“Don’t you think his hair looks better combed?” April asked as she clung to Joey, both hands holding his left bicep tightly.
“I don’t know,” the stall owner replied. She looked between the mirror and Joey. Even though he was the one paying, the two women spoke like he wasn’t present or incapable of making his own decisions. “I’m rather fond of how he wears it now. It would be a shame not to show off these gorgeous wavy black locks.”
“I suppose you’re right.” April twirled Joey’s hair. He tried pulling away, but she proved persistent.
“We stopped to buy a scarf for you, April,” he said. “How did I end up the one trying on a hundred and one blighted things?”
“Oh, hush!” April chuckled as she wrapped a baby-blue length of cloth around his neck and then encouraged the shopkeeper to tie it like a cravat. “He looks like a proper nobleman, doesn’t he?”
“Indeed. He’s like a proper Daksinsthani dandy. Altogether, that’ll be sixty silver.”
Both women looked at Joey expectantly, and he rolled his eyes as he paid. The stall owner procured brown paper and twine from under the counter and wrapped everything but two scarves. Joey and April walked away from the stall, wearing one each. Her bright pink went well with his blue. She pecked him on the cheek as they turned the corner.
“Don’t you think you’re laying it on a bit thick?” Joey grumbled as they walked down a more quiet patch.
“You’re a spoilt merchant’s son, and I’m your bimbo,” April replied. “You want us to be convincing, don’t you?”
“I do, but this is too much, April.” He tried loosening the cravat, and she helped him before ruffling his hair and messing up his collar.
“Are you worried Miss Caitlin Woodson will get jealous?” April chuckled. “Perhaps next time you should bring her along.” Her words dripped with sarcasm. “I’m sure she’ll put on a better show.”
Joey ignored the jibe even though she was right. Caitlin had proven herself to be a horrible actress. She stood out like a sore thumb and struggled to blend in. Her performance during the Singh Ball a year ago had been abhorrent. If it hadn’t turned genuine after Alexander intentionally spilled custard on her, the hosts would’ve seen through the act. Joey loved the Woodson woman, but her social awkwardness made her horrid in such situations. Fortunately, she wasn’t the jealous kind and didn’t mind April pretending to be his lover for such jobs.
“Did you see which way they went?” Joey asked.
April nodded at the crossroads ahead and led him around the corner, pretending to fawn over his hair and the new scarf. She played the role of a lovestruck young woman brilliantly, leaning into the stereotypes that accompanied her blonde hair. She pulled him toward shop windows with dresses, bakeries, and pastry stalls, never lingering or focusing on something for more than a minute. All the while, she never lost track of the duo they followed.
After another fifteen moments of walking New Outer Ring’s dingy streets, Joey detected a pair following them. A floating glass spearhead followed him and April, staying ten feet above his head. His patron, Nar the Djinn, used it as his container. The distance wasn’t ideal, but it ensured nobody noticed the odd artifact. If anyone snuck up on Joey, Nar would drop on them from above, foiling the ambush and winning Joey valuable seconds to cast a spell.
Joey Greengrasse
Adept
Djinn Fire
154/155
Pact Manipulation | Flame Sling | Flame Coil
76/79 | 30/30 | 4/9
Pact Shaping | Djinn Blades
46/46 | 20/23
Pact Reinforcement
34/34
The past year came with a lot of growth and study for Joey Greengrasse. Since his party needed time to recover and figure out several new challenges, he took the opportunity to understand Djinn Fire better and create new planets to make working as a mage easier. He hadn’t fed Nar in almost a year. Fortunately, the meal on Terrastalia’s back had more than satiated the djinn. He hadn’t yet completely assimilated and dispersed the mana they shared with Lillin Grey, so he wasn’t in a rush for another meal.
Since Caitlin didn’t mind and Nox was more generous than Joey first expected, he had taken April in. He owed the young woman for his current success, and she had proven a faithful companion when they still lived on the streets. April worked under Nox’s apprentice, Ingrid, as a part of their spy network. They often posed as servers and attendants, listening in on conversations or keeping their eyes on potentially dangerous or suspicious patrons.
In exchange, April got housing, food, an education, and training to blend into the upper echelons of society. Nox also paid her for any time spent working as a server. It was an excellent deal for April, and, best of all, Joey found a perfect partner to assist him in his outer city investigations.
Kris’ death initially sunk Joey into a deep depression. The late professor saved him from a bleak life and gave him opportunities he thought he’d never had. Then, she sacrificed her life to save him and his friends. He spent several months feeling useless and pathetic for failing her and not doing more to prevent her death. It was his fault the Woodsons got captured by the Plaguebringer’s agents and dragged away from their post. If he detected the enemy mages like he was supposed to or had hidden better, Caitlin and Alexander would never have been in danger. Joey was sure Kris would’ve used her stealth and assassination spells to destroy the ancient witch, and they would’ve left the titan’s back reasonably unscathed.
Instead, his mentor was now dead, and Alexander spent four of the past twelve months recovering from mana burn. They took the first semester after the event of Advanced Dungeon Combat and resumed it during the second. Since Nox no longer had Ratra’s Bow and his mana system had suffered damage, the party lacked raw destructive power. He had fulfilled the opening, but it didn’t feel like he was doing enough.
So, Joey Greengrasse picked up where Kris left off. He had enough street smarts to work as an investigator, and April had the best eyes and lockpicking hands in the city. Together, he hoped to foil any and all cultist activities the same way his late mentor did. Unfortunately, after six months of work, he hadn’t made any progress or found any reliable leads.
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“I think this is it,” Joey commented. Nar had spotted the target, signaling the pair following them. “We just need to get them alone.”
“I have an idea,” April said. She pulled Joey into an alley, leaned against the wall, and pulled Joey close.
The young woman kissed him, much to his surprise. When he tried to pull away, she wrapped her dainty arms around his neck and pulled him closer until their bodies were pressed against each other. A soft moan rose from April and despite his commitment to Caitlin, a burning desire stirred inside Joey.
April claimed she was thirteen, dressed and acted as such while still living on the streets. Then, after Nox gave her a job, she cleaned up and behaved more appropriately for her age. Even though Joey knew she was eighteen—just a couple of years younger than him—he still struggled to see her as an adult. While survival was their only goal, he considered her as nothing more than a sister that he needed to protect. April’s following behavior and, now, the kiss told him that she thought of him as more.
Joey regretted starting her magic training. She had proven a high aptitude for the Reinforce cantrip. It let her harness uncharacteristic strength and made peeling himself off her challenging. He didn’t want to struggle too much and give up the ruse.
Fortunately, a rough hand clasped his shoulder and pulled him off her. The owner, too, had enhanced strength. The man threw him six feet and into a pile of empty crates. The wood cracked and shattered. Joey instinctively used the spell housed in his newest planet to Reinforce his body with djinn fire. Sharp fragments still ripped his clothes and cut his skin, but he didn’t suffer any further damage.
“That’s enough, lover boy,” the burly man said. He grabbed April around the waist with his left arm while his right hand clamped over her mouth. “How about you empty your pockets, and I don’t break the lady’s pretty neck?”
April bit his hand and kicked his shin in one smooth motion. The man yelped and released her. She dashed to Joey’s side just as he rose to his feet. She ducked behind him while he drew his forearm-sized weapon. It fit comfortably in his coat.
“How about you back the hell off before I take out your eye?” Joey retorted, eyes darting around them. The two people stalking them now blocked the alley’s exit. Meanwhile, the duo they were following had circled around the building and stood at the lane’s other end. They were surrounded. He conjured a mote of Djinn Fire and coiled it around his blade. Much to his surprise, none of the gang members retreated.
“You little bitch,” the man spat. “I was just going to break a couple of bones, but now both of yous are dead!”
“I’d like to see you try, you ugly twat,” April taunted, pulling a foldable crossbow out of her dress. She had bolts and daggers strapped to her pale ankles and thighs.
The attacker’s eyes widened as he took in her arsenal. Then, his face contorted into an angry snarl. “I don’t know who sent yous, but you done messed up. Nobody comes after the Shrike and gets out alive.”
“I’m so scared!”
April’s mocking tone did the job. The thugs attacked while curious eyes peeked at them from windows and behind the men, blocking their escape routes. The pair now had witnesses confirming that the Shrike’s Feathers gang were the aggressors.
The burly man lunged at Joey. His arms doubled in mass and grew feathers. Meanwhile, his fingers extended and grew ugly black claws. Instead of stabbing him, Joey extended his retractable spear to half-length and parried the first swipe. Then, he hooked his opponent’s ankle and tripped him. The fall and surprise gave him enough time to mold Djinn Fire with an ice cantrip and produce frost fire. He used his Coiling moon’s spell to wrap it around the screaming man and encased his lower half and most of his torso in thick ice.
Meanwhile, April peppered the rest of the men with bolts, slowing them. Nox’s miser of a great-aunt sold it to him at the standard employee discount rate. The weapon’s arcane enhancements made loading bolts as easy as nocking arrows. It had no string and relied on enchantments and a mana gem to propel the projectiles.
Joey didn’t care about anyone besides the man he had already captured. So, he created barricades using frostfire and used his Shaping planet to solidify Djinn Fire into daggers. The flames turned into solid metal, and then frost covered them. It felt good to get a decent handle on Nar’s magic. Joey was still far from mastering it, but he, more or less, had an understanding of the emotions and feelings around using Djinn Fire’s creation aspect.
Icicle clusters created spiky barriers, forcing the attackers to slow or stop. Then, the daggers sliced skin and flesh. He set off, not planning to take any lives, and only ended up cutting one throat. Joey considered it a victory as the rest fled. The city guard had wanted posters out for the Shrike’s Feathers, citing murder, illegal Pink Sellis trade, trafficking, and a lot more. He didn’t care if a couple of them died.
“What in Ygg’s name do you want?” The trapped man demanded when he realized his semi-transformation magic wasn’t enough to break free of the ice. Joey estimated the Shrike had somehow clawed himself into the journeyman ranks. He lacked the strength to overcome an adept’s magic. “You don’t know who you’re messing with! I’ll rip ya to shreds. Ye blighted—”
“Shut up, Clarence,” Joey said, kicking the downed man. “I’ll ask questions, and you’ll answer. If we're happy, April won’t put a dagger in your eye.”
“I’m not telling ya a blighted thing!” Joey conjured a cloud of Djinn fire and Shaped it into a dozen blades. A couple of them shot at the man and planted themselves in the ground around his face. One sliced skin but didn’t cut any deeper. “Alright! Alright! I’ll talk! Just stop it.”
“Tell us who you’re snatching girls for,” April said. “And where they’re going.”
“Any information regarding the recent serial murders will help a lot, too,” Joey added.
“I don’t know a blighted thing about that,” Clarence, also known as the Shrike, replied. His skin had started to lose color, and his teeth chattered as he spoke.
“Are you sure?” Joey asked, leaning next to the man. Several daggers broke away from the cluster and slowly revolved around Clarence’s face. “We’ve been watching you and your feathers a while. You’ve been snatching girls, too.”
“I mean about the killing. We only kill when we have to.” His voice grew in pitch as the blades moved closer. One grazed his cheek, cutting vertically across the already existing cut. “The murders have nothing to do with my gang, alright? We don’t want anything to do with it, and the bigger gangs are blighted terrified. It's not the traffickers. It's someone else.”
“Good. So he does know.” April hesitantly glanced at the alley’s mouth. The rest of Clarence’s gang had fled. They took the man with a sliced throat with them. “Hurry it up. Please. They’re going to come back with more.”
Half the floating daggers sunk into the ground around Clarence’s head. One nicked the ear, and another grazed his neck. “You heard the lady. Get talking. If we’re still around when your friends get back, we’ll have no choice but to put you down.”
Joey failed to match Kris’ finesse and investigative skills. Caitlin and his friends reassured him that it would take practice to develop them. He already had the necessary wit and powers of observation. Joey liked to believe that he also had plenty of street smarts. Hopefully, the rest would come with time.
Joey had no qualms against using brute force and walking a path most of his friends would consider untoward. It was the reason he only conducted his investigations with April. She didn’t just know the streets and understood how the outer city’s dwellers worked. Unlike Caitlin, April had a stomach for his methods. Whenever he felt bad about what he was doing, Joey reminded himself that it was all for the good of the city and his people. He needed to fill the hole Kris left behind, and he didn’t care how many criminals he needed to slice and quarter along the way.