Solomon is starting to wake up, still feeling like her head is spinning. She tries to look around, but can hardly see anything through blurred vision. She blinks once, twice, and can then make out the vague shape of people around her. She sees a blotch of silver, one of grey and white, and one that’s all white. She shakes her head and blinks more.
“She’s awake!” She hears a voice say. One more blink and she can see mostly clearly. She tries to move, but she just now sees that she’s strapped to a chair, her gloves off. The person in white, who turns out to be wearing a lab coat, inspecting the markings on her hands. He runs off to a table and grabs a syringe.
“No. That’s not happening.” Her markings light up and through the sounds of intense sizzling, the arms of the chair melt enough to free herself in a second. The person in the lab coat tries to approach her, but she scares him away by holding her hand in his general direction. She then frees her legs and stands up, looking around the room, ready to reduce any would-be attacker to a black liquid. The room itself is packed with medical equipment and medicine that Solomon recognises, from simple vitamins to strong painkillers, she sees just about everything.
“Fibreglass doesn’t work.” Says lab coat. “Noted.”
Solomon wonders if the same happened to her friends, as much as she doesn’t want that to be the case. She feels scared, but ready for a fight, oddly angry deep inside.
Solomon can’t even make out what lab coat is exactly due to the mask he’s wearing. Looking at the other two, she recognises the lynx and sees who the silver blotch was, a grizzled-looking wolf with silver fur and suit, sitting on a chair backwards. Unlike the other two, he looks completely calm.
“Where am I?” Solomon finally asks, feeling tense. She is met with no answer. “Where. Am I?” She asks again and sees the lynx tugging at the wolf’s suit.
“That doesn’t matter.” Says the wolf, mockingly unbothered. “What matters is that you’re here, with us.”
Solomon really doesn’t like the sound of that, nor the way he said it, nor anything about her situation.
“Let me guess, you’re interested in this?” She holds out her arms, the back of her hands showing, the acid not so quietly drip drip dripping onto the floor. The person in the lab coat takes a step back, the other two do not. They aren’t nearly as afraid of her as all the others were before.
“That’s just the beginning. Please, make everyone’s job easier, and cooperate.” The wolf stands up. “You have no idea how important that is for my organisation. So stop resisting and give it to us.” Solomon feels the sense of anger rise within her, she finds what he said downright offensive. Give it to them? As if it’s that easy!
“Who are you? What organisation? How would you even-” She demands, but is cut off.
“The less you know, the better. Now, calm your power so we don’t have to get rough.” He then scowls at lab coat. “A little too quick to act there.”
Needless to say, Solomon doesn’t trust anyone in this room in the slightest.
“I just want to know… Where I am.” She says, trying to calm herself.
“Stop your acid and I’ll show you.” The wolf replies.
Shooting a menacing glare at the other two in the room, her markings stop glowing, her hands stop secreting acid.
“Good. Don’t worry, you won’t have it for long.” He says in a voice which Solomon finds outrageously condescending.
There it is again… Such anger, deep within her. It’s short-lived, but noticeable. “Can they really do that? Take my magic?” In all honesty, she wouldn’t mind too much, but she considers if she could really give it up so easily after all that she went through.
“Follow me.” Says the wolf with a beckoning gesture.
Solomon follows from a safe distance, baring her claws, or rather, her markings every time the other two come too close for her liking. They walk down a rather short hallway until they are met with a metal door. The wolf opens it, light comes through. Solomon shields her eyes from it, then looks through…
The edifice she seems to be inside of is massive. Multiple floors, each of them having dozens of people in suits walk around, clearly knowing exactly where to go from what she can tell. The walls look metallic, the floors more ceramic. She can see six floors just from there. Looking up, a large, open space lets her see the floors clearly, there are walkways on each wall of the building, having railings at the edge. She sees four lifts and a wide set of stairs on each side of them. In her opinion, it was likely designed with efficiency and ostentatiousness in mind.
“Welcome to The System, Acid One.” Says the wolf with a smile. “My greatest achievement, my pride and joy.” She looks down at the awestruck Solomon. “But you won’t need to stay here for long.”
It takes Solomon a few seconds for it to really sink in. This is it, the organisation Grayson must have been a part of! The System... And there she is, right in the middle of it. She's not only been found, but taken right to the base as well.
"How are you planning to take my magic?" She inquires, the mere idea sending a faint ripple of anger through her body.
"The less you know, the better." The wolf repeats himself. She only heard this sentence twice, but she's already quite sick of it.
"Just do as we instruct. Then you'll be free to go and we can forget about this whole thing." Says the wolf with an aggressively patronising smirk.
"What if I don't want to give it up?" Solomon isn’t confident whether her question is going to antagonise him or not.
The wolf looks at her curiously. Then laughs.
"I'm afraid that's not an option." That response is certainly better than what she expected, but she just has to wonder... Sure, she'll be safe after this, if what he's saying is true, but what about her colleagues? The implications terrify Solomon.
"How much do you know about me?" She asks sternly.
"Oh, that, I can answer.” He says, pride and power in his mannerism. “Everything we need to know."
Solomon looks up at the wolf, eyes wide open.
"That being?" She asks with a rather unamused look, which elicits a chuckle from the wolf.
"Your name, your country of origin, your former and current workplace, who you work with..." He goes on, smiling.
Solomon feels bewildered.
"How did you find that information?" She asks, stepping in front of him. The smile on his face turns to a frown.
"Let's just say that a little birdie said a bit more than we expected. Or rather, canine."
Solomon feels like he used those vague terms on purpose, as she has two canine colleagues. She doubts that they would sell her out. The important part is that they know. They know who she works with, her friends, they could be in danger as well! She makes up her mind right then and there.
"But that's enough talk.” He points at two symbols painted on the ground. “Go stand on the symbol on the left." Both are circular, the left one has vaguely arrow-shaped parts pointing outwards among intricate, symmetrical designs, the other having the same but inwards.
"I want to make a deal with you." Solomon blurts out, much to the wolf's surprise.
"Oh? And what would that be?" He asks with an inquisitive look.
"I will give you my magic." She says, loud enough for more than just him to hear it. She isn't sure what this organisation might use it for, but if it means... "On one condition. That you leave ALL of us alone after that. Me, my colleagues, and my boss. Promise never to come after us and you can have it. That's the deal." She says, gaining the attention of others.
The wolf laughs heartily.
"Really?" He responds with a smirk. "Well if that's the price, then simply stand where I told you. I am a man of my word."
Solomon is well aware of the dangers of doing this, she could just get lied to, but she has to try, she just has to, for her friends. She may lose her magic, but that's a price she's willing to pay.
She walks over to the symbols and stands on the left one. From the masses that gathered around, a black cat has been observing her. He steps forwards and stands on the other symbol. He seems to be around the same age as her.
"What a joyous day!" He exclaims. "Fire mixed with acid! I'll be the first, my name will be put in the Ledger!" He says, pulling up his sleeve to reveal orange markings. Solomon couldn't care less. She wants it to be over, she wants to be free.
But there's that inside her again, that feeling of burning hatred… Yet it feels so indescribably different. She isn’t angry, per se, which just feels bizarre.
"Do you have any idea of what you're about to give up?” Says the cat, way too excited for Solomon's liking. “When the announcement came through, we couldn't even believe it! And I shall claim it, this is like winning the lottery!"
Solomon scoffs and dismisses him entirely.
"Members of The System. It is with great pleasure that I inform you, the splicing of the Acid One shall begin soon! Come one, come all, as they say. Witness history!" A voice says through the intercom. Solomon rolls her eyes. "This is a VERY big deal for you, isn't it?"
Soon, the person in the lab coat comes to the hall with a knife in his hand.
"Ready?" He asks, looking from one cat to another.
"Ready as I'll ever be, sir! I am honoured!" Says the cat with extreme glee, giddy with excitement.
"I guess." Says Solomon.
Lab coat nods, takes the hand of the other cat, and draws blood from his palm. He repeats the same with Solomon, albeit much more carefully. He then takes a step back. The wolf watches eagerly with his underlings as the cat then reaches out with his bloody hand.
"Go on! Give it a grasp!" He says, visibly excited.
Solomon grabs his hands, they both squeeze. The symbols they stand on light up, a satisfied grin stretches across the wolf's face, as well as the black cat’s, the crowd watching in awe as whatever magic is at work happens.
Solomon looks into the other cat's eyes and feels intense resentment towards him. It's the same as before, but much stronger… Yet strangely alien. She feels an urge, a powerful compulsion to dissolve someone so far beneath her for even attempting to do this. She then grasps her forehead with her other hand, slightly shaking it.
The symbols go out under them, the male cat takes a step back.
"Oh, I can feel it already!" He says, looking at his hand. Solomon looks down at her hands, only to discover that the markings are still there, completely intact, the feeling of anger lightly lingering. She isn't the only one to notice that, several others have puzzled looks all over the "audience" that gathered. The wolf raises an eyebrow and whispers something to the lynx. Then, Solomon hears soft sizzling, rapidly getting louder. Not of metal or wood or ceramic, but flesh.
"Is it supposed to hurt this much?" The black cat says in a distressed tone, taking a few steps back from the symbols. He grasps his hand, then pulls away with a yelp.
His hand, a horrible sight, bubbling over with dark green liquid, turning into a mix of acid and black sludge dripping down onto the floor. Through agonised, panicked breathing, he turns to look at the wolf, who seems just as horrified as Solomon feels, along with the rest of the people around.
"What’s happening?!" Whatever effect this ritual had quickly goes up his arm, which soon falls off and dissolves into a black puddle. Solomon watches in horror along with the quietly theorising crowd, no one works up enough courage to approach him. It's like watching a train derailment, she really wants to look away, but simply can’t bring herself to do it. The black cat takes a couple more steps towards the wolf.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Ludwig! Make it stop…!" He manages to yell out, his feet becoming one with the black puddle under him. His speech becomes no more than screams, and in turn, the screams become an eerie silence broken only by the sound of sizzling and gurgles as he falls over face first. Within seconds, there is nothing left of him but a fine, black puddle.
Solomon falls to her knees, gently weeping. This wasn't supposed to happen, even she can tell that much. She looks over at the wolf and just like the rest of the people in the hall, he looks deeply distraught.
"What did you do to him?!" Someone in the crowd yells out finally, followed by whispers that Solomon can’t hope to make out. She just shakes her head. She did as she was told…
"This is no cause for concern…” Says the wolf, stepping forward, trying to hide the fact that someone just got dissolved before their eyes. “We just found out that acid is incompatible with fire. And it seems to have... Quite the reaction." He says, somehow looking confident in what he's saying. "We will repeat it on a regular person after cleanup. Once the magic is in our possession, we can experiment to our heart's content. Any volunteers?"
The hall falls so silent, one could hear a needle being dropped. To no one’s surprise, no one volunteers.
"Come on, one of you has to be interested!” The wolf yells out, Solomon can tell that he’s getting impatient. “You!" He points at another canine, who is very evidently a janitor. He points at himself questioningly.
"Think of this as a promotion." The wolf then walks over to Solomon.
"Come now, stand up.” He says to the horribly disturbed Solomon. If the death of the jackal left her traumatised, then she isn’t even sure how to properly describe how what just transpired will affect her.
“We do this and you and your friends will be safe. Remember?" He says, patting her head. Solomon feels a sudden urge to melt this wolf into a similar puddle. This downright patronising, positively annoying, and exceptionally smug silver wolf… For a fraction of a second, she wants him not just killed, but destroyed, just like that black cat.
The thought doesn't linger for long, but she can't deny that it was there. She wipes tears from her eyes and nods as she tries her best to collect herself. Such a terrible way to go... She's not even sure what exactly happened, but she pities the cat greatly, hoping that what the wolf said is correct.
After the black puddle is promptly cleaned up, the janitor goes to stand in front of her with the terrified look she's come to be all too familiar with. Lab coat comes back and repeats the process of drawing blood. Solomon holds out her hand, wishing this to just be over. “Please let him be right…”
The janitor grasps it reluctantly, the symbols under them light up once more. Solomon can immediately feel that sense of burning hatred again. Even though it feels ever so slightly less intense, she feels like this attempt won’t end well either. After a few seconds, the symbols go out. She looks at her hands... The markings are still there.
Sizzle. The noise she’s grown to hate, the sizzling of flesh, meaning the certain agony of someone. The janitor looks down at his hand, his expression turns to that of sorrow as he tries to hold in his screams. Solomon can't bear to take two lives in this manner, even if it wasn’t her intent. She has to try... She lunges forward and grabs the janitor's wrist.
"Sorry..." She mutters as her marking lights up. The janitor no longer holds back and howls in pain, her acid eating through his flesh. His hand soon falls down and dissolves... But it seems to have stopped there. It worked! He will live!
The janitor collapses onto the floor, softly crying. The wolf goes from puzzled to furious, stepping forward to look at Solomon.
"Why?! Why isn't it working?!" He yells, the crowd looks on in confusion. "Did you do something?" He accuses Solomon, stepping in front of her as medics take away the janitor on a stretcher. The notion that she would willingly inflict such pain sickens her to her very core.
"Why? Why would I do anything here?" She says with a glare. "Ludwig?" She adds indignantly.
Ludwig storms off.
"Take her away, Shaquia! I need to think... And you!" He points to lab coat. "You better come up with a good explanation for this..."
The lynx walks over to Solomon, evidently shaken, but keeping calm.
"Come." She says. "Looks like the deal's off."
"Off?” Solomon grabs the lynx's arm, stopping her. “The deal's off? How was I supposed to know that this would happen?" She scowls at Shaquia, who looks back at her with, to her surprise, a more annoyed than fearful expression. “She’s not afraid after that? That’s… That’s rather welcome.”
"Let's go then. I don't want to be here." She looks down and releases the lynx’s arm.
Solomon is taken to the lifts. From up here, she’s even more intimidated by the sheer size of the building and the number of other Mystic Ones. So many different markings, some even having two different types? She even catches a glimpse of Shaquia’s, thinking back to what Grayson said. The lynx apparently has both fire and wind? This place only makes Solomon have a lot more questions.
She figures that the ground floor is more for gatherings and general announcements. That theory is quickly shut down by the various loudspeakers and intercoms. The first floor looks identical to the second, doors opening and closing. Inside the rooms, she sees people work on intricate-looking machines, working with chemicals, and mostly, using their magic.
She is then taken to a room on the fourth floor. "Room 48" the plaque on the door reads. The lynx unlocks the door and urges Solomon to go in.
"I know you can just melt the lock, but for the sake of us both, please don't do that.” She says, looking somewhat sympathetic. “Just stay here until further notice, okay?"
"Sure, sure." Solomon gives a disheartened response.
"Have a rest.” Shaquia suggests with a nod. “I don't know when, but someone will be back to check on you later." She then closes the door.
The room is actually quite nice and clean, spotless even. Wooden floor with a soft carpet, a single-sized bed, a nightstand, a closet and an intercom. There is a painting on the wall above the bed, a plaque under it reading "Trust The System''. Solomon rolls her eyes.
The painting itself looks quite well-made, depicting Ludwig in the middle, next to him are Shaquia, the raccoon she saw earlier, a crow, an ox and a lioness all wearing elegant suits. There is unused space on the painting where two more people could be put.
She checks her pockets. Of course, her phone was confiscated. What surprises her more is that her gloves are also missing. With nothing else to do, she lies down on the bed, which is admittedly rather comfortable, and thinks…
What could she do? Her first instinct is to try to break out, but given the number of people in the building, that just seems impossible. Not to mention, she would rather not do that by causing fear and living up to the legends. She is different and she can prove it! But what then? The best she can likely do here is comply, as much as she is against that.
And her power, all she can do is produce acid and apparently melt people who try to “take it”. What makes that so special and destructive? For one, she would like to hear those legends in detail.
She really hopes that her friends are safe at least. Having no way to confirm that bothers her greatly, she would be willing to give a lot for a simple yes or no to that question. She wishes someone was there to comfort her, someone she can trust and talk to… “Someone like Lisa.”
Solomon’s eyes start to feel heavy, now that the shock and adrenaline have worn off, at least partially. She may have been knocked out, but she doesn’t feel rested at all. Maybe she should just listen to that lynx and sleep… Why she was taken to such a particularly nice room, she doesn’t quite understand. She guesses that all of the rooms are like this, or maybe because of her power.
Time passes without as much as a knock on her door, she wishes she had a clock in the room. She has calmed down, at least as much as she could in a situation like this. Just a little nap… Surely it can’t hurt. She closes her eyes and very soon, she finds herself in the all too familiar dreamscape.
“There has to be a way to beat this thing…” Every time, it’s the same. The figure reaches out, she wakes up. This time, rather than run, she goes to a wall and just sits down by it.
Soon, she spots the figure, fast approaching. Solomon doesn’t move, doesn’t try to run away. She’s done running. It wants to catch her? So be it. It couldn’t seem to do that thus far, why would this time be different?
Without stopping, the figure walks up to her and reaches out with its dripping hand… Like clockwork, Solomon wakes up, having gotten ever so slightly desensitised to the experience.
“What if I go back to sleep now?” This is as good of a time as any to test that. She closes her eyes and very soon, she is back, in the same place she just was, she can see the figure walking away. It then stops and turns around. Solomon is sure that if it had any proper expression, it would look surprised. It then walks up to her and reaches out again. Just like last time, just like every time, she wakes up just before it touches her. She would prefer to know how much time passes between each waking. One more time for sure…
She is once again in the dreamscape, same location, the figure walking away. It then stops and turns around. Solomon waves at it casually. It then starts walking towards her, faster than last time.
“Why even bother?” Solomon asks out loud. She swears she can see it pause for just a moment, but it ends the same way, she wakes up. She spent so much time running from it, but it always seemed to know exactly where she was. That doesn’t seem to have changed.
She feels rather well-rested now at least, somewhat interested in looking into this more…
Just then, her door opens, she sees that Shaquia is back.
“Ludwig requests your presence. You should oblige.” She says and beckons Solomon with a disinterested look. She gets out of bed and follows. “Maybe if I go along with them this will be easier…”
She is then escorted back down to the ground floor. Now taking a better look at it, she concludes that the building has to be even bigger than it appears. Where she is, is akin to a hub area, doors leading to various other sections, signs prominently displaying where the doors lead. She sees doors leading to a cafeteria, control centre, and warehouse. There are many more doors, but she can’t quite read them from afar. She spots the two symbols on the floor, all of the black liquid has been cleaned up. She shudders at the thought of how that cat must have felt in his final moments.
“How long was I inside?” Solomon asks with a sullen look.
“About four hours.” Shaquia responds.
“All of that took four hours… And yet I’m rested, mostly. Well then.”
She is then taken to what can be described as an ordinary office room with a metal desk, cabinets, and a computer at another table with various office equipment. There, Ludwig awaits her.
“Take a seat.” He says with a stoic expression. She sits down opposite to him on a chair that was prepared in advance. Shaquia nods and leaves the room.
“What do you want?” Solomon asks, still rather disgruntled and disturbed by the recent events.
“First of all, please excuse my outburst earlier.” He slightly turns in his chair. “It was a bad first impression.”
“Tell me about it…” Solomon sighs.
“I believe a proper introduction is in order.” The wolf then holds out his hand. “I am Ludwig von Leue. Head of The System” Solomon debates whether or not to even shake his hand, but in the end, she does.
“Roxanne Solomon. You have some gut, I’ll give you that. Shaking hands with a fabled Acid One.” She says, a palpable hint of sarcasm in her tone.
“About that…” Ludwig begins to say. “I held a short meeting with my best experts. By all means, the magic should have been transferred. We both know how that ended.”
Solomon certainly doesn’t need a reminder.
“So, as head of the organisation, I have an offer for you.” The wolf clears his throat. “We can offer you whatever accommodation you need, in exchange for your service.”
Solomon feels like his offer definitely doesn’t come from generosity.
“You couldn’t take my magic, so now you need me.” She states, seeing right through him, she feels like. “Now, since I’m so uninitiated, mind telling me a bit about this “organisation” of yours?” If the wolf will do anything to get her to stay, she might as well get the most out of it.
“I will tell you what you need to know, and much more. If you accept, that is…” Says Ludwig, holding his hands together.
“What should I expect?” Solomon asks.
“Since we don’t know how long it would take to figure out what exactly caused that whole scene… You shall work for us.” He says with a smile that he certainly intends to be charming, rather than forced. “You will help us eradicate a cult that’s been causing us no end of trouble.”
“Oh, aren’t you just the smiling murderer.”
“I assume that’s the Lightborn?” Solomon raises an eyebrow.
“Why yes.” He says with a hint of surprise in his voice. “You already know more than I expected.”
Solomon feels slightly insulted by that remark.
“It seems like your power isn’t quite like it was said to be in the legends.” Solomon perks her ears at what he just said. “If it was so, there would have been quite a scene already.”
“I would greatly appreciate it if someone, anyone told me what these legends are.” Solomon puts her hands on the desk, displaying her markings. “All I can do is produce acid from my hands. It can melt anything except glass from what I’ve found, and I don’t think it warrants legends by itself.”
“So the legends are true…” A smile stretches across Ludwig’s face. “At least the more accepted part is. Anything, you say? Except glass?”
Solomon nods.
“Excellent. In that case, what you can expect is to reach your full potential here. Do you accept?” He asks with an expectant look.
“I’m not saying anything until you let me in on these legends.” Solomon says with an indignant glare. The wolf seems to be getting more impatient.
“Fine. You want the legends? I’ll give you the short answer.” He begins. Solomon smirks, satisfied that now, she’ll find out more. “There is no official record on the Acid Ones, only the legends passed down by generations. We do not know why that is.”
“Official records? Where would they keep information on magic?”
“Acid Ones are said to be evil and deceitful with hearts of stone. Their immense power begins only as dripping acid, manifesting every one hundred years in a person that it selects. As I said, generally within naturally evil individuals.” Solomon holds out her palm, gesturing for him to stop..
“Hold on, evil?” She says, aggravated. “I’m not evil!”
“It is what the legends say.” The wolf continues. “This power will eventually grow to a terrifying scale, able to level entire buildings.” Solomon recoils. No… She isn’t like that. She could never do that! She’s not evil, she just wants to be free of this!
“You will get honour and respect in our organisation if you choose to cooperate. You will become an esteemed member, feared by all. All you have to do is help us take care of the Lightborn. What do you say?”
Solomon thinks for a few, long moments, she isn’t fond of the idea whatsoever. She may have the power, but she has no idea how to use it in the way it was described. That may change, however… But she doesn’t want to be feared. And yet, here she is, being asked to extirpate a cult.
“What do you say?” Ludwig asks again with a subtle, low growl. Solomon doesn’t hesitate with her answer.
“On one condition.” She says, feeling like the wolf already knows what it will be. “Once I do that, you leave us all alone. I don’t want anything to do with your organisation after it.”
The smile fades from Ludwig’s face.
“I cannot do that. I can let the others go freely, but you…” He looks him up and down and reaches to touch her marking, only for Solomon to cross her arms. “You are too important. Such power shouldn’t go unused.”
“Then I’m not helping you.” Solomon shakes her head.
Ludwig exhales deeply.
“Then let us agree to disagree.” He slightly spreads his arms to shrug, elbows touching the metal desk. “I will not need you to be here at all times, but every now and then, we will call you in. That is the most I can do.”
“How often would that even be?” If it means peace for her friends at least, she’ll do it. Surely, as long as it isn’t too frequent.
“Alright. Deal.” She then reaches out for a handshake, which the wolf accepts, looking extremely pleased with her answer.
“Very well. You will start tomorrow.”