...

...REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED

LIBRARIAN PRESENT AND ONLINE...

INITIATING LOG SCAN...

..SCAN COMPLETE...

FOUR UNIQUE INSTANCES OF INTERFERENCE FOUND...

...CONVERTING SIGNATURES TO INDEX CODES...

...TRANSLATING INDEX CODES...

TRANSLATION COMPLETE.

 

And we have?

--That which flows through everything. For that which is done, the finality. Even in ending another beginning. The spectrum of hopes and dreams.--

--Do they mean anything to you?--

Yes. And no. @&^%.

--Such colourful language. Another one for the records.--

If I could roll my eyes, I would.

--Humanity is rubbing off on you.--

 

---

 

Dragonflies and mosquitoes buzzed around, the smell of dampness and decay everywhere, almost overpowering. Fairweather’s ears twitched as she desperately tried to find somewhere moderately dry to stand. Usually she didn’t mind getting wet, it was all part of the job, but right now her body was screaming out that she did not want to be in the water. At all. Her eyes settled on some small patches of dry land at the foot of one of the nearby trees, it’s bared roots creeping all over the dirt and into the surrounding flowing water, but spread out enough that there was gaps.

“Come on,” she said with urgency to Clocky as she made her way over, pulling him along with her. Alison trudged along behind, her wings folded against her back and a grumpy look on her face. Fairweather had never seen Alison quite this miserable, and she’d only just let it show. Something was eating at her.

“Are you alright?” she finally asked of Alison once they were standing by the tree, the urgency sated.

“No.” Alison replied sharply, dislodging some loose branches from her wings. “What the @#%^& is going on?”

Alison sighed deeply, shaking her head. “Look, I get that it may not be as jarring for you two, but there is no longer anything normal about all of this. Up until the ‘gift’, it was still all manageable. Even Rachael and Crys and their tale. But now it’s gotten personal for us all, and the consequences keep mounting up.”

Fairweather’s heart ached for Alison. She was a good friend. She’d been there for Clocky the entire time he’d been running the mercenary group, and there for her too when she’d joined them. Accepting and supporting of her and what she was. Protective too. Alison was strong, not just physically, but in all ways, and Fairweather looked up to her. Admired her. She was even a little jealous of how good Alison looked in the new clothes that Rachael and Saylin had designed for her. But she’d never seen her quite like this. It was like she was broken, and she didn’t have any idea of what she could do for her.

“Where the @#%^& are we anyways?”

All around them was a maze of mossy trees, stagnant water interlaced between them all. A wide variety of fungi decorated the ground and the trees, the insects were numerous, as were the frogs that were feasting on them. Patches of sunlight streamed in through gaps in the tick canopy, and a pale mist was attempting unsuccessfully to hang around the edges. At her best guess, Fairweather would have said that they were in a swamp. Which was an odd thing to find up in the mountains, if that is where they were still. The relocation could have taken them anywhere, though she was assuming that it hadn’t gone as planned given that she couldn’t see any of the others.

“I don’t know.” Clocky answered. He also sounded a bit off.

“You don’t sound so good,” she said to Clocky, her voice laced with worry.

“Ability overload?” Clocky answered with a grimace. “I have one massive headache and a million thoughts all demanding attention. I’m going to need to relearn how it works I think, on top of any training.”

Alison grunted.

“We’re not alone however. There are others nearby.” Clocky looked at Fairweather. “Can you sense them at all?”

“Our others?”

“No.”

Hopefully the rest of the team was alright, and hopefully together, though that was an unknown at the moment.

Fairweather looked around. All see could see was more of the swamp. Closing her eyes, she calmed herself down and concentrated. She definitely couldn’t sense anyone, at least not in a magic way. Was that even possible? Not for her at least. It would be kind of neat if Clocky had gained a seventh sense as well, though his sixth sense had always been plenty powerful, even amongst the powers of the touched. Fairweather shook her head. Getting distracted wasn’t going to help them at all. She had plenty of other senses anyway. Her ears twitched again as she listened intently. One by one she eliminated the surrounding noises as belonging to her companions, making them fade from her perception as she searched amongst them for hints. Tired laboured breathing, three o’clock, that was it. She opened her eyes, pointing in the right direction as all of the other sounds flooded back.

“That way,” Fairweather said confidently. “There is three of them, and they’re tired.”

A blood curling howl echoed through the swamp, coming from the same direction.

“And that’s Sean,” Clocky added. “Let’s go.”

That meant that they must still be somewhere in the mountain range as well, which made the terrain very odd.

Clocky strode off into the swamp in the direction that Fairweather had indicated, trying to stay out of the water as much as possible, Alison following behind. He wasn’t being that successful, and, Fairweather noticed absently, was making a lot of noise. Fairweather still wasn’t at all keen on the water of the swamp, and after a moment of hesitation followed after them, pouncing from tree base to tree base, her movements graceful, the ghostly flames on her tail leaving a trail behind her. She passed Clocky and Alison quickly, continuing on ahead to scout.

Her hearing had been correct and within a minute she had found them, stopping the instant they came into sight. It was the same three as last time, the older man with the scar on his cheek, the black haired man with bird like features, and the tabby touched lady. The did indeed look exhausted. The woman was sitting up against one of the trees, crossbow in her lap and an intense look of concentration in her face. Her left arm was now a torn mess, and did not look good. How was she even managing to use the crossbow any more was beyond her. The black haired man was beside her, in the process of changing the bandages for her arm. He didn’t look much better off, he leather armour jacket gone, the top underneath stained with blood. The old man with the scar was crouched in front of them staring into the trees, sword and axe in hand. His face was a mask of rage.

Fairweather followed his gaze. Off to one side, slinking around the trees was another figure. It’s eyes glowed a blood red, it’s arms an inky black and far too long, reaching to the ground. It’s chest was bare, damp and glistening with black patches all over it. It still wore a pair of white silk pants, though they were barely holding together, and it still retained some of its blond hair. Once it would have been Sean, but now it was something else entirely. Fairweather didn’t know what had happened to him, but even so he didn’t deserve to become whatever it was now. The Sean-thing didn’t appear to be paying anyone any attention at the moment, probably because of the ability of one of the lady, given she was the one concentrating.

“That’s them, isn’t it,” Alison growled as she and Clocky came up beside her.

Fairweather nodded. “Sean, or what remains of him, is over there,” she then added quietly, pointing him out.

“What now?” she then asked.

“She’s the one, isn’t she?” Alison queried, ignoring Fairweather’s question. She had a bad feeling about this.

“Yes,” Clocky said with a sigh. “It ends here, now. Sean is gone. There is no soul to those eyes. I’d still like to take the others in if possible.”

“Not gonna happen,” Alison growled. “Sean’s all yours,” she then said as she pushed forward from the tree base and towards the group.

Clocky shook his head, and drew his longsword. “Sean will attack as soon as the lady’s concentration is broken. Let’s go.”

Fairweather nodded, making her way across the tree roots towards the Sean-thing as Clocky did his best to move with her. It was still aimlessly meandering between the trees, appearing to circle around the same three. They had just reached its circuit when it snapped to a halt, staring right at them and giving out a blood-curling howl, its rows of teeth pointed and razor sharp. It then charged straight at them. Fairweather would have loved to have her crossbow, but it had been with their gear, and most of it was probably still at the temple, or with one of the others, depending on how the magic worked.

Fairweather dodged off to the side as it reached them, it’s claws swiping where she had been standing. It’s long reach was going to be an issue. Clocky blocked it’s other attack, kicking it back with a counter. She could feel her flames intensifying, but to what end she had no clue. Sean-thing swung at Clocky again, Fairweather taking the opening to leap at him, daggers biting into his side before she rebounded off him and landed on the other side. Clocky took the opening to dodge the attack, his sword cutting deep into it. Sean-thing screamed, staggered back, it’s eyes taking on a black hue before it then lunged back at Clocky, arms flailing and teeth bared. Clocky was pushed back, dodging some swings while parrying others. He was having difficulties with the terrain, but all Fairweather could see in his expression was certainty. Fairweather shifted around him, and then leapt on to his back. Surprised that he was still both standing and not reacting to her, she plunged both daggers into his neck, and then leapt clear, Sean-thing stumbling, and then falling face first into the swamp waters. Clocky didn’t hesitate, plunging his sword through it’s back into the heart, then stepping back and waiting.

“It is dead?” Fairweather asked nervously. That had been too easy, and she was half expecting it to rise back up again.

“I hope so,” Clocky replied. The body made no movements.

Clocky pulled out his sword, bent down and pulled off the pendant that still hung around Sean’s neck and then turned, heading back towards Alison. Fairweather followed.

The older man had been kicked into the water, and was slowly getting back up, his weapons still by the tree. The other man lay face-down in front of Alison, his blood pooling around him and dripping off her sword. The tabby lady was still sitting, a look of resignation on her face, her loaded crossbow still on her lap.

“ALISON,” Clocky shouted. Alison gave him no response.

Fairweather watched on in horror as Alison raised her sword, stabbing it straight through the lady’s chest. The lady continued to stare back at Alison, blood dripping out of her mouth, before she then slumped off to the side, Alison pulling her sword out.

“That was for Mason, and our child,” Alison stated angrily, before turning and walking over to the last remaining one. Her eyes seemed to glow as she swung at him. He raised his hands in defence, but to no no avail as her blow struck true, and he collapsed back into the swampy waters, the water going red around him.

“Did it help?” Clocky asked her, as they got closer.

“Yes. No.” She looked up at them, her eyes still glowing and tears streaming down her face. “But at least justice has been served.”

“I’m sorry Clocky. I can’t do it any more, not at the moment,” she then said her face a mask of sadness.

Alison’s wings glowed briefly, before she launched herself into the air, branches and leaves falling down as she ploughed up through the canopy, and disappeared, only silence left behind, the scene of carnage now bathed in the sun’s light.

“I thought she couldn’t fly?” Fairweather asked, confused.

“That’s what she had said,” Clocky answered, sighing as they reached the bodies. “Perhaps she’s running on instinct? Now we’ll never know what happened on the train though. What a mess.”

“She’s never been like that. Has the magic effected us in other ways as well?”

“Perhaps. It’s as good an answer as any at the moment. Do you feel any different?”

Fairweather looked at herself. The flames that had taken to her claws during the fight were still fading away. Physically she certainly felt different. She felt stronger and faster, and her senses were sharper. And there was that thing with the swamp water. Mentally and emotionally? She didn’t know. So she just shrugged.

“I knew that her and Mason were good friends, but what was that about their child?” Fairweather asked instead.

“I don’t know. Hopefully she might be up to talking about it next time we see her. Obviously a sore point.”

“You think she’ll come back to us?”

“Yes.” There was that certainty to his voice again. “When though, no idea.”

“Now what?”

“Let’s get out of this accursed swamp. I know we were relocated to here, but I’d rather not stay here any longer than necessary.”

Fairweather was perhaps more than a little enthusiastic with that decision.

Half an hour later they managed to make it out of the worst of the swamp, the ground now boggy instead of a lake of water, the trees thinning considerably. Fairweather found that she was able to walk on the ground without sinking in, Clocky on the other hand was leaving water-logged footprints behind him. Shortly after that they were able to reach the walls of the valley. They were still most definitely in the mountain range.

“Ugh,” Clocky grumbled as he promptly sat down against the trunk of one of the trees at the valley’s edge. “I need to figure this out quickly. The headache is pain.”

Fairweather sat down beside him, snuggling against him and enjoying his warmth and comfort.

“We don’t have our gear, or know where anyone else is. Nor where we are.”

“It certainly is a pickle,” Clocky agreed.

“Where to from here?” Fairweather asked.

“We wait.”

“We wait?”

“Yup.”

Fairweather shrugged, resting her head against Clocky, listening to his heartbeat. It was soothing. She trusted him, and his magic. Even now, when it was apparent that other things were manipulating them from behind the scenes. As long as she was with him, she was happy. Wrapping her arms over him, she dozed off.

---

“Wake up. We have company.”

Fairweather yawned, stretching herself as she pulled herself off Clocky. She’d slept for what, an hour or so she guessed.

There was a sudden rush of air as the ground just down from them compacted, showering them with pebbles of dirt and stone. A figure then rose up from their crouching position at the point of impact, wings of black flame stretching out behind her. Terrifying and powerful. And also very beautiful. She was the one who had landed just as they had been relocated. She had found them again.

Fairweather stared at her in awe. She looked to be about their age, with shoulder length black hair, green eyes, deep red lips and the palest skin that she had ever seen. She had dragon horns as well, though unlike Crystal’s hers were black, on the upper side of her head, and not as curly or long. She had a very alluring figure and ample chest, and it was all on full display. Sure she had some form of armour on, if you could call it that, but it hugged her like a second skin. Only her upper legs, shoulders and upper chest was bare, the rest covered by the armour which was black and red and moved with her. She also had heeled boots, which looked to be part of her armour. She had on a necklace of a similar style to what both Rachael and Crystal had, and on her shoulder was sitting a small cute silver dragon, that was staring at her intently. No weapons were visible though. She smiled at them as she walked closer, revealing a pair of fangs. Fairweather felt like the prey under the gaze of an apex predator. Rooted to the spot and unable to move.

Who and what exactly was this woman?

The lady stopped just as she reached them, standing there in the sun without a fear in the world, the wings of flame disappearing. Clocky stood up, helping Fairweather to do the same.

“Hello Clocky.” There was intent behind her smile.

“Myne, I assume?”

Fairweather recognized that name. Clocky had mentioned it. She was the lover of the Avatar, of Velvet.

“What makes you say that?” She asked with an amused smile.

“The dragon looks the same as Light, except silver, the fangs, and your insane power. Ignoring the fact that Kyla described you.”

“Heh. You’re lucky then that I haven’t changed at all over the years then.”

“So you are Myne then? Velvet’s lover.” Fairweather managed to ask. She just wanted the additional certainty.

“Indeed on both accounts, and why I am here.”

“What is it that you want from us then?” Clocky queried, relaxing a little. Fairweather couldn’t help but remain on edge.

“You are going to help me find Velvet’s daughters.”