Chapter 265

Unique Problem Solving

(Mallory)

“You know, thrusting Penelope onto mom like that, will only make her resent Penelope, which is not what I think you were going for there.” Gwendolyn Spiritlight said, her tone denoting the honest candor that Mallory had come to expect and love from her partner.

Someone who was unafraid to tell her the truth, someone who would unquestioningly answer questions that were posed to her. And as in this case, someone that would answer questions that were not spoken at all.

“I know, but I was just so frustrated with her at the time. She just twitches and somehow manages to break the world. I mean, I was there, watching her smile brightly as she helped give birth? Life? To the child of two inanimate objects that she brought to life. Then while she and I were talking, she went and somehow set off another World First Announcement, it is just frustrating. Then there was the fact that Penelope could now also be a target, and I panicked.” Mallory admitted, slowly losing steam as she walked her way through her own mental thoughts of what happened.

“It probably didn’t help that you felt you inadvertently started the whole process by breaking your own gaes.” Gwen added.

“There is that, now it’s like everything that goes wrong from here on out is my faulty.” Mallory admitted.

“It’s not though, all you can control is yourself.” Gwen replied.

“Right, but in this case, I could control things, if only for a moment.” Mallory replied.

“Could you? Or is that what you are telling yourself now? I guarantee if you told this to mom, she would be able to work it out with you. To see if it was just meant to be a warning, or a way to control the progress. My guess is that it would just be a warning, one that you theoretically had minimal control over.” Gwen responded.

As she spoke, Mallory felt even more tension leaving her shoulders.

“You know, you are probably correct.”

“Probably?”

“Okay, most likely correct, that better?”

“Yes,” Gwen said, but then she looked somewhat distracted as she seemed to glance towards the entrance.

“Something happening?” Mallory asked, seeing Gwen’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Yes, Jhonny is coming very quickly, and seems to have some residual forms of pixie dust on him.”

“Pixie dust?”

“Yeah, it’s what happens when the Fae condense their ephemeral energy.” Gwen noted.

“I know what it is, but why is it on Jhonny?” Mallory asked.

Hearing that Gwen just shrugged, “don’t know. I’m sure we will find out once he gets here and gives his status report.”

Feeling that something bad might have happened, Mallory paused and then asked the next most important question.

“Is Cass still here?”

Pausing, Gwen seemed to stare off in the distance, and then stood up. Well tried to stand up, as her body did not allow for such movements, given her bloated stature.

“No, I don’t believe so.”

“Can you tell if she was?” Mallory asked.

“Does a nuclear factory show up on infrared imaging?” Gwen replied.

“Right, sorry bad question.”

“No, I just see the one of her with the Kujos.”

“One? So, the main one is missing?” Mallory asked.

“Yes, and I believe Penelope is also gone.” Gwen stated, turning her head as she seemed to scan the entire area.

“Oh well, at least she is following the directive of having a buddy around.” Mallory noted.

“You know, it is only a matter of time before she decides to leave Penelope with her Simulacrum that is watching over the Kujos, right?” Gwen noted.

“She’s not there?”

“What? No, but give it time. I have no doubt that Penelope will be with a Simulacrum for the better part of each day as a sort of game Cass would play.”

“Do not wish that evil upon me, I’m trying to get unstressed.” Mallory said, clutching over her heart.

Gwen was just about to reply to Mallory, when she turned her head towards the door and instead said, “let him in.”

Slam.

With that a panting Jhonny appeared, and began running towards Mallory. Then getting within a few paces, Jhonny paused to catch his breath, only to inadvertently inhale some type of dirt on his jacket before spitting it out, or at least trying to, before a quick sheen of magic seemed to snap into place over and around Jhonny.

Pause.

With the sheen of magic, Jhonny’s body froze in place.

Seeing the suddenly still and hunched over Jhonny, Mallory looked momentarily confused for a moment, before turning to Gwen.

Gwen just smiled.

“Oh, that is just diabolical,” Gwen finally noted.

“What is?” Mallory asked.

“Mom, apparently hit Jhonny with two doses of her Time Stopping pixie dust.” Gwen said.

“Two doses?” Mallory parroted.

“Yes, the first was on his back, and the second was a dormant dose that had to be inhaled on his chest and shoulder area.” Gwen said, pointing to the areas where the clumps of ephemeral energy still could be seen in the form of a thin layer of dust.

Seeing the dust, Mallory paused, getting closer to see how it looked in a dormant state.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After inspecting the dust, Mallory got close, but before she could get too close, remembered the problems with inhaling the dust and put on her own Thieves’ Guild Mask that helped to protect her against breathing in poisonous fumes. And hopefully helped prevent inadvertently inhaling pixie dust as well.

“Wow, I can barely see that on his lapel there.” Mallory noted.

Then after inspecting the dust, Mallory backed up and stood up to her full height to talk to Gwen.

“That is diabolical, she put it in the exact spot where Jhonny would naturally bend to breathe in heavily after a long run.” Mallory replied, she was about to ask how Cass could tell where Jhonny would inadvertently bend over to breathe in deeply, but then realized she was the martial instructor and had likely seen Jhonny hunched over hundreds of times after morning workouts.

Mallory looked like she wanted to say something, but then just shook her head.

“It’s clear that whatever Jhonny is going to tell us is going to be huge.” Mallory finally stated.

“I know, why do you think she did this?”

“Likely to waste even more of our time, knowing that we would all be stuck here watching Jhonny for when he finally became unstuck.” Mallory noted.

“You know, she thinks you could do something similar with your ephemeral energy.” Gwen stated.

“I can? Wait, what ephemeral energy?” Mallory asked.

“The same energy you use to summon your new scythe, when you wield it, you are apparently wielding solidified ephemeral energy.” Gwen noted.

“She told you this?”

“It was in her reports she sends up.” Gwen noted.

“She sends reports?” Mallory asked.

“Yeah, right there,” Gwen stated, pointing to a parchment that was on her desk.

Seeing the page, Mallory went over and picked up the page. “It’s blank?”

Gwen hearing that could only shake her head.

“It’s written in magical energy,” Gwen said to Mallory as if she was daft.

Hearing that, Mallory paused and then realized that she had agreed to something like that. When her spy master said it would be a more secure way of communicating, she had agreed to it, but then never heard anything about it.

“Wait, how long has this been going on?” Mallory asked.

“Weeks,” Gwen said.

“Where are the other pages?” Mallory asked, looking at her desk and realizing that only one blank parchment had been there.

“I deleted them, as per the instructions at the bottom of the page.” Gwen stated.

With that, Mallory paused, and then focusing very hard she read the note.

Top Secret Magical Findings.

Still delving into Time Stopping energy. So far findings are that if can only be generated by ephemeral energy.

Noted Sources of Ephemeral Energy:

Fae

Me (Cass)

Mallory from her scythe.

…

Final Note: As always, destroy note after acknowledging content.

“Wow, that was surprisingly good to know.” Mallory stated, then she asked “how often do these arrive?”

“Almost daily, sometimes they act as her notes for what she wanted to do that day, but they are there first thing on your desk every day.” Gwen stated.

Hearing that, Mallory paused trying to think back. With time, she remembered seeing blank sheets occasionally, but she often thought they were just page separators between the different departments. Since most departments felt the need to state hundreds of items, the fact that one blank sheet on a different form of parchment was appreciated. To now realize that this was her spy master’s way of sharing top secret magical notes with her each morning, well it filled her with a sense of both appreciation and sadness that she had likely missed so much.

“Wow, I feel horrible. I might have been unjustly harsh on Cass.” Mallory noted.

“No, she has said she appreciates the reigning in every once in a while.” Gwen replied.

Mallory was about to respond when her thoughts were cut off.

“Huff, huff.”

“Stop! And stand up straight!” Mallory said, her commanding voice coming out and demanding that Jhonny stand at attention.

“What?” Jhonny asked, his body still in a state of needing to breathe deeply.

“Mom, made it so you had a second dose of Time Stopping residue on you. We don’t want you to inadvertently expose yourself to the same trap a third time.” Gwen stated, her voice having an immediate calming effect on Jhonny, who still breathing heavily managed to relax slightly, while maintaining an erect posture.

“Okay,” Jhonny said, then seemed like he was trying to look down at the substance.

“Yes, just stay like that and tell us where the mad doctor and Penelope both are.” Mallory said, reassuringly, as she grabbed a cloth and began trying to wipe away some of the remaining residue from Jhonny’s uniform.

“What,” Jhonny began, but then had to stop at the forceful brushing of Mallory. Then after a second to adjust, he continued with his thoughts. “I mean, what do you mean that Cass and Penelope are gone? I am here to tell you about the mission they sent Professor De’Gravitas on.”

“Wait, professor Rahul De’Gravitas, the Litch?” Mallory asked, trying to mentally associate the last name with a face.

“Yes, Rahul, the self-proclaimed lover of…” Jhonny began, but was instantly cut off by both Mallory and Gwen who looked disgusted at the comments.

“Yes, we know who you are talking about.” They both said in unison, before giving a get on with it, rolling hand gesture.

“Well, he is off on an apparent mission to win the heart of Cass,” Jhonny began.

“What?” Both Mallory and Gwen asked in unison.

“Here, that is why Cass gave me this, to give to you all.” Jhonny said, then reaching into his pocket he found the apparent item he was looking for. Then as soon as he pulled out the stone, a residual residue of pixie dust hit the air, thus activating its Temporal Stopping power, causing Jhonny to once again freeze in place.

Shock.

Seeing the way Jhonny suddenly froze in place again, Mallory could only look on in shock.

Boisterous Laughter.

Gwen seeing the same thing, just started laughing wildly.

“Oh Gods, this is bad, I’m going to have to pee like this,” Gwen said, holding her belly while apparently trying to laugh, while holding the now pressing need to perform normal bodily functions.

“Here, let me help,” Mallory said, getting over and quickly helping Gwen up. Then a few minutes later when Jhonny was still frozen in place, the two resumed their conversation.

“What’s so funny?” Mallory finally asked.

“Don’t you see, that is the delivery method. Or the way she originally froze Jhonny in place. Giving him a magical memory crystal that was coated in Time Stopping ephemeral energy. Jhonny then takes it, puts it in his pocket, not realizing that time was stopped, only that he needs to get here quickly. I can so see mom weaponizing this in some way.” Gwen stated, explaining the most likely course of events that occurred.

“Weaponizing?” Mallory asked.

“Never mind, I think Jhonny is about to awaken.” Gwen stated, then pointed to Jhonny who was beginning to twitch slightly, as the sheen of magic that coated him seemed to slowly be dissolving.

“Here,” Jhonny said, looking forward, only to be confused when he saw that Mallory and Gwen were both on the other side of the desk now. “Here, this is for you.”

Mallory not wanting to be caught in any lingering traces of the pixie dust just held up a hand and asked. “Can you play it from there?”

Jhonny looked at the device in confusion for a moment, but then shrugging he poured a bit of his mana into the device and instantly caused an image to appear before everyone.

Instantly the contents of the room changed, as a three-dimensional recording of what had happened earlier appeared before them.

Surprisingly a colorized image of Cass appeared, showing her in her newly crafted Deolarian Court Magician Doctor Uniform, the one that used black and hot pink in just the right amounts to show off not only Cass’s wings, but to help accentuate her glowing green eyes and majestic flowing hair.

The scene began about mid-way through a conversation.

Only after viewing the scene for a few moments did it become clear that the viewpoint was taken from someone else's perspective, likely Penelope’s given the fact that Jhonny could be seen staring defensively off in the distance.

“My darling, you seem to somehow become more beautiful and captivating every time I see you.” Came the oddly nasally voice of Rahul, one that sounded exceptionally creepy coming from the skeletal remains of a long dead elf turned into a litch.

“Oh you do flatter me so, but unfortunately we are never meant to be.” Cass says, her voice taking on a clearly melodramatic tone, complete with barely above soap opera poses and gestures.

“If it is the fact that you are not yet of age, do not fear, for I am willing to wait until the ends of time.”

Gag.

There was a distant gagging sound, but somehow the litch never noticed that it came from Cass using a form of ventriloquism to project her sounds from far way.

“No, it is not even that,” Cass continued, clearly hamming it up.

“What is it? If it is the fact that you are a pixie and I am an Imperial High Elf of noble stature, fret not, for I am willing to even overlook this.” Rahul continued, at this his eyes seemed to glow with a possessive yellow gleam that seemed both stalkerish and that he would need to be put down if he tried too hard.

Cass still seeing this, just shook her head and continued to deflect.

“Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Knowing that I have met your standards is enough for this broken heart to keep beating a bit longer. But alas, that is not the issue, would that such a trifling matter be all that separated us, I would be more than happy to wait and ponder about our time together.” Cass said, her eyes seeming to glow brightly.

“Oh shit,” Mallory and Gwen both said in unison, seeing the look in Cass’s face. The look that said she was clearly up to something, but they didn’t know what.

“Tell me what obstacle separates us, and I will crush it down into nothingness while we wait for our time together to finally manifest.” Rahul stated, seeming to feed from Cass’s bad acting, but somehow seeming to believe what he is stating.

“I must confess, I am already betrothed to another,” Cass said.

“What are you doing mother?” Gwen said, to the three dimensional images, as if expecting her mother to respond. Then to her surprise, Cass chose that exact moment to turn to the viewpoint of the recording, and then proceed to wink.

“Betrothed? But how could you!” Rahul shouted, his eyes flashing a chaotic red with rage.

“It is not my fault, these are bindings from before my birth here. I am a slave to these contracts even now, despite never having made such oaths here in this lifetime.” Cass said.

“Before you were born? An arrangement made by your parents then?” Rahul demanded.

“They were just as disappointed as I am now, but they had to accept it, just as now I am forced to live with the results of these events.” Cass stated.

“Tell me now, where this man whom you are betrothed to lives, so that I might pluck out his still beating heart, just as he has done to my own.” Rahul relied, his red eyes going from smoldering hot to a more controlled burning red.

“He is from the cursed Legrand Empire, but he is away for two weeks, at which point he will return and bring validation of his claim upon me, please you must help me. Help me break this oath that has gone on for too long without my consent.”

“The cursed Legrand Empire, how much must I hear of their relentless exploits of the good and pure.” Rahul stated, as he slammed one bony fist into another. Then before anyone could reply, he continued, "of course I will help you, as this is the only way to free you from the obligations of fate that have separated our two star crossed souls.”

Chuckle.

At this Mallory could only laugh at the absurd way Cass had turned this from a seemingly chance encounter, to a near stand off with a possessive litch, to what was clearly yet another strike at Legrand Empire. Her laughter quickly stopped when she heard what Cass said next.

“Yes, let us go, but first we must inform leadership of our departure,” Cass said then she held up two fingers as if trying to decide whom to pick. Then pointing at Jhonny she continued, “one second let me give you this information for Mallory, but I must ask that you give me about ten minutes to help us get situated.”

“You, know I cannot do that, and that I will need to tell her immediately.” Jhonny replied seriously.

“Oh of course, I would not want you to get in trouble. I also want to help prove that you had nothing to do with what happened here,” Cass said as she went over and seemed to stare directly into Penelope’s eyes. An odd effect as it was clear that Cass did not have irises or pupils in her eyes and yet just stared perfectly into Penelope’s eyes.

The fact that the person whose memories were recorded was proven in this image, as Penelope’s face could clearly be seen reflected in Cass’s bright green reflective eyes.

“There we go, with this I will create a mental recording of what happened, so that you can show it to Mallory without anyone questioning the authenticity.” Cass said, with that the image ended as the memory that was recorded onto the crystal ended.

Shatter.

The moment the recording ended, the stone that Jhonny held shattered in his hands and crumbled into pieces on Mallory’s thick carpet.

Mallory just stared at the crystal for a moment, before Jhonny replied, “I’ll go get the vacuum.”

Then once Jhonny left, Gwen who had been in a sort of shock suddenly sat up.

“Wait, Mom is contracting a litch to put a hit out on Dad?” Gwen asked, suddenly realizing why Cass, Penelope, and apparently Rahul the Litch were all now missing.

“Seems about the gist of things,” Mallory stated, as her mind went and began preparing even more damage control measures for this latest event.