Chapter 59 – Aftermath.

“So the rumours were true.”

Petunia snarled, jumping around in alarm at the sound of the voice, her fingernails taking on their claw-like nature as she dropped into what she hoped was a defensive stance. She hadn’t heard any movement around her at all, even with her enhanced hearing, and no one should have known where she was. Scanning the area, she couldn’t see anyone either. Dull sunlight filtered in through the broken windows, dust dancing within the rays, the day slowly crawling its way to its end, deep shadows blanketing the steel walkways around her. Petunia inched backwards, till her back was against the steel railing, her breathing deep and her heart beating fast.

Her head snapped to the side as she saw the shadows shift to her left, a figure emerging out from them as if they had been draped over them and were now sliding away. A young lady, silky long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, dressed all in back. A sleeveless top that hugged and revealed her toned and muscular body, loose cargo pants with far too many pockets, combat boots, and a katana sheathed at her side. A pair of black stone earrings hung from her ears, a simple ballroom mask over her face. Not that it hid who it was. She’d always had a small chest.

“Carmen,” Petunia growled. “Come to offer me to your new master?”

Carmen walked forward, her steps silent on the steel walkways, till she was a short distance from her, Petunia holding her ground out of a sense of defiance more than anything else. Carmen had been trained from a young age how to fight, while she’d been taught the finer arts.

“What happened to you?” Carmen asked, taking the mask off and stashing it in one of her many pockets. “You look good though. Well, not the torn dress, but the other changes.”

Petunia paused, confused. That would be a first. Everyone else in her family had derided her, calling her a low life and a blemish on the family. The contempt had been plain to see when they had discovered her ears, curse you Solgen. And Seth too, for putting him on the return train against her express instructions. If the shoe had been on the other foot, she would have acted the same way too, and yet, when she had looked at herself in the mirror, the dress complementing her form, ears on full display, she had liked what she’d seen. She’d looked good, regal, alluring even. But then the door had burst open, her weeks of careful concealment and pain gone in an instant, everything spiralling out of control.

“You’re just trying to get me to drop my guard,” she hissed back, though her face probably gave away her appreciation for the compliment, sorely needed.

“Not at all. I mean it. You’re no match for me anyway,” Carmen smirked.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Petunia attempted to bluff. Carmen just raised an eyebrow.

“Bowser is missing, as I’m sure you’re well aware,” Carmen stated. “All of the houses know that by now. Hence the increase bickering and tensions. Not that it matters to me. I’ve left the squad. I serve no one but myself. Not even my house any more.”

“People don’t just leave the squad...”

“This time they have. Not just me either, though most who have done so have just gone back to their families. Apart from those that died of course.”

“Why?” Petunia couldn’t deny her curiosity. Carmen had always been an odd girl. As the second daughter to the Sebastian family, they had had high hopes for the ties that she would have created for them. Carmen however had no interest in that, rebelling to the point that they gave in, her tutoring instead mirroring that of her six brothers. Then on top of all that, she had recently been given a position in Bowser’s Peacekeepers.

As children, they had been good friends for a time, when Carmen’s parents still had hope for her. They’d socialized together, as was expected of children of their station, and run off and played together when Petunia had tried her hand at being rebellious as well. She’d outgrown that, well at least she’d made people believe that she had, while Carmen hadn’t, and they’d gone down their diverging paths, only seeing each other at the occasional party that Carmen decided to attend on a whim. If there was one thing that they both still had in common it was their interest in the technology of the past, in particular cars.

The vehicle factory ruins near the edge of the historic zone which they were currently in had once been their playground. Hence why Carmen had been able to find her. It was a source of comfort for her, with all that had happened, as strange as it seemed, and Carmen had a good memory.

“My time with them is over. Things are changing Petunia.” Carmen’s face was serious. “The dragon was very much real, but that wasn’t the real threat. I met its master. She was a monster, a demon, the Hellfire, her power terrifying. The traps laid in the Lloyd-Butler estate almost killed me, yet she prevented them from claiming me. And extended an invitation.”

“While I have always been a Touched,” Carmen continued, Petunia looking startled at the revelation, as she had had no idea of that, “I’m pretty sure that you weren’t, at least not from the pulse. Especially with the way that you and your family treated them. None have been created since then either, hence why you won’t find any younger than ten. But yet you are definitely one now. What happened Petunia?” Carmen gave her a quizzical look, folding her arms across her chest.

“You’re really a Touched?” Petunia was still having trouble with that, and with herself as well.

“Yes. Not all have animalistic features, even though most seem to, and I’ve seen more than my fair share of them. Do you hate me because of that? Think less of me? Or perhaps you’re just scared?”

“I... don’t know.” Petunia slid down to the floor of the walk way, the metal cold and unforgiving.

“There’s more than just the Touched out there now Petunia. Ones whose power may even rival that of the Channellers. Not that I can prove that claim,” she added with a dismissive wave, “but call it a gut feel based on what I’ve seen and experienced.”

“I should have died Carmen,” Petunia finally said, tears forming in her eyes. “Then I wouldn’t be suffering through all of this. Or not gone on that stupid trip in the first place.”

Carmen walked over to Petunia, sitting down beside her. “What happened on the trip?”

“Said some things that I shouldn’t have to two girls with horns, and tried to strip and humiliate them.” Petunia no longer felt any intense anger towards them. She wasn’t sure what she felt at all. She still didn’t understand exactly why she had acted in that way, but she knew that she had been in the wrong. A misunderstood jealously perhaps, fuelled by the hubris of her family’s beliefs? “They were beautiful, taking everyone's attention, with clothes that made me feel like a pauper. I intercepted them en route to your family’s site at Cannonsgate. It did not go well. I got smashed through two barn walls by the shield of the red-haired one, and was left in a world of pain and at deaths gate. The other one did something to me. Healed me, but I also saw the Avatar, and something else as well.”

Tears stained the walkway beneath her. “As I finished healing, the ears grew, and other changes as well. Things only got worse from there.” Petunia paused. “It wasn’t easy, but I mostly managed to hide them, but then Solgen discovered my ears. I couldn’t do it, but I should have killed him. I will next time I see him. He tried to rape me on top of everything else! I tried to hide from my family as well, and was all but succeeding, but then as you know they found out as well, and here we are.”

“I’d say that you’ve had it rough, and you have, but the root cause is because our families are bigots.”

Petunia snarled at Carmen.

“Hey, its true. Of all the noble families.”

Petunia slumped forward onto her raised knees. “I know,” she muttered quietly.

“They fear the Touched. The power that they don’t have, that could rip them from their privileged position. That will probably do so if they don’t change.”

“We’ve been fools.”

“That we have. So what are you going to do? Curse your misfortune and wallow in self pity, or embrace the blessing and what you have become and make something of it? Claim your place in the world.”

“You make it sound so easy. It’s not though. I’ve lost everything.”

“Have you?” Carmen said with obvious disbelief. “You still have all of your knowledge, and connections if they choose to work with you. More importantly you have your blessing. I’m sure that your ears aren’t just for show. Nor those claws and muscles. I’ve never seen you look quite that toned, and I know that you aren’t one to work out.”

Petunia snorted. That didn’t really amount to much in her eyes, but still, there was something to what she was saying.

“What about you?” she asked. “What are you going to do now?”

“Me? I’m done here, with this city. I’m going to try and find someone. Myne she called herself. I’ve heard rumours that Odinsphere has started to move and that it’s responsible for the dry-out, and I have a funny suspicion that I’ll find her there, or at least a lead to her.”

“It’s what?!” Petunia wasn’t sure what to make of that. Her world had been shaken up enough already.

“You’re welcome to come along if you want. I’d appreciate the company to be honest. It’d be a bit like old times. You might even find some answers as well.”

“What will you do when you find this person?”

“I don’t honestly know. She extended an invitation to find her, and that is what I will do. As to what that entails afterwards, I guess I’ll find out then. I’m finished with this life here.”

Petunia shook her head. “You never change. You were always like that.”

“The girls with horns that you ran afoul of. Their horns came out of their forehead?” Carmen indicated with her fingers. “One had red hair and white and gold armour, the other black hair and in very tight fitting black and green clothes?”

That had her attention, Petunia turning her head to stare at Carmen, her eyes narrowing. “How did you know that? You talked to my men?”

“I saw them. They were with the lady that I’m looking for.”

Petunia leaned back against the railing. This was almost a little too convenient. But did she actually want to find them, and what would she do when she did? She was still no match for them, if she had wanted revenge, but she didn’t, not any more. Answers maybe? A chance to vent? It wasn’t the worst of ideas though, to seek them out with Carmen, and would give her the time she needed to well, sort herself out she guessed.

“Fine, why not. I’ll come with you. How are we going to travel there though? There aren’t any trains that go in the direction of Odinsphere.”

“Well I happen to know where we can get a top of the line van that may have been abandoned somewhere nearby, and I’m pretty sure that you’ll have no difficulty acquiring us plenty of fuel.”

Petunia rolled her eyes. She was correct there though. The benefits of her hobbies. She could probably get them a better car than whatever Carmen had managed to dredge up, but a van would have the additional storage space. It would be a long trip.

“First though. We need to get you some new clothes.”

The anchoring arrays had worked well. Perhaps too well. With them they had been able to pull substantially more mana over into Odinsphere’s leyline, and more easily too. On the other hand, instead of the mana flow between the two gradually increasing, it had flooded through all at once. That by itself wasn’t an issue. What was the issue was that the land itself wasn’t used to that density of flow, and it broke. The resulting scar was fairly impressive, running from just below Odinsphere’s position at the time all the way across the land, past The Watch, to just over half way to Norwaydt as measured from The Watch. It cut straight through the Tippiladies River (Clocky having informed them of the name later), which ran dry for a few days as its waters thundered into the scar instead, providing a rather handy source of irrigation for all those along it, and some easy fishing as well. What the water in the scar would be like in a few months though without any flow would be a different story however. The lack of water in the Tippiladies itself, even if only for a short time, would also have side effects on it. Not to mention that as it was one of the source rivers that flowed into Brightswater, there was no way that they would have missed its halt in flow.

The lesson for the next shift was that they would be putting some regulators into the arrays to manage the flow, but that would also mean that perhaps they’d also be able to pull over even more mana, as long as they didn’t drain it completely. Not that Crystal knew if that was actually possible or not.

It was fortunate that Light was able to fly faster than the rapid flow of mana, meaning that they were able to avoid inadvertently wiping out The Watch. Crystal wasn’t sure what she would have done if they had. She would have felt terrible at the least. Worse still if they’d killed anyone, which would have been a given given that some people had apparently decide to stay inside the town even with Clocky’s warning.

Understandably they were initially met with fear at The Watch, and Crystal couldn’t blame them. A massive dragon flying overhead, a wave of power tearing up the ground – you’d be a fool not to be afraid. Or perhaps powerful in your own right, but she doubted that The Watch had anyone who fit that bill. She wasn’t sure what Clocky had told them, but in the end, through choice or not, they were responsible for the troubles that the town was having. Raewyn was certainly an interesting girl, dead nervous when introduced, but once she was feeling slightly more comfortable she gushed all over the cat-foxes. According to Fairweather she may well have a thing about certain animals and features.

Once the evacuees finally stopped freaking out over their existence, Clocky simply stating in the end that there was magic much more potent than what they were used to and they were going to have to get used to that, the town mayor, Alzmer, and some of his people had tried to enter the town again. They had failed of course, unable to walk more than about a hundred meters towards to the town before they found themselves either unable to move any further, or even swept away for the few that had tried jumping or forcing themselves closer. Fortunately they ‘washed up’ on the edge of the leyline a few kilometres down from the town, and away from the scar, so there was no deaths there, though it did look really weird to any onlookers, especially with the villagers bodies seemingly being tossed roughly across the ground. Realizing the plight of those who had not heeded Clocky’s advice, Alzmer had asked if they could do anything for his citizens, if they were even still alive. Crystal and Rachael both quickly agreed, not wanting any additional lives on their conscience.

Extracting the remaining residents of The Watch out of the town wouldn’t be overly difficult. Both the cat-foxes, and Myne if she decided to tag along, would be able to quickly locate them. However Light and Ashling were not practical for actually getting the people out of the town, and seeing that the team had managed to get a skimmer working and down to the town, Rachael floated the idea of them getting one as well, hopefully a troop transport sized one, and using that. Both Spectre and Kitsune stated that they could interface with the skimmer on their behalf while they got used to them, which suited the girls fine. Use them now and get the people rescued, learn how to actually control them later (or perhaps not at all in Crystal’s case – she still preferred flying on dragon back). Collecting the people would of course be left to Crystal and Rachael, Clocky, Fairweather and Vorsce still unable to withstand the current density of the leyline.

They were fairly certain that those still in the town wouldn’t be dead, at least they hoped not, but any side effects were unknown. The flood of mana hadn’t gone right through the town, the density still increasing there as they had originally expected, washing in from the river of it that currently flowed around it. Their deflecting and redirecting of the flow had worked, but it was only a temporary measure, and the mana would snap back to the leyline itself soon enough.

The trip back to Odinsphere was quick, Light was fast after all, and with Spectre interfacing with Engineer for recommendations for the best suited skimmer, they quickly located a suitable one. It wasn’t located at hanger six however, the one that they were currently working from, instead they were directed to hanger eight, which was two doors clockwise from six. Hanger eight was a lot larger than six, but while six was tidy and orderly, eight was a mess and a hive of activity. Skimmers and larger vehicles were strewn all over the hanger floor, parts and materials in piles around them, maintenance spiders scurrying all over the place. Apparently Engineer was taking advantage of the excess energy that was available, and it was likely not the only aspect doing so either. The skimmer in question, easily double the size of any of the others in hanger six, with rows of bunks in the back of it, was tucked away at the back, untouched by the spiders and perfectly functional. Rachael took the pilots seat, providing the power to the skimmer while Kitsune proceeded to manoeuvrer it out. The return trip was much slower, Crystal ending up returning ahead to start locating and gathering people so that once Rachael arrived they could get the first batch out.

It took them the rest of the day and a good portion of the night to extract the remaining residents of The Watch out of the town. Myne pitched in as night fell, the mayor and some of the other towns folk helping to unload them as they were brought out. There was a lot of uneasiness of the townsfolk around them, but Crystal was too focused on the task at hand to really care. Once they were done, they curled up against Light a short distance away from the circle of wagons to sleep, sticking around to help with any needed defending of the people, and as a threat in case anyone from the town decided to do anything stupid. While they might think that they were asleep, the townsfolk wouldn’t be aware that the Arkchildren, now numbering three, were all keeping watch.

Most of those rescued woke up the following day, the older or already sicker ones making up the majority of those who didn’t. There wasn’t a lot that they could do for them, mana poisoning was apparently a known thing though it usually went by other names, and was restricted to scavengers and those who were already suffering from other sever ailments. Rachael had contemplated trying to heal some, but Warrior had warned her off it. The damage to them was already done, and her style of healing would only make it worse to those whose bodies weren’t already used to its presence. The best course of action would be to let their bodies naturally bleed it off. As to whether or not any of the people might end up permanently absorbing some of the mana was also an unknown, Warrior just saying that all of the evacuees had an equal chance given their proximity, but usually more was needed than just exposure. Crystal assumed that natural affinity was probably part of it, and perhaps higher interference as well.

Crystal did wonder if Warrior was also speaking on behalf of some of the other Ancients given what she was commenting on, the reply a strange impression of a smile.

The following day they surveyed the damage, travelling the length of the scar. It was probably a good thing that they leyline didn’t go all the way to the coast, as that would have permanently redirected the river. The scar gradually got thinner and shallower as it went, the force of the flood of mana slowly dissipating, petering out before the leyline started to double back on itself in the direction of Brightswater. It did however give them a clear indication of the path that Odinsphere would be taking, and the limit of how far they could actually go on it. They would need to change leylines before then, but with the success that they’d had with that transition they didn’t think they would have any difficulty with that aspect of it.

The remainder of the day ended up being spent helping the villagers secure more supplies, both from the town itself, and from nearby areas. The size of the skimmer meant that they were able to shift a whole lot at once, and while it was just Crystal and Rachael following directions for the town supplies (making sure to take from exactly there were told, as they really didn’t want to ruin any businesses there), Clocky and Fairweather took over the piloting duties for the external runs. It seemed to be more effort for him to power the larger one that it was for Rachael, but the townsfolk wouldn’t be aware of that, and while they were away Crystal and Rachael took over guard duty alongside Vorsce. Taking a proactive approach, they got the cat-foxes to scan the area, letting them know where any Wildlings were, flying to where they were and taking care of them. The sensible ones attempted to flee when they noticed Light homing in on their location, not that it changed the outcome. The fights were boring and unsatisfying, the Longhairs no challenge at all.

Back at the towns edge, Crystal went through some training mantras with her sword and shield, embarrassed at the end of it when she come out of her trance to discover that she had a sizeable audience. Rachael gave her a sly smile, telling her that she was irresistible and how could people not want to watch, which just made her blush furiously on top of it. Once evening fell they snuck away to have some time to themselves, making sure to travel far enough that no one could feasibly interrupt them, but still close enough to be able to respond should something happen, Hope able to send warning via the cat-foxes if such did occur.

Rinse, wash, repeat for the next two days. Odinsphere was travelling a lot faster than they had originally planned, but it was still massive and it’s overall speed was slow. There was no way that it would ever be able to travel at even a fraction of Light or Ashling’s speed, but that was probably a good thing. Its presence in the sky was progressively getting larger, and by the middle of the third day its shadow was starting to be cast over the town. Even given what had happened the villagers were understandably on edge all over again, on top of the boredom that they were also suffering from.

While the original calculations would have allowed the townsfolk to return once Odinsphere was overhead, the inadvertent success of the current merger meant that they density of mana was still too high for them to do so, the flow between the two leylines still continuing, though it had weakened somewhat. At least it meant that they had some more time before they needed to do the next one, but it also meant that it would be at least a couple of extra days again before the they could return to their homes. That news was received as well as could be expected, with most of the townsfolk resigned to their fate. Following up on an earlier promise, Fairweather took some of the townsfolk up for a closer look at Odinsphere, giving them a tour around the area that was currently being used. To say that Raewyn was ecstatic was an understatement – her love for technology rivalled her infatuation for certain animalistic features, and she really was in the wrong occupation in life. Especially since she showed a better understanding for it than any of her peers.

Abigail did cause a bit of a stir amongst them though. The presence of the taint on both her and the Grazeye wasn’t identifiable to the townsfolk, but they could feel that something wasn’t right and their minds wandered trying to make excuses or constructing reasons. That she was a human monster seemed to be the prevailing theory that Crystal heard, and it wasn’t that far from the truth even if their understanding of it was completely inaccurate. Raewyn again didn’t appear to be at all bothered by it, happily striking up conversation with Taint’s priestess.

The revised calculations also indicated that they would need to start preparing the next merger by day five, though both of them were quite keen to do it as far away from The Watch as possible to avoid any potential backlash. It would also be the last merger before they changed leylines, assuming that they were able to replicate the success that they had last time. The leyline that they had been pulling from peeled away fully from the main one about a day past The Watch, snaking in the direction of Caylinhold, so it also meant that they’d be utilizing a new one. Odinsphere had done a preliminary scan, but the data was sketchy as it was at the limits of its scanners, which were currently quite impressive with the boosts from the extra power and its use of the leylines themselves. Entirely at loose ends, Crystal and Rachael made the decision that they would go do the scans themselves, well the cat-foxes would, so at least they would know what they next section of the route would be and they could do some of the prep work in advance. And if there was going to be any complications on the route, then at least they would have fair warning.

mogust

The problem with shifting leylines and moving a city sized floating sphere, is that it is boring... Sure there might be other things to do in and around it, but the bulk of it... yeah, well.

Fortunately there will be other things going on as well, but expect to see a few more sections from other characters perspectives as has been done in the last few chapters (with Fairweather and Petunia thus far).

I have put up a glossary with all of the important characters listed. If you don't recognize them, probably best if you don't click on their entry just yet ^^ - there are a few characters listed who have yet to turn up in the posted version of the story. They're not too far off though. Chapter updates for the characters are kept in spoiler tags, so that you can view only what you have already read. A few characters may not have any updates listed at all, for spoiler reasons. If I have missed any important characters, or if you can't recall who someone is, let me know.

Also I got my first review on SH. Yay :) It's for the first book, Dawn Weaver, but it does cover both stories.

As always, thanks for reading, and comments are welcome.

The next chapter (60 - Realisations) is a shorter one (by my standards), and so will be posted later this week.