Chapter 36.1
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Intermission 1

Planet Earth
June 20th, 2018

Pocket Dimension

Daphne Snow - Sanctum

Tabitha was having a good nap in the Princess tower when she was suddenly captured by Elissa’s sister Cassandra who teleported her into this strange place while giggling evilly. She was in a large room reminding her of the Seattle subterranean Metro with it’s light and dark ceiling overhead. She looked at the walls and there were different opened blue holes in space with signs labelling them. She tilted her head, stood up and her instincts told her to duck and roll to the left.

She saw Dean Malicia try to catch her, the woman clicked her tongue then crossed her arms and looked askance at her, Tabitha didn’t let her claws retract.

“Mrs Von Braun?” Somehow, Tabitha wasn’t surprised. Her ears were erect and her tail down, showing that she was alert and uneasy.

“Tabitha.” The sorceress nodded, smelling the fear from Elissa’s friend; she fed from it, it was delicious - a foretaste of what was going to happen later.

Tabitha growled, “Could you explain why are you doing this?”

Malicia giggled, straightening her black dress. Then she looked at the catgirl directly in her feline eyes. “Elissa asked me to train you, I intend to keep my word.”

“Hum yeah she did say that I will get into some kind of accelerated something, but you didn’t have to get me to come like that!” Tabitha’s hair stood on end showing her aggressiveness.

She threw something at Tabitha who caught it reflexively, it was a silver ring. The catgirl recognized it from her magical induction classes, a spatial ring. Having her magical core unsealed to be able to use magical items had been done by Malicia personally since she joined the school. It had been a painful experience that made her faint, she learned that she was one of the lucky few that fainted; older students suffer this torture as their mana core is more solid and less flexible.

“Inside there is food for two years, some camping gear and potions that Elissa made.”

“Why do I need-”

Malicia pushed the young woman into the portal behind her with a force spell, Tabitha saw her eyes glowed gold and a smirk of amusement appearing on her face.

 


 

Temporally Accelerated Realm

 

Tabitha fell on her feet, her claws slowing her skidding across the stone surface she landed on. She looked around her and noticed that she was in some sort of chamber, barely lit; her night-vision kicked in immediately. She smelled the air, it felt humid and musty and it made her sneeze; Tabitha wiped her nose and noticed a breeze blowing in the room.

She went on the move, taking care to stay alert while following the breeze that would guide her to the exit of this place. Tabitha noticed that the stone corridors were full of obstacles, rotted furniture and decorations; there were walls of spiderwebs indicating that this place had been invaded by a lot of them.

This proved true when she noticed the biggest arachnid that she had ever seen on the ceiling, it attacked instantly by spewing something out of its mouth. Tabitha jumped back in a somersault, picked up a long piece of wood and jumped on the walls, zig-zagging between them and killed the spider by crushing its body repeatedly. The young woman landed on the stony floor and looked at the place the spider spewed on. The catgirl smelled something familiar that Elissa used in her own lab at home: acid.

Tabitha sighed in relief, she was thankful that her instincts were that sharp.

As there were too many spiderwebs in this place, Tabitha looked into the spatial ring she received from Malicia and searched through it for a lighter or fire starters. She found one, it was the magical version with a cantrip spell called minor flame inscribed on it.

The catgirl was still in her tight top, shorts and naked feet; she preferred to feel the ground under her feet as it seemed more natural to her, it was more of an atavistic reason. But now, she lamented not having more protective clothing at the moment. Tabitha lit the thick walls of spiderwebs blocking her way on fire making their creators run away in fear, she even had to kill some that had decided to retaliate.

Tabitha spent her time nonchalantly killing spiders by either crushing them with her wooden club or using the aura blade from Inshek on her claws to slice them apart. This was a recent breakthrough she had made while under Elissa’s tutelage.

Interesting.

A voice that echoed through the stone walls said. Tabitha stopped as she felt a presence behind her and the breeze blowing when she turned but saw nothing.

You are on a quest.

“Who goes there?” Tabitha said, the voice was male and a certain amused condescension could be felt from it. It put Tabitha on the defensive automatically, she put her club aside and let out her claws; focusing on her senses as she tried to pinpoint the location of the interloper.

You are so lost.

So cut off.

So Alone.

“You don’t know me. Don’t pretend to.” Tabitha hated to be patronized, this had been a problem with her since she was put into the child protective services as they couldn’t handle superhuman children. She always seemed to end up with religious people trying to force her into their faith and when she didn’t fit in they always resorted to peer pressure to make her conform to their views.

Tabitha had lashed out, became a thief or ran away multiple times before stealing something she shouldn’t have. It was seven months ago when she stole a statue of Bast. Bast was the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection and cats. She was the warrior daughter and defender of Ra, who sent her to fight his archenemy Apep. As protectress, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, after Sekhet, the lioness and consequently of the chief god, Ra.

The Goddess wanted an avatar on Earth to revive and simply took the liberty of modifying her body but left her superhuman abilities intact. Tabitha had been rejected even more because of her cat-like traits and attracted weird attention from another sort she brutally stamped on.

*Elissa and the girls are the only ones I care about.* Tabitha thought.

I have no need to. The voice said, so sure of himself.

This pissed off the Catgirl more than anything, she roared, “I will find you and kick your ass.”

The voice of the being said smugly, I can feel you...you are a weak, kitten.

“Don’t call me that!” Tabitha roared in threat, her magical aura unleashing itself in a disorderly way.

Inshek, so you are an apprentice.

“Get out of my head.” The catgirl stood tall, prepared to attack at the drop of a hat. Her eyes narrowed, seeking out her foe.

Your master is a Snow, judging by the way you are letting your aura flow.

Tabitha didn’t consider Elissa her master but her friend, even though they were linked through a familiar bond. Elissa had specifically told her that she wouldn’t give her any orders that would infringe upon her freedom; but the voice must have been speaking in terms of martial art.

I’ve decided, as your Great Grand Master I shall take you under my tutelage.

“I didn’t ask you anything.”

You still have the illusion that you have a choice, kitten?

The temple’s interior was suddenly lit and what Tabitha had thought to be cold grey stone turned into sandy colored stone all around her. She shielded her eyes from the blinding light and crouched low on the ground while hissing. As her eyes adapted to the glare, the catgirl looked around herself; she realized that everywhere was covered in dust and that was the origin of the musty smell that made her want to sneeze all the time.

Murals depicting people performing some kind of dances were on every wall.

*Wait not dances, Katas? Techniques?* Tabitha realized.

Follow my voice, reluctant apprentice.

The catgirl scowled at that, but she did as she was told as she felt that if she refused something really bad would happen to her; her instincts had served her well on the street and in some social interactions that she had in school, not listening to them often ended in humiliation or brawls. In this case it was maybe her life.

She noticed that the voice was making her go into the depths of the temple, yet her mind told her not to, that it was a trap. But her instinct told her another story, that she was trapped whatever she did. Tabitha finally arrived at the end of the corridor where two big gates opened into a room that surprisingly looked like the inside of a church.

Tabitha entered and wasn’t overly surprised when the gates closed behind her. She rolled her eyes at that, whoever that voice belonged to had a flair for theatrics. Inside there were half rotten pews, an altar and on the far wall some kind of metallic statue.

“I see where this is going, you brought me here for some kind of test.”

You are surprisingly sharp.

“I am not stupid.” Tabitha growled. “I knew I had no choice but to follow, or you would have done something to me.” The catgirl felt icky, she was covered in spiderwebs and dust.

I expect obeissance from my apprentices. The voice chuckled as it confirmed the catgirl’s feeling.

“Right, lemme guess that big test is going to be about fighting something?”

I like you.

“The big statue…”

The voice laughed evilly and the inside of the sanctuary trembled as the metal statue came out of its position on the wall. The wall fractured but quickly repaired itself, Tabitha’s eyes dilated as she saw the enchantment at work.

Now, apprentice. Fight or die. The voice echoed in the room with finality.

She chose to fight, her pink gold aura unleashed making her hair stand on end; Tabitha’s already sharp claw gave her a baseline to create blades of mana on each of her fingers. Falling into the Inshek martial stance, Tabitha’s level of focus encompassed everything in the room.

Good, your master is a good one.

The silverish statue trampled through the altar, each of its steps making the temple tremble. Tabitha saw her chances diminish more and more, the statue stopped and raised its twin daggers and threw them at her. Evading them to the left and landing in one of the rotten pews, Tabitha didn’t have the time to think. Her giant foe wasn’t slow at all and was about to stomp on her.

She jumped back but was swatted aside like an insect crashing into the stone wall so strongly that she made a crater and the stone fell around her. However, the wall repaired itself. Tabitha hurt all over and coughed blood.

Not fast enough. The voice laughed.

Tabitha calmed down and got back on her feet, spat the blood in her mouth on the ground and glared at the statue.

*What would Elissa do?* She asked herself. *She would tear this shitty statue’s arms off and beat it with them.* But Tabitha wasn’t strong enough for that, what she knew were cantrips with fire and light; her martial education wasn’t that good, just Elissa pushing her physically and teaching her how to use Inshek to circulate her mana and attack with it.

As she dodged the statue’s foot, the catgirl landed on it and climbed its body; she was looking for a weak spot, anything at all that would let her survive this ordeal. Then she noticed that the statue was articulated, not just a single construct but it had different parts like one of those barbies she had when she was younger.

Suddenly her instinct told her to let go, so Tabitha let go of her hold on the statue’s metal clothes and she slid on its thigh. With a clang, Tabitha saw that her foe had almost crushed her with its palm like a mosquito.

“Fine, let’s stop playing, time to dismantle you!” Roared the young woman.

Influenced by her emotions, Tabitha’s base power rose as she focused her will and mana in her hands and feet. With a speed approaching the speed of sound the catgirl ran toward the statue’s ankle, pierced the part acting like tendons and tore it out. Once that was done, Tabitha fled toward the crushed Altar and saw that the statue was down on one knee.

Turning on the pressure, with a toothy grin she began to slowly dismantle her foe by crushing and tearing out its arms and joints. The statue crumbled on the ground, but it didn’t mean that it was defeated. Using its head, the articulated monstrosity tried to bite at Tabitha who suddenly had the idea to let it swallow her. Tabitha dived into the mouth, once she was in the dark metallic orifice she saw that deeper in the head there was some kind of glowing orb.

Tabitha’s instinct told her to destroy that, with a kick full of strength and desperation, she shattered the mana reactor of the statue. Instantly everything in the head died, there were no traces of mana that could be felt inside. With great effort, the catgirl got out the statue’s mouth by unhinging its jaw. She was already panting as she wasn’t used to exerting her mana this much. She fell on the ground on her back breathing hard.

*Elissa would be so jealous.* Tabitha thought.

Crude, but adequate. You are now officially my disciple; this is just the beginning kitten. You are now at least deeply aware of the nature of your mana, it is basically a seventh sense, beyond the normal senses. With this awareness, you are now able to draw out the true potential of your body and achieve exceptionally powerful feats far beyond normal beings.

“Yeah yeah, I know. If you think I’m good, my master Elissa is a monster. She would have killed that statue in a second.” The catgirl bragged, the adrenaline making her cockier.

I see. There’s a need for the exercises to be harder, then.

“Wait, what?!” Tabitha shouted.

 


 

90th Day
Temporally Accelerated Realm
Magitek Engineering Tower

 

Lyla felt really down and under the weather, and she had an idea of why, but she would have to test that later. The curvaceous brunette was in her dedicated workshop, a typical roomy space. Steel tool chests of different sizes were all over the walls, classified in order of utility, half-completed schematics dotted the workshop tables and there were materials and welding tools near Lyla.

The Tesla matron was drawing a steering system for aerial vehicles that married technology and magical engineering. So far she had not found the mother lode, and she didn’t want to bug her husband. Lyla might not show it but she hated depending on Nikola to show her the way, she preferred successfully coming to her own conclusions and theories unaided.

The circuitry of a magitek device was really delicate. Fortunately, one of Lyla's elemental affinities was Earth and she could shape and mould the crystal boards, conductive tracks, and the pads etched with copper and mithril in them to create the circuits and the gem transistors and the synthetic mindstone chips. Lyla was used to making circuit boards, it was the easiest of things for her. It was akin to creating an AI for her technomancer ability.

Lyla could create, shape and manipulate technology and technological constructs, computers, robots, hardware and other devices that could be termed as "technology." Manifested as a special form of combined electrical and telekinetic manipulation, a special form of "morphing" which allowed physical interactions with machines, or even a psychic ability that allowed mental interfacing with computer data.

But her ability had a quirk, she was only able to form tech that seemed to come from a steampunk fantasy story. Lyla hoped that by adding magic into the mix she could make pretty tech designs like her husband and make things that looked less clunky.

The circuit board was lifted from the table and Lyla began to take the melted copper from her crucible to etch the conductive tracks. As she was developing a speeder, Lyla needed to create a steering system reactive enough to handle her piloting skills. Lyla had noticed the rigidity of her speeder may be caused by the electronics being unable to handle the multi-core mana reactor that she had created with her husband.

Kogmin, the mage-engineer whose engrams were guiding the two Tesla through the Phantasian Magitek Engineering Technology had told them that they had quickly mastered the technological side of Magitek but that now they needed to get a solid foundation in thaumaturgy. Lyla could barely understand it, it was like taking everything she knew and mixing it in a blender and the facts were all wrong.

*The ability to manipulate supernatural forces in order to achieve any effect one desires. However, it is not easy to master! I am used to scientific facts! Hard cold proven problems that have solutions! But, Magic? Magic eludes me.* Lyla put the circuit board down, letting the copper tracks cool down. *Annya was right, it is hard to have your entire world turned upside down. And it had to be a little redheaded girl creating virtual matter while having a tea party with her white cat that did it for me.*

Lyla made her personal datapad fly to her and consulted her notes, *Mana Manipulation, makes you able to create, shape and manipulate mana, the impersonal source of energy that is both external and internal, existing in people, places and objects. It can be transmuted by the user into magical powers that yields upstanding results in both practice and combat.*

Snort.*This is difficult to believe.*

But Lyla conjured a ball of white light in the palm of her hand, then it changed into a ball of electricity. The technomancer was also able to wield lightning.

“But it does give me a number of abilities that will make helping Nikki more easily.” Thinking about her husband, Lyla lamented how taken with his learning he was right now.

The Enchantment school was like a big juicy steak to her husband’s inner starving and thirsty wolf sage. Even their sex-life had slowed as Nikola always ended up coming to bed tired, however he still took the time to kiss her and left her some of his notes about simplified mana manipulation. Lyla loved her Nikobear to death and could scarcely believe how their relationship had begun so stormy. Now they could hardly separate anymore, they did everything together.

Knock. Knock.

Lyla turned her head in the direction of the armored door of her workshop and checked who was behind it with her mage sight. The familiar magical signature of her husband could be felt and the glowing silhouette of the human behind the door was exactly the same height. Lyla was being wary, as Nikola had taken to pranking her lately.

She saw that he was holding something in the crook of his left arm, focusing on it she could barely make out that it was some kind of enchanted box with runes coursing through it.

“Enter.” Lyla said cooly.

The door opened with a click and a clang and here was Nikola Tesla with longer slicked back hair and a groomed beard; it had become a fight to make him move on from his villain moustache. This style is mostly characterized by an anchor beard and a thin mustache that is barely disconnected from the flanks of a goatee.

Lyla felt butterflies in her stomach as she saw him smile at her, it reminded her of how they met while she was chasing smugglers in her VTOL Plane and he swooped down with his armor-jetpack. Nikola had previously had really conservative views about women’s place at the time and that hadn't pleased her at all. He had recognized women’s right to vote but was clearly against them taking arms as she had done in the superhero business; even though she had used the most advanced weapons and gadgets of the time. But he had saved her when the Dragon Emperor had tried to take her for his wife and he had declared his love for her after their rescue.

He had made peace with the fact that she had wanted to stay an adventurer, so he had taken the time to stay with her and accompany her. It hadn't taken six months before they had been married and another year before he had given her the regeneration serum he used and they had been together since 1958. A lot of his friends had called him a cradle robber but he hadn't taken those allegations seriously.

“Моја љубави (My Love).” Nikola said in his Serbian accent, his smile radiated and his eyes sparkled.

“C’mere Nikobear, what have you got for me today.” Lyla asked.

Nikola came to her, put the box in his hand on the work table and took Lyla in his arms kissing her chastely at first, it then devolved into a makeout session that was curtailed when they realized they needed to get some oxygen.

“Did you have a good day?” Lyla asked.

“I had a breakthrough today, I now understand this entire rune system and this is a simplified version…” Nikola took a notepad from his lab coat that he put on the table. “And this box is a stasis container. One of the enchantments used to create those spatial rings Queen Malicia gave us.”

Lyla’s mood perked up and she literally jumped up and grabbed the notepad skimming through it, liking the concise and explanatory notes of her husband. The man should have been a teacher, Nikola had a way of taking a concept that would pass right over someone’s head and explaining in simple terms what it was about.

Nikola looked around his wife’s workshop and noticed her own brand of armor similar to his on display on a mannequin. He smiled at that, he would check it for any bugs she might have missed as usual. Lyla cupped his face between her hands to make him look at her, knowing he was already checking out her work. There was a certain competitiveness between them when it comes to inventing.

“Darling, you know Malicia doesn’t like you calling her that.” Lyla said as she let her fingers caress his hair. The technomancer then changed the subject, “So, do you think you’ll be able to create androids that will be able to help us in making Magitek vehicles?”

Nikola was showing what Lyla described as his winner smile to her, it could either go badly or be something mind boggling. Lyla’s expression became wary.

“Oh, yes I have already started on that my darling.” Nikola took his datapad from his labcoat like a magician using prestidigitation. “I already changed Velia’s body and transferred her AI into a mindstone and housed it into something called an automata.” He showed her the schematics of the new body of his assistant and daughter.

Lyla took the datapad from his hand and looked at the schematics. “Automata?” She tilted her head at the data, this was like reading a superhuman’s stat sheet, Velia’s new body was near human and clearly stronger.

“The body is made of some kind of organic metal, enchanted to replicate the human body…” Nikola began not realizing what he just did.

Lyla who was an airhead but still one of the brightest minds on planet Earth did, her husband just created a race of synthetic humans.

“Darling… you know those movies our son Nikolai showed us about Terminators, those robots supported by some kind of AI taking over earth? I hope it doesn’t start with her…”

Chuckling, Nikola batted away her concerns. “No, Моја љубави (my love); Velia has always been our first daughter, you remember? I just changed her into a more fleshy body? Now she is busy trying to… Lyla?”

Due to the outpouring emotions Lyla fell onto her knees on the floor, fatigue filled her body. “I don't feel so good.”

Nikola knelt at her side. “Lyla!”

Lyla reviewed her symptomes, sore breasts check, heightened sense of smell check, weird dreams check? *That could just be me.* She laughed in her heart. Cramps and the baby bumps she seemed to develop.

“I-I think I am pregnant, Nikobear.” Lyla stuttered.

She knew her husband would be ecstatic, he loved having kids with her. But she knew this wasn’t the time nor the moment.

“What?! That’s fantastic! I will get Kogmin to help us!” Nikola said as he was about to stand up, but he was stopped by Lyla who with her superhuman physiology had more strength.

“But this isn’t… this isn’t the time for it! We came here to learn!” Lyla said.

Nikola hugged her and said, “Darling, there’s nothing that will interrupt you from learning.” And he would make it so that she would learn apace with him. Nikola used his new senses and looked at his wife’s body. “Ah, now I see the fetus through mage-sight, it’s like another piece of you that is leeching on your mana.”

Lyla’s laugh rang like a belle and she put her arms around her stomach. “My little leech.”

 


 

Planet Earth
July 2nd, 2018

Pocket Dimension
Daphne Snow - Sanctum

 

Dawn had always admired Malicia Von Braun-Haliwell, to her she was the ultimate female magic user and then after meeting her, she realized that she was also the cruellest. Elissa had warned her about it, even tried to change her mind about getting an apprenticeship with her mother, but the hero worship and daily interactions with Elissa’s family blinded her to the truth.

She was currently trying to not fall into the void of the Sanctum’s space, separated by different platforms, Malicia was pushing her into teleporting without an anchor point; telling her that she didn’t need that crutch. Dawn remembered this conversation not going well, at least for her; Her teacher had been calm and given her constructive explanation why she shouldn’t rely on anchor points too much and instead develop a form of divination called remote viewing.

Malicia had sat behind her desk, her arms crossed as she had lazily explained things to Dawn. “It is a form of scrying, the caster’s body enters a trance as he or she sends their psychic senses to a distant location and gains psychic impressions of that location.”

The young woman hadn't liked that, the spell must have had some kind of downside so she had decided that she would pass.

Dawn had opened her mouth. “I can-”

Malicia had raised her hand before her and had interrupted Dawn. “I’m not giving you a choice, Dawn. Let me continue my explanation.” The sorceress had forcefully said her gaze having a hint of steel in it.

Dawn had averted her eyes from Malicia’s and had nodded at her to continue, the sorceress had put a manicured finger on the desk and it had extended into a claw that she had checked to see if it had been sharp enough and had continued to speak.

“With this spell, you must specify the distance and direction to the location you desire to view remotely. It grants you a psychic impression of the location, which could give you deeper information. For example, a forest that is home to a tight-knit community of fae might appear as a city in the trees, or a beautiful palace ruled by an evil king and warded by forbiddance might appear as a dark fortress encased in insubstantial chains.”

The young woman hadn't lost sight of the sharp claws for one moment and hadn't wanted to get attacked by them. Still, she had listened to Malicia’s explanation.

“Then… is it good for mass teleport?” Dawn had tried to say.

Mass teleportation was so much harder than having someone teleporting with you because of the variables and information you had to take account of: height, clothes, weight, species… Dawn was good at retaining information and calculating but this was just beyond her for now.

Malicia had shaken her head and had lightly smiled. “More for precision teleportation.”

The sorceress had stood up and opened a portal to the sanctum, a white and dark blue hole in reality had appeared behind Dawn. Malicia had thrown a gem at her student who had caught it and had suddenly found herself being loaded with information directly into her brain. To be exact, the remote viewing spell. Closing her eyes and consulting the implanted memory, Dawn had found herself discouraged.

With her shoulders slumped, Dawn had looked at Malicia. “It sounds so complicated, I don’t know if I will be able to master it…”

“Don’t worry Dawn, I am not about theories and I prefer hands-on applications.” Malicia had given her a wicked smile that had sent a chill down Dawn’s spine.

This was how Dawn had found herself falling continuously into the void of the sanctum in a spatial loop trying remote viewing and attempting to land on the different platforms of the Library to find an artefact, a dagger. However Malicia wasn’t making it easy, she was throwing random fireballs at her to prevent her from focusing. Dawn had stopped panicking and screaming as she fell an hour ago, she had adapted to the dangerous training to try to really get her feet on the ground for once.

However, this time it wasn’t a fireball that came for her but a ball of compressed wind that hit her square in the stomach. Dawn grunted under the impact and was diverted from her trajectory. “Damnit! I was almost there!”

<Do better than that, Dawn.> Malicia said telepathically from the flying carpet she sat on, she was sipping a glass of wine as she watched her student do her best. <Like I told you, remote viewing. There’s only two ways you’ll be able to pass this trial, either in the school’s care center or by landing on a platform.>

“I HATE YOU.” The young woman shouted as she fell again.

Malicia was delighted by the taste of her daughter’s lover’s negative feelings, there was fear, anger and a lot of repressed hatred. The sorceress couldn’t wait to make the aspiring space mage explode and taste all that delicious hatred, treating Dawn this way was basically akin to cooking for her.

Dawn realized that she could just ensconce herself in a bubble of space to shield herself, but her attempt was foiled as Malicia waved her hand unmaking it.

<That’s cheating. Do it like I told you.>

Dawn growled as she fell yet again and put herself in a trance-like state and tried to search for the objective on one of the platforms. As she used remote viewing for a second, Dawn sent her psychic senses toward the most out of the way platforms first. There was something there, it beckoned to her, resonated with her darkness affinity.

However Dawn was again interrupted by a wind attack, “Argh!” Dawn fell in the middle of one of the platforms but suddenly found herself flung from it thanks to Malicia’s telekinetic spell and falling into the void yet again.

<There’s no resting for you today, girl.>

This process continued for another two hours before Dawn succeeded to make this torture stop by using all her mental acuity and willpower; Dawn managed to remote view a really well hidden platform, far up in the higher reaches of the sanctum with the concept of wooden shelves forming some kind of prison around it and in its center the fang of a black tiger.

Teleporting inside the prison Dawn landed face first and stayed there for a second, but she couldn’t stop moving or Malicia would throw her in the void again so she raised herself from her prone position. Groaning, Dawn swayed on her feet but steadied herself and put her hand on the pedestal with the shining ornate black dagger at it center. And it was at this instant that the weapon bonded with Dawn and the process made her scream as it bit onto her spiritual self.

As her student screamed till she dropped and bled; Malicia smiled as she watched as Dawn bonded with Carnwennan, the dagger of King Arthur. It was sometimes attributed with the magical power to shroud its user in shadows but Malicia knew that it was more than that, this weapon could really do much more.

Malicia frowned as she saw the girl’s body emitting blue white light that shouldn’t be part of the process of bonding with the artifact. The light was profound and indicated that the girl was changing, everything was changing. Through her enhanced mage sight, Malicia observed the phenomenon with growing unease.

“Is that what the people of this world call a trigger? It’s a bit different from the awakening ceremony the ancient humans have, here the change is incomplete; they don’t bond their mana core with their innate cosmic energy siphon… such a pity. But it also explains why Earth’s superhumans are so much weaker than Phantasia’s.”

The sorceress teleported to the platform and looked at Dawn’s unconscious body and turned her prone form over with a foot to get a look at the girl. With a wave of her hand she used a diagnostic spell that scanned Dawn who glowed gold while the changes were still ongoing.

“This does put a wrench in my plans to make her give up on Elissa, the torture she was going through was supposed to break her will and this happened. Fine, I will just scale up my efforts.” Malicia knelt at Dawn’s side and took her hair in her fist and looked more closely at her face. “Don’t think that I will let you win this bout, girl. I will make you give up on courting my daughter, you are not worthy of her.” The sorceress let go of the young woman’s head and teleported them to the care center of the school.

In Dawn’s hand Carnwennan the silver and black dagger gleamed in the shower of light.

 


 

July 5th, 2018
New York
Chelsea

 

Chelsea was a composite of town houses, low-rise apartment buildings, luxury high-rises and trendy attractions like the High Line, the elevated park built atop former railroad tracks. Set in former factories were more than 200 art galleries as well as Chelsea Market, filled with upscale food purveyors, restaurants and shops.

Not a place Douglas Blake would have seen himself living in three years ago, but now he and his wife lived in a townhouse built by Tesla Construction and rated for superhuman habitation. Even though it used reinforced materials, Blake’s house was built in a typical Renaissance style normally seen in London. It had multiple floors and as was usual nowadays a roof garden so that the residents could cultivate their own vegetables or have somewhere to relax.

Douglas and Maddison Lee-Blake were on their comfy sofa entangled with each other, watching the Super News channel. A television channel dedicated to news about superhumans and their activities, operating continuously. The channel belonged to Tesla Media and had recently begun to cover the Supernatural beings living alongside Humanity.

“More and more people who were thought to be humans are revealed to be supernatural beings or descended of them.”

Douglas and Maddison heard from the female anchor as the pictures changed and showed people with golden and dark skin with pointy ears going through their normal lives, as shopkeepers, clerks or policemen.

“The world has changed once more, people are now likening Tesla’s announcement about creating the Assembly on March 30th of this year as the same kind of event that revealed Superhumans to the world. Supernaturals, magic users, creatures from folklore and legends have stopped hiding. The Assembly has begun policing them and putting laws forward to protect them, globally.” The Anchor added.

Vampires and Werewolves were showcased this time, they acted as lawyers, doctors, firemen or even soldiers. Supernaturals were everywhere in human society. Some human groups have begun to mobilize to protest against the laws giving rights to non-humans, but have been shut-down by the sheer power of Tesla and Queen Dorina’s influence.

“This isn’t going to be easy, Doug.” Maddison’s hands tightened on her husband’s arms who took them and kissed her knuckles.

“Nothing truly is, Maddi.” Douglas said.

“In other news, our contact in Washington informed us that the League is losing ground to the Assembly in most American states. Intelligence and Law Enforcements agencies switched to the Assembly for reasons underlined by the secretary of defense and employees of those agencies that we interviewed.”

The picture on the screen changed to a middle-aged man in a well-groomed black suit. He was sitting on a chair and behind him the camera showed that they were in a cafeteria. The man smiled at the male journalist who began to ask questions. The name and function of the man were shown with a header on the screen.

Dave Colson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI

“Why did the director suddenly jump ship?” The journalist asked with a tenor voice.

Dave Colson seemed to choose his words before speaking. To Doug, the man seemed used to the media. His guess was proven correct when the man next opened his mouth, “That is because we know Nikola Tesla and the reliability of the gear and services he offers us. Valeria Harvey and her company are an unknown, and the boots she has to fill are too big. With the bad publicity from Howard Blake splashed on her, no one wants anything to do with her. We are not the only ones, the army and other countries are leaving the sinking ship that the Superhuman League has become.”

“Just for that? Why not give Valeria Harvey a chance?” The Journalist was mystified by his answer. The woman was described as someone who wanted to help others and supported numerous non-governmental organizations.

Colson shook his head, placed his hands on the table and looked straight into the camera.

“We already have tested the efficiency between the two companies; Tesla Industries is an old name and is the premier company in new technology and all sectors like Weapons, Air and Land Vehicles, metallurgy, new energy, medical innovation and pharmacology and Space, Val-Tech is an emergent conglomerate focused on weapons development. Their equipment supplied so far is adequate; Tesla’s is great and he always updates the current gear he offers as he wants law enforcement to be always cutting edge.”

The picture faded and changed to another individual, older this time, he too wore a black suit, glasses and his hair was completely white. He was sitting in the same cafeteria as the previous man they interviewed. The header showed his name.

Jeffrey Kyle, Director of the CIA

“What can you tell us about what is happening on the international level and why did you stick with Tesla Industries?” The journalist changed angles, and wished to get a larger picture of what was happening globally, not just in the USA.

The man made an affable smile. “Oh, with pleasure, it’s easy. Everyone who knows Nikola Tesla and Queen Dorina dropped the Superhuman League. I know it has done a lot of good over the years, but Howard Blake using it to further his political agenda and his mental instability put a stain on its credibility. Everything that man has done is now being judged and reviewed in every country managed by the League. Some of their activities have become damning enough for most world powers to switch from the League to the Assembly.”

Maddison nodded, as she was a lawyer specializing in finance and international policies, she knew that audits were a necessity when there was corruption in an organization of the League’s size. Doug thought again that to those in the know about what is truly happening, it’s evident that the CIA didn’t trust Val-Tech nor this Valeria woman at all.

“So it’s because of popularity, is that it?” The journalist asked, it was certain that everyone knew who Tesla and Queen Dorina were, they had saved the world multiple times. There were movies, comics, TV shows and songs about them. There was virtually no one who did not know them, while Valeria Harvey was an unknown, only famous in rich circles and financial magazines.

Director Jeffrey raised an eyebrow at that, then looked at the male interviewer as if he pitied him for a moment and said, “Nikola Tesla and Queen Dorina saved the Earth from the Vadwaur Alien Empire. This is not about popularity but loyalty, I trust The Queen and Tesla implicitly. We know they want everyone on this planet to be safe, whereas we don’t know for certain that Valeria has the same views.”

The journalist kept silent and the pictures faded at this moment to show the female anchor who began to speak more in detail about how the economy was unstable because of the shuffling between the Assembly and the League.

Maddison looked haunted. “Things will get worse, Doug. I feel it.”

Douglas looked into his wife’s silver eyes, she had tanned skin and silver hair and was drop dead gorgeous, showing a curvaceous body. His wife was a superhuman with enhanced intelligence and the ability to perceive, analyze, and comprehend patterns in her environment.

Maddison possessed great wisdom: a deep understanding and realization of concepts, people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgments, and actions while keeping these understandings. She was a really controlled woman that could keep her emotions in check so that reason and knowledge would prevail to determine her actions.

Douglas had grown up with her and when he became Major Freedom, Maddison saw through it instantly. She had begun to help him in his work for a time until she finished university. They had started dating five years ago and were now married.

“You have no idea Maddi.” He couldn’t tell his wife about what was really going on.

Riiiing. Riiiing. The doorbell rang and interrupted their alone time.

Maddison looked at Douglas and asked, “Huh, were you expecting someone?”

Douglas looked as surprised as she did. “No.”

“Who might it be?” Maddison tilted her head and stood up from next to her husband but he made her sit back.

“Wait, Maddi. I am going to see who it is.” Douglas stood up from the sofa in the living room and went down the stairs leading to the first floor and the entrance. Stopping at the porch he looked through the eyelet in the door and saw someone he never expected to see again. She had long blonde hair, cerulean blue eyes and a petite body with an hourglass figure.

“Who is it, Doug?” Maddison said from behind him, making Douglas jump from surprise.

Maddison scowled with suspicion, surely using her power to guess.

“I-It’s…” Douglas stuttered.

Maddison squinted her eyes and went to open the door, Douglas reacted too late as she opened the door and saw a pretty blonde woman in a red dress who was pregnant.

“Hi, Douggy! It’s been a while.” The woman said enthusiastically.

Maddison turned to her husband who waved at Carly Grant. The woman was likeable and didn’t seem to have a mean bone in her body.

“Hi Carly, it’s… yeah, it's been a while.” Douglas said awkwardly.

“Doug, please tell me you didn’t cheat on me.” Maddison said in a frosty tone, glaring at her husband emotionlessly.

Douglas stepped back from her and shouted, “Maddi! No, I didn’t! I swear!”

“Hum no. I am not your husband’s Mistress, he isn’t...” The gorgeous blonde said trying to defuse the situation she put the man she came to for help in.

Still scowling, Maddison said, “Who are you?”

The petite woman lost the spark of life in her eyes as she said with shame, “I am… I was Howard Blake’s mistress.”

Maddison stayed silent and after a moment finally took the woman by her right arm and brought her into their home.

 

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