Becoming monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission
This idea comes from Amethyst Dragonfly. The Sapphire Rose, mentioned in this chapter, is a real book, part of the Elenium series by David and Leigh Eddings, and was one of my formative literary experiences.
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Chapter 5: Crisis
“Don’t you think it’s a bit… odd, how quickly this is going?”
Abbey was starting to get a bit annoyed. It was Wednesday morning, and for the last three days it seemed that all Brittany was able to do was drop hints that something was rotten in paradise. “I told you, we just do really well together. It already feels like we’ve been together for years, not days.”
They were going around the counters to get ready for another day on the job. Lunch time was about to begin, and that was never an easy one during the work week. “Yeah, you keep on saying that. It’s getting a bit creepy, Abbey. Like you’re being forced to say it or something.”
Abbey’s thoughts were a bit more amused than her tone of voice at that. Her friend would, of course, have noticed that her patterns were off. That she no longer rode the same bus home, that she spent all her free time (and much that really wasn’t free) either with or talking about him, that her own tastes were changing slowly as she tried out a bunch of new things. Seriously, peppermint in coffee? The thought had given the Christmas-averse Marid pause until Justin introduced her to it, and now it just felt comfy.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. After all, she knew the Wish that brought her here was a good one. One which had results she didn’t really mind. Obeying the demands of her Race was often unpleasant. A compulsion to do what was demanded, a helplessness to stop herself. This time? It was comfy. “Look, just because I found a Special Someone doesn’t make it creepy. Now come on, Mr. Phillips looks nervous and that always makes for a rough day. We need to dig in.”
Abbey, much to Brittany’s irritation, was not at all wrong. The combination of one of their better workers calling in sick (something about his brother being in the hospital and possibly contagious), combined with mid-month pay going out to people on biweekly schedules plus a rise in Dungeon activity meant that they had been getting slammed all morning. Lunch rush promised to be much, much worse. Both of the ladies got themselves set with name tags and tills, then got to dive straight on to the Coinage line.
The Central Bank of Seattle was famous around town for both inclusive policies and an enormous Coin vault. As a result, they did a lot of business with Delvers and those who dealt with them a lot. One would think that the job of dealing with that would be easy, due to the simple nature of the currency. One would be wrong.
Coinage was relatively easy to fake and hard to detect (especially at lower denominations) without specialized equipment. They had that equipment, and Delvers themselves tended to hold its integrity as practically sacred, but it didn’t stop the occasional punk from trying to pass a couple for a quick payday. Their exact exchange rates also varied, so conversion work in both directions could shift by the hour. There were also documentation and security requirements for the Vault, since more was being discovered daily. They also tended to be heavily armed and armored, though they were usually required to leave that in a locker in the entryway.
All of this paled in comparison to the big one. People using the Coinage counter tended to be disproportionately of strange Races, esoteric Classes, or both. One had to be precise with language, sure of willpower, calm in the face of horrifying fear, and able to hold a set routine through it all. Plus it was customer service.
A Human who seemed compelled to speak in rhyme might be under a curse, an odd ritual requirement, or might not actually be Human. The Angel could be accidentally pushing any of a dozen emotions or instinctive responses into the world. A black-scaled being who was sweating smoke was probably like any other person, but only probably. Each day was an endless parade of unknowns, punctuated by occasional familiar faces. Faces like the Incubus who was just getting into the other line, while his wife and a vulture-winged guest were chatting near hers. Faces like the repairman near the door.
Faces like Justin, who seemed to appear out of nowhere next to her station. The red-skinned Succubus who was next in line smiled knowingly and waited calmly for her turn.
“Hey, Abbey! Just wanted to drop by and say hi!”
“While we’re in a rush condition?”
“I mean, I have to work, but I missed you. Also got you a gift, saw a copy of The Sapphire Rose and remembered you mentioned yours got ruined in a rainstorm.” He was holding out the book, too.
Abbey’s heart melted a bit as she took it from him, a dopey smile on her face. “Do you have to leave? You can just… hang out here for a bit?”
His smile matched her own as he stepped a bit to the side to let the next customers up to the counter. Their bag of mixed Coinage was surprisingly heavy, in thoroughly mixed denominations. She must have been really busy recently. Abbey remembered something on the news about an attack at the hospital recently, that might have something to do with it.
With deft hands, she emptied and sorted the bag, running its contents through her detectors as she and Justin chatted lightly with the customer. It all checked out, not that she was expecting anything different. Three denominations, three packages labeled and secured in the miniature safe beneath her counter. Totals tallied, annotated, and added to the appropriate account. No need for a fee, they were doing a straight deposit and not changing to dollars.
“Thank you, ma’am. Do you need a receipt with your current balances?”
The cherry-red succubus shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. We have the app, best not have it on a paper that can be lost.”
Abbey was just opening her mouth to utter the scripted end of the conversation when she was interrupted by something new. Wildly out of the routine. The blaring yell of the metal detectors, unknown to most patrons, had two distinct tones. The first was for a single point source, where it was expected that they would look and evaluate whether it was a threat or if someone just forgot to put a sword away. The second, though, was for when it detected multiple sources or overwhelming hostile intent through its magical augmentations. This bone-shaking scream was one the staff were trained to react to instantly, but hoped to never have to do in real life. It was one that had not sounded in nearly four years, not since the end of the First Year’s chaos and the tenuous reassertion of peace in the city. Five skeletons, their white bones clad in icy armor, their hands brandishing shotguns that were coming up to fire on the helpless crowd.
Instantly, Abbey performed all three actions required of her. She dove down, she opened the gate to let customers into the relative safety of her space, and once there she slapped the small red button there. In years past, the alarm would have been silent, and indeed it also sent the standard alert to the nearby police department. This time, in this facility, it had more obvious effects. The speakers across the bank yelled as one.
“IMMEDIATE THREAT IN BANK LOBBY! ALL LICENSED DELVERS PRESENT, WEAPONS FREE! WEAPONS FREE! WEAPONS FREE!”
With a shout, a muscular winged gray humanoid across the lobby launched a jet of flame at one of them, the Squirrel next to him (who was dressed as a clown for some reason) diving for cover. A half-dozen customers were huddled behind Abbey’s counter, the Succubus and the black-winged woman (a Karackt Demon, perhaps) were speaking rapidly off to one side. Abbey got the counter gate re-locked, but at that moment the Skeletons opened fire. The shotguns were thunderously loud in the marble-facade lobby, frightening the cowering customers.
Suddenly, Justin was there. With two quick glances around, he focused. His hands clapped together, then slammed against the vertical counter surface. It, and the chairs behind them, suddenly glowed. The chairs rapidly ceased to be, the steel that once composed most of their form flowing to the wall in front of them. In an instant, it was done. The metal hardened into a latticework reinforcement, then sunk into the marble between them and the invaders. From the outside, almost nothing changed, but the barrier would now withstand a lot more than before.
A series of shouts, more shotgun blasts, a string of small explosions. Suddenly, the two Demonic Delvers who had been huddling with them leapt to their feet. The Succubus’s hands glowed with angry red-orange power as she launched a Fireball at the enemy. Immediately after the following detonation, the black-winged Karackt leapt over the counter and charged forward, screaming her defiance.
Still behind the counter with his girlfriend, Justin held Abbey tight. The awful sounds of combat persisted for a few moments more. With every crash, every boom, and every shout, he held her closer. After an eternal-seeming moment, all sounds ceased. The blaring alarm, its job fulfilled, silenced itself. The Delvers called out status checks to each other. Behind the counters, employees and customers still cowered. Justin still had his arms protectively around her, unwilling to let go as he whispered reassurances to her. Abbey found that she didn’t really mind.
The police arrived at that moment, the gray man identifying himself with a familiar-sounding taunt. All of the people there were filed out, statements taken. Abbey looked around in fear, seeing the pockmarked facade in front of her counter. Without Justin’s intervention, there was no telling if one of those shots would have found her flesh. As she gave her descriptions to the officers, one more thought crept into her head. Where is Brittany?
The answer to that question in particular would not be given to her. As soon as the Skeletons had walked in, the blonde Spy knew what was up. They weren’t acting like people. That meant Minions, which in turn meant that someone nearby had to be controlling them. It took moments, in the initial confusion, to escape via one of the doors to the back areas, and from there to take a fire exit to an alleyway, the noise covered by the existing weapons free notice. As the fight raged, Brittany set out to look for someone, anyone, who could be doing it.
Her mind was racing. Okay, skeletons. Means a Necromancer, Wizard, possibly a really niche Medium or Valkyrie. Probably means robes, and definitely means focus needed. Unless they’re REALLY high level or have a lot of specific choices, it means they’re close by. Safe enough to look, since if they’re that strong they wouldn’t be sending super basic Minions. Search for the creepy person in robes with a look of concentration on their face. Probably one that we’ve seen in the bank at least once or twice, they’d need to know the layout.
She was scared, at the beginning, that it would take a while or be entirely fruitless. She had barely worked through her priorities and started her search when a sudden and vehement string of swear words sounded from the next alleyway over. It sounded so bad that she was fairly sure if they had been bleeped out, the bleeps would have formed the Morse Code for a separate, equally vehement blasphemy. The voice was a familiar one, too, oily and dirty. Some days, the job was easier than others.
Her feet barely made a sound as she padded over to the back opening of the alley, getting into position to listen… then took off running in pursuit as two people dashed past.
The first was likely her quarry, a squat and horned form wearing spellcaster robes. “I thought you said there wouldn’t be a response!”
Running beside him was a taller woman, a black-furred feline of some kind. “I said that SWAT would be delayed, but we knew that Delvers might be in the lobby of the most popular Delver bank in town. That was your job!”
Sirens were sounding from the road, but they were late. If these two were running like that, and there had been Delver responders, it meant those Minions would be long gone. They’d probably point weapons at the actual defenders, then ask a lot of pointless questions and not get anything real accomplished. Especially if that Black Cat had an in on them.
The squat man, probably an Imp, shook his head. “At least I got a good look at them. Muscular gray guy with wings, looked like a Gargoyle or an Incubus. The others were obviously a cherry-red Succubus subspecies spellcaster and a Karackt frontliner, probably a Sorceress and a Berserker. That enough for you?”
“Plenty. I know about the first two already, they work the rental rooms. The Kithkins. I’ve patronized both, pity I will probably have to kill them now.”
“Just remember you aren’t getting backed up this time. This hunt was my idea, not Featherhead’s.”
“If the boss catches you calling him that, some Delvers are going to be the least of your worries. We need to get the retreat ready. Come on, here’s our ride.” They both practically dove into the back of an unmarked black van, which drove off with as much haste as the daytime Seattle traffic would allow. The plates were missing, too, making identification an unholy pain.
I have no idea who the Kithkins are, but here’s hoping they can handle themselves. Those two struck me as dangerous enough to back up their words. Best get back to the Bank, though. I can tell the cops I saw stuff that will point them in the right direction.
Back up the alleyways. Back in through the back door. Back to the lobby, stealthily getting into line by playing airhead briefly. Looking around her once there, reassured by seeing her best friend unharmed and talking to investigators, she judged the scale of the mayhem which had occurred in her absence. If the scorch marks, shattered tile, twisted brass pole, and explosive damage were any indication? The Kithkins would be just fine. Perhaps not their house, but that’s what insurance was for.
The inside service areas of the bank closed for the rest of the day. The fact that the entire lobby was both an active crime scene and would also need some serious repairs conspired to make it moderately useless to a typical customer. As soon as they were through being interviewed, the lobby manager set his people to putting up signage directing people to ATMs and calling both insurance and repair companies. Much to the agony of the folks receiving those calls. After that, though? They were released, with the additional warning to keep their phones on them in case more information was needed. Justin was very late to his BuckStar shift, but given what had held him up he wasn’t in any trouble. Having a reasonable boss was a good thing.
This all left Abbey herself in a state that she wasn’t really used to anymore. That is to say, at loose ends. No obligation, boyfriend tied up, nowhere to be. It took her a few breaths while standing at the bus stop to really appreciate the fact. Especially this last week, her life had been non-stop SOMETHING from the time she woke up in the morning to the time she settled down in the evening. Almost unconsciously, she found herself on the bus home.
At least, the place she used to call home. The clearing near the apartment building, hidden in the forest. The week had not treated it well, without her there to maintain it. Without most of the ongoing powers keeping it comfortable. The area was damp with the constant overnight rains, the smells off, the undergrowth having swiftly returned. It was, however, where she theoretically still had some of her stuff. Abbey checked her Status screen. Alternate Form was no longer marked Disabled, but her Ten was nowhere near fully recovered and there had been something draining her mana overnight the past couple of days.
Time for experiments. Nearly forgotten, she felt for her true self and let her will soften. It was a sensation she hadn’t needed to acknowledge in nearly a week. Somehow, becoming Justin’s girlfriend came with that much. The ability to sleep for the night in a space that wasn’t sized for elephants. The familiar smoke enveloped her, and when it fled she found her perspective had shifted… though, perhaps not quite as much as she’d hoped. Nine feet of Marid was not the same as eighteen, though it was certainly a large step up from not being able to utilize it.
“Okay, looks like I’m still recovering. Not the strongest Wish that I’ve ever dealt with, but it’s up there.” She wasn’t talking to anybody in particular, which was good because nobody was there. Nine feet also might not be enough to reach all of her hidey holes in this place, but she could get a lot of them. Lots of bits, bobs, and trinkets she didn’t have the presence of mind to retrieve the last time she was here. Some backup cards, some of her papers and identification, a bit of Coinage she’d received for various favors and tips over time. Not nearly everything, but a lot. She piled up the stuff she could reach, took quick stock, and nodded to herself. The process had taken a while to complete, and night was beginning to fall. It was time to get on the bus and start heading back.
With a moment of concentration, Abbey conjured her power again to return to the form Justin knew. The mists returned, thinner this time, but with a sudden stabbing pain through her skull they vanished. It felt like a red-hot needle through her left eyeball, abrupt and shocking in its intensity. Another try, this one coming with a matching headache through her right eyeball and exactly zero visible effect. Status confirmed it, she was entirely out of Mana. Though this process did not require MUCH of it, it did require some. She was stuck.
With a deep sigh, she began picking up her things. “Looks like I’m the big spoon tonight.”
A couple of miles away, the evening was beginning to wind down for Justin. The closing shift was somewhat worse than usual without Abbey there, the lack of conversation and flirting a gaping absence where he had gotten used to having someone. It made what had once been merely a bit of boredom into something a lot more noticeable. He still got some homework done, he still did his reading and some portfolio planning, but it just wasn’t the same as the comfortable routine he’d built with her.
The chime at the door sounded. Without even looking up from the machine he was cleaning, Justin started up his standard greeting. “Welcome to-”
“Can it,” came the abrupt interruption. “I’m not here for coffee.” The voice was a familiar one, he quickly stood straight and turned. Blonde hair, pretty looks, and nice business clothes. He remembered her, if only because she usually came in with Abbey in tow.
“Then how can I help you, Brittany?”
She was not looking like her bubbly self right now. Eyes furrowed in concentration and aggression, stance forward. Definitely not like she was going to order her normal one-of-nearly-everything concoctions. “I know something strange is going on with you, Justin. Abbey doesn’t just fall for people like that. She doesn’t just move into some strange guy’s dorm overnight. She doesn’t trust people like that. Not with her deepest secrets. It took her a year and a half of knowing me before she told me what she was, and in less than a day she was offering you her Wishes? You don’t fool me, nobody is that good. You have to be coercing her, tricking her, something!”
He paused for a moment as her steam seemed to run out. “If you know what she is, you can trust her to care for herself. I’ve had to do a lot of research on her in the last week. Abbey’s brimming with cautionary tales but no real suggestions.”
“So she did give them to you. Well, congratulations.” Her tone was anything but congratulatory. “What are you going to abuse her powers to get yourself? Wealth? Power?”
Justin shook his head. “I’m not even thinking about that yet, okay? I need to graduate. I need to take care of myself so that I can take care of her. I don’t want her bound to me, but every tale I’ve found ends with the Genie vanishing after they grant their third Wish. There isn’t anything in the world I’d want with that as the price.”
That gave the woman some pause. Someone who had world-changing power at his hand and just… didn’t even think about it? “They leave because nobody should have that kind of power. It always happens. By the time the last Wish is cast, their master is a monster. They get greedy, they get megalomaniacal. I do not trust you. She didn’t give you those Wishes willingly, she never would. You had to do something nefarious, and I’ve seen a lot of suspicious stuff out of you.”
It took a lot to irritate Justin Majors. For much of his life, he was easygoing. During college, he was usually too tired to care. Recently, Abbey had cushioned him from the worst parts of himself. This, though? This crossed a line. “In case you missed it, I was the one who dove towards her today. I was the one who tapped into Class Abilities I haven’t touched in years to try to put an extra wall between her and the bank robbers. I was the one who held her. What about you? I didn’t see you there. You vanished. Scampered. Don’t you dare tell me I’m the nefarious one here!”
There was silence. His voice had been rising through his rant, ending in a shout. The door chime rang, both looking over. The person coming in, an old-looking Imp with a teenager in a gray hoodie in tow, decided that this might not be the best time to get a latte and walked the other direction. To be fair, it was probably a wise idea.
The fury in Brittany’s chest was nearly equal to Justin’s own. “You have no idea how hard it was for me to leave that room. To go do what needed to be done.”
“I don’t, and I don’t care. Abbey is safe, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure she stays that way. Now, if you don’t want to order anything, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the store. We’re closing soon.”
She fixed him with a glare, but without another word turned and exited. He breathed out, his heart pounding. Brittany was Abbey’s best friend. Whatever else happened, he couldn’t just ignore her, and couldn’t ask his girlfriend to cut her off. Somehow, someway, he’d have to convince her that he was not coercing or tricking Abbey into this… while at the same time knowing that without the Wish, he’d probably never have gotten the chance.
He finished cleaning up and locking up the store in short order, walking home in quiet contemplation. There were no easy answers to this one, nothing he could point to and tell himself was the Obviously Right Thing To Do. All Justin could think of was getting back to his room, cuddling with Abbey, getting some sleep, and getting to class the next morning. As he dialed in his door code, he made the resolution to keep trying to do the right thing, and hope that things took care of themselves.
His thought process was interrupted as his door opened when a pair of azure hands, each large enough to get more than halfway around his torso, grabbed him and yanked him inside. Abbey swept him into a fierce hug, her sobs of frustration and delayed tears of terror venting the emotions of the day. A bit painfully, but he’d endure worse for her. She needed a friend like him. True to her prediction, despite it all, she was the big spoon that night, on a bed that certainly would have collapsed under her weight a week prior.
