Delsin had fallen asleep and had been left on the ground. Philip sat next to await their turn for ‘processing’ whatever that was. He saw GalvanGal stomping toward him with the rest of the Pantheon in tow and got chills down his spine. His heart skipped a beat when she lunged at him but she hoisted Delsin off the ground instead. Delsin was mid-snore when she slapped him awake.
“Bruluh. Huh? What?” blubbered Delsin.
“We need you to tell us everything,” demanded GalvanGal. Kenny tapped away on his phone to transcribe the conversation.
“What, you want my A/S/L?” Delsin was slapped again.
“Now who’s using excessive force,” said WhiteOut as she rubbed her temples. Kenny stepped between GalvanGal and Delsin.
“My partner has been stressed out by the ongoing situation. We all are. You can help us by explaining what’s going on.”
“Why would we do that?” asked Philip.
“Well, if you don’t, you won’t be of any use to my boss who carries on with the lobotomies, with you two being next on the list.”
“This attack was a distraction,” Delsin admitted.
“Uncle won’t be happy about that,” said Philip.
“Shut up, you’re the one who surrendered,” shouted Delsin.
“A distraction from what?” asked WhiteOut.
“Well, we were supposed to do this eventually, but a change of plans sent the boss to Venezuela, so we came here to ensure nothing would interrupt his visit.”
“Venezuela?” asked Garrick.
“Oh, he knows what the boss is after, why don’t you ask him about it,” said Delsin. WhiteOut turned to Garrick.
“What’s he talking about?” she asked.
“Around the time of the expected attack, I sent Zariah away to keep her safe. But I don’t know what they would want with that they would go out of their way to find her.”
“I don’t really know either, but it don’t matter by now. We did our job.”
“If it doesn’t matter anymore, then we have no further use for you,” said WhiteOut. Delsin leaned away and held his cuffs to his chest.
“Uh-uh-uh,” intervened Kenny, “even if they don’t know much about this plan, they can still tell us more about how Immortal is moving. Each of them is an expert in their own mutation, including the ones you already… incapacitated.”
The same unnerving silence returned as WhiteOut made her considerations.
“Hannah, go get Aaliyah to capacitate the detainees. Kenny, you continue questioning them. I’m going to have a talk with Garrick.”
Hannah bolted off to Aaliyah as WhiteOut wheeled Garrick away. That just left Kenny with Philip and Delsin.
“Are you sure you can’t tell me anything else,” asked Kenny, “you could at least tell me about your mutation—”
“Affinity,” said Philip.
“Affinity?”
“We have magical affinities. Not mutations.”
“Well, can you tell me anything more about this affinity? Or… any magic?”
“You already know, I can make bone appear on my body. Although,” Philip lifted his cuffs, “before, I could only make a spike come from around my hands. But this ritual made me stronger than ever.”
“Now who’s talking too much,” said Delsin.
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“What ritual?” asked Kenny.
“The Green Corn Ceremony. At least, it’s supposed to be during that. It transfers the strain of magic to someone else. Uncle was the only someone else who could handle that strain,” said Philip.
“Uncle is Tyler Deimos to be clear? And this ritual does any of the… magic itself get transferred too?” said Kenny.
“Yeah. How’d you know”
“He showed it off. The flame was small and different so I wasn’t sure, but I guess Todd went through this ritual.”
“That's right. I started thinking maybe that’s the reason he’s after Zariah, but part of the ritual is that we had to trust him with part of ourselves. I can’t see that part happening unless something changed,” said Philip.
“Maybe that was part of the change in plans,” said Delsin, “they got that doctor with the homemade monster from Tartarus.”
“Homemade monster?” said Kenny.
“Yeah, they had this crystal gorilla thing when we busted into Tartarus. We found out that it had artificial magic and that was when they suddenly wanted Golgi. If he has a way to transplant magic, then that would change things. I still don’t know why he would go out of the way for her though. She’s like, an astrology girl or whatever, right.”
“She can see spirit animals, which still isn’t much, but I’m sure he knows something about it that makes it worthwhile, and that can’t be good.”
“Can’t be good for you guys.”
“You’re boss threw you away as a distraction. Aren’t you, uh, concerned?”
“You should be concerned with being struck by lightning,” said Delsin.
Kenny had half a moment of confusion before he flicked on his switch to flood the world with slowed time. Yet he was the one that was too slow. A bright bolt of lightning pierced through the distortion. Arms emerging from the light were already closing around him. He could not push, duck, or jump out so he accepted his fate and flicked off. Even when he saw it coming, the bear hug winded him, and he was spun around as they flew into the air. She pushed her cheek against his as they descended and only when they landed did she let go. He saw Aaliyah walk up next to Hannah as he caught his breath.
“You guys, huh, you guys are already done.”
“Only a few were administered the chemical brew,” Aaliyah, “the chemical itself was mutagenic—”
“Magic,” said Philip.
“...magical so my healing was enough to completely undo it.”
“That’s, hah, that’s great news,” Kenny put his hand on Delsin’s shoulder for support. Delsin would have swatted him off if Delsin was not bound.
“...I was surprised that WhiteOut accepted your proposal. I had heard the argument earlier but I…” Aaliyah turned her head away, “pretended not to hear.” Kenny pushed himself off Delsin.
“I was surprised too. WhiteOut can be a bit of a hard case. But it all worked out!” said Kenny. Aaliyah raised her head.
“No. I should have supported you. I wanted to, but… I felt like there was nothing I could do. So I just kept my head down.”
“It was pretty sudden so I don’t blame you for getting put on the spot. I wouldn’t have even realized it if Hannah never pointed it out. You guys are the ones who healed them up. I’m the one who can’t save anyone,” Kenny chuckled. Hannah held him by his arms now.
“Don’t say that!” she said as she shook him, “you’re the one who saved everyone here. I wouldn't have known what to do without you. Even before, you were the only reason I was able to reach California in time. And you’re only going to get faster, right? You remember what you promised me right?”
“Hannah, I was just—”
If you were there, you could have saved everyone before the bomb could go off.
I’ll train to be faster than an explosion.
Everyone that’s still standings is proof that you made the right choice
“I… thank you, Hannah. I needed to hear that.”
“Yes, Yes, pat yourselves on the back,” started Delsin, “can you take your support circle somewhere else? Some of us are trying to sleep.”
“You should be grateful. If it wasn’t for us, you’d be a zombie by now,” said Kenny.
“...thanks,” grumbled Delsin.
“What was that?” Kenny had his palm behind his ear.
“I said, I’m surprised she bothered worrying about the criminals that tried to kill her. From the sounds of it, your boss had the right idea. As soon as we’re free we’re just going to be enemies again.”
“I guess so,” said Hannah, “I just saw the gorgon in need of help and I didn’t think of a reason why I wouldn’t save her…”
“Oh? Even when your own people turned on you, were you prepared to fight them?” asked Delsin, “and what about poor Philip here? From what he told us, any less armor and you would have crushed his kidney the first time. The boy thought today would be his last.” Kenny tried to step up but Hannah held him back.
“You’re right. I do whatever seems right at the time. All of this is just going off what I feel inside,” she put her hand on her heart, ”And the image I have inside of what I should do is still… I guess his real name is Tejieue. What he taught me. What he showed me. Since this morning, I’ve been pushed forward by a feeling: ‘if he was here, he wouldn’t stop; if he was here, he wouldn’t hesitate; even if it’s impossible, he would win, so I can’t quit either. ‘.
But he’s also the same person that caused so much bloodshed. So now, I don’t know what to think. I can only hold on to what I feel. If I felt you were too much of a threat to let continue then I would stop you in whatever sense it would mean. Right now, that wasn’t what I felt. Once I can get a hold of Tejieue, I’ll be able to figure out what to think.
So I’ll ask you this: where is he now?”