Chapter 157
A Piece of Cheese
Black Friday (12:01 AM)
“So, I have to ask,” Gina began, but then paused her question as she continued to watch as Alexa created layer upon layer of complex runic designs before her. Gina herself had a basic understanding of runes, and her analytical mind and class were allowing her to make leaps of logic that mathematically filled in the roles of the questions she was right now formulating, but for the most part she was at a complete loss at what Alexa was doing.
Pausing for a moment, Alexa turned to look at Gina. “You want to know why I gave over the orb to Judge?”
Hearing that Gina paused, as she took a moment to comprehend why Alexa would refer to her mother as her superhero persona. Was this because she wanted to distance herself from her mother, or was this because she handed it over to Judge, the Superhero, knowing that she would act differently than she would, or likely should as a mother?
Thinking about it for a moment, Gina assumed it was the latter, which meant that Alexa somehow felt that Judge’s actions, and in this case reactions, would be misguided. Realizing that, she decided to redress that bag of issues at a much further point down the road, hopefully well after whatever issue the two were having now was cleared up. It was clear that there were differences of opinions about what should and should not be done with the orb, but Gina couldn’t help but feel that Alexa did a great job of deescalating a potentially tens situation by outright giving the orb to an older and more established Super. Though it was clear that Alexa was up to something, despite having clear reservations she gave up the orb to her mother, but only after she first emptied the one case of all Void Essence crystals, then proceeded to place the orb inside the box for safety purposes. At which point Alexa then remade both her Aru’ka outfit, along with Gina’s L.I.R. outfit. That was another thing that Gina wanted to ask about, namely why her outfit stood out so much, but that one Gina hoped for was fairly straightforward to answer.
No, for right now, there were a few pressing issues, at least from her own observations of the scenes. First, she needed to know what Alexa thought of her mother. The fact that she was still tied to the elves in some way, despite everything that happened, was beyond reproach. Even Alexa’s burning of the elven body to make it look like an orc was burnt to a crisp was an amazing act of chicanery on Alexa’s part. Something that Gina had thought was too devious for normal Alexa to do, but apparently nothing was beyond emotional Alexa. All of these things, rather than causing questions to arise in Gina about whether she should continue to pursue a relationship with Alexa, did the exact opposite. In all aspects, Gina found Alexa absolutely intriguing, both facets of her personality were deep, complex, and above all deliciously intelligent. The fact that she knew that she acted differently and that she would wait until she either was on an energy-induced high or would wait until her high was over to conduct herself also made her even more intriguing to Gina. Take for instance right now, it was clear that Alexa had waited until her more pragmatic mind took over, meaning what she was about to do was either borderline immoral, or dubious at best. This was why Gina had tried to diligently to stay by Alexa’s side throughout this whole encounter, also the mental image of Alexa sitting and saving the world from devastating Void Energy, while in nothing more than her panties made her heart race even now. Unfortunately, the entire scene had been too much for Gina to even act on the situation. First with Alexa’s disposing of any evidence linking the cabin out in the woods being linked to the elves, then the destruction and absorption of the Void Energy, thereby ensuring Dawning Light Academy and the surrounding area was free of another incident like what happened in England. All of this made it so that Gina realized that even if things didn’t work out between the two of them, that if gods forbid something drastic happened, Gina swore then and there to do everything to support Alexa, until her dying breath.
Silence.
Gina paused from her musings, only to realize that Alexa was staring at her. It was the stare of a wolf, or an apex predator that had taken time from a hunt to observe a pack mate. Staring into her deep blue eyes made a shiver run down Gina’s spine, but in a good way. Realizing Alexa was waiting for her, she mentally ran through their conversation and realized Alexa had in fact asked a question. This was another thing about Alexa, when she asked questions, even open-ended questions, she almost always meant the question, meaning they weren’t just open platitudes. While she didn’t always ask for trivial details about her life, when she did, it meant she truly wanted to know. This was a great change, and part of what endeared her to Gina in the first place. Now when Alexa asked what she thought, or how her day was, it was clear that Alexa actually meant the question, and wanted to hear the truth, not like what her parents had brought her up to believe. Now Alexa had asked her about what Gina thought her actions were for, which was great as it ultimately meant that Alexa wanted her to know her true thoughts, that she wanted to connect on a fundamental level. Realizing this, Gina answered truthfully.
“I think I understand why you did what you did.” Gina began, “your rationale for giving the orb to Judge had many reasons, from being a higher ranked Super, to familial bonds, to others. That said, I don’t think that is the main reason you would have given over the orb, especially not after having placed it in the box that once housed the Void Essence crystals. Something that you conveniently hid from Judge.” Gina added, as she spoke, she got more and more tells from Alexa. The way her eyes remained the same size showed that she didn’t have a reaction to the evidence or rationale so far. The way her body posture remained loose, implying that she was ready to respond back if her logic was off, but so far there was no need or concern about misunderstanding from Gina’s point of view. This was good, as this ultimately led to Gina’s true question.
“I get all of that. I also think that those are diversionary efforts. I think the main reason you handed over the orb was for a different purpose all together, though for the life of me, I can’t figure it out and I am truly sorry for that.” Gina began.
Hearing that Alexa nodded in understanding. This was another tell that Gina was learning to pick up on, her nod was not only a seal of approval, but also a sign that she understood the confusion and was going to try to fix said confusion. Whether she would, or would not didn’t matter, the fact that she gave a nod meant she would try to work to fix whatever problem was before her.
“I can understand that.” Alexa began, and then paused as her mind worked for a way to express her thoughts. This was always the most fascinating thing about Alexa to Gina, the way Alexa’s exceptional mind worked. She was the equivalent of a supercomputer that was always planning five moves in advance.
“To catch a truly adept mouse, you don’t need to use a better mouse trap. By now the traps that have been invented are by far and away adaptable enough to find one for any set of circumstances.” Alexa began.
Hearing that Gina paused as she analyzed the words. “You are saying this is part of a trap, but the trap is not what needed to be focused on, rather it was…” Gina trailed off as her mind went to the only possible conclusion. “The cheese?”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Alexa nodded, “yes, the bait, but cheese works just as well for this metaphor. See, I know my mother has ties to the elves. Even now she refuses to believe that the elves would be part of the schemes that killed Warder.” The word Warder was hard to say for her and it was clear that at least some form of emotion was present in the word. This was good, as it meant that Alexa was learning to deal with and express her emotions in a natural way. While the subject was terrible, it still made Gina smile on the inside, knowing that she was getting better, even at what at times felt like exceptionally slow increments. Still, this was neither the time nor the place to make such an observation, as it would delay what Alexa was trying to express currently.
Gina paused, wanting to see if Alexa was done talking, or if she would continue. After a moment, Alexa regained herself, a slight gulp, but it was visible to Gina who had been looking for just such a response. Again, not much, most people would thing that it was just a natural reaction, like pausing to take a breath, but for the normally emotionless Alexa, this might have been the equivalent of her crying her heart out.
“In order to prove the elves are not only involved in this, but I have also set up tracking runes.” Alexa said.
At this Gina paused, but then formulated a hypothesis. Gina knew that the orb would destroy any and all runes that were visible to it, just as it would destroy magical spells. In fact, that was what tipped Gina off to it to begin with, as Alexa’s Clone suddenly dissolved while in the middle of the Thanksgiving Day ceremony. Gina had been aware that Alexa made the switch before that point, but decided to carry on like nothing had happened, figuring that she would at least be able to ask Alexa about what she was doing later. It was only after the dispersal of Alexa’s Clone that Gina became concerned and snuck off to investigate where Alexa had gone off too. Fortunately, there were a few trails to follow, broken branches, a strand of black hair, and above all the giant burst of sunlight from a forest that should have been completely hidden from one’s senses.
Still there was one question that Gina had to answer, if Alexa had set up tracking runes, then where exactly were they? Then the idea hit her, “you put them on the box?”
At that Alexa nodded.
Gina ran a few mental calculations, and then formulated, “on the bottom of the box, that way even the removal of the orb wouldn’t trigger their immediate disruption?”
Alexa nodded again.
Gina took in all the evidence and postulated the one glaring concern that she had with the whole operation. Kudos to Alexa for coming up with the plan, and for not only thinking about it, but for sticking to it and letting Judge come up with her own plausible explanation for everything. Complete with letting Judge think that the place was an orcish safehouse that had been set up as a forward base of operations. But for also coming up with a way that Alexa could monitor and track the movement of the package, then another thought occurred to her. “You can also hear and likely detect others who are nearby with these runes?”
Alexa nodded again.
This was good, “so who is around the box right now?”
“Judge and Ms. Peacock. There is another, but neither of those two are aware of the third person’s presence.”
“Is it Mr. Mackie?” Gina posed.
Alexa just shook her head, “no, as near as I can tell he is still missing.”
“Right, what about Kelvin?” Gina asked, referring to Mr. Mackie’s long-lost son, and one of the people that has remained in hiding since this whole thing began.
“Right now, he is with Kylie and a few of the others.” Alexa said.
Hearing that, it was clear that there was more to that statement than Alexa was willing to comment on, but for the moment Gina felt that the majority of her concerns revolving around Kelvin were either unfounded or had been resolved with Alexa unlocking her class. Regardless Gina was happy that Kelvin had found someone, especially since that person was someone other than Alexa.
This time Gina nodded.
There was a moment of silence, as Gina then used the moment to think about possible situations and possible scenarios where things could go wrong. This was something Gina was feeling happening to her more and more often recently, not that she wasn’t already prone to worrying, but with the awakening of her class, and now her sudden deep karmic tie to Alexa, she found herself worrying more and more. One thing she worried about was her relationship with Alexa. While it was true that she was now considered to be the soul mate of Alexa, Gina was under no belief that such a connection in any way meant that she and Alexa were a mated pair. In fact, from what she saw, most of the others were either exact twins, or were related in some way to one another. In the end the fact that they were now bonded by this karmic tie of fate didn’t mean much, other than they both needed each other to succeed. This meant that anything extra Gina would have to work for, but she was more than willing to do this, for her.
“What will you do if the elves get this orb?” Gina asked, trying to understand all of Alexa’s plans.
“I will see where they take it and see how many more weapons store houses they have like the last one hidden around the world.” Alexa said.
At that, Gina’s eyes went wide with the implication. The thought was that this safe house had been a one off, but Alexa seemed to be implying that multiple of these types of store houses existed all around the world. The worst part was, that after taking in all available information, Gina couldn’t quite refute the claim.
“You don’t think this orb was a one off?”
Hearing that Alexa shook her head. “No, the odds of one orb happening to be here on a non-integrated planet doesn’t make much sense. Particularly if this type of item is rare. It is more likely that hundreds or maybe even thousands of these orbs exist, meaning the loss of one on a non-integrated planet, even for only a few moments of time would not be worth noting. That said, the ones that are in charge of the overall processes here will know and be concerned with the findings. Meaning they will come out and likely deal with this situation personally, that or at the very least send a trusted agent to act in their stead.”
Hearing that Gina’s understanding of Alexa’s true brilliance shined through. Again, she was setting this piece up, knowing that it would likely be taken back by the enemy. Her only goal in allowing such a valuable piece to be taken was that she would then hopefully gain more understanding of who was actually pulling the strings behind this whole operation. Still, there was one major question that Gina had about her plans that still seemed somewhat reckless.
“Even if you find out who is ultimately behind all of these actions, wouldn’t that mean that you were still vulnerable to the orb meaning that you would be cut off from your magic?” Gina asked.
Alexa nodded, “yes, but if I am correct, and these orbs are far more common than they might otherwise appear, then I need to prepare to battle under such adverse conditions.”
Hearing that Gina paused, as the full weight of what she was saying hit her. Alexa was stating that she would purposefully fight an unknown enemy of unknown power and strength, knowing that her Magical aptitude, by far and away the tool she was best at using would likely be denied to her. It was at this point that Gina saw the problem that likely all of the other Chosen Ones had to deal with. That or maybe it was Gina’s luck that her Chosen One was a battle-crazed maniac that was determined to challenge herself to get better at what was clearly the weakest aspect of her repertoire at this point, namely physical combat.
Nodding in understanding, Gina could respect the notion of her statement. Even if she herself could not get behind such a belief, she could at least understand how and why Alexa thought the way that she did. For now, just being able to understand Alexa’s point of view was enough for Gina to feel that she had gained some fundamental understanding of the world, as it meant that now she could figure out the best way to help her.
There was of course more to this, and Gina knew that there would always be more as what had been placed in Alexa’s path was much more than anyone could possibly hope to deal with, but seeing Alexa, Gina couldn’t help but feel assured that for now Alexa was up to the task. She did have her shortcomings, like charging headfirst into problems, but that was who Alexa was. The one who would charge head first into a dangerous situation. The one who took it upon themselves to find what equated to an armed terrorist cell of alien visitors who were sitting on a stockpile of weapons that were beyond the scope of their world to handle. Then once she charged in and eliminated the threat, her next course of action was to make it so that the weapons, in this case the Void Essence, a substance that sent ripples of fear down Gina’s spine every time she so much as thought about the alien substance. Yet, rather than balk at that, Alexa charged head first and eliminated the essence. Then her next step was to set up a trap to capture anyone else who might be related to this operation. Honestly it was a bit beyond Gina, she was well aware of her mortal limitations, but for Alexa, despite the anti-magical handicap, she knew that Alexa would be ready to face any and all challenges that might arise.
Blinking runes.
The runes on the network that Alexa had set up began to pulse and glow brightly.
“What does that mean?” Gina asked, though she already had somewhat of a suspicion.
“It means that we will find the next link in the chain rather shortly.”
Gina nodded, but then realized there was an operative word in there, “we?”
Alexa nodded, “yes, I want you to come with me.”